Cattle again top nurseries as Oregon’s top ag product
Forthe first time in 20 years, there’s a new leader among Oregon’s diverseagricultural commodities, in terms of production value. Cattle and calves have regained the top spot with a record-breaking year in 2014, overtakinggreenhouse and nursery products.
It was 1994 when greenhouse and nursery supplantedcattle and calves as No. 1.
Newlyreleased statistics from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service provides a preliminary picture of last year’s crop and livestock value ofproduction.
The numbers indicate that Oregonagriculture continues to be amajor economic contributor to the state.
The overall estimate for totalproduction value in 2014 is about $5.4 billion, which is roughly unchanged fromthe past couple of years.
Somecommodities have shown tremendous increases whileothers have declined. The successful ones rely on a formula of good productionand high prices for what was sold.
WithOregon producing more than 220 commodities as part of its agriculture, therewill always be some winners and some losers any given year. In general, theresults of 2014 show more pluses than minuses.The value of agriculturalproduction in Oregon last year includes a top ten list that reflects the newleader, but most of the names are familiar. There is some shuffling in the rankorder:
(1) Cattle and calves, $922 million
(2) Greenhouse and nurseryproducts, $830 million
(3) Hay, $703million
(4) Milk, $656million
(5) Grass seed, $449million
(6) Wheat, $302million
(7) Potatoes, $164million
(8) Hazelnuts, $129million
(9) Pears, $127million
(10) Winegrapes, $118million
Inaddition to cattle and calves swapping places with greenhouse and nurseryproducts from the previous year’s list, wine grapes cracked the top ten whileonions dropped out. All top ten commodities showedan increase in productionvalue from 2013 with the exception of wheat and potatoes. For the first time inhistory, Oregon had two commodities above the $800 million mark in productionvalue and four commoditiesvalued at more than a half billion dollars. Onions, Christmas trees, and blueberries just missed the top ten list yet stilleclipsed $100 million in production value.
“Itwas generally a great year for Oregon’s farmers and ranchers,” says KathrynWalker, special assistant to the director for the Oregon Department ofAgriculture. “When you have so many commodities with aproduction value above$500 million, that’s impressive.”
Byfar, the most dramatic rise in production value in Oregon comes from cattlecountry– a nearly 38 percent increase from 2013 to 2014.
“Thatindustry hasn’t been number one since the early 90s, so I’m sure it’s excitingto them to be a leader once again,” says Walker. “There have been some verystrong cattle prices the last couple of years andthat is reflected in thevalue of production for cattle and calves.”
Thecattle and calves category is also approaching a status enjoyed only once by anOregon agricultural commodity– the billion dollar club. Greenhouse and nurseryproducts reached $1.039 billion in 2007. Ayear later, the economic recessiontook its toll specifically on nursery products and grass seed. Nonetheless,greenhouse and nursery is making its way back and recorded an increase of 11percent from 2013 to 2014.
Commoditieswith other increases in production value in 2014 include milk (+23 percent),pears (+14 percent), hay (+11 percent), wine grapes (+10 percent), grass seed(+9 percent), and hazelnuts (+7 percent).Wheat (-22 percent) and potatoes (-3percent) were the only commodities on the negative side of the ledger.
Somecommodities outside the top ten recorded large increases in production value,including sweet corn (+29 percent) and blackberries (+18 percent). Blueberries,which occasionally reaches the top ten, saw ahealthy increase (+8 percent) andcontinues to show strong gains each year.
Thepreliminary 2014 statistics also show there are now 34,600 farms in Oregon,which is down slightly from the previous year, and the average size of farm hasinched slightly to 474 acres. Included in thenumbers is a list of commoditiesin which Oregon is the nation’s leading producer– Christmas trees, hazelnuts, grassseed, blackberries, Boysenberries, black raspberries, storage onions, andpotted florist azaleas.
Onceagain, Oregon’s diversity of agriculture protects the overall industry. WhereasMidwest states may rely on just two or three commodities, Oregon boasts 17 thathave a value of at least $50 million.
It’stoo early to say how this year’s numbers will shake out. Drought conditionscould result in some commodities taking a drop in value of production.
“Weare going to have to watch to see how the weather impacts our producers and theyields of their commodities,” says Walker. “But our agriculture industry isresilient. They have faced these kinds ofchallenges before and typicallybounce back.”
Whenstatistics for 2015 are tabulated sometime next year, expect to see anotherstrong showing from the new number one. Cattle prices remains strong and thebillion dollar mark for production value is withinreach.
Todownload a copy of the Oregon Agriculture Facts & Figures brochure, go to < https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/shared/Documents/Publications/Administration/ORAgFactsFigures.pdf >
