California Central Valley - An interesting landscape

California is all not about its sprawling beaches, world famous wineries, hollywood and bountiful coast line. As one heads a hundred mile inwards from the coast, the  most talked about pleasant year round temperature changes to hot and dry. The scorching heat from the sun shoots the day temperature to above 100F. Amidst this lies a vast fields growing vegetables, fruits, nuts and above all milk and milk products. 
Central Valley has always played an important role in the overall economy of the state and the country.
During my recent drive through this central valley into the high sierras, I was amazed to see what this area provides for  us and how nice people around this place are. 
As we drove past the grapevine, the first thing I noticed was the dry and hot weather with dry and barren mountains.

Driving along CA 99, suddenly brings some pleasant sight with Almonds trees, vineyards, apricots, squash, okra and even lavender 

As we moved further north, the fields now also add large diary farms. This belt is the main source of the popular California Milk. 

Some interesting facts that I realized about California's milk production. 

• California leads the nation in total milk production. In 2010, California produced 40.4 billion pounds of milk – more than one-fifth of the nation’s total production. (California Department of Food and Agriculture - CDFA)
• Dairy farming is a leading agricultural commodity in California, producing $5.9 billion in annual sales in 2010. (CDFA)

The California grape crop accounted for more than 90 percent of the 2010 United States’ utilized grape production. 40% of the world raisins are from California San Joaquin valley. This is where the famous Sun-maid raisins has its head quarters and leads in the production of raisin. 

According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, in 2010 California was the No. 1 exporter of agricultural commodities in the United States. Tree nuts were the No. 1 agricultural export for California, followed by fruits and vegetables.California accounted for nearly all the national production of almonds.

Even with all this hot and tough weather, this certainly is the place for all the cash crop and the milk that brings in the revenue for the state and the country. California is the top state in cash farm receipts in 2010, with $37.5 billion in revenue. The state accounted for 16 percent of national receipts for crops, and 7 percent of the U.S. revenue for livestock and livestock products.