Farm Census

Santa Cruz County, California

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

614 farms47,871 acres in farms$706 million in farm sales

Among US counties with published figures, Santa Cruz County ranks seventh for sales of nursery and greenhouse crops.

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

Nursery and greenhouse: 35.9%Nursery and greenhouse35.9%Fruit and nuts: 32.4%Fruit and nuts32.4%Vegetables and melons: 28.4%Vegetables and melons28.4%Aquaculture: 1.7%1.7%Withheld groups: 1.3%1.3%Christmas trees: 0.2%Horses and mules: 0.1%Cattle and calves: 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%Nursery and greenhouse: 35.9%35.9%Fruit and nuts: 32.4%Fruit and nuts32.4%Vegetables and melons: 28.4%Vegetables and melons28.4%Aquaculture: 1.7%Withheld groups: 1.3%Christmas trees: 0.2%Horses and mules: 0.1%Cattle and calves: 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: grains and oilseeds, hay and other crops, poultry and eggs and other animal products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$254 million3rd of 43
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$229 million21st of 52
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$200 million14th of 48
Aquaculture$12.0 million3rd of 11
Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops$1.2 million3rd of 18
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$632,00018th of 47
Cattle and calves$557,00052nd of 52
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$37,00041st of 45
Hogs and pigs$1,00026th of 26

What the fields held

Santa Cruz County harvested 19,389 acres of cropland in 2022, 35th of 54 counties in California. Vegetables covered acreage equal to 67% of that, orchard land 21%.

CropAcresShare of US
Vegetables12,9020.30%
of which potatoes38under 0.1%
Orchard land3,9750.06%
of which grapes9250.08%
of which citrus134under 0.1%
of which apples2,6880.65%
Berries3,7861.1%
Corn for grain6under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: hay and haylage and almonds.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms16.8%

Santa Cruz County ranks 38th of 55 counties in California on this measure.

  • 21,984 acres of cropland, 46% of farmland
  • 16,084 acres of pastureland, 34% of farmland
  • 6,247 acres of woodland, 13% of farmland
  • 18,615 acres irrigated

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Horses and ponies581under 0.1%
Goats331under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs106under 0.1%
Beef cows556under 0.1%
Cattle and calves1,019under 0.1%
Hogs and pigs3under 0.1%

Withheld: laying hens, broilers sold and turkeys.

Who farms here

Decisions on Santa Cruz County's 614 farms are made by 1,222 producers. Their average age is 57.9, 2.0 years below the California average. Women are 37.4% of them.

Under 357%35–4411%45–5419%55–6431%65–7422%75+11%
Santa Cruz County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms625−1.8%
Land in farms, acres63,900−25.1%
Average farm size, acres102−23.5%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$607 million+16.4%
Berries, acres7,415−48.9%
Apples, acres2,900−7.3%
Vegetables, acres11,338+13.8%
Grapes, acres1,139−18.8%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Santa Cruz County accounts for 1.2% of farm sales in California and 1.0% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for berries.

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