From one end of the San Joaquin Valley to the other, agriculture and all of its parts is considered the lifeblood of the eight-county region – its largest industry, and the foundation of its economy.
The Valley consists of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties, and includes some of the most productive farmland in the nation — more than 6.8 million acres of agricultural land, including livestock operations, according to the 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture .
Just how much land is that? Think about it like this: A football field, including the end zones, covers about 1.32 acres. Now picture almost 5.2 million football fields, and that’s about how much farmland there is across the Valley from the Sierra Nevada to the Coast range.
And there’s also an abundance of livestock Valleywide, millions of chickens and cattle and tens of thousands of sheep, goats and pigs.
Yet the acreage devoted to different kinds of crops has undergone a major shift over the past 20 years — the result of myriad factors including changes in commodity prices, market demand for various crops, availability of water, among others. Some of the most dramatic changes have come in tree crops including almonds and pistachios, and in field crops including cotton and wheat.