Top 10 Agriculture Products in California

California has a reputation for its diverse and flourishing agricultural industry, ranking as a national powerhouse in everything from fruit and nuts to livestock and poultry. From the fertile Central Valley to the globally recognized vineyards, the Golden State leads the country in the cultivation of countless agricultural commodities. Here are the top agriculture products in California based on the most recent annual cash receipt numbers available. (Defined by the USDA’s Economic Research Service, cash receipts refer to the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year.)

1. Dairy Products and Milk

$10.4 billion

Each California dairy cow produced an average of 23,863 pounds of milk in 2023. Multiply that by the approximately 1.7 million dairy cows that made up the Golden State’s dairy cow inventory as of Jan. 1, 2024, and it’s really no surprise to discover California tops the chart as the No. 1 milk-producing state in the U.S.

See more: California Dairy Facts

2. Grapes

$5.6 billion

Ever wondered how many acres of grapes are harvested in California each year? In 2022, the state’s grape harvest encompassed 884,844 acres. California boasts more than 4,200 wineries, produces around 97% of the world’s table grapes, and ranks fourth for largest wine producers among independent nations around the world.

See more: 5 California Vineyards to Visit Beyond Wine Country

3. Lettuce

$4.6 billion

Lettuce is considered a leading crop in the United States, and more than 90% of the lettuce produced for the entire country is grown in California and Arizona. In 2022, you would have found everything from leaf lettuce to crunchy romaine growing on more than 274,000 acres across the Golden State.

4. Cattle and Calves

$3.6 billion

California ranks fourth in the nation for production of cattle and calves. There were around 5.1 million cattle and calves, including 665,000 beef cows, grazing in this beautiful and bountiful part of the country as of Jan. 1, 2024.

5. Almonds

$3.5 billion

Can you wrap your head around 1.6 million acres? Now imagine that vast swath of acreage booming with almonds. California harvested around 1,900 pounds of almonds per acre in 2022, and the final count for shelled almonds came in at more than 2.5 billion pounds that year.

6. Strawberries

$2.8 billion

California is home to more than 46,000 acres of strawberries growing across the state, which produce around 90% of the strawberries grown in the United States. The state’s warm climate and fertile soil make it the ideal place to cultivate what is arguably one of the nation’s favorite fruits.

See more: 10 Fun Facts About Strawberries You Probably Didn’t Know

7. Pistachios

$1.9 billion

Did you know it takes around five years to grow a worthwhile pistachio crop? California ranks No. 1 in the country for pistachios and grew around 515,824 acres of them in 2022. Moreover, the United States, thanks to California, ranks second in the world (behind Iran) for pistachio production.

8. Broilers

$1.6 billion

The fertile California soil makes it a great place to grow crops, but the state has quite a reputation for poultry production, too. California sold more than 313 million broilers (chickens raised for meat) in 2022, making them one of California’s top agriculture products that year.

9. Tomatoes

$1.5 billion

Every gardener knows how much tomatoes love sunshine and warm weather, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re one of California’s top agriculture products. In fact, the state produces about a third of the world’s entire tomato crop. California farmers harvested 248,819 acres of tomatoes in 2022 alone, including 16,502 acres of fresh-market tomatoes and 232,317 acres of tomatoes for processing.

See more: What’s Growing? California Produce Calendar

10. Carrots

$1.2 billion

California farmers harvested 61,008 acres of carrots on 707 farms in 2022. This included 59,570 acres of fresh-market carrots and 1,439 acres of carrots for processing.