Tomato photo via Immo Wegmann on unsplash.com

California’s processing tomato crop is progressing nicely with 10.3 million tons under contact for 2025.

That tonnage is 1% above what growers said back in January that they intended to plant and 7% below the final 2024 contracted production, according to the latest processing tomato report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Services.

Contracted acreage for May is 205,000, with Fresno County remaining the dominant processing tomato area with 53,400 acres.
Yolo County comes in second with 30,500 contracted acres.

Kings County has 18,800 acres under contract, with 5,200 acres in Madera and 2,100 acres in Tulare.

From Fresno County alone, processors purchased 2.9 million tons from growers in 2024.
Growers reported favorable growing conditions for this season.

“The developing crop has experienced mostly mild spring temperatures and a few storms, lessening the need for irrigation,” according to the tomato report. “There are sufficient water allocations to support the crop through the summer heat. Neither pest nor disease threats have been reported at this point in the season. Processors anticipate harvest to begin and end on schedule, similar to 2024.”

Harvest typically begins in late June and runs into October, according to the University of California.
California’s tomato crop saw lower production in 2024 — a year with a lot of rain and higher temperatures.

There are about 20 tomato processors in California, including JG Boswell Co. in Corcoran, Los Gatos Tomato Products in Huron and Toma Tek in Firebaugh.