SANTA CRUZ — Impacts from the high-intensity 2023 winter storms continue to be felt in Santa Cruz County, with the latest example coming from the agricultural sector.

Agricultural commodities hit $654.7 million in 2023, representing a 1.8% drop compared to the previous year’s total, according to the county’s annual crop report released last week. The value dip is the first time crop totals have declined in four years.

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County Agricultural Commissioner David Sanford wrote in the report that while flood waters that inundated the county’s pristine farmland have long since dried, other impacts from the devastation continue to ripple out.

“Severe storms can have a significant impact on agricultural operations, and these declines were not unexpected,” Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner David Sanford said in a release. “While the fields have recovered and returned to full productivity, damages and delays caused losses that persisted throughout 2023 and underscored how climate change can impact our economy.”

Strawberries, which have long been a formidable economic engine in the county, took home the “top crop” crown yet again in 2023 by bringing in more than $184.8 million from 74,269 tons of total production across 2,363 acres. Still, the total value of strawberries was down more than $35 million compared to 2022. In the report, Sanford attributed this to storm damage and flooding from late 2022 and early 2023.

Nursey stock–indoor potted plants, landscape plants, transplants and Christmas trees–came in second behind strawberries by raking in more than $128 million in 2023–an increase of nearly $24 million compared to 2022.

Raspberries came in third at just shy of $115 million across 1,712 acres, a financial sum that was $13.6 million more compared to 2022 totals.

Altogether, the berry category had an estimated value of $184.8 million over 2,363 acres in 2023, representing 60% of the total gross production value of the county’s agricultural crops.

Planting delays and other weather-related issues also prevented vegetable totals from surpassing 2022’s figures, with $90.9 million produced in 2023–a 10% drop compared to the previous year.

“It is important to note that figures presented in this report are gross values and do not include costs incurred by growers such as labor, land preparation, irrigation, integrated pest management, transportation, marketing, and regulatory costs,” Sanford noted in the report.

Wine grapes and apples appeared to dodge any major setbacks from last year’s damaging deluges as production totals were lower compared to 2022, but only to a relatively minor degree.

Organic farming experienced a boost in 2023 with approximately 160 registered operations across 9,287 acres throughout the county that produced a cumulative value of $147.6 million. That acreage total is 1,276 more than the 8,011 registered in 2022 and the gross value is $29 million more than the $118 million experienced in 2022.

The full report is available at agdept.com.

Top crops

1. Strawberries, $184.8 million2. Nursery stock, $128 million3. Raspberries, $114.9 million4. Blackberries, $84 million5. Broccoli & misc. vegetables, $54.9 million

Source: Santa Cruz County 2023 crop report