Cannabis as a cash crop has once again been left out of Nevada County’s annual agriculture report. Agriculture Commissioner Chris de Nijs told the Board of Supervisors, at their Tuesday meeting, that the 2020 gross value of all products was 19-point-7 million dollars, which is a 15-percent decrease over the 2019 value…

click to listen to Chris de Nijs

De Nijs said by far the largest contributor to the decline was the livestock industry. It was down 33-percent, due to lower market prices. But, on a more positive note, the value of fruit and vegetable crops was up around seven-percent. Meanwhile, he said his department was still unable to comply with a law signed by Governor Newsom that now allows cannabis crops to at least be mentioned in a supplemental report. De Nijs cited ongoing challenges in getting reliable information. But the executive director of the Cannabis Alliance, Diana Gamzon, then stepped up to the podium. She said just 16 acres of cannabis equated to a value of around 16-million dollars…

click to listen to Diana Gamzon

Gamzon says the acreage is only about five-percent of the total of all crops harvested. But she says it would have nearly doubled the county’s gross value.