Santa Barbara County ag grosses $2 billion in 2024

Nearly half of Santa Barbara County’s ag gross revenue for 2024 stems from a single fruit. 

According to the county Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, strawberry producers raked in $860 million last year. That’s more than 40 percent of the county’s total gross production value—which the department’s 2024 crop and livestock report listed as approximately $2.01 billion.

During the county Board of Supervisors’ July 1 meeting, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Matthew Maiten described strawberries as “the cornerstone of the county’s agricultural economy.”

The 2024 report listed the county’s top 10 agricultural commodities based on gross value, with broccoli ($93 million), cauliflower ($78 million), and blackberries ($77 million) among the highest ranked crops behind strawberries.

“It is important to note that the values presented in this report reflect gross values of agricultural commodities,” Maiten told the board. “It does not consider costs associated with labor, planting, irrigation, distribution, among other production activities.”

Claire Wineman, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, reiterated Maiten’s point during public comment. She added that the costs of growing “have significantly increased in recent years and there are some significant challenges to making ends meet.”

Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson said that it’s crucial to distinguish between net revenue and gross revenue and remember that the $2 billion benchmark represents the latter in this case.

“Many of these farmers do lose money,” Nelson said. “Higher numbers … doesn’t necessarily mean a fully healthy economy out there.”

Nelson said he’s proud of the county’s milestone—as the report noted there are less than a dozen counties across California with ag gross production exceeding $2 billion—but doesn’t want local officials to get “into the habit” of assuming there’s “a lot of excess cash” in the ag industry.

Last year, the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office reported a total gross value of $1.8 billion for Santa Barbara County. This year’s crop and livestock report also summarizes stats related to the county’s nine certified farmers markets. 

First District Supervisor Roy Lee asked staff to elaborate on the certification process.

“How do you ensure that, at farmers markets, the vendors are selling the fruit that they grow,” Lee said, “and not just going to Costco and reselling theirs?”

“For the last couple of years, we have actually ramped up our enforcement presence at the farmers markets,” Agricultural Commissioner Jose Chang replied. “Not only here. We also hear from our neighboring counties that our farmers are going to their markets.”

In April, the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office sent a memo about “common compliance issues observed” at local farmers markets to Santa Barbara County’s certified producers, which total more than 100, Chang said. 

The memo included reminders for farmers market vendors to clearly display their business name at markets on their Santa Barbara County-required banner. Each banner for certified producers reads: “We grow what we sell.”

“Our job is to ensure that what they are selling at those markets, they are actually growing them,” Chang told the board. “So, we go back to the growing grounds to do inspections and to verify that they are growing what they sell at these markets.”

Chang said that most of the certification issues related to crop verification boil down to outdated paperwork.

“What we are finding is that oftentimes it is just a paper issue, that they forgot to come to the office and add those commodities that they’re growing,” Chang explained. “So, it’s not that our farmers are not complying with the regulations. Oftentimes, it is just an oversight on their part.”

This article appears in Jul 10-20, 2025.