Farm Census

Fresno County, California

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

4,427 farms1,659,451 acres in farms$7.00 billion in farm sales

Fresno County sold more farm products in 2022 than any other US county; its crop sales rank second and its livestock and poultry sales fifth.

Among counties with published figures, it also leads the country in almonds, grapes and orchard land and ranks third for vegetables, number of farms and sales of cotton.

Within California, no other county with a published figure has more beef cows.

Fruit and nuts: 53.7%Fruit and nuts53.7%Vegetables and melons: 14.8%Vegetables and melons14.8%Cattle and calves: 11.3%Cattle and calves11.3%Milk: 9.9%Milk9.9%Poultry and eggs: 5.7%5.7%Cotton: 1.5%Cotton1.5%Hay and other crops: 1.3%1.3%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.9%0.9%Withheld groups: 0.8%0.8%Horses and mules: 0.1%Other animals: 0.1%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Fruit and nuts: 53.7%Fruit and nuts53.7%Vegetables and melons: 14.8%14.8%Cattle and calves: 11.3%Cattle and calves11.3%Milk: 9.9%Milk9.9%Poultry and eggs: 5.7%5.7%Cotton: 1.5%1.5%Hay and other crops: 1.3%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.9%Withheld groups: 0.8%Horses and mules: 0.1%Other animals: 0.1%Sheep and goats: 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: grains and oilseeds, Christmas trees, hogs and pigs and aquaculture products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$3.76 billion1st of 52
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$1.03 billion3rd of 48
Cattle and calves$787 million1st of 52
Milk from cows$690 million7th of 19
Poultry and eggs$400 million2nd of 41
Cotton and cottonseed$103 million2nd of 6
Hay and other crops$88.0 million10th of 43
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$66.4 million17th of 43
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$6.3 million2nd of 47
Other animals and animal products$5.5 million8th of 36
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$4.5 million5th of 45

What the fields held

Fresno County harvested 988,985 acres of cropland in 2022, first of 54 counties in California. Orchard land covered acreage equal to 75% of that, vegetables 12%.

CropAcresShare of US
Orchard land743,11612.0%
of which almonds295,72118.1%
of which grapes160,32414.5%
of which citrus55,2367.2%
of which apples68under 0.1%
of which pecans7080.12%
Vegetables115,4812.7%
of which potatoes2under 0.1%
Hay and haylage62,5340.12%
Cotton32,5820.42%
Corn for silage27,3890.46%
Wheat14,368under 0.1%
Barley2,7870.11%
Grain sorghum1,862under 0.1%
Berries1,1410.32%
Corn for grain900under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: rice and peanuts.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms43.5%

Fresno County ranks 18th of 55 counties in California on this measure.

  • 1,182,023 acres of cropland, 71% of farmland
  • 423,198 acres of pastureland, 26% of farmland
  • 26,127 acres of woodland, 2% of farmland
  • 985,055 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

The typical farm in Fresno County is smaller than the national median of 72 acres, at 45 acres. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 375 acres, 27th-largest of 52 in California. The most common size class is 10–49 acres, with 36.0% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 7.7% of the total.

1–915%10–4936%50–17921%180–49913%500–9997%1,000–1,9994%2,000+4%
Fresno County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Milk cows111,8761.2%
Broilers sold in 202293,956,1011.0%
Sheep and lambs41,0350.80%
Cattle and calves467,5080.53%
Horses and ponies3,5750.15%
Beef cows39,2770.13%
Goats3,2100.13%
Hogs and pigs5,923under 0.1%
Laying hens2,589under 0.1%

Withheld: turkeys.

Who farms here

Decisions on Fresno County's 4,427 farms are made by 8,045 producers. Their average age is 59.6, 0.3 years below the California average. Women are 32.6% of them.

Under 357%35–4412%45–5415%55–6425%65–7427%75+15%
Fresno County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms4,774−7.3%
Land in farms, acres1,646,540+0.8%
Average farm size, acres345+8.7%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$5.74 billion+21.8%
Almonds, acres227,096+30.2%
Grapes, acres206,218−22.3%
Orchard land, acres632,348+17.5%
Citrus, acres43,996+25.5%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Fresno County accounts for 11.9% of farm sales in California and 7.0% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for almonds.

Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.