Between 2007 and 2012 as the rest of the country was going through recession, the value of California’s agricultural production saw a significant increase of 26% according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Census, making California the country’s top agricultural producer. Agricultural sales for the state reached $42.6 billion in 2012 – up from $33.9 billion in 2007. California expanded its agricultural acreage by 1% or 207,000 acres to total 25.6 million acres by 2012, and the average size farm increased by 5% to an average size of 32 acres, compared to the national average farm size of 434 acres. The top 8% of the state’s 77,864 farms (or 6,366 farms) generated over $1 million in sales each in 2012 and 65% of the total number of farms generated less than $50,000 each. Farmers in California proved to be older than any other state with an average age of 60 years and approximately 14% of all farms in the state were run by farmers 75 years and older.
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