Fresno County is consistently one of the top producing agricultural counties in California and the United States. In 2023, 62,900 farm operations on 23.8m acres produced a total gross production value of $8.6b. This was an increase of $494m or 6.1% more than in 2022 (Fresno Crop and Livestock Report 2023). Grapes, almonds, and pistachios continue to rank among the top 3 commodities produced nationally in and from Fresno County. Read more to learn about Southeast Asian farmers in greater detail.
"Asian Producers" in Fresno
Fresno County is home to the second largest self-identified “Asian producer” population in the United States, second only to Hawaii County, HI (USDA Agricultural Census 2022). Estimates of Asian producers in Fresno County range from 696-720 farmers with an average farm size of 234 acres. However, 58% are under 50 acres and 54% make less than $100,000 in gross sales per year. In a UCANR study conducted by the previous Fresno County Small Farms Advisor, Richard Moliar, and staffer, Michael Yang, it was found that many Southeast Asian farmers were underrepresented in USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS) results due to low participation in mail-in surveys (Molinar et al. 2007). Molinar, Yang, and Cha's survey (2007) estimated 1,300 Southeast Asian farmers alone, eclipsing the 919 Asian producers reported in the USDA NASS census from the same year. While there is an expanding literature on the history of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farms, including Chinese, Japanese, and Filipina/o contributions to the agricultural legacy of California, there remains fewer works on Southeast Asian farmers who are ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse Hmong, Lao, Khmer, and Vietnamese refugees from various wars in Southeast Asia throughout the 20th century (Mabalan 2013). Most were not originally settled in the Central Valley, but many underwent a second migration to places like Fresno County in the pursuit of the “dream of farming” in the mid to late 1980s (Finck 1986).
What Are Southeast Asian Farmers Growing?
Throughout the 1990s, many Southeast Asian farmers adopted and grew strawberries and sold them at farm stands. The Fresno County Fruit Trail keeps a list of active farm stands here. In recent years, a few Southeast Asian farmers have begun raising permanent crops such as almonds, raisins, and jujubes. However, a majority of Southeast Asian farmers still prefer to grow annual row crops or “Oriental vegetables” more often referred to as “Asian specialty crops” which include fruits and vegetables like achoy and bokchoy, lemongrass, napa cabbages, guava, papaya, Thai chilies, sugarcane,bittermelon, and moringa. Some crops like ginger,daikon, and yams are harvested for both leaves/greens and fruit/root. In 2023, Fresno County reported Asian specialty crops were cultivated on a record 1,270 acres producing a value of $19.7m (down from $24.7m in 2022) (Fresno Crop and Livestock Report 2023). Fresno County Southeast Asian farmers are also increasingly growing rice in small batches as a highly desirable cultural crop as opposed to an open market commodity. Rice, long grain and glutinous varieties are central to Hmong new year celebrations held in late fall and early winter.
Most Southeast Asian farms are family businesses employing multi-generational and kin-based labor for fieldwork and direct sales. In addition to Asian specialty crops, they may grow multiple varieties of tomatoes and eggplant, green beans, and herbs like mint, coriander/cilantro, and onions, and then drive that produce 6-8 hours roundtrip to certified farmers markets in the Bay Area and Southern California for weekend events. Other Southeast Asian farming families produce for wholesalers with national and international distribution lines. Some growers also sell to local grocery stores and/or may have private contracts with buyers out of state where sizable Asian or Southeast Asian populations have increased the demand for Asian specialty crops.
UCCE Supports Southeast Asian Farmers!
To date, UC Extension staff have provided services for Southeast Asian farmers for nearly 30 years from Sacramento and Yolo Counties all the way down to Fresno, Madera, and Tulare Counties. Southeast Asian growers have received education and training on a variety of topics from regulatory compliance to on-farm safety and pest management. They have also contributed to research on plant breeding and soil health, and received technical assistance for participation in local, state, and federal programs. Beyond California, there are also growing communities of Southeast Asian farmers in states like Minnesota, Oregon, North Carolina, and Arkansas who grow flowers, harvest bamboo, and raise poultry.
References
Fresno County Annual Crop and Livestock Report. 2023. Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner's Office. Available online.
Asian Producers, 2022 Census of Agriculture Highlights. 2024. USDA NASS. Available online.
Molinar, R., M. Yang, and C. Cha. 2007. Update: The Southeast Asian farmers in Fresno County status report for 1992 and 2007. University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno County. Unpublished.
Mabalon, D. 2013. Little Manila is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, CA. Duke University Press.
Finck, John. 1986. “Secondary Migration to California's Central Valley,” in The Hmong in Transition. Glenn Hendricks, Bruce Downing and Amos Deinard, Eds. Pp. 184-186. New York: Center for Migration Studies.
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