Hollister
– San Benito County’s agricultural production grew slightly in
2006, despite the majority of California’s other counties
experiencing losses, according to a county crop report released
this week.
Hollister – San Benito County’s agricultural production grew slightly in 2006, despite the majority of California’s other counties experiencing losses, according to a county crop report released this week.
Some notable growth included the bell pepper crop, which gained $9 million in value from 2005, and cattle, which increased $5 million in value. Salad lettuce took the biggest hit, dropping $17 million, almost half of its value, from 2005 to 2006.
Paul Matulich, the county’s agricultural commissioner, said only one-fourth of California counties posted gains in crop value. San Benito County’s crops, however, gained $2 million in value from 2005 to 2006, thanks to its manageable size and agricultural diversity, Matulich said.
“The one that was surprising was the spinach,” Matulich said. “Even with the E. coli, it gained.”
County spinach growers saw the crop value increase from $14 million in 2005 to $16 million in 2006.
The E. coli outbreak in September 2006 that halted the county’s spinach harvest cost growers $3.7 million, Matulich said. The commissioner added that the true effects of the outbreak may not be felt until year’s end.
Local salad lettuce crop value dropped from $35 million in 2005 to $18 million in 2006, according to the crop report. Overproduction in salad lettuce throughout the state caused drops in local acreage and prices, Matulich said.
The drop in 2006 was drastic enough that nursery stock, the county’s second most valuable crop in 2005, regained top-crop status with $33 million in value.
Nursery stock was the county’s No. 1 crop in 2002.
“It’s not something that’s shocking,” Matulich said. “But it’s unusual that salad took such a dive.”
The presence of Irvine-based El Modeno Gardens, which has seven locations throughout the state, has kept the nursery stock market steady since opening a Hollister location in 1980.
At any given time, the company has 2 million potted plants on a 140-acre property on Orchard Road that it’s ready to ship to the garden centers of stores such as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and Home Depot, said Ron Terry, the Hollister branch manager.
“Basically, the big-box stores,” Terry explained.
El Modeno Gardens grows a variety of plants, mostly perennials. Throughout the year, El Modeno Gardens ships 3 million plants from its Hollister location, Terry said.
The nursery was even able to weather the record-breaking heat in July 2006.
“Not bad, other than a lot of water and loss of sleep,” Terry said.
A record-setting cold snap in January also did little to hurt the nursery’s success. Terry said the company lost up to 30,000 plants during the frost.
“We’re pretty well prepared,” Terry said. “We have buildings that we can heat.”
If anything, nurseries often do well in the aftermath of frosts, because plants in home gardens cannot survive the cold, he said.
Although local nurseries are better able to stand the elements, the success of other agricultural products, such as cattle, hinge on weather.
Tom Manning, who sits on the San Benito County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and raises purebred bulls, said Canadian exports have been down in recent years and that green pastures from a rainy 2006 helped local herds.
But local ranchers are afraid recent droughts may prevent carryover of the success they enjoyed in 2006.
“I already know guys who are selling cows,” Manning said.
