Inyo agriculture sees impacts from drought
Gross value of county’s ag output was essentially flat
The ongoing drought impacted agriculture production in Inyo County during 2021 and could be an issue for the county’s farmers and ranchers in the coming year.
The gross value of Inyo County’s agricultural output was essentially flat in 2021 compared to 2020 and totaled $21.2 million, with the drought contributing to the reduction in output, said to Nate Reade, the Inyo/Mono Agriculture commissioner when reviewing the 2021 Crop and Livestock Report for both counties.
Taking a long-term view, Reade presented a graph showing how Inyo County’s agricultural production has been relatively flat for the last decade. Production has dipped noticeably during drought years, which include seven of the last 10 years. He noted in 2012 values were about $25 million. Since then drought dropped values to about $19 million in 2017 with slow growth in the following years.
It was a different story in 2021 Mono County. Higher hay prices and steady production in the livestock sector increased the county’s agricultural output by 9% in 2021 compared to 2020, the report states.
The increased values in Mono County pulled both counties’ agricultural output up by 5% over 2020 to about $56 million. Mono County contributed about $34.8 million with Inyo adding $21.2 million.
Reade stressed that the values in the annual report were for the
“gross” value of agricultural output and did not represent any “net profit or loss” in each reporting sector or for any individual producers.
Reade also said at some point he would provide information on the value of cannabis grown in the counties. Those values are not included in the 2021 report since there are currently not enough growers to guarantee the state’s required level of confidentiality for producers.
Crops
In Inyo County, alfalfa prices
went up, but yields were down, “with drought being a big part of that,” Reade told the Inyo Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The value of alfalfa hay dropped 17% in 2021, to $2.6 million, compared to $3.1 million in 2020. Prices went up to $230 a ton, compared to $201 in 2020, but alfalfa acreage dropped to 11,350 from 2020’s total of 15,550.
Some producers changed crops and some let their hay fields go fallow because of the lack of irrigation water due to the drought, Reade said. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reduced irrigation allotments to its leasees to 4 acre feet per acre, instead of the usual 5 af per acre. It also warned low stream flows could limit irrigation/ditch water.
Some producers changed from alfalfa to grass or grain hay, Reade said. Those changes showed up in the Miscellaneous category, which increased by 43%, but still generated just $1.1 million in value in 2021.
Older alfalfa fields saw a drop in production, he said. Some producers want to replant their alfalfa fields, but uncertainty about future droughts and availability of water are stalling those plans, he said.
Drought also cut into the value of Irrigated Pastures, with acreage dropping by 300 acres. That reduced the production value of those lands by 8% to just $904,000.
Pasture/Rangeland values were unchanged at $904,000.
Those ups and downs resulted in the total value of Field Crops to drop 4% to $5.9 million.
Nursery Products, which includes grass sod, palm and other ornamental trees, increased to $4.3 million, an 11% jump over 2020.
There were modest gains in the county’s smaller agricultural sectors Fruit and Nuts; Timber Products; Apiary (honey); and Vegetable Crops.
Livestock
Cattle and calves were responsible for the biggest portion of the county’s agricultural output. A small drop in prices and herds resulted in a 3% drop in those values. In 2021, cattle and calves were valued at $10.1 million, compared to $10.4 million in 2020.
Sheep and lambs saw higher prices ($220 a unit, up from $189 in 2020), which drove up values by 18% to $3.4 million. Beef stockers, which are cattle brought to Inyo County and fattened up before being shipped out, and goats, hogs and poultry were essentially unchanged with a value of $2.1 million.
Total value of Livestock and Livestock Products increased to $15.9 million from $15.6 million in 2020.
Mono County
Hay and livestock drove the increase in Mono County’s agricultural production in 2021.
With about the same acreage, higher prices for alfalfa hay drove that crop’s value up 22% to $14.8 million in 2021. Irrigated Pasture dropped just 3% to a value of $1.4 million due to 800 fewer aces in production. Pasture/Rangeland was unchanged at $1.5 million, and Miscellaneous field crops had a small drop.
Total Field Crop values came in at $18.7 million, compared to $16.2 million in 2020, a 15% increase.
Livestock values remained stable. The value of Cattle and Calves was $10.1 million, with another $2.1 million in Miscellaneous Livestock, including stocker beef, goats, hogs and poultry. Sheep and Lambs saw a nice increase in value based on higher prices per head to $3.4 million, 18% jump over 2020.
Total livestock values increased to $15.9 million from $15.6 million in 2020.
There were also small gains in Forest Products, Fruit and Nut Crops and Nursery Products.
Combined, all sectors showed a 9% increase in total agricultural values to a $34.8 million from $32 million in 2020. an