California continues to lead the nation in agricultural production, according to the latest (2022) U.S. Census of Agriculture, which was released late last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Statistics Service.

Just how dominant and important is California when it comes to food and fiber production? Well, hold onto your John Deer cap, because a whopping nine of the top-10 counties in the U.S. in agricultural production are in California.

Here’s the ranking, according to USDA.

Fresno County is first in the nation, with a total production value of $7 billion, followed by Tulare County ($6.4 billion), Monterey County ($5.5 billion), Kern County ($5 billion), Merced County ($4 billion), Imperial and San Joaquin counties ($3 billion respectively) and Santa Barbara County ($2.6 billion).

Grant County in Washington State, with a total production value of $2.6 billion, was the lone county outside of California to make it in the top-10 nationally.

It’s worth taking a moment to digest the ranking above, along with the billions of dollars associated with each of the California counties. An amazing achievement. California is an agricultural nation state that just happens to be geographically located within the United States. As an example, Fresno County’s 2002 agricultural sales of $7 billion were greater than that of 23 separate states, according to the USDA.

It’s also important to note that the majority of the nation’s agricultural production takes place in California’s Central Valley, where until recently farmers have been struggling to obtain enough water to irrigate their crops. Despite that challenge, Central Valley farmers, like all California farmers, continue to produce the majority of food that feeds Americans, as well as people throughout the world.

The 2022 Census of Agriculture is the “What’s What” and “Who’s Who” of agriculture in the U.S. It spans more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them down to the county level. The information is collected directly from producers.
In addition to ranking the top ag-producing U.S. counties, the U.S. Census of Agriculture also provides valuable insights into farming and ranching, including demographics, economics, land use and other important activities on U.S. farms and ranches. Here are some of the most interesting and important data from the 2022 census:

• There were 1.9 million farms and ranches (down 7% from 2017) with an average size of 463 acres (up 5%) on 880 million acres of farmland (down 2%). That is 39% of all U.S. land.
• Family-owned and operated farms accounted for 95% of all U.S. farms and operated 84% of land in farms.
• U.S. farms and ranches produced $543 billion in agricultural products, up from $389 billion in 2017. With farm production expenses of $424 billion, U.S. farms had net cash income of $152 billion. Average farm income rose to $79,790. A total of 43% of farms had positive net cash farm income in 2022.
• Farms with internet access continued to rise from 75% in 2017 to 79% in 2022.
• A total of 153,101 farms and ranches used renewable energy producing systems compared to 133,176 farms in 2017, a 15% increase. The majority of farms (76%) with renewable energy systems reported using solar panels. At 16,699 farms, California is the top state using renewable energy-producing systems in agriculture. Solar is the most common renewable energy-producing system on farms and ranches in the Golden State.
• In 2022, 116,617 farms sold directly to consumers, with sales of $3.3 billion. Value of sales increased 16% from 2017.
• The 105,384 farms with sales of $1 million or more were 6% of U.S. farms and 31% of farmland; they sold more than three-fourths of all agricultural products. The 1.4 million farms with sales of $50,000 or less accounted for 74% of farms, 25% of farmland, and 2% of sales.
• Nearly three-fourths of farmland was used by farms specializing in two commodity categories: oilseed and grain production (32%) and beef cattle production (40%).
• The average age of all producers was 58.1, up 0.6 years from 2017. This is a smaller increase than average age increases between prior censuses. The average age of a farmer in California is even higher at 59.9 (let’s call it 60), up from 59.2 in 2017.
• There were just over 1 million farmers with 10 or fewer years of experience, an increase in the number of beginning farmers from 2017 of 11%. Beginning farmers are younger than all farmers, with an average age of 47.1.
• The number of producers under age 35 was 296,480, comprising 9% of all producers. The 221,233 farms with young producers making decisions tend to be larger than average in both acres and sales.
• In 2022, 1.2 million female producers accounted for 36% of all producers. Fifty-eight percent of all farms had at least one female decision maker.

Click Here For Merchandise

It should be of serious concern to all of us that there are 7% fewer farms and ranches in the U.S. in 2022 than there were in 2017 and that the total amount of farmland has decreased nationally by 2% over the same period (the first bullit point on my list above).

Here in California the number of farms decreased to 63,134, down 10% from 2017 with an average size of 383 acres (up 10%) on 24.2 million acres of farmland (down 1%)

The U.S. as a whole and California as a state can’t afford to continue losing farms and farmland, even though farmers, enabled by talent and technology, are producing the same or higher yields on less farmland. For example, here in California, which is the nation’s number one farm state, the total market value of agricultural products sold in 2022 was $59 billion, up $13.8 billion from 2017.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is concerned and is sounding the alarm on farm and farmland loss. At a February press conference announcing the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Vilsack said, “It’s [the survey] essentially asking the critical question of whether as a country we are okay with losing that many farms, okay with losing that much farmland. Or is there a better way?”

Vilsack’s answer is that the country shouldn’t be okay with losing farms and farmland. He said he, USDA and the Biden Administration have started working on those “better ways.”

We all (including policy makers) also should pay close attention to the fact that the average age of farmers nationally is nearly 60-years-old and it is 60 here in California. This is directly related to the loss of farms and farmland because many farmers are nearing retirement age and if unable to pass their farms and farmland on to younger generation family members or sell it for agricultural use, they’ll be forced to sell it for other uses such as industrial or residential housing, which will take the land out of production.
USDA should explore new policies that address the aging out of the average U.S. farmers. The California Department of Food and Agriculture needs to do the same here in the Golden State.

Meanwhile, despite all the urban and suburban encroachment on rural farmland in the Golden State, coupled with ever-increasing government regulations, higher farm input costs, national disasters like wildfires, and years of drought followed now by flooding, California continues to be the dominant and most important agricultural production state in the nation, according to the most-current U.S. Census of Agriculture. It’s an amazing leadership achievement we should celebrate and maintain.

My Job Depends on Ag Magazine columnist and contributing editor Victor Martino is an agrifood industry consultant, entrepreneur and writer. One of his passions and current projects is working with farmers who want to develop their own branded food products. You can contact him at: victormartino415@gmail.com.