Crops in Santa Cruz County were valued at a record-breaking $532 million in 2010, $40 million more than in 2009. The most important crop was strawberries, which were worth $197 million. Raspberries, the second most valuable crop, were valued at less than half that at $91 million, with blackberries, miscellaneous vegetables, flowers and apples accounting for most of the remaining crops.
The increase in value of strawberries is especially impressive considering that their cost dropped by $7 per ton. To compensate for this loss, farmers were able to increase the number of tons grown per acre by 9 percent. In total, 3,317 acres were dedicated to strawberry production.
Two other strong crop performances were apples, which almost doubled in value, and field grown flowers, whose value increased by 40 percent. In contrast, the value of the raspberry crop declined by $12 million, thought it still managed to hold second place among all crops grown in the county.
The main concern now facing farmers is how this year’s rains will affect the crops, particularly strawberries. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
