Fruit crop values increase Although the overall value of
Washington’s agricultural production dropped 8 percent in 2009
from the previous year, grapes set a record high value,
according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Grape growers contributed $210 million to the state’s
agricultural economy, figures compiled by the National
Agricultural Statistics Service for the year 2009, show. Apples
continued to top the list of Washington’s agricultural
commodities with a value of $1.5 billion, a 14 percent increase
from 2008. Apples represented 21 percent of the total
agricultural value, compared with 17 percent in 2008. The per-
acre value for apples was $9,628, the highest of any commodity
except storage onions, which had a value of $11,063. Fruit and
nut crops as a whole were valued at $2 billion, up 5 percent
from 2008, but the value of specialty products, at $373 million,
was the lowest in many years.