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Northern California
Regional Center

PO Box 31654
Stockton, Ca. 95213


Breadbasket Of The World

Napa Valley

California has often been referred to as the breadbasket of the world. In fact the California Department of Food and Agriculture notes that California is the world’s fifth largest supplier of food and agriculture commodities. Some of the leading agriculture commodities are dairy, grapes, almonds, walnuts, various varieties of fresh fruit, and vegetables. Over 400 different crops are grown in California. Interestingly, California only possesses 4% of the total U.S. farms, but supplies the nation with the most agriculture products.

California is the leading dairy state in the United States and is the leading producer of dairy products. Much of the dairy products produced in California are exported to Mexico and Asia in the form of cheese and milk powder. It was estimated that the California dairy industry had a $63 billion economic impact on the California economy in 2009.

Grapes are also a very valuable crop to California as California grows 91% of the total of grapes used in the United States for table grapes, raisins, and wine. The production of wine grapes in California is one-third larger than the total produced in Australia. On a global scale, if California was a separate country, it would be the world’s fourth-largest producer of wine in the world.

Almonds and Walnuts are grown extensively throughout California, but cannot be grown in the rest of the United States due to seasonal temperature restrictions. California almonds and Walnut growers export most of their crop to the United States domestic market and the rest of the world. Leading export markets for almonds and walnuts are Canada and Japan; however, China is becoming one of the leading importers of both almonds and walnuts from California.

California produces a wide variety of crops, and many of these crops are not grown anywhere else in the United States. The reason many crops are grown in California, but not anywhere else in the U.S. is the mild Mediterranean climate. The abounding sunshine and mild temperatures allow certain crops the proper growing season. Some of these crops not grown anywhere else include Almonds, Artichokes, Dates, Figs, Olives, Persimmons, Pistachios, Pomegranates, Prunes, Raisins, and Walnuts. Because California can grow so many unique crops, its agricultural sector remains unrivaled by the rest of the United States.
