Well, in sweet potatoes, that is.
The 2006 agriculture report from county ag commissioner David Robinson, released this week, showed that Merced County is the number-one sweet potato-producing county in the United States.
And to top that, more and more acres of the yellow and orange tubers are being planted in the sandy soil of northern Merced County. More than 1,700 acres were added to production this year, making sweet potatoes the sixth-most-valuable commodity in the county, with a value of $111.9 million and using more than 12,000 acres for production.
"The growers of sweet potatoes now have an option for their seconds," said Mark Smith, a biologist for Merced County and an almond grower. "Three years ago, sweet potato fries and sweet potato chips weren't popular, and now they're everywhere."
Although sweet potatoes have seen an upswing in value, many crops in the 2006 report saw losses.
The total gross production value of ag commodities in Merced County was $2.28 billion, down 4.43 percent from last year's $2.39 billion.
Even so, the ag business remains the top industry and largest employer in Merced County. Production agriculture employs 21 percent of county residents; when food processing is included, the total is 33 percent of the work force.
Last year's drop was due to one thing: Mother Nature.
Robinson said that lots of rain and cold that lingered into late spring affected the almond crop, which still was worth a respectable $268.62 million, putting the nut crop at the third-most-valuable commodity in the county.
But it wasn't just almonds hurt by the weather. Also hit were blooms on apricots, cherries, nectarines, plums, peaches and strawberries. Because of the rains, bees couldn't get out of their hives to pollinate the blossoms, lowering the yields of those crops.
And then, when the rain and cold went away, the heat came in July and stayed. Several days of 100-plus temperatures hurt tomato and cotton yields.
Hit hardest were livestock, including dairy cattle and calves, and poultry. "During the heat spell, dairy guys lost cows and their milk production went down," said Smith. "A lot of them had to borrow to stay in business."
Losses from the higher heat were estimated to be more than $46 million, and Robinson requested and received disaster declarations for many growers, including milk producers.
Despite the heat, milk still comfortably came out on top of the commodity list this year, with a value of $622 million. Compare that with chickens, the second-most-valuable commodity in the county.
Producers of the birds, who mostly contract with Foster Farms, saw the value of their commodity hit $287 million. Still, "it would take a lot for anything to catch up with milk," said Robinson.
But dairy owners are facing tougher times, with last year's milk prices dropping 12.6 percent. Fuel and feed costs kept climbing, while the price of milk didn't.
That may change this year. Robinson said that the price of milk is up, although feed, fuel and fertilizer costs are also still rising. "The problem with ag commodities is that the grower can't just raise the price," Robinson said. "It's the law of supply and demand."
But like any other business, farmers and growers have good years and they have bad years. Robinson pointed out that although the agriculture commodities are worth more than $2 billion this year, that doesn't show the true worth of agriculture in Merced County.
Maxwell Norton, vines and trees specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Merced, said that dollar-wise, Merced is the fifth-largest ag county in the state and sixth in the nation.
The Mediterranean climate of the San Joaquin Valley, good soils and lots of water help local farmers produce more than 90 separate agricultural products on some 1.1 million acres of land, or about 80 percent of the county.
Agriculture, like any basic industry, generates most of its wealth after the product leaves the farm.
The largest multiplier of economic growth takes the form of packing, processing, packaging, transporting and marketing ag products, Norton said.
"If one were to assume an economic multiplier of three for the county, then one can assume that the more than $2 billion gross farm gate value generates $6 billion of economic growth for the local economy," Norton said.
Robinson said that he believes agriculture will still be a big player in 20 years in the county, and in California, which is the No. 1 state in agricultural production in the United States.
"California is an ag state, even if people don't think it is," Robinson said.
Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at 209-385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.
Where our county ranks
First in chickens, chicken eggs, sweet potatoes, turkeys, poultry products and pasture rangeland.
Second in milk and cream, silage and tomatoes.
Third in honey.
Fourth in alfalfa, cotton, almonds, sugar beets, sheep and lambs, corn for grain and sudan hay.
The top 10 commodities for 2006 and their worth:
1. Milk $621,956,000
2. Chickens $286,785,000
3. Almonds $268,626,000
4. Cattle and calves $243,289,000
5. Tomatoes $112,730,000
6. Sweet potatoes $111,868,000
7. Chicken eggs $81,297,000
8. Alfalfa hay $72,912,000
9. Corn silage $59,197,000
10. Cotton $54,510,000
