Stanislaus County agricultural producers not only managed to pull through another year of drought conditions in 2014 with a record-breaking year for agricultural commodities, but county growers also generated the greatest one-year value increase in the history of the Stanislaus County Agricultural Crop Report.

“The production values went up overall by $734 million from 2013, which is quite large,” said Agricultural Commissioner Milton O’Haire. “That’s almost equivalent to our entire crop report back in 1981, which was $743 million.”

According to the 2014 Stanislaus County Agricultural Crop Report, which was released Tuesday, last year managed to surpass 2013 numbers by $734 million, or 20 percent, with an overall $4.4 billion value of agricultural commodities.

This increase is primarily a result of the significant rise in the value of almond meats, cattle and calves, milk production, turkeys, silage and walnuts. Almond meats saw an increase of $224 million, followed by cattle and calves with $156 million and milk with $148 million.

“Those are some outstanding numbers,” said O’Haire. “Much of this credit goes to the industry for a lot of hard work and sacrifice, in spite of the drought.”

However, agricultural producers in 2014 were not able to escape drought conditions entirely with forced fallowing that led to more than 13,000 fewer harvested acres, most of which were vegetable and silage crops on the west side of the county, according to the report.

The 2014 report also marks the second time that the almond industry has achieved the number one commodity spot after overthrowing the dairy business and earning the title as the county’s first $1 billion dollar crop in 2013. In 2014, almonds had an overall value of $1.4 billion.

“This year we combined the almond meat, hulls and shells in the top 10 commodities, but even without that they would still be number one by far,” said O’Haire. “Almond meats alone increased by $224 million.”

Cattle and calves surpassed walnuts to secure the number three commodity crop at $392 million, a $156 million increase from 2013 numbers. Additionally, turkeys, which did not even make the 2013 top 10 commodity list, bumped up nine spots onto this year’s list with a value at $100 million.

The Stanislaus County Agricultural Crop Report is a yearly account of the region’s agricultural production data. Compiled from a myriad of sources, the report incorporates data that has been accumulated from surveys filled out by producers, associations, and water districts.

To view the 2014 Stanislaus County Agricultural Crop Report, visit stanag.org/crop-reports.shtm.