California Counties
Kings County, California
Kings County is one of the most important counties in California for food--it ranks 3rd in California's most important commodities, milk & cream (11% of state production), just under Tulare County (1), and Merced County (2)
Kings
Cities & Towns
Armona
Avenal
Corcoran
Hanford
Home Garden
Kettleman City
Lemoore
Lemoore Station
Stratford
Kings County 156,289
Kings County
formed in 1893 from the western part of Tulare County. Entire county
population is around 153,000
Also, Kings County was among the top counties for the State's crush
which includes Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, plus raisin grapes such
as Thompson Seedless.
In 1928, oil was discovered in the Kettleman Hills located in the
southwestern part of Kings County. The Kettleman North Dome Oil Field
became one of the most productive oil fields in the United States.
Lemoore Army Airfield was established for training and defense during
World War II. In 1961, the U.S. Navy opened NAS Lemoore 9 miles (14 km)
west of Lemoore, not far from the earlier site.
The completion of the California Aqueduct in the early 1970s brought
needed water for agriculture and domestic use to the westside of the
county.
Kings County is bordered on the north and northwest by Fresno County, on
the east by Tulare County, on the south by Kern County and a small part
of San Luis Obispo County and on the west by Monterey County.
Kings County Ranked #8 in agriculture in 2011 Worth over $2.2 billion
$2,219,529,000
1 MILK, MARKET, FLUID $792,269,000
2 COTTON LINT, PIMA $237,393,000
3 CATTLE & CALVES, UNSPECIFIED 156,312,000
4 TOMATOES, PROCESSING $117,540,000 -- nearly 1.5 million tons
5 HAY, ALFALFA $93,709,000
6 PISTACHIOS 81,164,000
7 ALMONDS, ALL $75,178,000
8 CORN, SILAGE $72,081,000
9 WALNUTS, ENGLISH 71,921,000
Leading Commodities: Milk, Pima Cotton Lint, Cattle and Calves,
Processing Tomatoes, Alfalfa Hay
Ranks as 1 of 5 top counties for tomato processing (2nd), apricots,
grapes used for raisins, nectarines, Freestone peaches, peaches,
pistachios, plums, cotton lint (top producer), cottonseed, wheat, milk &
cream, turkeys, wool & mohair, alfalfa hay