The total value of agricultural goods sold last year in Fresno County dropped in value by around $482 million compared to 2015 according to the 2016 Annual Crop and Livestock Production Report released in mid-August by Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Les Wright.
Wright blames the lack of surface water supplies. Other farm goods like livestock fell by around 7 percent or $6 million dollars last year as well. Still the county produced over $6 billion in agricultural goods in 2016.
"Crop values vary year-to-year based on production, markets and weather conditions," Wright says in a press release. "In 2016, markets were less than stellar for many of our commodities. Additionally, for West side growers, this included a third straight year of no surface water allocation."
Almonds alone grossed over a billion dollars for the fourth year in a row. The top five crops for 2016 in the county are almonds, grapes, poultry-cattle, and tomatoes. For more on the crop report FM89's Ezra David Romero interviewed Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Les Wright on Valley Edition. For that interview click play above.