Farm Census

Kern County, California

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

1,691 farms2,399,512 acres in farms$5.01 billion in farm sales

Kern County ranks fourth of 3,029 US counties for the value of farm products sold in 2022; its crop sales rank third.

Among counties with published figures, it also ranks second for almonds, citrus, orchard land and sheep and lambs, third for grapes and eighth for milk cows.

Within California, no other county with a published figure has more land in farms.

Fruit and nuts: 61.1%Fruit and nuts61.1%Milk: 14.7%Milk14.7%Vegetables and melons: 10.6%10.6%Cattle and calves: 4.8%4.8%Nursery and greenhouse: 3.3%3.3%Hay and other crops: 2.1%2.1%Withheld groups: 1.7%1.7%Grains and oilseeds: 0.7%0.7%Cotton: 0.6%0.6%Sheep and goats: 0.3%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%Fruit and nuts: 61.1%Fruit and nuts61.1%Milk: 14.7%Milk14.7%Vegetables and melons: 10.6%10.6%Cattle and calves: 4.8%4.8%Nursery and greenhouse: 3.3%3.3%Hay and other crops: 2.1%2.1%Withheld groups: 1.7%Grains and oilseeds: 0.7%Cotton: 0.6%Sheep and goats: 0.3%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: poultry and eggs and other animal products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$3.06 billion2nd of 52
Milk from cows$738 million5th of 19
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$532 million6th of 48
Cattle and calves$241 million4th of 52
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$168 million9th of 43
Hay and other crops$106 million4th of 43
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$34.9 million14th of 34
Cotton and cottonseed$30.2 million4th of 6
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$12.6 million2nd of 45
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$798,00013th of 47
Hogs and pigs$526,0003rd of 26

What the fields held

Kern County harvested 812,470 acres of cropland in 2022, second of 54 counties in California. Orchard land covered acreage equal to 77% of that, hay and haylage 10%.

CropAcresShare of US
Orchard land623,59010.1%
of which almonds255,45415.6%
of which grapes95,4248.6%
of which citrus71,9349.3%
of which apples8660.21%
Hay and haylage84,2790.16%
Vegetables61,9391.4%
of which potatoes9,6680.90%
Corn for silage36,1550.60%
Cotton9,9410.13%
Wheat5,396under 0.1%
Berries2,1770.61%

Withheld to protect individual farms: corn for grain, grain sorghum, barley, oats, dry edible beans and pecans.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms46.1%

Kern County ranks 15th of 55 counties in California on this measure.

  • 994,576 acres of cropland, 41% of farmland
  • 1,338,015 acres of pastureland, 56% of farmland
  • 26,568 acres of woodland, 1% of farmland
  • 817,526 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Kern County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 160 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,419 acres, second-largest of 52 in California. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 19.6% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 20.4% of the total.

1–915%10–4918%50–17920%180–49918%500–99910%1,000–1,9999%2,000+11%
Kern County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Sheep and lambs110,3212.2%
Milk cows129,2501.4%
Cattle and calves326,2150.37%
Beef cows36,5640.13%
Horses and ponies2,8490.12%
Goats1,8900.07%
Hogs and pigs1,704under 0.1%
Turkeys418under 0.1%

Withheld: laying hens and broilers sold.

Who farms here

Decisions on Kern County's 1,691 farms are made by 3,331 producers. Their average age is 60.9, 1.0 years above the California average. Women are 31.1% of them.

Under 355%35–4410%45–5416%55–6426%65–7426%75+18%
Kern County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms1,731−2.3%
Land in farms, acres2,295,497+4.5%
Average farm size, acres1,326+7.0%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$4.08 billion+23.0%
Almonds, acres206,388+23.8%
Orchard land, acres519,275+20.1%
Citrus, acres60,784+18.3%
Grapes, acres111,479−14.4%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Kern County accounts for 8.5% of farm sales in California and 2.7% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for almonds.

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