Almonds and walnuts powered San Joaquin County to a strong 6.4% increase in total farm production last year while grape and cherry growers dealt with setbacks, Agricultural Commissioner Kamal Bagri reports.

The value of the county’s output totaled $3.4 billion, marking a turnaround from the previous year when the value of production sank 2.3%, the latest annual crop reports shows.

The report underscores the critical value that agriculture plays in the county. Bagri’s office reported earlier this year that the sector directly supports 24,025 jobs, which has grown 6.8% fom the last time that economic impact was studied in 2018.

“We know that agriculture is the heart of the economy here in San Joaquin County,” said Sonny Dhaliwal, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, in a statement after release of the latest crop report. “Our growers, producers, processors, and their employees feed the world and the economic impact of their work is seen throughout our local economy.”

Almonds displaced milk as the county’s most valuable agricultural commodity. The small brown nuts were also the county’s most valuable agricultural export. Growers accomplished the gains while dealing with difficult weather early in last year’s season. They made up for it with a 18.6% value gain through a solid harvest and better pricing.

Likewise, the walnut crop ultimately came through with a strong growing season and mostly favorable weather, becoming the county’s third most valuable crop. It saw a 12.4% value again and was the second most valuable agricultural export.

But the news wasn’t all good. Grapes, important not only in the county but statewide due to the wine industry, had a 14.8% decline. The grape industry has been hit by a variety of trouble, from bulk imports of grapes to changing consumer tastes that have made wine drinking less popular.

As a result, this year isn’t going any better for grape growers and their totals are likely to show a further year of decreases, Andrew Genasci, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau, told the county Board of Supervisors last week.

“There’s a lot going unharvested, a lot going unplanted. It’s still tough,” Genasci said.

Cherry growers had a trouble-plagued year as well. Growing conditions were so bad in the county that the county filed for a disaster declaration. Overall, the county’s cherry crop fell 12.5% but there was one saving grace: “Limited supply contributed to a 15.63% increase in cherry prices,” Bagri said.

Here’s how the top 10 most valuable agricultural commodities produced in the county stacked up in 2025:

Almonds: $584 million
Milk: $556 million
Walnuts: $306.8 million
Eggs and Chicken: $283 million
Grapes: $272 million
Cherries: $210.1 million
Cattle: $165 million
Tomatoes: $115 million
Blueberries: $103.7 million