Stanislaus farm income reaches record high

Gross income for Stanislaus County farmers hit a record $4.4 billion in 2014, according to a report Tuesday that also noted increased production costs.

High prices for almonds, milk and cattle accounted for most of the 20 percent jump in total income over the previous year, Agricultural Commissioner Milton O’Haire told the Board of Supervisors. Walnuts, chickens, turkeys, eggs, nursery plants and feed crops also had sizable gains.

“We knew it was going to be good,” Supervisor Vito Chiesa said. “We didn’t know it would be that good.”

Almonds were the top-grossing farm product for the second straight year, at $1.4 billion. Milk, which had topped the list all other years since 1940, was second at $952 million.

The report does not detail production costs, but it did mention a recent federal estimate that profits were down 6 percent for California farmers last year. Dairy and beef producers paid more for feed because of the drought. Growers of many crops spent extra money pumping wells or buying river supplies from elsewhere.

Despite this, board members agreed that agriculture is more than ever the driving force of the local economy. Supervisor Jim DeMartini estimated that it generates 38 percent of the county’s jobs.

“What we have in this area is something really exceptional, something you don’t find in other places,” he said.

Tom Orvis, governmental affairs director for the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau, said the income to farmers multiplies by about 4.5 as it ripples through the local economy. This includes tractor dealers, pesticide suppliers, lenders, processors and other farm-related businesses, whose employees in turn spend their paychecks in the area.

“Take this $4.4 billion and you’re talking about roughly a $25 billion economic impact,” Orvis said.

The volume of almonds and milk declined last year, but surging prices more than made up for the losses. California grows about 80 percent of the world’s almonds, and a combination of tight supplies and strong demand has prices at four times the level of 15 years ago. Dairy farmers have since fallen into another slump in prices.

Strong beef prices helped soften the blow for cattle ranchers who rely on the unirrigated rangeland on the county’s west and east flanks. The shortage of rain forced many of them to sell animals at less-than-desired weight and to reduce their density on the land.

The county’s overall gain in 2014 was the fifth straight year-to-year increase and its first time across the $4 billion threshold. It was sixth among California counties in 2013 and will likely be about there when all of the reports for last year are in.

Tulare County already leads the way at $8.08 billion, followed by Kern, Fresno and Monterey. Merced was fifth and San Joaquin seventh in 2013; they have yet to report 2014 numbers.

Chiesa said Stanislaus County has soil, weather and irrigation systems that are ideal for farming, and technology can ease problems that could come up with the water supply. Supervisor Terry Withrow said the report validates efforts to preserve this acreage.

“Over the last 20 or 30 years, the pressure has been enormous to pave over farmland for housing,” he said.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Stanislaus farm income reaches record high."