California (CA) received $6.18B across 377,131 USDA Farm Service Agency payments from 2017 to 2025.
Total Subsidies
$6.18B
Payments
377,131
Counties
100
Avg Payment
$16K
253% above national avg
How California Compares
National Rank
#9 of 59 states
Subsidy Per Capita
$159
Share of National Total
4.2%
💡 Key Insight
California's peak subsidy year was 2020 at $2.68B. COVID-era spending in 2020 ($2.68B) was 21.9× the 2017 baseline.
Yearly Trends
Top Programs in California
| # | Program | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CFAP Round 2 | $1.39B |
| 2 | CFAP CARES Act | $600.5M |
| 3 | Marketing Assistance For Specialty Crops | $501.9M |
| 4 | Emerg Assist Livestock Bees Fish (Elap) | $469.0M |
| 5 | Emergency Relief Program-Speciality Crops | $329.4M |
| 6 | Dairy Margin Coverage | $270.1M |
| 7 | Emergency Relief Program 2 | $235.3M |
| 8 | Price Loss Coverage Program | $230.5M |
| 9 | Cfapcccca | $217.0M |
| 10 | TMP/MFP 2019 Speciality Crops | $203.2M |
Top Recipients in California
| # | Recipient | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wine Institute | $32.2M |
| 2 | California Walnut Commission | $20.5M |
| 3 | California Table Grape Commission | $15.9M |
| 4 | California Prune Board | $14.7M |
| 5 | Almond Board Of California | $13.7M |
| 6 | Raisin Administrative Committee | $13.4M |
| 7 | Sunkist Growers Inc | $10.8M |
| 8 | Blue Diamond Growers | $6.7M |
| 9 | Fisher Farms | $5.8M |
| 10 | California Dairy Farms Gp | $5.8M |
| 11 | Williams Family Dairy Llc | $5.7M |
| 12 | Costa View Farms No 2 | $5.5M |
| 13 | American Pistachio Growers | $5.4M |
| 14 | T&P Farms | $5.3M |
| 15 | Farm Service Agency/Commodity Credit Corporation | $5.1M |
| 16 | Bidart Dairy Ii Llc | $5.0M |
| 17 | Kack Farming | $4.9M |
| 18 | Wallace Brothers | $4.9M |
| 19 | G 2 Producers | $4.8M |
| 20 | J & D Wilson & Sons Dairy Lp | $4.8M |
| 21 | Philip Verwey Farms | $4.7M |
| 22 | Poso Creek Family Dairy Llc | $4.5M |
| 23 | Gilkey Five | $4.5M |
| 24 | Vander Schaaf Dairy | $4.5M |
| 25 | Buttonwillow Land And Cattle Co | $4.4M |
Counties in California
| # | County | Payments | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tulare | 27,777 | $806.6M |
| 2 | Fresno | 22,175 | $652.2M |
| 3 | Merced | 20,388 | $432.1M |
| 4 | Stanislaus | 19,733 | $394.1M |
| 5 | San Joaquin | 16,403 | $385.2M |
| 6 | Kern | 10,301 | $377.4M |
| 7 | Kings | 11,485 | $303.4M |
| 8 | Madera | 7,735 | $222.4M |
| 9 | Colusa | 13,277 | $177.9M |
| 10 | District of Columbia | 1,074 | $162.6M |
| 11 | Butte | 10,277 | $153.8M |
| 12 | Sutter | 10,181 | $146.6M |
| 13 | Glenn | 10,753 | $138.3M |
| 14 | Imperial | 4,054 | $126.7M |
| 15 | Monterey | 3,187 | $120.8M |
| 16 | Sonoma | 6,586 | $105.0M |
| 17 | Ventura | 2,617 | $103.0M |
| 18 | San Luis Obispo | 8,257 | $96.2M |
| 19 | Yolo | 6,503 | $93.3M |
| 20 | Riverside | 2,894 | $90.2M |
| 21 | Santa Barbara | 2,229 | $83.0M |
| 22 | Tehama | 3,694 | $66.1M |
| 23 | Sacramento | 5,565 | $65.5M |
| 24 | Napa | 1,897 | $62.9M |
| 25 | Solano | 4,117 | $56.9M |
