Oct 14, 2021Washington’s 2020 potato crop valued at $753 million, down 19%
The value of Washington’s 2020 agricultural production totaled $10.2 billion, up 7% from the revised previous year value of $9.49 billion.
Top top agriculture commodities in Washington in 2020 were:
- Apples — $2.1 billion
- Milk — $1.19 billion
- Wheat — $949 million
- Potatoes — $753 million
- Cattle and calves — $693 million
Apples remain the leading agricultural commodity in the state with a 2020 value of $2.1 billion. This is up 7% from the previous year. Apples represented 21% of the total agricultural value in 2020. In the previous year, apple’s share of the total was also 21%. Milk remained in the second position and had value of production totaling $1.19 billion dollars in 2020, down 7% from 2019. All Wheat value of production moved up one position from the previous year to third in the state rankings. Wheat value in 2020 was $949 million, up 20% from the previous year.
Potatoes, valued at $753 million, represented the fourth-highest value in the state. This was a 19% decrease from the previous year.
Cattle and calves rounded out the top five with a value of $693 million, down 1% from the previous year. These five commodities had a combined value of $5.68 billion, or 56% of the 2020 value for all commodities (excluding government payments). The same five commodities in 2019 had a combined value of $5.67 billion, 60% of the total value.
A record-high value of production was set for sweet cherries. Value of sweet cherry production in 2020 was $562 million, up 43% from the previous year and 7% higher than the previous record high in 2011. Egg value of production entered the top 10, with a value of $220 million in 2020, an increase of 33% from the previous year.
There were notable commodities outside the top 10 that showed significant increases in value from the previous year. The value of blueberries reached a record-high value of $214 million in 2020, up 40% from the 2019 previous record high. All pear value of production increased 23% to $176 million in 2020. The value of canola, at $40 million, increased for the fifth consecutive year. Five of the top 10 commodities declined in value from the previous year, including milk, potatoes, cattle and calves, hops and grapes. Other notable commodities that declined in value in 2020 were onions, down 25% to $136 million, and sweet corn, down 14% to $73.9 million.
— USDA-NASS
