FRESNO COUNTY – With more than $9 billion of total gross production value generated in 2024, Fresno County has reasserted its dominance in the agriculture sector.
Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Melissa Cregan unveiled this figure — which places the county back on top in California and the nation — to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4. A record high, this year’s production value reflects a 5.7% growth over 2023 values, an increase of more than $486 million.
“You’ve all heard me say this before, but it bears repeating: We are the food capital of the nation,” Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen said. “Fresno County’s 2024 Crop and Livestock Report once again captures, in numbers, the bounty and diversity of what we grow here.”
After coming in second place to Kern County in 2023 and to Tulare County in 2022, Fresno County surpassed both of its neighbors to the south, as Tulare County reported a gross production value of $8.3 billion and Kern County reported a value of $7.9 billion. Citing these numbers, Supervisor Nathan Magsig questioned how Fresno County was able to climb all the way to $9 billion.
Cregan said much of the county’s growth and ag value can be attributed to its fruit and nut sector, which accounted for 55.6% of total production value. Almonds and grapes alone each brought in more than $1 billion, and all commodity groups grew in value except seed crops and nursery crops.
Almonds brought in the most value in 2024 after ceding the top spot to grapes for the previous two years. The crop’s value grew by more than 30%, increasing from just over $1 billion to $1.45 billion. This growth came despite the county recording nearly 20,000 fewer harvested acres in 2024 than in 2023.
Using more explicit language, Board Chair Buddy Mendes said this is because the price of almonds went from being really bad to just kind of bad.
Other highlights from the report showed that Fresno County had 82 different crops with gross production values of more than $1 million. Pistachios, cattle and calves, milk and poultry all had values of more than $500 million. Tomatoes, peaches, garlic, oranges, mandarins, nectarines, onions, melons, apiary products/pollination, plums, lettuce and cotton all had values ranging from $100 million to more than $400 million.
The report also features the contribution of farmworkers to the agriculture industry, detailing harvest cycles around California and the seasonal flow of labor.
“Without (farmworkers), we would not be able to achieve the level of agricultural production that we have here in Fresno County that feeds the world,” Cregan said.
Where water flows
Jacobsen acknowledged that “food grows where water flows” and said 2024 was a good water year for Fresno County.
“That blessing allowed farmers to grow the rainbow of crops that we are very capable of doing here in Fresno,” he said.
Still, Jacobsen said to those outside the ag industry, the record-breaking numbers may seem like a reflection of the industry’s health; however, that’s not necessarily the full picture.
“We’ve faced some very difficult times the last four years from a combination of issues, whether it’s the less than average market prices, rising input costs, higher interest rates and a long list of regulatory and logistical hurdles,” Jacobsen said.
On the topic of water, Supervisor Garry Bredefeld asked Cregan for her take on solar farms, which Bredefeld said the board receives many requests for on fallowed ag land. Cregan said if farmers had all the water they needed, she would generally be against solar farms, but given present circumstances, they can be a good source of steady income for growers.
Although Cregan said the two farmers on the board, Mendes and Supervisor Brian Pacheco, might be better suited to respond to that question, Pacheco said she answered it well. He added that he thought Cregan made a good point about the volatility of the ag industry as things like water availability and the price of crops can vary drastically from year to year.
To illustrate his point, Pacheco said that as a production dairyman, he’s had one of his best years and that “the beef industry is phenomenal.” Yet, President Donald Trump then announces he would start importing Argentina beef, and the beef market “plummets for two weeks in a row.”
He continued, saying corn and soy prices were down until Trump went to China and announced a trade deal, and prices went up. At the same time, the area’s top milk exports are to Mexico and Canada, the U.S. gets into a tariff war with Canada, and the milk price plummets.
“You’re extremely accurate, it’s highly volatile,” Pacheco said. “It’s up and down, and not even from year to year — it’s day to day with this current political environment that we are in.”
The board then went on to discuss the work of the agricultural commissioner’s office and commended Cregan and her staff for all they did to put the report together. The full 2024 Crop and Livestock Report is available on the Fresno County website.