Agriculture values rose by just over 1% to $1.67 billion, and vegetable and vine crops thrived in San Diego County's Annual Crop Report released today. The new Crop Report, which covers the 2024 growing season, showed the county's list of Top 10 crops changed slightly from the previous year, with "Vegetables, Other" jumping over lemons into fifth place, just behind avocados.
The Top 10 list was once again dominated by three crops. They were led by "Bedding plants, Color, Perennials, Cacti & Succulents," which has ranked number one since 2021, when it supplanted the former number one and now perennial number two, "Ornamental Trees & Shrubs." Coming in third for the sixth straight year was "Indoor Flowering and Foliage Plants."
Those three top crops alone produced just over $1.08 billion in value. That equaled nearly 65% of the county's total agricultural value, growing on just 3.4% of the total acreage devoted to agriculture. The Crop Report identifies seven main Crop "groups." Four of those suffered decreases in 2024. Nursery & Cut Flower Products and Fruit & Nut Crops both suffered slight percentage decreases in the new report. Field Crops, and Apiary Products — bee products — registered double-digit percent decreases.
However, three of the seven Crop Groups registered increases, including significant jumps in two. Livestock & Poultry increased 12.13%, from roughly $86 million to nearly $97 million. And Vegetable & Vine Crops increased by 26.13%, from roughly $89 million to just over $113 million.
Read more at County News Center
