August brings us to the time of year of all things agricultural. There’s the busyness of another harvest and the excitement of the Sonoma County and Gravenstein Apple fairs. It all happens with our county’s golden sunlit backdrop of open lands, fertile fields, trees and vines — and all under unobstructed skies. It’s a picture free of petty annoyances like traffic, urban noises, money woes or yesterday’s squabbles.
It’s great to be living in Sonoma County and it is great for many reasons. But our agricultural economy and farming heritage is chief among them.
Sonoma County’s agriculture has deep roots reaching back to Russian fur traders and Spanish and Mexican ranchos, followed later by European settlers. California’s first vineyards were planted here in 1857. By 1899, the county produced the most hops of any place in the world. As the 20th century opened, the county was the egg basket of the world producing $17.5 million in eggs and poultry in 1928. In the same era, there were 21,000 acres of prune orchards and, peaking just after World War II, county farmers tended to 15,000 acres of apple orchards.
Today, the dominant crop is wine grapes, planted on 59,000 acres, replacing many former apple and prune orchards, not to mention Russian River Valley hop fields.
The contents of Sonoma County’s farm basket may have evolved over almost two centuries, but the landscape and the people who farm it remain firmly grafted to the region’s roots.
Today, there are 3,600 farms on 589,771 acres producing nearly $1 billion ($898 million) in fruit, eggs, milk, livestock, vegetables, grains and nursery stock. Sixty percent of the county’s one million acres is zoned for agriculture production while urban and residentially zoned lands total just 26 percent.
Sonoma County is also home to 23 certified farmers’ markets, all of them now open for the remainder of various local harvests.
The 2016 official crop report, presented last week to the Board of Supervisors, depicts a growing diversity of farming pursuits and profits. Although wine grapes equal two-thirds of the total crop value ($587 million), there are about 1,600 individual vineyard owners, with almost half under 20 acres and family owned.
A visit this weekend to the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol offers a hands-on lesson about the expanding diversity of the county’s farming community and industry. While there are only 2,193 acres of apple orchards being farmed today compared to the 15,000 of just 50 years ago, fair visitors can taste cider from 16 local producers, almost none of which existed a decade ago. Most of the orchards are certified organic and fetching reliable prices for growers.
Among Sonoma County Farm Trails members (sponsors of the Gravenstein Fair) there are wool growers, bee keepers, cheese makers, heritage seed banks, locavore restaurants, biodynamic and sustainable vegetable growers, a grainery, heritage turkey, pig and cattle producers and olives, pumpkins and Christmas tree farmers, too.
The Gravenstein Fair takes place Aug. 12-13 at Ragle Ranch Regional Park. Admission proceeds support the nonprofit Farm Trails members and year-round marketing and educational programs. There are no carnival rides but there’s great live music, food, wine and beer tasting and tons of fresh-picked apples — some already baked in pies or part of the famous fritters.
Opening last Thursday was the 82nd Sonoma County Fair, which concludes this Sunday, Aug. 13. Besides horse racing, fried foods and tilt-a-whirl amusement rides, the county fair remains an annual climax to the 4-H and FFA year where more than $1.5 million is bid on youth livestock projects.
The 500 or so junior exhibitors each year represent the best of our county’s agricultural future. Not all of these young adults will pursue a farming career but all of them already have strengthened our shared ag roots. These include a love of the land, appreciation for honest work, enjoyment of quality foods and the kind of teamwork required every year at harvest.
