Madera County’s agricultural commissioner presented the 2024 crop and livestock report Tuesday, reporting a record gross value for county agricultural commodities and highlighting leading crops and export markets.

Rusty Lanceberger told the Board of Supervisors the county’s gross total agricultural value for 2024 was $2,376,948,000 — an increase of roughly $517 million from the previous year. He cautioned that the figures represent gross value and do not reflect production costs or net returns to producers, and that prices are estimates based on average producer‑reported receipts.

Highlights in the presentation included harvested acreage of about 735,380 acres countywide and top commodities where Madera County ranks highly in production. Lanceberger cited Madera County as number 1 in the United States for fig production and among the top counties for almonds, raisins, pistachios and table grapes. He said county commodities ship to more than 76 countries and that staff assist at packing sheds by issuing export documents.

Supervisors asked questions about specific commodity rankings and factors affecting future planting decisions, including the costs of water and other production inputs, Sigma‑related land impacts, avian influenza impacts on poultry and dairy herd production, and changes to federal data availability that complicated reporting. Lanceberger said counties work with producers and neighboring counties as well as the California Department of Food and Agriculture to verify production and price estimates.

The presentation required no formal board action; staff said the full report is included in the meeting packet for review.