Ag's value heads down in Merced

By Carol Reiter

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MERCED — The roller coaster is on its way down.

After a record-breaking year in 2007, agriculture in Merced County saw a drop in total worth in 2008. Those lower numbers may be just the beginning.

The crop report for last year shows that despite a second year of drought, the worth of the county's commodities was $2.9 billion. About $1 billion of that worth was in milk.

But with dairies getting slammed at the end of 2008 because of low prices for milk and high prices for feed, the drop in value from 2007 may be a view into the future.

"Last year, the worth (of ag commodities) was just over $3 billion," said David Robinson, agricultural commissioner for the county. That was the first time the commodity value was more than $3 billion.

Although 2008 started out well, commodity prices started to bottom out at the end of the year, according to Robinson.

"The price of milk dropped 5.2 percent last year, which was a $55 million reduction," Robinson said.

Although milk made up a solid one-third of the total value of commodities, chickens held fast in second place. The worth of those chickens, however, was down 1.3 percent, mostly because of a reduction in flock sizes.

Almonds came in third, despite a substantial loss in value from 2007. The price was down 40 cents a pound, and that led to an overall value of about $255 million, down from a value of about $311 million in 2007.

Coming in fourth was cattle and calves, which includes beef cattle and dairy cattle. Karen Overstreet, a beef rancher and deputy ag commissioner, said a lot of beef producers were slammed by high feed prices and the drought.

"The rangeland had very little feed, and cattlemen had to do a lot of supplemental feeding," Overstreet said. Cattle and calves were worth about $246 million, up from last year's $236 million.

Sweet potatoes, which came in fifth in value, were planted on 1,500 more acres in 2008 than 2007, for a total worth of about $162 million.

Eggs, which came in sixth, saw a dramatic drop in production from a reduction of the number of laying hens. The egg industry voluntarily decided to reduce the number of layers per cage. Eggs still rose in value — almost 9 percent over 2007 because of a 22.5 cent increase in the price per dozen eggs.