Sonoma County’s farm bounty approaches $900 million

Sonoma County’s farm bounty totaled almost $900 million in 2014, driven by increases in sectors outside the traditionally dominant grape crop that represents two-thirds of the county’s agriculture industry.

The 6 percent increase came mainly from price increases in milk, beef and lamb, further signifying that the county is benefiting from tremendous growth in the farm-to-table movement that values high-end, organic products and is driven by consumers who are willing to pay a top price for them. For example, on the consumer side, it can be seen from the cheese produced by Cowgirl Creamery to the olive oil produced at McEvoy Ranch - both booming businesses based in Petaluma.

“We’re closing in on the $1 billion club. There’s only a handful of counties that really produce over a $1 billion in raw agriculture commodities,” Agriculture Commissioner Tony Linegar said Tuesday as he presented an overview of the 2014 crop report to county supervisors.

The Central Valley is the dominant agriculture region in California in terms of quantity and overall cash value. In fact, Sonoma County is not even in the top 10. But the county has staked out a reputation for producing high-quality products, such as top-notch pinot noir and chardonnay grapes, organic milk, Scottish highland and wagyu beef, and has benefited from the high demand in the marketplace.

“Being located in the North Bay, it really allows us great access for these commodities,” Linegar said.

In fact, Joe Pozzi, a sheep and cattle rancher from Bodega, notes that he is spending much more time discussing his 100 percent grass-fed animals with consumers and marketeers, at times taking away from his time on his ranch. His lamb is available at Whole Foods Market stores in Northern California.

“I think we are dealing with a very educated consumer who values the types of products we are producing here in Sonoma County,” Pozzi said.

The value of the county’s grape crop dropped 2 percent last year, to $592.8 million, but that was of little concern since it came after 2013’s record harvest.

Other categories saw large increases last year. The value of livestock and poultry products, which includes milk, wool and eggs, jumped 40 percent from 2013 to $164 million. Much of that growth was driven by a 23 percent increase in the price of non-manufactured milk, resulting in a more than $20 million increase in value. In addition, there was a 98 percent increase in the value of eggs, much driven by a new state law requiring hens to be housed in larger cages.

Doug Beretta, owner of Beretta Dairy on Llano Road in Santa Rosa, noted he has benefited from a greater demand for organic milk that his approximately 300 cows produce, which goes into Wallaby Yogurt.

But it comes at a cost as hay prices have skyrocketed during the drought, especially because alfalfa is a very water-intensive crop. Bales of oat hay that had been $7 to $8 are now priced at $18 to $20, he said.

Beretta has seen his hay costs rise by 30 percent since 2006 when he went organic. Up to 70 percent of North Bay dairy farmers are now organic, he said, given the better prices they can demand for their milk.

“It’s not great, but we are still able to make a good living,” Beretta said.

The drought is in the thoughts of all farmers. Beretta noted that organic dairies must ensure their cows are pasture-fed for at least 120 days to retain their organic designation. He uses reclaimed wastewater from the city of Santa Rosa to irrigate his pasture, which has allowed him to refrain from pulling water from two wells on his 400 acres.

“Everybody’s conserving water,” he said. “We don’t want to go back to pulling water out of the ground.”

The drought’s main effect was on field crops, many of which produced about one-third of their typical yield. Linegar noted that there was a 41 percent decrease in the value of cultivated field crops - which includes hay, grain and silage - to $4.7 million last year. But owners of these crops did benefit from an increase in lease rates for rangeland given the shortage of feed. In addition, the value of nursery products decreased 17 percent to $25 million, as many people bought fewer plants when they reduced water consumption.

Another area that suffered was apple production, which experienced its lowest yields in recent history because of poor weather during bloom, including 12 inches of rain in February. The crop, which is more than 80 percent organic, was valued at $3.4 million in 2014, a 41 percent reduction.

“It was an anomaly,” said Perry Kozlowski, who farms 40 acres of apples in Forestville. “If you have been doing this as long as we have been doing it, you are going to have one (poor crop) out of five or six years.”

He still farms the Gravenstein - the tart apple that west Sonoma County is internationally known for thanks to Luther Burbank - but has in recent years switched to ones more commonplace on supermarket aisles such as Fujis and Pink Ladies at the expense of less popular Golden Delicious and Red Romes.

Even though he has 15 acres of pinot noir grapes, Kozlowski has kept the less lucrative apple crop, maintaining a tradition on his family farm that goes back to 1949. He holds out hope that apple prices could become profitable in the future, given the growing popularity of hard cider. Organic apple prices are now slightly higher than they were 15 years ago, he said.

“We would do better with the grapes than with the apples,” Kozlowski said. “But we can still make it. ... Maybe we will have to work a little harder.”

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.