The fourth-ranked farm county, and what that means for a grower
Kern County is described as the fourth most productive agricultural county by value in the United States, and Bakersfield sits at the center of it. Major crops listed for the county include grapes, citrus, almonds, carrots, alfalfa, cotton and roses. Statewide, California agriculture produced nearly $59.4 billion in revenue in 2023, with more than 400 commodity crops grown across the state.
None of that tells a single grower what the next ninety days look like. Scale and crop choice decide that, and every crop in that list has its own timetable for when the money goes out and when it comes back.
A simple calendar of outflows and inflows
| Stage | Typical spending | Money back |
|---|---|---|
| Land and bed preparation | Fuel, labor, tractor service, soil work | None yet |
| Planting or pruning and growth | Seed or stock, fertilizer, irrigation, crop protection | None for annual crops; permanent crops carry costs for years |
| Harvest | Crew pay, fuel, bins and hauling | Begins on delivery or sale, often with terms |
| After harvest | Equipment repair, loan or lease payments, next season's inputs | Final settlements from packers or buyers |
Almonds, grapes and citrus are tree and vine crops, so a lot of the spending happens whether or not this year's crop sells well. Carrots, alfalfa and cotton turn faster and carry different risks, such as the timing of a buyer's payment.
For illustration: a mid-sized grower's bad month
Suppose a grower pays $35,000 in crew wages and fuel across a three-week harvest and hauls to a packer that settles in 45 days. In the same weeks the irrigation pump fails, and a $12,000 repair cannot wait. The harvest is good, but the bank balance is at its lowest point of the year when the work is at its highest. That is a timing gap in an otherwise healthy operation. These figures are an example and not our terms.
Where owners put working capital
- Crew payroll during harvest, before the buyer pays. See working capital in Bakersfield.
- Tractors, sprayers, bins or a replacement pump. See equipment financing.
- Inputs for the next season while the last one is still being settled, which a line of credit approach can smooth out.
- Repairs or a cold-storage upgrade when a crop must move.
If a bad year left you with tight cash and older advances, our MCA relief page explains how we approach relief for daily and weekly payments.
What to know before you apply
We fund working capital from $25,000 to $5,000,000, with funding in as little as 24 hours after the file is complete. FICO 500+ is considered. We read about three months of business bank statements and do not require tax returns. The application takes around five minutes and uses a soft credit pull. Sole proprietors can apply, which includes family farms operated under one name.
Farm statements can look uneven, with large deposits after harvest and mostly outflows before. Add a short note about the crop cycle in the application, and have the farm's operating account separate from household spending. Start here, or see our general Bakersfield page.