Not so long ago commodity field crops like hay, sugar beets and cotton were more prevalent in California than specialty crops were. This was particularly the case in the Central Valley, the state’s farming breadbasket.

These commodities still exist significantly in California, particularly in the Central Valley, but field crops have largely been supplanted by specialty crops such as nut trees, table grapes, leafy greens, citrus and others.

What might surprise many though is the degree to which this shift from field crops to specialty crops has occurred. After all, it’s not something the average person can determine with their eyes merely driving from north to south along Interstate-5, although the ubiquity of almond orchards — acres and acres, row after row — throughout the Central Valley landscape does offer a hint. 

The University of California’s Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics found in a new study that farmland set aside statewide for field crops like cotton, hay and others dropped by almost half to 2.7 million acres between 1959 and 2017. That’s huge.

At the same time, the amount of land dedicated to specialty or permanent crops like nuts, grapes, citrus and others more than doubled to 5.1 million acres, according to the study.

The study also found that although California has a large land area, the amount suitable for crop production today is relatively limited.

Case in point: California’s total land area is officially listed at 99,698,560 acres (or 155,779 square miles), but just 24,522,801 acres of that land are in farming. The majority (61%) of the state’s land in farms consists of permanent pasture and rangeland, woodland pasture and land in farmsteads, homes, buildings, facilities, ponds and roads.

Another finding in the study points to how amazingly productive California’s specialty crop farmers are. 

Harvested cropland in 2017 totaled only 7,857, 512 acres, which is roughly equivalent to 7,833,593 acres of irrigated land. These irrigated acres of crop land, which comprise a mere 7.8% of California’s total land area, produce the specialty crops for which California supplies the nation and the world with in abundance. 

Specialty crop farmers have without question learned how to turn less (minimal available cropland) into more (production), considering the fact California specialty crop volume increases year-after-year.

Interestingly, the massive shift from field crops to specialty crops from 1959 to 2017 mirrors the changes in the eating habits of Americans. Highly processed food, dairy, animal meat and sugary foods were the staples of the American diet from the 1950’s through the mid-1980’s. But beginning in the late 1980s the movement to “healthier eating” started gaining traction. 

In the 1990’s many consumers started to shift in a major way from regularly eating highly-processed prepared and frozen packaged foods, instead switching to fresh produce, including leafy greens, tree nuts, citrus fruits and others. Specialty crops.

From the 1950’s to 1980’s the center of the grocery store and frozen food department were where the action was. Today the produce department and fresh foods section is what’s hot among consumers.

In other words, consumer demand combined with industry innovations like pre-packaged greens, ready-to-eat salads, “easy-peel” citrus, convenient snack nut products and others have played a significant role in the shift from commodity field crops to specialty crops in California.

State regulations that have limited irrigation water availability also have played a key role in the shift from field crops to specialty crops. 

So called forage crops require too much water (which means higher cost) for the economic value they return to farmers. This, coupled with decreased demand — Americans for example drink 40% less dairy milk today than they did in 1975, which has led to a significant reduction in demand for commodity crops like feed corn and alfalfa — offers a strong economic rational for ditching field crops in favor of specialty crops.

California farmers looking to maximize revenue and profits in the face of declining water supplies therefore have little choice but to produce the most valuable crops, which are specialty crops.

Farming in the Golden State today is all about maximizing revenue-per-drop of water.

Increased demand from consumers overseas who’ve seen their incomes increase significantly over the last few decades also has played a role in the shift from field crops to specialty crops in California. The Chinese and Japanese for example seemingly have an insatiable appetite for California-grown tree nuts and citrus and are willing to pay a premium for our almonds, walnuts, oranges and other fresh produce. Europeans too love California-grown produce, particularly the things not grown at home.

The shortage of farm labor in California is an additional factor in the shift to specialty crops. maximum financial return. Field crops don’t generally fit that requirement.

Based on my assessment of the agriculture environment in California today and into the future, which includes continued irrigation water and farm labor scarcity, along with a continued decrease in the availability of land available for farming because of ongoing urbanization and suburbanization, coupled with what will be continued consumer demand at home and abroad for specialty produce and nuts — many of which are grown only or predominantly in the state — we will see the shift from field crops to specialty crops to continue unabated.

Specialty crops are where the market value is for farmers today and tomorrow in California.