(2019 Agricultural Corps and Livestock Report)...It was presented to the County Board of Supervisors.

The report was presented Tuesday by County Ag Commissioner Carlos Ortiz. According to the report, the Gross production for 2019 was valued at close to $2 billion 16 million dollars. This is a decrease of just over $210 million, down 9.44 percent from the 2018 gross value. Cattle was once again the number one commodity, with a gross value of just over $449 million, down 4.43 percent from 2018. Ortiz said the decrease was due to a decrease in Market prices. Alfalfa remained the #2 commodity. Sugar Beets moved from #12 in 2018 to #8 in 2019 mainly due to better market prices and an increase in harvested acres. Imperial County remains the sole producer of sugar beets in the state. In 2019 there was a decrease of 9,332 total harvested acres, down 1.74 percent from 2018. Vegetable and melon crops saw a significant decrease in harvested acres, down 9.19 %. Watermelons saw the largest decrease of harvested acres, down 54% with a decrease of 774 acres. The top ten commodities in Imperial County in 2019 were; Cattle, alfalfa, leaf lettuce, broccoli, carrots, sugar beets, romaine lettuce and spinach.