Tiffany Revelle — Record-Bee staff
LAKE COUNTY — The 2005 crop report is in, and there is a slight increase in the overall value of Lake County”s agricultural production.
The increase is less than 1 percent, noted Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik.
The gross agricultural production value for 2005 is $61.54 million, up $26,811 from 2004.
This is despite the severe decline in gross value for several crops, including a 28-percent decrease for pears, worth $4.9 million, and a 44-percent decrease for walnuts at $1.1 million.
Hajik said Thursday that the overall increase is due for the most part to the rise in the total gross value of winegrapes last year.
“If it wasn”t for the gross value of winegrapes, the crop report would”ve been significantly less. It was the only thing that saved it from going downhill severely,” said Hajik.
Hajik explained that the decrease in the gross value of last year”s pear crop was due to “colder than normal weather during the blossoming season, combined with the late spring rains.”
The late rainy season was also the largest contributing factor in the gross value decline for walnuts.
Referring to the 2006 pear harvest, Hajik commented that “this was a good year for pears, production-wise. The pears were slightly smaller, but there were more of them on the trees than in previous years. We just didn”t have the labor to harvest them.”
He added, “Around 30 percent of the entire crop couldn”t be harvested.”
Hajik also pointed out that pear acreage has been on a downward trend in recent years.
“In 1996, the pear acreage was up to 5,259, now it”s down to 2,482. That”s significant. With what”s going on in 2006 with pears, that might even accelerate the loss of pear acreage in the county.”
He clarified Thursday that this was not a prediction, but a possibility.
Other significant crop value decreases include 52 percent in the timber harvest, 12 percent for nursery products, 8 percent for livestock, and a 2-percent decline for field and seed crops (alfalfa, oat hay, grass hay, and wild rice), among others.
The county”s top crops last year included grapes, pears, nursery, cattle, and miscellaneous field and seed crops (a commodity within the overall category of field and seed crops).
“Grapes will continue to dominate as a primary crop in the county,” said Hajik, noting the 17-percent total gross value increase for grapes in 2005.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
