Despite a 12.6% dropoff in value, winegrapes remained Sonoma County's leading commodity.
Sonoma County farm production fell off the haystack in 2024—with its total value down 9.3%.
In total, the county’s agricultural production reached a value of $857.6 million last year, according to the annual Crop Report released this week by the Sonoma County Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures. In 2023, the value reached over $945 million.
The annual Crop Report provides an overview of the county’s top commodities, industry trends and highlights of departmental work in pest management, land stewardship, and weights and measures. First compiled in 1928, county officials use it as a resource for economic development, tourism, financing and historical analysis.
Despite the dip in overall production value, county Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins said the farming community “continues to demonstrate resilience in the face of challenges, from market fluctuations to disease outbreaks.”
Winegrapes remained Sonoma County’s leading commodity with a value of $626.5 million, a 12.6% decrease from 2023. Harvested tonnage fell 12.2% to 211,511.6 tons, due largely to a downtick in demand, the report said.
Poultry products, meanwhile, suffered heavily from 2024’s wide-reaching outbreak of bird flu, with production value declining nearly 49% due to the culling of nearly a million birds in an effort to stem the outbreak.
However, the sharpest agricultural decline was felt in the cannabis industry, with production value dropping nearly 53% year over year—from $25.7 million in 2023 to $12.2 million in 2024.
Local commodities that enjoyed an increase were led by dairy, as milk production climbed 37.4%, with organic milk up nearly 50%. apples, whose overall production increased in value by 21% thanks to improved tonnage and favorable late-season prices, according to the report.
The complete 2024 Sonoma County Crop Report is available online at sonomacounty.gov.
