Farming, lifeblood of Central California, has changed since 2002. What acreage shifts mean?

From one end of the San Joaquin Valley to the other, agriculture and all of its parts is considered the lifeblood of the eight-county region – its largest industry, and the foundation of its economy.

The Valley consists of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties, and includes some of the most productive farmland in the nation — more than 6.8 million acres of agricultural land, including livestock operations, according to the 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture.

Just how much land is that? Think about it like this: A football field, including the end zones, covers about 1.32 acres. Now picture almost 5.2 million football fields, and that’s about how much farmland there is across the Valley from the Sierra Nevada to the Coast range.

And there’s also an abundance of livestock Valleywide, millions of chickens and cattle and tens of thousands of sheep, goats and pigs.

Yet the acreage devoted to different kinds of crops has undergone a major shift over the past 20 years — the result of myriad factors including changes in commodity prices, market demand for various crops, availability of water, among others. Some of the most dramatic changes have come in tree crops including almonds and pistachios, and in field crops including cotton and wheat.

Over the decades, for instance, cotton acreage has fallen because of increased competition from countries like India and China, according to the Sustainable Cotton Project, prompting farmers to shift to more profitable crops. Researchers with the the University of California at Davis noted that drought, uncertain water supplies and rising irrigation costs also contributed to the trend of reduced cotton acreage that dates to the 1980s, as well as the arrival of pesticide-resistant pests like the pink bollworm and sweet potato whitefly.

As cotton fetched lower prices, growers shifted their attention to other crops with greater profit potential, including almonds, grapes and processing tomatoes, the UC Davis researchers found.

Almonds, in particular, saw more farmers convert their land from other crops, spurred by increasing global demand for the nuts both in the U.S. and abroad. The combination of ideal growing conditions for almond orchards in the San Joaquin Valley, and the economic advantage of generally higher prices than many other commodities, contributed to the Valley’s emergence as the leading almond-producing region of the United States.

In western Fresno County, Woolf Farming was among the first operations to plant crops like almonds and pistachios 50 years ago. Now, Stuart Woolf is trying something new, planting agave from which spirits like mezcal can be distilled on about 340 acres of land formerly devoted to more water-intensive crops.

The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, strives to tally the acreage and number of farmers producing crops and commodities registering at least $1,000 of production or sales. And while Woolf’s agave crop – which has yet to reach maturity for harvest, is not reflected in the 2022 census, there are plenty of others that are.

Here’s a rundown of some of the Valley’s notable crops and how the land dedicated to farming them has changed over the past two decades.

Almonds

Almonds represent the crop with the largest acreage across the Valley, and by a wide margin. The acreage of almond trees, both bearing and non-bearing, in the region more than doubled between 2002 and 2022, rising from just over 551,000 acres in 2002 to almost 1.3 million by 2022 – an increase of more than 722,000 acres or 131%. That increase in acreage by itself exceeds the acres occupied by any other stand-alone crop in the Valley.

The largest acreage of almonds in the Valley is found in Fresno County, where the ag census reported almost 300,000 acres in 2022 – about three times more than the 99,813 acres reported 20 years earlier. Rounding out the Valley’s top five almond-growing counties are Kern at 255,454 acres, Stanislaus at 238,190 acres, Merced at 163,831 acres, and Madera at 148,789 acres.

Grapes

Grapes for all purposes, from table grapes to those grown for raisins, wine or juice, aren’t as dominant as they once were, but remain the crop with the second-largest acreage in the Valley as of 2022 at almost 506,000 acres.

But that’s more than 80,000 fewer acres of grapevines than in 2002 – a loss of almost 14%.

Fresno County remains the Valley’s grape leader at 160,324 acres, followed by San Joaquin County at 111,972 acres, Kern County at 95,424 acres, Madera County at 55,989 acres, and Tulare County at 50,260 acres.

