Withstanding the drought that continues to batter farming statewide, Sonoma County’s agricultural sector continued to grow in 2013, resulting in an annual yield of crops and products valued at more than $848 million, the county announced Tuesday.
Buoyed by the strength of its $605 million grape industry, the value of the county’s farm products rose 4.4 percent last year, according to the annual Sonoma County Crop Report.
The county’s overall agricultural production reflects a recovering economy, as well as the resilience of farmers who continue to adapt to market trends, government regulation and shifting environmental conditions, county officials said.
“Agriculture continues to be the backbone of this county,” 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo said.
One of the most telling bumps was a 21 percent rise in the value of local nursery products, a category that includes ornamental plants and cut flowers. Although a fraction of the size of the county’s wine industry, the sector is “a bellwether of the economy,” Agricultural Commissioner Tony Linegar said. Rising home sales and new construction is resulting in an increase in sales of plants used for landscaping, he said.
“This is a good reflection of the direction our economy is going,” Linegar said.
Ryan Meechan, co-owner and office manager at Emerisa Gardens in west Santa Rosa, said commercial landscapers have been extremely busy, primarily with replacement landscaping, in part to incorporate drought-tolerant plants.
“Definitely, there was an increase in 2013,” in terms of overall business, Meechan said.
“I think it’s more re-landscaping, than new ones,” agreed Mike Umehara, co-owner of Momiji Nursery in Santa Rosa, which features Japanese maple trees propagated right on the property.
Santa Rosa landscape designer Steve White, of Mason White Landscape Architecture, said the boom in nursery products reflects the “pent-up demand” that developed during the recession.
“People have unleashed their wallets, and business is booming, drought or no drought,” White said.
Some people are re-investing in landscaping at homes they’ve owned for a while, including those seeking water-thrifty plants, he said. Others are just beautifying where they couldn’t afford to landscape before, though often with an eye toward drought-tolerance and xeriscaping, he said.
The nursery products category, valued at $29.9 million last year — up 20.8 percent from 2012 — includes vineyard stock, as well. Increased vine sales last year resulted from a clear turnaround in the grape industry, where growers from 2009 to 2011 were “dying for contracts,” said Jeff Wheeler, viticulturist at Novavine nursery outside Santa Rosa.
“I think people were getting better prices for their grapes, and people were actually able to sign contracts a lot easier and sign longer-term contracts,” Wheeler said.
The wine grape industry accounted for more than 70 percent of the county’s 2013 crop value, thanks in part to a paradoxical upside to the drought, Linegar said. Though record-dry weather is worrisome overall, dry spring conditions were optimal for vineyard bloom and, thus, grape production, he said. Apple orchards benefited, too.
In addition, the amount of bearing vineyard acreage increased 1.5 percent last year to nearly 59,800 acres, resulting in a new harvest record of more than 270,000 tons of grapes, Linegar said. The average price rose 2.4 percent, to $2,236 a ton.
After dismal harvests in 2010 and 2011, “growers feel like they can reinvest in the land here,” Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers, told the board. “This is kind of an exciting time, a rebirth.”
“Thank God for the wine grapes,” Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Tim Tesconi said after the meeting. “They really are the driving force.”
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