File photo

Tulare County has released its $8.6 billion crop report for 2022 — a record high. The county’s total ag receipts beat out Kern County, which reported $7.7 billion in farm proceeds, a 7% decrease from 2021. Tulare County’s $8.6 billion is 6.5% above 2021’s value of $8,089,621,300.

Fresno County has yet to report its 2022 crop receipts, but had a 2021 value of $8.08 billion.A key factor for Fresno County may be the lower price for almonds, the county’s top crop.

The three counties jockey each year for bragging rights as the No. 1 ag county in the nation.

The key factor again was last year’s value of milk, which hit $26.30 per hundredweight, up from $19.10 the year before. Milk volume was steady in Tulare, the nations top milk producer.

Milk continues to be the leading agricultural commodity in Tulare County with a gross value of $2.67 billion, an increase of $728.24 million or 37%. Milk represents 31% of the total crop and livestock value for 2022. The value of milk increased by $7.20 per hundredweight.

Livestock and poultry’s gross value of $823.25 million represents an increase of 12% above 2021, mostly due to a higher per-unit value for cattle.

The total value of all field crop production in 2022 was $745.48 million, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year. This increase is mostly attributed to better prices for field crops across the board.

Fruit and Nut commodities were valued at $4.12 billion, a decrease of 10 percent. This decrease can be partially attributed to a decrease in the value of lemons, peaches, tangerines and walnuts. Walnut valuation fell about half from 2021.

Vegetable crops were valued at $26.6 million, an increase of nearly 30 percent. This can be attributed to an increase in harvested acreage for a variety of vegetables