Cattle and calves		
	Goats
	Sheep and lambs

	Alfalfa
	Cotton		
	Hay				
	Organic vegetables
	Processing tomatoes		
	Sunflowers 
	Wheat

	Almonds			
	Citrus			
	Grapes				
	Walnuts

	Flowers
	Nursery products
	Game birds
 

Major Crops in the Capay Valley

(December 2000)

In recent years, organic agricultural production in and around the Capay Valley has made great strides. Twenty-four local organic growers are currently registered with the Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner's office. Reported revenues from the approximately 700 intensively farmed acres of organic production in the Capay Valley alone have soared from approximately $976,228 in 1995 to approximately $3,179,232 in 2001.

Reasons for this trend include a growing public interest in organic foods of all kinds; relative lack of common agricultural pests associated with the monoculture of very large fields; favorable opportunities to purchase and lease land for small-scale producers; and convenience to markets in and around Sacramento and the Bay Area. Several successful local organic producers have ongoing relationships with upscale restaurants and large Farmers' Markets in the Bay Area, besides operating custom weekly produce delivery services for individual and group subscribers.

Recent consumer trends suggest that alternative farming systems such as organic farming will comprise at least 20 percent and as much as 60 percent of all California cropland in 2025, up from only about 2 percent in 2000. Experienced organic growers in the Capay Valley region should be in a good position to take advantage of these trends.

California's expanding wine industry has also reached into the Capay Valley. Several small vineyards have recently been planted, and a young local winery is expanding production. A few miles north of Esparto, in the Hungry Hollow area, lie the vineyards of one of the largest wineries in the state.

Increasing traffic along State Highway 16, the only arterial into the Capay Valley, poses some threat to current agricultural activities-for example, the movement of farm machinery-yet significant opportunities exist for expanding and diversifying ag-related economic activities. Some land in the region is currently under-utilized, and the available labor pool could serve new ventures. Efforts are underway to assess the potential for value-added farm products utilizing year-round area production. Growers are also seeking to attain the designation of the Capay Valley as an appellation area for both wine grapes and produce, to recognize the area's uniqueness as an agricultural ecosystem and production source.

Crop			Harvest interval

 
Alfalfa				May-September (5-6 cuttings)
Almonds				August-September
Apricots			June-mid-July
Asparagus			March-mid-May
Basil				July-September
Beans, green			July-August
Beets 				October-April
Broccoli			October-May
Cabbage				October-May
Carrots				October-March
Celery				October-January
Chard				September-June
Corn, field 			August-September
Corn, sweet			July-September
Cotton				October
Cucumbers			June-September
Daikon				October-April
Eggplant			August-October
Figs				June-August
Flowers				March-October
Garlic				January-April
Grapes				August-September
Greens				October-May
Leeks				October-February
Lemons				January-April
Lettuce				September-May
Melons				August-September
Oat hay				June
Olive oil			Nov-December
Onions				March-October
Oranges, mandarin		Nov-December
Oranges, navel			January-May
Peaches, nectarines		July-September
Pears				September-October
Peppers, sweet or hot		June-October
Potatoes			May-July
Potatoes, fall			October-February
Pumpkins			September-October
Safflower			July-August
Spinach				November-April
Squash, summer			June-October
Squash, winter			September-October
Sugar peas			March-April
Strawberries			April-June
Sunflowers, seed		August-October
Tomatoes			July-October
Turnips				October-March
Walnuts				October
Wheat				June

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