| 26 | Humboldt | 4,408 | $44.0M |
| 27 | Yuba | 2,712 | $41.1M |
| 28 | Mendocino | 2,690 | $40.4M |
| 29 | Modoc | 3,853 | $39.4M |
| 30 | San Bernardino | 1,483 | $36.7M |
| 31 | San Diego | 1,194 | $36.4M |
| 32 | Siskiyou | 4,340 | $32.4M |
| 33 | Lake | 1,702 | $23.9M |
| 34 | Lassen | 2,337 | $23.5M |
| 35 | Santa Clara | 1,111 | $20.5M |
| 36 | Marin | 2,092 | $20.4M |
| 37 | Santa Cruz | 448 | $20.3M |
| 38 | San Benito | 1,373 | $18.9M |
| 39 | Contra Costa | 889 | $16.9M |
| 40 | Mariposa | 1,394 | $14.6M |
| 41 | Placer | 822 | $12.1M |
| 42 | Alameda | 1,067 | $11.2M |
| 43 | Los Angeles | 606 | $11.0M |
| 44 | Shasta | 1,203 | $9.6M |
| 45 | Mono | 233 | $7.9M |
| 46 | Calaveras | 974 | $7.3M |
| 47 | Inyo | 252 | $6.1M |
| 48 | Amador | 841 | $5.9M |
| 49 | Klamath | 454 | $5.9M |
| 50 | Grant | 1,368 | $5.8M |
| 51 | Del Norte | 352 | $5.2M |
| 52 | San Mateo | 151 | $5.1M |
| 53 | Hartley | 74 | $4.8M |
| 54 | Tuolumne | 506 | $4.2M |
| 55 | Plumas | 532 | $4.2M |
| 56 | Washoe | 209 | $3.6M |
| 57 | Powder River | 16 | $3.2M |
| 58 | Walla Walla | 1,037 | $3.2M |
| 59 | Castro | 162 | $2.9M |
| 60 | El Dorado | 296 | $2.4M |
| 61 | McLean | 725 | $2.3M |
| 62 | Franklin | 604 | $2.3M |
| 63 | Brown | 678 | $2.2M |
| 64 | Yuma | 239 | $2.2M |
| 65 | Sierra | 371 | $2.1M |
| 66 | Carroll | 462 | $2.0M |
| 67 | Adams | 1,251 | $1.9M |
| 68 | Sherman | 902 | $1.8M |
| 69 | Deaf Smith | 197 | $1.8M |
| 70 | Lyon | 191 | $1.8M |
| 71 | Marshall | 791 | $1.7M |
| 72 | Umatilla | 802 | $1.7M |
| 73 | Douglas | 679 | $1.6M |
| 74 | Orange | 75 | $1.6M |
| 75 | Lincoln | 1,407 | $1.6M |
| 76 | Cochise | 84 | $1.6M |
| 77 | Weld | 658 | $1.6M |
| 78 | Trinity | 100 | $1.6M |
| 79 | Whitman | 1,159 | $1.6M |
| 80 | Clay | 1,163 | $1.5M |
| 81 | Fayette | 505 | $1.5M |
| 82 | Hamilton | 703 | $1.5M |
| 83 | Dawson | 760 | $1.4M |
| 84 | Dixon | 74 | $1.4M |
| 85 | Iroquois | 423 | $1.3M |
| 86 | Cheyenne | 921 | $1.3M |
| 87 | Jackson | 481 | $1.3M |
| 88 | La Paz | 51 | $1.3M |
| 89 | Shelby | 448 | $1.3M |
| 90 | Kimball | 792 | $1.2M |
| 91 | Washington | 797 | $1.2M |
| 92 | Logan | 1,031 | $1.2M |
| 93 | Morrow | 241 | $1.2M |
| 94 | Curry | 180 | $1.2M |
| 95 | Eureka | 39 | $1.2M |
| 96 | Harrison | 195 | $1.1M |
| 97 | Cass | 513 | $1.1M |
| 98 | Harney | 65 | $1.1M |
| 99 | Wayne | 435 | $1.1M |
| 100 | Union | 371 | $1.1M |
📊 Understanding California's Farm Subsidies
From 2017 to 2025, California received $6.18B in USDA farm subsidy payments — ranking #9 out of 59 states and territories. The state's largest program was CFAP Round 2 at $1.39B, followed by CFAP CARES Act at $600.5M. Payments flowed to recipients across 100 counties.
The average payment in California ($16K) is 3.5× the national average of $5K — suggesting larger farming operations or heavier emergency spending than typical states.
This data comes from USDA FSA payment files covering 2017–2025. Compare California with other states using our comparison tool, see state rankings, or explore why some states get more.