County officials ask to place insect traps in local yards

County agriculture officials are seeking homeowners to volunteer for placement of insect traps on their property to help detect and combat invasive species that threaten local plant life.

San Luis Obispo County's diverse crops and appealing landscapes also attract invasive and destructive insect pests and plant diseases due to the pleasant climate. 

To combat this, in 2022, over 8,700 residents volunteered for the County Department of Agricultural/Weights and Measures’ Pest Detection Trapping Program to search for exotic and destructive insects. 

More than 2,500 traps were set and moved throughout the county, with residents offering their fruit trees, gardens, or landscape plants as monitoring locations.

Martin Settevendemie, the County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer, urges residents throughout the county to volunteer their locations for monitoring as the 2023 insect trapping season commences. 

County annual agriculture value surpasses $1 billion for the second time

For the second time, agriculture production in San Luis Obispo County has exceeded $1 billion in value. 

According to the San Luis Obispo County Agriculture Commissioner's Crop Report, crops and products reached a high of $1,081,952 for 2021. This is about a 10 percent increase from 2020. 

Here's how the various products did:

Animal Industry

Ongoing drought conditions continue to impact the animal industry. Cattle were sold at lower weights due to the lack of natural forage and the high cost of supplemental feed. Although prices were higher, the overall value of the Animal Industry decreased by 7.3% ending the year at $43.1 million. 45,253 head of cattle were sold in 2021, which is a 3.6% decrease from 2020.

Field Crops

The value of field crops decreased by 26% due to extremely dry conditions. Field crops are primarily dry farmed and dependent on annual rainfall rather than irrigation. With very little rainfall during the year, hundreds of acres of field crops were left unharvested. The value of field crops at year’s end was $14,889,000 or $5.3 million lower than 2020.