Celebrating West Side Agriculture 2020

THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 HONORING WEST SIDE AGRICULTURE | 11
Merced County
crop values fall
slightly in ‘18
Merced County farmers
and ranchers produced
commodities valued at
$3.25 billion in 2018, continuing
a series of declines
which followed a record
year in 2014.
According to the 2018
county report on agriculture,
the most recent year
available, the decline reflected
softening prices
for ag commodities.
The value of the county’s
ag commodities skyrocketed
to $4.4 billion in 2014,
but has declined each year
since - most drastically in
2015, when the crop values
were placed at $3.6 billion.
Since that time, the crop
value has declined by approximately
$100 million
annually.
The report reflects
gross farm commodity
values and do not take into
account production costs.
Net income to the producer
is not reflected.
Milk continued to be
the driving force in the
county’s ag economy by a
wide margin. The value of
milk produced in Merced
County in 2018 was $991
million, more than double
the $453 million value of
almonds, the county’s second-leading
commodity.
The ranking of the top
six commodities remained
unchanged from 2017. Following
are the top 15 commodities,
their value and
their change in ranking
from 2017 to 2018.
1) Milk, $991 million (no
change)
2) Almonds, $453 million
(no change)
3) Chickens, $357 million
(no change)
4) Cattle and calves,
$250 million (no change)
5) Sweet potatoes, $215
million (no change)
6) Tomatoes, $118 million
(no change)
7) Corn silage, $111 million
(up one place)
8) Hay, $85 million
(down one place)
9) Eggs, $76 million (no
change)
10) Nursery products,
$72 million (no change)
11) Cotton, $68 million
(up two places)
12) Wine grapes, $51
million (no change)
13) Miscellaneous vegetables,
$47 million (down
two places)
14) Turkeys, $43 million
(no change)
15) Silage, $37 million
(up one place)
ROSE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
automated irrigation
systems and more.
“(Farming) is a lot
more efficient now,”
Mannie said.
Mannie was raised on
his family’s Upper Road
ranch. After graduating
Orestimba he went
on to study plant science
for two years at
Modesto Junior College,
got his pest control
advisor license upon
completion in 1980 and
went to work for Cerutti
Brothers. He worked
for Cerutti for 11 years,
and shifted over to Mid-
Valley Agricultural Services.
He also established
his own farming operation,
which his sons
grew up around.
“We started farming
in 1980, little fields here
and there,” Mannie explained.
Eight years later,
he purchased what is
now his home ranch on
Sanches Road as the
operation continued to
evolve.
Initially Rose grew
silage corn, alfalfa and
green beans.
Demand for green
beans dried up when
freezer plants closed,
he said, but the operation
stayed with silage
corn and alfalfa, growing
commodities needed
by the dairy industry.
The evolution continued,
and has now shifted
to include almonds
(which were put in six
years ago) and grain
corn as well as some alfalfa
and wheat.
Mannie said the family’s
almond acreage
will increase as another
block of land transitions
to orchards.
“A lot of row crops
are not economic to
grow any more,” he explained.
Through his work as
a pest control advisor,
he was already wellversed
in almond production
when planting
his own trees for the
first time.
“We had the opportunity
to get into it, and
so far it has been good,”
Mannie said.
While California agriculture
faces a number
of challenges, the Roses
said, they are optimistic
about the future of the
industry.
“There are so many
varieties of crops
(grown) here that other
places can’t,” Brett
said. “It seems like
there will always be a
need for agriculture in
California.”
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