Santa Barbara County’s new annual agricultural report shows that the big 2023 storms made a substantial dent in revenue for the industry.
The County’s new agricultural report shows the total crop valuation dipped from $1.93 billion in 2022 to $1.875 billion in 2023. That’s down $169 million, or around three percent.
Strawberries remain the county’s top crop in 2023, with a valuation of $775 million. But, that’s down by about $56 million from 2022.
Nursery stock was second, and wine grapes were the third largest crop dollar-wise. Wine grapes showed a 2.3% increase in total revenue for the year, even though two thousand fewer acres were harvested in 2023.
