k e e p i n g
BUSINESS JOURNAL
b u s i n e s s e s
VOLUME 7 ■ ISSUE 10
c o n n e c t e d ™
OCTOBER 2022
STANISLAUS CROP REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ELEGANT BULL......................
3
CORNERSTONE DANCE........
4
TANDOORI PIZZA...................
4
PACIFIC BAY EQUIPMENT.....
5
SPARKS FLY CANDLE CO......
5
AG WORKFORCE...................
6
OPINION..................................
7
APARTMENT BOOM...............
8
HIGHWAY 132.........................
8
VALLEY VOICES......................
11
Photo by Dan Gomes
The almond harvest in Stanislaus County makes up close to a third of the county’s entire ag production.
Almonds remain county’s top crop, despite challenges BY JOE CORTEZ
209 Business Journal
S
tanislaus County’s agricultural report for 2021 was released this week, and for the ninth consecutive year almonds rank as the No. 1 commodity, making up nearly a third of the county’s entire ag production. The total value of almonds in 2021 was $1,084,744,000 — or 32 percent of the county’s
ag production. That figure was down about $39 million from the previous year. But, considering that the nation still was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic for much of 2021, that number isn’t too disappointing. “It’s been one thing after another,” said local grower Christine Gemperle, co-owner of Gemperle Orchards and a member of the Almond Board
of California. “Back in 2017, we started the trade wars, then there was COVID, supply chain issues, then a giant crop in 2020 followed by a crop we couldn’t get out of the country. There have been lots of challenges.” Milk, which was the county’s No. 1 commodity for more than 50 years until almonds took over in 2013, accounted for 24 percent of commodities
in the county with a gross value of just over $800 million. That’s up from $736 million in 2020. Poultry, which accounts for 10 percent of all ag commodities, was down slightly, from about $343 million in 2020 to $334 million last year. Rounding out the Top 10 were cattle and calves (5 percent), nursery fruit and nut SEE CROP, PAGE 10