Farm Census

Tulare County, California

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

3,713 farms1,310,768 acres in farms$6.36 billion in farm sales

Tulare County ranks second of 3,029 US counties for the value of farm products sold in 2022; its crop sales rank fourth and its livestock and poultry sales first.

Among counties with published figures, it also leads the country in cattle and calves, citrus, milk cows and corn for silage, ranks third for orchard land and eighth for number of farms.

Its almond acreage grew between 2017 and 2022, the fifth-largest increase among the 22 leading almond counties of 2017 with figures in both years.

Milk: 44.3%Milk44.3%Fruit and nuts: 39.4%Fruit and nuts39.4%Cattle and calves: 8.7%Cattle and calves8.7%Nursery and greenhouse: 2.2%2.2%Hay and other crops: 1.8%1.8%Grains and oilseeds: 1.5%1.5%Poultry and eggs: 1.1%1.1%Cotton: 0.3%Vegetables and melons: 0.2%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Horses and mules: 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%Milk: 44.3%Milk44.3%Fruit and nuts: 39.4%Fruit and nuts39.4%Cattle and calves: 8.7%8.7%Nursery and greenhouse: 2.2%2.2%Hay and other crops: 1.8%1.8%Grains and oilseeds: 1.5%1.5%Poultry and eggs: 1.1%Cotton: 0.3%Vegetables and melons: 0.2%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Horses and mules: 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: hogs and pigs, aquaculture products and other animal products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Milk from cows$2.81 billion1st of 19
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$2.50 billion3rd of 52
Cattle and calves$551 million3rd of 52
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$142 million11th of 43
Hay and other crops$114 million3rd of 43
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$94.4 million8th of 34
Poultry and eggs$72.1 million6th of 41
Cotton and cottonseed$16.4 million5th of 6
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$13.1 million27th of 48
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$6.2 million3rd of 45
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$3.6 million5th of 47
Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops$1,00018th of 18

What the fields held

Tulare County harvested 625,918 acres of cropland in 2022, fourth of 54 counties in California. Orchard land covered acreage equal to 63% of that, hay and haylage 23%.

CropAcresShare of US
Orchard land393,5826.3%
of which almonds74,5834.6%
of which grapes50,2604.5%
of which citrus144,54618.8%
of which apples55under 0.1%
Hay and haylage145,3920.27%
Corn for silage117,0662.0%
Wheat8,340under 0.1%
Cotton6,3480.08%
Berries2,7650.77%
Corn for grain1,492under 0.1%
Grain sorghum1,337under 0.1%
Vegetables1,254under 0.1%
Dry edible beans237under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: barley, sunflower, potatoes and pecans.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms42.5%

Tulare County ranks 19th of 55 counties in California on this measure.

  • 759,238 acres of cropland, 58% of farmland
  • 534,632 acres of pastureland, 41% of farmland
  • 18,021 acres of woodland, 1% of farmland
  • 617,379 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

The typical farm in Tulare County is smaller than the national median of 72 acres, at 40 acres. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 353 acres, 29th-largest of 52 in California. The most common size class is 10–49 acres, with 32.0% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 6.3% of the total.

1–921%10–4932%50–17920%180–49913%500–9997%1,000–1,9993%2,000+3%
Tulare County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Milk cows480,9925.2%
Cattle and calves1,080,6651.2%
Goats7,8460.31%
Beef cows34,5800.12%
Horses and ponies2,3140.10%
Laying hens2,009under 0.1%

Withheld: hogs and pigs, broilers sold, turkeys and sheep and lambs.

Who farms here

Decisions on Tulare County's 3,713 farms are made by 6,864 producers. Their average age is 60.1, 0.2 years above the California average. Women are 31.1% of them.

Under 355%35–4412%45–5414%55–6426%65–7427%75+16%
Tulare County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms4,187−11.3%
Land in farms, acres1,250,121+4.9%
Average farm size, acres299+18.1%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$4.47 billion+42.0%
Citrus, acres129,267+11.8%
Orchard land, acres338,295+16.3%
Milk cows, head500,402−3.9%
Almonds, acres49,243+51.5%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Tulare County accounts for 10.8% of farm sales in California and 5.9% of the farms in California. Rank California counties for citrus.

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