Imperial County, California
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
482 farms736,586 acres in farms$3.05 billion in farm sales
Imperial County ranks sixth of 3,029 US counties for the value of farm products sold in 2022; its crop sales rank sixth.
Among counties with published figures, it also leads the country in hay and haylage, ranks second for vegetables and ninth for cattle and calves.
Within California, no other county with a published figure has more wheat.
The irrigated share of its farmland is the highest among the 2,411 counties with at least 50,000 acres in farms.
Sales by product group
| Product group | Sales | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetables, melons and potatoes | $1.22 billion | 2nd of 48 |
| Hay and other crops | $911 million | 1st of 43 |
| Cattle and calves | $686 million | 2nd of 52 |
| Milk from cows | $81.4 million | 11th of 19 |
| Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas | $59.7 million | 11th of 34 |
| Fruit, tree nuts and berries | $42.4 million | 29th of 52 |
| Aquaculture | $34.5 million | 1st of 11 |
| Poultry and eggs | $30,000 | 39th of 41 |
| Hogs and pigs | $25,000 | 19th of 26 |
What the fields held
Imperial County harvested 634,602 acres of cropland in 2022, third of 54 counties in California. Hay and haylage covered acreage equal to 69% of that, vegetables 22%.
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Hay and haylage | 436,728 | 0.81% |
| Vegetables | 139,579 | 3.2% |
| of which potatoes | 1,481 | 0.14% |
| Wheat | 42,559 | 0.11% |
| Sugar beets | 18,547 | 1.6% |
| Corn for silage | 5,993 | 0.10% |
| Orchard land | 5,798 | 0.09% |
| of which citrus | 4,557 | 0.59% |
| Corn for grain | 1,136 | under 0.1% |
| Sunflower | 745 | under 0.1% |
| Barley | 110 | under 0.1% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: cotton, grain sorghum, oats, dry edible beans, grapes and berries.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms27.6%
Imperial County ranks 31st of 55 counties in California on this measure.
- 702,024 acres of cropland, 95% of farmland
- 13,898 acres of pastureland, 2% of farmland
- 623,755 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Imperial County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 824 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,528 acres, first-largest of 52 in California. The most common size class is 2,000+ acres, with 30.9% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 45.4% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Cattle and calves | 412,212 | 0.47% |
| Milk cows | 13,921 | 0.15% |
| Beef cows | 7,883 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 127 | under 0.1% |
| Hogs and pigs | 228 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 87 | under 0.1% |
Withheld: sheep and lambs.
Who farms here
Decisions on Imperial County's 482 farms are made by 905 producers. Their average age is 56.7, 3.2 years below the California average. Women are 20.6% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 396 | +21.7% |
| Land in farms, acres | 521,729 | +41.2% |
| Average farm size, acres | 1,317 | +16.0% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $1.86 billion | +63.8% |
| Vegetables, acres | 123,439 | +13.1% |
| Hay and haylage, acres | 258,918 | +68.7% |
| Cattle and calves, head | 415,340 | −0.8% |
| Potatoes, acres | 3,292 | −55.0% |
Nearest rivals
- Vegetables between Monterey County, CA and Fresno County, CA
- Sugar beets between Sanilac County, MI and Jerome County, ID
- Hay and haylage ahead of Cherry County, NE and Holt County, NE
- Citrus between Yuma County, AZ and Lee County, FL
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Saguache County, Colorado largest group: vegetables and melons; mix match 90%
- Culberson County, Texas largest group: vegetables and melons; mix match 88%
- Lake County, Montana largest group: cattle and calves; mix match 88%
Imperial County accounts for 5.2% of farm sales in California and 0.8% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for vegetables.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.