Solano County broke its own agricultural production record last year, with a crop and livestock yield valued at $47.6 million, according to county agriculture officials.
The previous record was in 2023, at around $46.4 million.
In a presentation to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Agricultural Commissioner Ed King and Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Matthew Carl walked supervisors through the highs and lows of the 2025 Crop and Livestock Report for Solano County, where 67% of the land is agricultural and farmland and where the industry creates jobs for an estimated 6,000 people.
Solano’s bounty is varied, from queen bees and sheep to nuts and winegrapes.
Heading the annual top 10 list for production value in the county are almonds, cattle and calves, and tomatoes, in that order; it’s a switch-up from last year, when tomatoes were number two and cattle and calves came in third.
Almonds have held the number one spot for two years in a row, surpassing previous levels, with 23,700 tons valued at $108 million in 2025. That’s an estimated $30 million increase from 2024, and around 2% of California’s annual almond harvest, according to King.
Cattle and calves came in second at a value of $65.3 million — a dramatic rise from $48.8 million in 2024.
In third for 2025 were tomatoes, at $50.2 million in production value — down around $5.5 million from 2024. In Solano County, tomatoes enjoy a long growing season and are in high demand thanks to the Campbell Soup Supply factory in Dixon, which produces much of the tomato paste for Campbell products.
Too many tomatoes
King said the decline in tomato production value is largely because canneries had sufficient inventory from the previous harvest and didn’t contract for an increase.
Winegrapes, typically grown in the Suisun Valley, took the fourth spot, showing a small gain in 2025, driven by red varietals.
“Suisun Valley was voted the number one wine region by USA Today readers last year,” said King. “There is something special about Suisun Valley holding its own in the current situation.”
But overall, grape harvest has lowered significantly in the last two years, a trend reflected around the region.
Solano County crops have a wide reach. In 2025, locally grown goods were exported to 32 countries around the world, according to the report. The county’s top customers were Japan, South Korea and Mexico, while the top commodities exported were alfalfa, sudangrass hay and strawberry plants.
Infestation problems
The county was one of 30 in the state affected by an infestation of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an insect King called “our persistent nemesis.” The sharpshooter, which targets grapevines, transmits a deadly disease to plants. The pest traveled on grape vine and desert willow plants sold at Costco from April to July. King said there were five “detections” locally in June and July.
Some pests come from closer to home. Following a dismal 2022 walnut yield — what King called “rock bottom” — several growers have neglected or outright abandoned their walnut orchards, creating pest problems for nearby farms.
But that seems to be as bad as it gets. Solano County and the entire state have evaded the deadly screwworm, a flesh-eating, parasitic fly currently infesting parts of Texas, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture dashboard.
King said the USDA is “rebuilding capacity and infrastructure” to address the insect issue.
During public comment, locals advocated for refocusing the county’s priorities on agriculture and farmland.
“This report shows exactly what our county has to offer,” said resident Charlene Schmidt. “Should Suisun annex that farmland, we would have a definite drop in sheep and cows.”
Schmidt was referring to the roughly 20,000 acres of unincorporated agricultural land poised for annexation to Suisun City for the development of California Forever.
Gaul Cully, a local realtor in a cowboy hat, highlighted the report’s record-breaking numbers as “something every resident of Solano County should be proud of, and should know about.”
But, she said, agriculture “is often absent from the public conversation about Solano County’s major public drivers. Agriculture is one of our greatest strengths today, and it deserves to be recognized as much.”