Colusa ag revenues see a decrease

The gross value of Colusa County’s agricultural production in 2020 was $926,812,000, a decrease of 0.7 percent from the previous year, according to the most recent crop report released by the agricultural commissioner.

“Though estimated values move slightly from year to year, the agricultural industry in Colusa County remains strong,” said Anastacia Allen, Colusa County agricultural commissioner.

According to Allen, the county has historically been the top producer of rice in the Sacramento Valley but the almond crop took the top spot in 2020, making up 33 percent of the county’s total crop value.

A total of 68,604 acres of almonds were harvested last year with a value per unit of $3,900, a slight decrease in acreage and value from 2019.

“Rice comes in second with a value that is 31 percent the total and walnuts comes in third with 9 percent,” said Allen.

Rice crop values totaled more than $2.8 million last year while walnut crop values came in at $78,573,000.

In 2020, 125,504 acres of rice were harvested at a value of $432 per unit and 23,886 acres of walnuts were harvested at a value of $1,290 per unit. Acreage and value for both rice and walnuts also decreased from the previous year, according to the report.

Processed tomato values totaled $50,078 in 2020, with 12,700 acres harvested at $77 per unit, exceeding the previous year’s totals by nearly $5 million.

Rounding out the top five commodities was apiary pollination of almonds, which had a total agricultural value of $27.4 million in 2019, a decrease of $1.4 million from the year before.

Additionally, 24 producers of organic commodities – including almonds, beef, corn, rice, walnuts, wheat and various seed row crops – generated a $7 million agricultural production value in 2020.

Colusa County’s top exports in 2020 were rice and almonds. Last year,

3.1 million pounds of rice were sent to the United Kingdom, 27.4 million pounds were sent to Japan, 3.1 million pounds were sent to Mexico, 1.5 million pounds were sent to Australia and 1.1 million pounds were sent to New Zealand. A total of 28.7 million pounds of almonds were exported to India as well.