Farming

Farmland south of the Sutter Buttes. Photo by queerbychoice. Farming in the Yuba-Sutter area began with John Sutter's Hock Farm in 1841 and hasn't stopped since. To this day, it remains one of the leading industries in Sutter County and in the portion of Yuba County that is in the Sacramento Valley. Farm products invented in the Yuba-Sutter area include Proper Wheat (developed by Edward Proper in 1868), Thompson's Seedless Grape (developed by William Thompson and first propagated slightly west of Sutter in 1872), Phillips Canning Cling Peach (developed by A. F. Abbott and Joseph Phillips in the 1880s), and the Rio Oso Gem peach (developed by William F. Yerkes in the 1920s).

Sutter County

Tomato plants bloom in a Marysville garden. Sutter County ranks seventh among all the nation's counties in commercial production of tomatoes. Photo by queerbychoice. Approximately 88% of the land in Sutter County is used for farming or grazing. As of 1997, there were 269 domestic hogs, 684 domestic birds, 12,660 domestic cattle, and 15,407 domestic sheep in Sutter County. As of the same year, Sutter County ranked first among all the nation's counties in production of plums, second in peaches, third in rice, and seventh in tomatoes. According to the 2010 Sutter County Crop Report, the top six leading crops in Sutter County are rice, walnuts, plums/prunes, peaches, tomatoes, and almonds, in that order. Wheat, beans, alfalfa, melons, and hay are also commonly grown here.

Farming is an especially dominant industry in the areas of Robbins, Kirkville, Cranmore, and Meridian in western Sutter County, where fully 50% of employed males work in agriculture, as do 18% of employed females, according to a July 2007 estimate. In Live Oak in northern Sutter County, 32% of employed males and 10% of employed females work in agriculture. Many Migrant Farm Workers live in these areas seasonally.

An almond tree blooms at the foot of a Marysville levee. Almonds are the sixth leading crop in Sutter County. Photo by queerbychoice. Sheep graze in an orchard at the northern edge of Marysville. Photo by queerbychoice.

Yuba County

A flooded rice field directly north of St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Marysville. Rice is the leading crop in Yuba County. Photo by queerbychoice. As of 1997, Yuba County ranked sixth among all the nation's counties in production of peaches and sixth in production of plums and prunes. According to the 2010 Yuba County Crop Report, the top six agricultural commodities in Yuba County are rice, walnuts, plums/prunes, peaches, milk, and cattle, in that order. Kiwifruits, timber, almonds, hay, grapes, and alfalfa are also commonly grown here.

In Yuba County, the leading industry is the construction industry, but farming is a close second. As of a July 2007 estimate, 14% of employed males in Linda, 11% of employed males in Olivehurst, and 10% of employed males in Wheatland and Beale Air Force Base work in agriculture.

A steer grazes in the Donovan Hill Unit of Daugherty Hill State Wildlife Area. Photo by queerbychoice.