Memorandum
Date: September 9, 2025
To: The Honorable, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Katherine Vanderwall Agricultural Commissioner Sealer of Weights and Measures
Subject: Presentation of Crop Report Plus - Economic Contributions of Lake County Agriculture
Executive Summary:
The Lake County Department of Agriculture commissioned a report to determine the economic contributions of Lake County agriculture. This report takes an important step beyond the Lake County Crop & Livestock Report that we have published every year for nearly a century. Instead of stopping at crop production values and acreage, it quantifies agriculture’s total economic contributions through production, local processing, employment and economic multiplier effects. The information in this report is based on the 2023 Annual Crop Report and is an update to the previous report published in 2019 utilizing the 2017 Annual Crop Report data. This study was conducted by Drs. Jeff Lanholz and Fernando DePaolis of Agricultural Impacts Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in agricultural economics.
Key findings include:
• Including local food production, processing, and multiplier effects, agriculture contributed $300,175,932 to the county economy. This represents $822,400 per day and $34,267 per hour.
• Of the $300,175,932 in total economic contribution, $224,252,065 came from direct economic output via production and processing. An additional $75,923,868 came from multiplier effects generated by purchase of agricultural supplies and spending by employees.
• Of the 2,107 total jobs agriculture supported, 1,460 were direct employees in production and processing, about one out of every 17.5 jobs in the county. The remaining 647 jobs were made possible through expenditures by agriculture companies, their suppliers, and employees.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: Amount Budgeted: Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
Consistency with Vision 2028 (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☒ Well-being of Residents ☐ Public Safety ☐ Disaster Preparedness, Prevention, Recovery
☒ Economic Development ☐ Infrastructure ☐ County Workforce
☒ Community Collaboration ☐ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake
If request for exemption from competitive bid in accordance with County Code Chapter 2 Sec. 2-38, fill in blanks below:
Which exemption is being requested?
How long has Agreement been in place?
When was purchase last rebid?
Reason for request to waive bid?
Recommended Action: Presentation only.