Pistachios

Pistachios, those tough-to-crack little nuts, saw an even greater rate of growth than almonds over the past 20 years in the Valley. Total bearing and non-bearing acres of pistachios rose from a little over 115,000 acres in 2002 to more than 502,000 in 2022 – a whopping 335%.

As a result, pistachios occupy the second largest volume of acreage in the region, led by Kern County at more than 170,000 acres. Fresno County comes in second at almost 150,000 acres, followed by Tulare at more than 57,000 acres, Madera County at about 51,000 acres, and Kings County at almost 50,000 acres.

Cotton

Years ago, cotton was one of the most prevalent crops in the Valley, with harvested acreage amounting to almost 655,000 acres in 2002.

But now cotton represents the crop with the largest drop in acreage – a two-decade decline of almost 80% to less than 132,000 acres by 2022.

Kings County had the largest acreage in cotton in 2022 at just under 50,000, followed by about 33,300 acres in Merced County, about 32,600 acres in Fresno County, fewer than 10,000 acres in Kern County and about 6,400 acres in Tulare County. No appreciable acreage of cotton was reported in Madera, San Joaquin or Stanislaus counties.

Corn

Corn acreage, whether grown for grain or for silage, remained relatively stable between 2002 and 2022. The total acres harvested in 2022 was almost 473,000 acres, up by about 4.4% from 2002.

Tulare County, with its robust cattle and dairy industry, led corn acreage harvested at more than 118,000 acres in 2022, followed by more than 102,000 acres in Merced County, about 66,000 acres in San Joaquin County, and a little more than 50,000 acres in Kings County.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes remain a significant crop across the Valley, amounting to almost 162,000 acres in 2022. But that’s a decline of almost 30% from 20 years earlier, when almost 231,000 acres were harvested.

Most of the 2022 tomato acreage – about 140,000 acres – went to tomatoes for processing into sauce or other products. Fresno County led the way with almost 57,400 acres, followed by about 30,500 acres in Merced County, about 26,900 acres in Kings County and almost 24,700 acres in San Joaquin County.

Cantaloupes

While not one of the highest-acreage crops in the Valley, cantaloupes have for years been a stable crop for some communities such as Firebaugh in western Fresno County.

Yet the region’s harvested acreage of the melons in 2022 was off by almost 51% from 20 years earlier, dropping from more than 33,400 acres in 2002 to fewer than 16,400 acres in 2022.

Fresno County led the cantaloupe harvest in 2022 at 9,547 acres, followed by 3,504 acres in Merced County. No other county in the Valley had more than 1,000 acres of cantaloupes in 2022.

Poultry and livestock

Chickens: When it comes to counting chickens, the Valley has its share, both broilers and laying hens. More than 23.3 million broiling chickens were reported across the region at the close of 2022, along with another 5.6 million chickens for laying eggs.

Fresno had the largest number of broilers in 2022, at more than 15.6 million, while Merced County had the biggest population of layers at more than 3.4 million

Cattle and calves: The 2022 ag census reported the the total number of cattle and calves Valleywide at the close of the year was more than 3.2 million, including more than 1.4 million milk cows.

Tulare County led the region with almost 1.1 million head of cattle and calves, and its approximately 481,000 milk cows also were the most in the Valley by a wide margin.

Sheep and lambs: At the close of 2022, there were more than 201,000 sheep, including lambs, in the Valley region. Kern County far and away was the leading producer with more than half of the total, at 110,321 of the woolly critters. Fresno County trailed in second place with just over 41,000 sheep and lambs.

Goats: The Valley was home to more than 47,000 goats at the end of 2022, according to the Census of Agriculture. Merced County had the largest number at almost 10,800, followed closely by Kings County at just over 10,200.

Hogs: The number of pigs reported in the Valley at the end of 2022 was just under 15,700. Stanislaus County was the leading producer at about 6,400 hogs, ahead of Fresno County’s 5,900. No other Valley county had more than 2,000 head of pigs at that time.