Coachella Valley Agriculture Jose Luis Aguiar, Farm Advisor, UCCE - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Coachella Valley Agriculture Jose Luis Aguiar, Farm Advisor, UCCE Riverside County November 4, 2015

Riverside County 2014 TOTAL VALUATION: F.O.B. 1. CITRUS $170,891,000 2. TREE & VINE $223,593,000 3. VEGETABLES* $337,404,000 4. FIELD AND SEED $156,575,000 5. NURSERY $172,910,000 6. APICULTURE $ 4,819,000 7. AQUACULTURE $ 5,078,000 8. LIVESTOCK/POULTRY $290,746,000 TOTAL VALUATION: $1,362,016,000 *ALL VEGETABLES

2014 Agricultural Districts Valuations in Riverside County • Riverside/Corona $ 96,205,000 • San Jacinto/Temecula Valley $175,767,000 • Coachella Valley $625,62,000 • Palo Verde Valley $171,013,000 Total: $1,058,435,000

Citrus: 8,321 Acres Gross Value $117,644,000 Grapefruit Harvest: December to June Grapefruit, Lemons, Oranges-Valencia, Royal Mandarins,Tangelos, Tangerines, Kumquats, Limes, Oranges-Blood 2014 Coachella Valley Acreage and Agricultural Crop Report

Grapes: 8,586 acres Gross Value: $164,032,000 Beauty-Seedless, Exotic, Flame Seedless, Perlette, Thompson Seedless Grape Harvest: May to June

Dates: 8,465 Acres Gross Value: $36,031,000 Medjool, Deglect Nor, Includes by-products Date Harvest: August to November

All Vegetables: 27,918 Acres Gross Value: $282,139,000 2014 Coachella Valley Acreage and Agricultural Crop Report

2014 Coachella Valley Vegetables Gross valuation • Bell Peppers $75,497,000 • Lettuce-Romaine $15,120,000 • Oriental Vegetables $ 19,386,000 • Strawberry $26,258,000 • Carrots $23,170,000 • Sweet Corn $ 8,850,000 • Lettuce loose leaf $10,382,000 • Cauliflower $ 8,100,000

Agricultural areas are becoming urbanized, productive soils are growing houses. Agriculture should be seen as a strategic asset of the nation.

Increasing the agricultural acreage will require soil reclamation. Soil profiles are extremely stratified with layers from less than inch to a foot or more thick, in the lower areas of the valley the soils can be high in soluble salts Deposits of sand, loams and clays are found throughout the valley

Climate • Long, extremely hot summers, mild winters, and relatively low humidity • Annual recorded rainfall of 3.16 inches • Temperatures of more than 125F (52C) and lows of 16F (-9C) • Seasonal strong winds during April, May and October with gusting blowing sand Climate limits what and when we can grow crops

Two Main Vegetable Farming Periods • Spring Season • Fall Season And the seasons overlap

Cooperative Extension • The bridge between local citizens and UC research • ~130 campus-based specialists • ~200 CE advisors • Statewide network of local offices

Information on UCCE Riverside Programs http://ceriverside.ucanr.edu • http://ucanr.edu/sites/Farm_Management/ • http://ceriverside.ucanr.edu/Vegetable_Crop s/ • http://ceriverside.ucanr.edu/Custom_Progra m/Topics_in_Subtropics/

Information on Agricultural Exports UC AGRICULTURAL ISSUES CENTER Information on California’s Agricultural Exports http://aic.ucdavis.edu/pub/exports.html Information on Cost Studies Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis Current Cost Studies http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/en/current/ and http://ceriverside.ucanr.edu