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Farm and Orchard Country Around Chico

Farming is the backbone of the land around Chico. Butte County’s 2025 crop report puts the county’s farm production at $702.7 million, led by walnuts ($178.0 million), rice ($164.1 million) and almonds ($144.7 million). Visitors see it at the Saturday farmers market downtown, the Chico State farm store, and on drives through the orchards and rice fields.

Checked October 29, 2026

  • $702.7MButte County farm value, 2025
  • #1walnuts, $177,972,300
  • 51,363bearing acres of walnuts
  • 7:30 a.m.Saturday market opens, all year
Flooded rice fields along Nelson Shippee Road in Butte County with the Sutter Buttes behind
Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Butte County Crops by The Numbers

Butte County Agricultural Commissioner, 2025 Agricultural Crop Report (86th annual report, letter dated September 22, 2026). Gross values, not farm income.
Commodity (2025) Gross value
Walnuts $177,972,300
Rice $164,073,545
Almonds $144,686,500
Prunes $34,671,000
Cattle and calves $21,375,000
Rice seed $14,316,120
Apiary, pollination $13,711,200
Kiwifruit $11,980,500
Peaches $11,466,000

The county total of $702,732,779 is up $113.7 million from 2024, against a 10-year average of $650.6 million. Almonds came from 34,278 bearing acres and walnuts from 51,363. Next door in Tehama County, the 2024 report put farm value at $407.8 million, with almonds at $116.0 million and table olives at $25.6 million.

Farmers Markets

Chico Certified Farmers’ Market.
Market Where When
Saturday market Downtown Chico municipal lot, 2nd and Wall Streets Year round, rain or shine, 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; cash, EBT and WIC; bike valet
Wednesday market North Valley Plaza parking lot, Pillsbury Road Year round, 7:30 a.m. to noon; cash, EBT with Market Match, WIC

The University Farm and The Rice Station

Chico State’s 800-acre Paul L. Byrne University Farm, at 311 Nicholas C. Schouten Lane, has a farm store selling its own cheese, butter, student-processed meats, produce and plants (hours on our Chico State page). South of Chico, the California Rice Experiment Station at 955 Butte City Highway in Biggs breeds new rice varieties for California growers and holds a yearly Rice Field Day each August.

Seeing The Orchards

Orchards and rice fields are working private land. Look from public roads and pullouts, and stay out of the rows. For the bloom calendar, see Almond Bloom and Fall Color.

Area guide: Durham, Gridley & Biggs, Chico, Orland & Glenn County.

Map of Farm Stops

2 places are pinned. Pins are approximate and are not verified entrances or parking areas. Tap a pin for directions. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Choosing when or how far to go? See What to Do Around Chico by Season, Day Trips From Chico.

Coming Up in Chico

October 2026

November 2026

December 2026

Sources: each card links to the organizer’s own page and shows the date we checked it. This list shows the next 45 days; see every upcoming event.

What We Could Not Verify

  • We found no official Butte County farm trail or farm map page. Not confirmed
  • Orland-area crop figures are not shown; check the Glenn County crop report. Not confirmed
  • Farm store hours differ between two Chico State pages. Not confirmed
  • Orland and Corning olive businesses are not listed yet.

Questions People Ask

What is the top crop in Butte County?

Walnuts, at $177,972,300 in 2025, ahead of rice and almonds, per the county crop report.

When is the Chico farmers market?

Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 2nd and Wall downtown, and Wednesdays 7:30 a.m. to noon at North Valley Plaza, all year.

Can I walk into an almond orchard?

Orchards are private farms. View them from public roads.

Place Pages for This Guide

More Guides

Sources

  1. Butte County, 2025 Agricultural Crop Report: https://www.buttecounty.net/Archive.aspx?ADID=1244 (checked October 29, 2026)
  2. Butte County, Crop and Livestock Reports archive: https://www.buttecounty.net/Archive.aspx?AMID=47 (checked October 29, 2026)
  3. Tehama County, 2024 Crop Report: https://www.tehama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2024-crop-report.pdf (checked October 29, 2026)
  4. Chico Certified Farmers’ Market: https://chicofarmersmarket.com/ (checked October 29, 2026)
  5. Chico State, Farm Sales: https://www.csuchico.edu/academics/college/agriculture/farm/sales.shtml (checked October 29, 2026)
  6. Chico State, About: https://www.csuchico.edu/about/index.shtml (checked October 29, 2026)
  7. California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation: https://crrf.org/ (checked October 29, 2026)

Cite this page: It's Chico, “Farm and Orchard Country Around Chico”, itschico.com/guides/farm-and-orchard-country/ (updated ). By the It's Chico editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.