Monterey County crop values dipped slightly from last year’s banner year, but the state’s fourth-largest agricultural producer still closed 2025 with an impressive $4.8 billion in production value.
Despite challenges that included fluctuating tariffs, rising regulatory costs, pest infestations and weakening demand for wine grapes, the county’s agricultural industry experienced only a modest decline, with overall production value falling 3% from the previous year, according to the Monterey County crop report released July 7.
The county recorded two billion-dollar crops in 2025. Strawberries, which surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2024, retained their position as Monterey County’s top crop, increasing in value by 3%. Leaf lettuce, including Romaine and other varieties, also reached the billion-dollar milestone, climbing 7% in value to exceed $1 billion.
Living up to its “Salad Bowl of the World” moniker, Monterey County remains the No. 1 lettuce producing county in the nation. Combined production of all lettuce varieties accounted for 33% of the total value reported in the 2025 Crop and Livestock Report, with head lettuce ranking as the county’s third most valuable crop.
Meanwhile, mushrooms disappeared from the county’s crop report following the closure of Monterey Mushrooms’ Royal Oaks facility at the end of 2024.
The theme of this year’s crop report highlights “25 years of organics,” celebrating the establishment of National Organic Program by the USDA in 2001.
In Monterey County, organic agriculture accounts for 18% of the entire value of the crop report, a value that has doubled over the last 10 years, from over $335 million in 2015 to over $849 million in 2025.
Wine grapes continue to struggle
While last year brought favorable weather for the county’s long growing season, said Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo, there remains “continual challenges” for the county’s agricultural producers.
For the second consecutive year, wine grapes posted a decline in production value. The crop fell from eighth to ninth place among Monterey County’s top agricultural commodities in 2025, as growers recorded a 25% drop in gross value and a 20% reduction in yields due to unharvested acreage.
Citing a decline in consumer demand for wine in both California and across the globe, Hidalgo said the result is lower yields, with some growers choosing not to harvest some of their wine grapes last year.
“We hope that over time there will be a balance in the industry and these values can begin to go up over the next few years,” Hidalgo said.
Disease and pest pressure
While broccoli remained the fourth most valuable agricultural commodity in the county in 2025, its valuation dropped 11% to $516,030,000.
Hidalgo said broccoli as well as other brassica crops such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts had a “very challenging time” last year due to the diamondback moth, considered a major agricultural pest.
“This is a pest that has been giving growers problems for a few years now, but in particular last year was very difficult for our growers to control,” said Hidalgo, adding that the damage makes the crops difficult to market.
Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), first reported in Monterey County in 2026, has emerged as a major pathogen in commercial lettuce production in the Salinas Valley.
Hidalgo said while the pathogen has “been kept in check for the last few years,” there was a resurgence in 2025, compared to the prior two years.
“This had some impacts in some of our lettuce producers, which saw a small decline in the value of their crops,” Hidalgo said.
Fluctuating tariffs, regulatory costs
Fluctuating tariffs during last spring and summer posed a unique challenge for growers, Hidalgo said, as they increased the cost of “agricultural equipment and fertilizers that come from abroad.”
While the agricultural commissioner’s office does not track tariffs, Hidalgo said, “there was definitely an impact to the commodities that we export to other nations,” noting a 25% decrease in total pounds of agricultural commodities exported in 2025 from the prior year.
The annual crop report includes gross values of agricultural commodities and does not include grower costs such as labor, field preparation and regulatory adherence.
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, said that on average 13% of production costs or $1,600 per acre is spent on regulations.
In a statement following the release of the 2025 crop report for Monterey County, Christopher Valadez, president and CEO of Grower-Shipper of Association of Central California said the “modest pullback” in the county’s vegetable sector underscores a need for “smarter policies to sustain our farms and facilities” and “dedicated workforce.”
Valdez added: “targeted regulatory relief, access to effective tools and recognition of real production economics are essential to keep the Central Coast thriving as the Salad Bowl of the World for generations to come.”
Monterey County’s Top 10 Crops by value in 2025
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Monterey County crops valued at over $4.8B
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian | USA TODAY Network
