Tulare County agricultural output rises to $8.3 billion; report flags fallowed acres and data gaps in milk statistics

Christopher Greer, a staff member with the Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, presented the county’s 2024 Crop and Livestock Report to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, saying the county’s total crop and livestock value rose about 6%—roughly $477 million—to $8,300,000,000 for 2024.

The report, delivered during the board’s open session, catalogs acreage, commodity values and export activity and satisfies state reporting requirements under the California Food and Agricultural Code. Greer described the department’s four divisions—pesticide use enforcement; pest exclusion and standardization; weights and measures; and pest detection, management and crop statistics—and summarized the key findings from the new report.

Why it matters: Tulare County is one of California’s largest agricultural exporters and the report provides data policymakers and growers use to track production, markets and local impacts of water availability and pest pressures.

Greer told the board that total commercial acreage of permanent plantings and crop production was about 448,000 acres in 2024, a decline of approximately 9,581 acres from 2023. Field crops accounted for roughly 1,100,000 acres of commercial production and showed a year‑to‑year increase of about 5,958 acres; Greer attributed that variability in part to rotational plantings and decisions by growers about how many plantings to take in a season.

The Agriculture Department reported staff recorded 12,485 acres left fallow last year because of water availability or Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)‑related issues. Board members emphasized the county should continue tracking not only fallowed acreage totals but also which commodities were removed so officials can estimate the economic value of land taken out of production. "Once we have the commodity, then we can look at the current pricing and actually look at the value that is being taken away," Greer said.

Milk remained the county’s top commodity by value, although Greer cautioned that 2024 milk figures were compiled using a three‑year average because the federal National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) experienced staffing turnover and did not provide complete milk data this year. "We did the milk statistics off a three year average," Greer said, and he said future statistical responsibility will move to the California Department of Food and Agriculture to improve accuracy.

Other top commodities were cattle and calves (value exceeded $1.17 billion), table grapes, navel and Valencia oranges and tangerines. Table grape value declined about $32 million (3.2%) from 2023; Valencia production per acre dropped sharply and contributed to a decrease in orange value from the prior year. Greer also noted tangerine value rose, by roughly $111 million compared with 2023.

The department reported ongoing export activity through phytosanitary certificates and provided a country breakdown: South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan were among the top markets by shipment count, with China below the top positions in 2024. Greer said certificate counts can vary based on shipment sizes, and exports are also influenced by market access negotiations—he cited recent work to open stone fruit access to Vietnam.

Board members thanked the Agriculture Department staff for enforcement and inspection work and for maintaining export and quarantine programs. Supervisor Larry McCarrie noted the report is useful in showing how groundwater restrictions and water availability affect crop decisions; another supervisor referenced a projection of up to 80,000 fallowed acres tied to water constraints and urged the department to continue refining commodity‑level tracking.

Greer concluded by thanking Commissioner Tom Tucker, Deputy Commissioner Sam Konak and department staff for compiling the report and said the office will continue to refine how it records reasons for fallowing and the specific commodities involved.

The report is available from the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office; the department cited California Food and Agricultural Code sections 2272 and 2279 as authority for publishing the county report.