Farm Census

Monterey County, California

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

1,057 farms1,338,477 acres in farms$5.47 billion in farm sales

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

Among counties with published figures, it also leads the country in vegetables, ranks fifth for berries and sales of fruit and nuts and sixth for grapes.

Vegetables and melons: 69.2%Vegetables and melons69.2%Fruit and nuts: 26.5%Fruit and nuts26.5%Nursery and greenhouse: 3.3%Nursery and greenhouse3.3%Cattle and calves: 0.6%0.6%Grains and oilseeds: under 0.1%Hay and other crops: under 0.1%Aquaculture: under 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Other animals: under 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%Vegetables and melons: 69.2%Vegetables and melons69.2%Fruit and nuts: 26.5%Fruit and nuts26.5%Nursery and greenhouse: 3.3%3.3%Cattle and calves: 0.6%Grains and oilseeds: under 0.1%Hay and other crops: under 0.1%Aquaculture: under 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Other animals: under 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: milk, hogs and pigs and poultry and eggs.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$3.79 billion1st of 48
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$1.45 billion5th of 52
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$180 million7th of 43
Cattle and calves$34.8 million13th of 52
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$1.9 million21st of 34
Hay and other crops$1.3 million30th of 43
Aquaculture$1.2 million11th of 11
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$282,00034th of 45
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$228,00037th of 47
Other animals and animal products$58,00033rd of 36
Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops$50,00012th of 18

What the fields held

Monterey County harvested 313,320 acres of cropland in 2022, tenth of 54 counties in California. Vegetables covered acreage equal to 110% of that, orchard land 19%.

CropAcresShare of US
Vegetables345,1768.0%
of which potatoes16under 0.1%
Orchard land60,0060.97%
of which grapes57,0175.1%
of which citrus2,1040.27%
of which apples18under 0.1%
Berries14,3684.0%
Hay and haylage6,015under 0.1%
Barley1,057under 0.1%
Corn for grain427under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: wheat, dry edible beans and almonds.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms63.7%

Monterey County ranks eighth of 55 counties in California on this measure.

  • 363,670 acres of cropland, 27% of farmland
  • 916,730 acres of pastureland, 68% of farmland
  • 52,572 acres of woodland, 4% of farmland
  • 314,410 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Monterey County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 102 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,266 acres, fourth-largest of 52 in California. The most common size class is 1–9 acres, with 20.3% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 21.6% of the total.

1–920%10–4920%50–17918%180–49912%500–9999%1,000–1,9998%2,000+14%
Monterey County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Cattle and calves50,4200.06%
Horses and ponies1,3610.06%
Goats707under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs872under 0.1%
Laying hens4,708under 0.1%
Hogs and pigs210under 0.1%
Turkeys266under 0.1%
Broilers sold in 20221,175under 0.1%

Withheld: beef cows and milk cows.

Who farms here

Decisions on Monterey County's 1,057 farms are made by 2,047 producers. Their average age is 59.7, 0.2 years below the California average. Women are 30.4% of them.

Under 356%35–4411%45–5412%55–6431%65–7427%75+13%
Monterey County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms1,104−4.3%
Land in farms, acres1,340,142−0.1%
Average farm size, acres1,214+4.3%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$4.12 billion+32.9%
Vegetables, acres324,811+6.3%
Grapes, acres58,124−1.9%
Berries, acres12,421+15.7%
Orchard land, acres61,621−2.6%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Monterey County accounts for 9.3% of farm sales in California and 1.7% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for vegetables.

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