Value Of Washington Ag Drops, While Idaho Moves Higher

The value of agriculture in Washington dropped last year.  According to NASS, total production came in at $9.67 billion last year, a 2% drop from the revised 2017 figures.  Apples remain the leading agricultural commodity with a value of $2.19 billion last year, a 10% year-over-year drop.  Apples represented 23% of the total agricultural value in 2018.

Milk held second place, coming in a $1.13 billion last year, a 5% decrease from 2017.  Wheat rounds out the top three commodities in the state with $845 million last year, a 22% year-over-year increase.  Potatoes, cattle and calves, hay, hops, sweet cherries, grapes and eggs rounded out the top ten commodities in the state last year.  Meanwhile, over in Idaho, the value of ag production up 3% from last year, coming in at nearly $8 billion in 2018.

Potatoes, valued at $788 million, were the fourth highest value in Washington. This represents a 15% increase from the previous year. Cattle and calves came in as the state’s #5 commodity, valued at $652 million, down 3% from the previous year.  According to NASS, these five commodities had a combined value of $5.60 billion, or 58% of the 2018 value for all commodities (excluding government payments). The same five commodities in 2017 had a combined value of $5.67 billion, also 58% of the total value.

Hay valued at $478 million last year, off from the $515 million reported a year earlier. Hops value last year came in at $382 million, a sharp drop from the $458 recorded in 2017. Sweet cherries 2018 value came in a $491 million, $474 million a year earlier.  Record high values of production were established for all grapes. Value of all grape production in 2018 was $361 million, up 13Q% from the previous year and slightly higher than the previous record high in 2016.  Egg production entered the top ten, with a value of $241 million in 2018, an increase of 70% from the previous year.

There were notable commodities outside the top ten that showed significant increases in value from the previous year. The value of onions increased 10% to $178 million in 2018. Blueberry value increased 21% from 2017 to $139 million in 2018. Barley value of production increased 55% to $21.5 million in 2018. The value of canola, at $20.3 million, increased 23% from the previous year.

Notable commodities that declined in value in 2018 were pears, down 15 percent to $211 million; raspberries, down 38 percent to $35.9 million; and green peas, down 21 percent to $22.8 million.

The value of Idaho’s 2018 agricultural production was $7.69 billion, up 3% from the previous year’s revised value of $7.49 billion. The value of Idaho’s crop production in 2018 was $3.26 billion, up 7% from 2017, NASS noted. The value of livestock production in 2018 totaled $4.43 billion, down less than 1% from the previous year.  The rankings of the top eight commodities remained unchanged from 2017.

Milk remains the leading agricultural commodity in Idaho with a 2018 value of $2.38 billion, down 6% from 2017. Milk represented 31% of the total agricultural value compared with 34% in 2017. Cattle and calves remained in the second position and had value of production totaling $1.41 billion dollars in 2018, up 2% from 2017. Potatoes ranked third in 2018 with value of production of $1.03 billion, up 5% from the previous year. Hay value of production was $773 million, up 8% from 2017, fourth in the State ranking. Wheat rounded out the top five with a value of $539 million, up 26% from the previous year.

These five commodities had a combined value of $6.13 billion, or 80% of the 2018 value for all commodities (excluding government payments). The same five commodities in 2017 had a combined value of $6.02 billion, also 80% of the total value.  Hops value of production, up 22% from 2017, moved up two positions to ninth in the State. Dry Edible Beans rounded out the top ten with value of production of $73.2 million, down 8% from the previous year.

There were commodities outside the top five that showed significant increases in value from the previous year. Sugarbeets, barley, corn for grain and hops all increased in value by double-digit percentages. Corn for grain production, with a value of $128 million in 2018, increased 30% from the previous year. The value of barley totaled $269 million, up 17% from 2017.

Only two of the top ten commodities declined in value from the previous year. Other notable commodities outside the top ten that declined in value in 2018 were onions, down 34% to $48.7 million; trout, down 20% to $40.3 million; and honey, down 22% to $5.83 million.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com