Santa Barbara County released 2023 Agriculture Crop and Livestock Report Tuesday
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner's Office released its 2023 Agricultural Crop and Livestock Report.
The annual statistical report, available in both English and Spanish, summarizes the dedicated acreage and gross production value of Santa Barbara County's largest-producing industry.
You can check out the 2023 report and every report since 1916 here.
The values detailed within the report reflect the gross value of agriculture commodities grown within Santa Barbara County and do not factor in various costs associated with their production, such as labor and distribution.
The value of all agricultural production in Santa Barbara County was approximately $1,875,978,000 in 2023, a decrease of 2.8 percent compared to 2022.
The image below shows the gross production divided by group.
While 2023 saw a reduction in gross production value compared to 2022, it was still higher than the three years before 2022 as shown in the bar graph below.
The top individual commodities in 2023 are listed below.
Strawberries continue to be the top crop in the county, a position the commodity has held since 2002.
The gross value of strawberries is a decrease of 4.4 percent and the culprit, according to Santa Barbara County, was heavy rains associated with 2023 atmospheric rivers at the end of the year.
"We saw a decrease in our fruit values from berries to avocados this year primarily because of the January 2023 storms, that brought significant amounts of rain to our area," explained Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer Jose Chang. "New countries entering a very competitive market also led to price reductions in avocados."
According to the report, the total value of the avocado crop dropped from $59,650,000 in 2022 to $37,137,000 in 2023 and the price per ton also saw a notable drop from $3,310 in 2022 to $2,151 in 2023.
Another notable crop grown in Santa Barbara County is cannabis.
The gross cannabis production value in 2023 was $333,276,000, but that is not included in the county's total production value for the commodity which has 15,506,473 square feet of dedicated cultivated land across the county.
While atmospheric rivers negatively impacted local crops like strawberries, they had a positive impact on the cattle market which saw its total value increase from $29,367,000 in 2022 to $35,209,000 in 2023.
According to the crop report, ranchers retained more pasture and range following the rainy season and that, coupled with higher sales from inflation and demand for beef, led to an increase in production.
