Ag Alert November 4, 2026

Labor: 45¢

◊ Inputs: irrigation, fuel, fertilizer and packaging ◊ Plant Care: organic and conventional pest and disease management

interest, levies and other financial costs ◊ Net Return-Loss: grower net income

LEMON CO

Costs Continued from Page 3

Services: 12¢ Compliance: 3¢

Inputs: 20¢

Labor: 45¢

Land: 18¢

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES VENTURA COUNTY, USA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES

THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER V VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 V VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 1 V VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER V VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 1 V VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 1 THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 1 THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER V THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER

Cost = 101¢ No return to grower. An additional 1¢ is needed to cover all costs.

THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER

STRAWBERRIES ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 STRAWBERRIES

STRAWBERRIES ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 1 STRAWBERRIES V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 1 1 STRAWBERRIES ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 1 1 1 1

ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 STRAWBERRIES ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 1 1 1

The report examined six categories of farm expenses: labor, land, inputs, plant care, services and regulatory compliance. Labor was the largest production expense for many of the county’s major crops. Lampara said the contrast between the record production figure and the cost esti- mates illustrates the challenges facing the region’s agriculture. She attributed the fi- nancial squeeze to policy and production economics, emphasizing that growers in- creasingly struggle to make farming pay. The new report “sets the record straight,” she said, pointing to growers’ declining re- turns even as irrigated farmland has re- mained relatively stable. County records show 98,470 acres of irrigated cropland in 2025, compared with 98,732 acres in 2024. The report cautioned that its cost anal- ysis is intended to provide context on pro- duction economics rather than serve as a formal economic study. Its estimates focus on wholesale production costs and do not include expenses such as marketing, retail markups or sales taxes. Bell acknowledged that providing the new information was “a heavy lift.” She ini- tially looked to the University of California Cooperative Extension to do the work but eventually hired someone for the project. It took the new staff person six months of interviewing growers to compile the cost information, she noted.

Labor: 37¢ generated by Ventura County’s two top crops—strawberries and lemons. After paying expenses for labor (wages, benefits and workforce), land (leasing, field preparation and planting stock), inputs (irrigation, fuel, fertilizer and packaging), plant care (pest and disease management), ser- vices (custom work, postharvest operations and equipment rent- als) and compliance (regulatory fees, taxes, insurance, interest, levies and other financial costs), the 2025 crop report found This graphic shows the cost and return per dollar revenue strawberry growers lost 1 cent per dollar revenue while lemon growers lost 12 cents.

STRAWBERRIES

Loss: 1¢

Chief Deputy Commissioner

Agricultural Commissioner

Plant Care: 3¢

COUNTY

ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA LEMONS VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES V LEMONS LEMONS VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES V LEMONS LEMONS VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES V LEMONS LEMONS VENTURA COUNTY, USA 1 ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES V LEMONS LEMONS VENTURA COUNTY, USA Labor: 37¢ Land: 28¢ SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 ONE V ENTURA C OUNTY, CA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/WEIGHTS & MEASURES VENTURA COUNTY, USA V LEMONS Inputs: 12¢ SERIES 2025 Agricultural Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER 5 5 5 5 V LEMONS LEMONS

Services: 25¢ Compliance: 7¢

STRAWBERRY

Cost = 112¢ No return to grower. An additional 12¢ is needed to cover all costs.

Loss: 12¢

Plant Care: 3¢

Bell said growers and the county board of supervisors have responded positively to the new data, with supervisors asking her to continue including cost estimates in future reports. However, the long-term outlook for the project remains uncertain. It’s unclear whether other county crop reports will begin publishing simi- lar cost data, but Bell said Santa Barbara

County’s agricultural commissioner has expressed interest. Lampara said Farm Bureau of Ventura County’s analysis of the data is available at economicsoftheacre.org, where the orga- nization plans to build an index that tracks the economic health of Ventura County agriculture. She said the index could then be used to “impact check” pending or

proposed policy, giving the Farm Bureau a new advocacy tool. “I have not had anyone in the ag com- munity tell me that they don’t want this story told,” she said. “Everybody’s telling me that it’s about time.” Ching Lee is senior editor of Ag Alert. She can be reached at clee@cfbf.com.

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12 Ag Alert November 4, 2026