A new report from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) details the significant economic impact of California’s working landscapes, which include farms, ranches, forests, mines, fisheries, renewable energy installations, and areas used for outdoor recreation. According to the publication “California’s Working Landscape: Evolving Contributions to National, State, and Regional Economies,” these sectors collectively generate $404 billion in annual sales and support nearly 1.5 million jobs across 75,500 businesses.
The findings come as California recently surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy. The state’s agricultural sector alone remains a major contributor to this achievement. In 2024, business establishments involved in agricultural production, support services, processing, and distribution generated $310.8 billion in sales and provided more than 1.2 million jobs.
“This report once again shows how our working landscapes are critical as a foundation of the California economy,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “It also underscores the importance of continuing to invest in agriculture, natural resources and related industries to maintain California’s position as one of the world’s economic powerhouses.”
The most common roles within these sectors are linked to food production—including positions in agricultural support services such as fertilizer retailers or business consultants—reflecting a recent increase in these types of jobs. Alexandra Hill, an agricultural economist and UC Berkeley professor of Cooperative Extension who co-authored the report with Alec Dompka and Aaron Wilcher from UC Cooperative Extension’s Community Economic Development team, noted that analyzing data over multiple years is important for understanding trends.
“It’s pretty crucial to analyze data over multiple years,” Hill said.
Hill added that there has been a notable rise in agricultural support jobs due to more farmers using contracting businesses instead of hiring workers directly. She hopes stakeholders will use the report’s data to develop new research questions.
“There are just many different ways that you can divide this report. There are many possible avenues we can take this work in,” Hill said.
Beyond agriculture, the report covers other resource-based industries such as mining, fishing, outdoor recreation, and renewable energy. It ranks California among the top five states nationally across all measured categories—and first place in most—including all four agricultural sectors as well as outdoor recreation and renewable energy.
“That was useful to see California emerge as one of the top contributors across most sectors,” Hill said.
The renewable energy sector stands out for its rapid growth; California now leads the nation in renewable energy business activity, sales volume, and worker earnings according to the report.
The full report is available at https://ucanr.edu/working-landscapes-2025.