Ch. 4 The North American Political Economy

Agriculture is the primary industry in most of the Central Valley, meaning the majority of workers are employed in the primary sector. 

"The Central Valley is one of the world's most productive agricultural regions and is the largest patch of Class 1 soil in the world. More than 230 crops are grown there. On less than 1 percent of the total farmland in the United States, the Central Valley produces 8 percent of the nation’s agricultural output by value: 17 billion USD in 2002. Its agricultural productivity relies on irrigation from both surface water diversions and groundwater pumping from wells. About one-sixth of the irrigated land in the U.S. is in the Central Valley (Wikipedia)."

"The top four counties in agricultural sales in the U.S. are in the Central Valley (2007 Data). They are Fresno County (#1 with $3.731 billion in sales), Tulare County (#2 with $3.335 billion), Kern County (#3 with $3.204), and Merced County (#4 with $2.330 billion (Wikipedia)."

 "A notable exception to the predominance of agriculture has been the Sacramento area, where the large and stable workforce of government employees helped steer the economy away from agriculture. Despite state hiring cutbacks and the closure of several military bases, Sacramento's economy has continued to expand and diversify and now more closely resembles that of the nearby San Francisco Bay Area (Wikipedia)."

 Sacramento Bridge 

Sacramento Capitol Building