California Top Wine Grape Producer and Cost of Farming Gap Grows
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**Western states produce a lot of wine, but California is the top wine grape-producing State in the Nation.
The top six varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, French Colombard, and Pinot Gris.
Of the 2.9 million tons of wine grapes crushed in 2024, the top varietals, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, made up more than a third.
The 2024 California grape crush was valued at $2.99 billion, down 26% from 2023.
**U.S. farmers are facing one of the widest gaps in a decade between what they pay to produce food and what they earn from selling it.
That’s according to Investigate Midwest’s Lauren Cross who reports new USDA data shows the October prices paid index climbed to 154.6, while the prices received index fell to 120.5.
That means production costs were more than 50% higher than in 2011, while prices received were about 21% higher.
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**With Venezuela making the front page in recent days, with the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, it’s important to remember what a valuable market it is for U.S. farmers.
As of last year, the United States was the second-largest exporter of farm products to Venezuela with a 26% market share, according to USDA.
The main U.S. ag exports include soybean meal, corn, wheat, soybeans and rice.
