Vegetable cost per acre in California
No university in California publishes a vegetable cost-per-acre budget we could find and check. We don't borrow another state's numbers, so this page shows only what is real for California.
$13,957 per acre
Crops counted: Artichokes, Beets, Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cantaloupes, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chile Peppers, Cucumbers, Garlic, Head Lettuce, Honeydew, Kale, Leaf Lettuce, Onion, Pumpkins, Romaine Lettuce, Snap Beans, Squash, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato. This is sales, not cost — compare it with the budgets above.
Source: USDA NASS Vegetables 2024 Summary (released February 2025), state tables vege_all_tables.csv.
| Crop | Acres | Yield (lb/acre) | Price ($/lb) | Sales ($/acre) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artichokes | 4,200 | 16,000 | $1.01 | $16,160 |
| Beets | 3,900 | 23,000 | $0.80 | $18,400 |
| Bell Peppers | 10,000 | 41,000 | $0.68 | $27,880 |
| Broccoli | 86,500 | 14,000 | $0.81 | $11,382 |
| Cabbage | 15,500 | 36,500 | $0.51 | $18,761 |
| Cantaloupes | 24,200 | 26,000 | $0.27 | $6,994 |
| Carrots | 51,000 | 35,500 | $0.61 | $21,726 |
| Cauliflower | 35,900 | 20,500 | $0.63 | $12,812 |
| Celery | 26,400 | 56,500 | $0.24 | $13,504 |
| Chile Peppers | 2,200 | 44,000 | $0.23 | $10,076 |
| Cucumbers | 7,200 | 15,500 | $0.32 | $4,976 |
| Garlic | 25,200 | 14,500 | $0.58 | $8,482 |
| Head Lettuce | 82,800 | 37,500 | $0.40 | $15,038 |
| Honeydew | 9,000 | 29,000 | $0.32 | $9,164 |
| Kale | 5,900 | 16,500 | $0.81 | $13,332 |
| Leaf Lettuce | 63,800 | 22,000 | $0.79 | $17,380 |
| Onion | 40,600 | 50,000 | $0.27 | $13,450 |
| Pumpkins | 4,700 | 22,500 | $0.26 | $5,782 |
| Romaine Lettuce | 90,600 | 33,500 | $0.43 | $14,505 |
| Snap Beans | 6,900 | 9,500 | $1.25 | $11,875 |
| Squash | 6,600 | 22,000 | $0.40 | $8,844 |
| Sweet Corn | 23,800 | 18,000 | $0.42 | $7,488 |
| Sweet Potato | 18,000 | 29,500 | $0.42 | $12,449 |
| Tomatoes | 238,700 | 96,000 | $0.07 | $6,902 |
Source: USDA NASS Vegetables 2024 Summary, state-by-crop tables (area harvested, yield per acre, price per cwt), 2024. Fresh-market and processing sales combined, as USDA reports them; prices are what growers received.
University budgets are planning budgets: extension economists price a typical acre from grower panels and dealer quotes. They are not surveys of what farms actually spent. Your own invoices are always better.
Older budgets also show a range in today's prices, using the USDA index of prices farmers pay for supplies (2025 average to August 2026). That index leaves out farm wages, so each budget's labor lines are brought up separately using USDA's farm wage rates (newest annual figure: 2025).
We never fill a gap with another state's budget. If California has no budget for a crop, the tools show none.
Every figure is transcribed from a published land-grant enterprise budget for that state. These are planning budgets built from grower panels and dealer quotes, not surveys of what farms actually spent — your invoices override them everywhere they exist.
Want to change the numbers for your farm? Open the cost per acre calculator. Other states: North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey.