AgricultureID

State · US-CA

California

California is dominated by Mediterranean climates — hot-summer (Csa) in the Central Valley and warm-summer (Csb) along the coast — grading into cold semi-arid (BSk) and hot-desert (BWh) conditions in the south and interior. Rain falls mostly in winter, so the long, dry summer growing season depends on irrigation.

Major crop systems

  • Irrigated tree nuts — almonds, walnuts, and pistachios
  • Wine, table, and raisin grapes and citrus
  • Processing tomatoes, rice, cotton, and intensive vegetable and berry horticulture

Major livestock systems

  • Large-scale dairy — the leading dairy state
  • Beef cow–calf and cattle grazing on foothill rangeland
  • Poultry

Agricultural land: The Central Valley (Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys) and the coastal valleys concentrate extraordinarily diverse, high-value cropping on deep alluvial soils; much of the rest of the state is rangeland, desert, or mountains. Irrigation: Irrigation is fundamental: the federal Central Valley Project, the State Water Project, and local districts move Sierra Nevada snowmelt to farms, supplemented — and in drought heavily substituted — by groundwater.

Agroecological zones: Csa (Hot-summer Mediterranean), Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean), BSk (Cold semi-arid (steppe)), BWh (Hot desert)

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) — State department for agriculture, animal and plant health, and marketing.
  • University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) — Statewide land-grant research and cooperative extension.
  • USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) — Official state-level crop, livestock, and Census of Agriculture statistics, published through its regional field office network.

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics for California are published by USDA NASS and the California Department of Food and Agriculture and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Boundaries and administrative classification follow the ISO 3166-2 subdivision system and USDA/state reporting units.
  • No subnational statistics are reproduced here; any official figures are dated, versioned, and periodically revised — read them with their year and source.
  • Water availability is decisive and highly variable year to year; a snapshot profile does not capture drought cycles, surface-water allocations, or groundwater-sustainability constraints.

Agricultural authority

Verified against official government sources. AgricultureID is independent and not affiliated with these bodies.

Soils documented by the official survey

The soil survey maps 3,774 named soil bodies in California, with surface pH from 3.2 to 10.1 and organic matter from 0.0% to 100.0%. The twenty appearing in the most mapped units are shown; each figure is the survey’s representative value for that soil body, not a measurement.

Soil bodies mapped in California, with representative surface properties from the official survey
Soil bodypHOrganic matter %Clay %DrainageMap units
Rock outcrop—0—Excessively drained to Well drained1,121in 75 survey areas
MillsholmAlfisols to Mollisols (the survey records both)5.8–7.60.75–5014–31Somewhat excessively drained to Well drained188in 30 survey areas
Holland familyAlfisols to Ultisols (the survey records both)5.5–6.82–4.52–22.5Well drained144in 9 survey areas
Rubble land—0–0.050–2.5Excessively drained to Well drained120in 25 survey areas
Los OsosMollisols5.8–6.71.5–423.5–35Somewhat excessively drained to Well drained117in 20 survey areas
MaymenInceptisols to Mollisols (the survey records both)4.5–6.20.5–7514–22.5Excessively drained to Well drained116in 28 survey areas
NeunsInceptisols5.3–5.80.5–811.5–20Well drained110in 15 survey areas
AltamontAlfisols to Vertisols (the survey records both)5.9–7.51–3.235–52.7Moderately well drained to Well drained102in 16 survey areas
CajonEntisols6.8–10.10–11–13Excessively drained to Somewhat excessively drained98in 20 survey areas
JosephineMollisols to Vertisols (the survey records both)5.6–6.51.5–515–23.5Well drained97in 14 survey areas
CohassetAlfisols to Mollisols (the survey records both)5.5–6.12–8912–29Well drained95in 12 survey areas
DiabloVertisols6.8–7.91.25–445–52Well drained95in 18 survey areas
HollandAlfisols5–71–8310–20Well drained95in 19 survey areas
XerorthentsEntisols5–8.20–750.5–47.5Excessively drained to Well drained95in 32 survey areas
SitesUltisols5.3–6.16–7515–31Well drained91in 15 survey areas
GaviotaEntisols6–7.60.5–1.511–15Excessively drained to Well drained89in 26 survey areas
Typic CryorthentsEntisols4.5–6.50–800–6Excessively drained to Well drained89in 7 survey areas
NacimientoMollisols to Vertisols (the survey records both)7.8–8.22–423.5–47.5Well drained86in 15 survey areas
ColumbiaEntisols to Vertisols (the survey records both)6.3–7.90.5–22.5–16Moderately well drained to Well drained85in 15 survey areas
AuburnAlfisols to Inceptisols (the survey records both)6–6.71.5–417.5–28.5Well drained84in 11 survey areas

These values describe soil bodies a survey has mapped, not samples taken in a particular field. A measurement on one farm may differ from the representative value of the map unit containing it.

AgricultureID does not infer crop suitability from soil observations. That a crop is grown where a soil occurs is not evidence that the soil suits it, and no such link is published without a source that makes it. How these observations are recorded.

Climate and drought

Drought assessment, week of 2026-08-25

assessment

13.9% of California’s land area was assessed as being in drought (D1 or worse) for the week of 2026-08-25 to 2026-08-31.

No category
34.8%
D0 · not drought
51.3%
D1
12.6%
D2
1.3%
D3
0.0%
D4
0.0%

D0 is abnormally dry and is counted separately: the Drought Monitor treats it as a precursor to drought and a category areas pass through while recovering.

The Drought Monitor is drawn each week by an author who weighs several indicators together with reports from local observers. It is an assessment of conditions, not an instrument reading, and each map applies to one week.

Climate normals, 1991–2020

normal

48 stations in California publish a full-standard 1991–2020 normal. Each describes its own site; none is an average for the state.

StationMean tempPrecipitationDays ≤ 32°F
ANGWIN PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE, CA US57.4°F39.71 in15.2
AUBERRY 2 NW, CA US61.7°F25.10 in22.5
BARSTOW DAGGETT AP, CA US67.9°F3.77 in24.3
BISHOP AP, CA US57.3°F4.84 in139.2
BLYTHE AP, CA US74.4°F3.56 in3.0
BURBANK VALLEY PUMP PLT, CA US64.5°F16.50 in1.4
CAMPO, CA US59.6°F15.58 in71.3
DUNSMUIR TRTMT PL, CA US53.9°F63.33 in105.0

Eight of 48 stations shown.

A climate normal is what 1991–2020 averaged to at that station. It is not what any year was and not what any year will be; a season that matches it is ordinary, not forecast.

How these figures are produced, and what they do not say

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]USDA NASS — National Agricultural Statistics Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Official state agricultural statistics

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]USDA — U.S. Department of Agriculture (opens in a new tab)

    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Federal agricultural context

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  3. [3]UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) (opens in a new tab)

    University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR)

    High

    Cited for: California crop production and pest-management context

    Type:
    University extension service
    Jurisdiction:
    United States (California)
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12