The value of agricultural production in Marin County shrunk by 5 percent in 2021, according to Scott Wise, the county’s agricultural commissioner.

What’s to blame for the decline? Mostly drought and farmers who have chosen to fallow more of their land, the county said. “Fallowing” is plowing and harrowing a parcel of land but not sowing seeds in it, so as to give it time to restore fertility. This is sometimes known as crop rotation.

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.