What’s Growing Around the Salton Sea? Inside Imperial Valley Agriculture

Where these fields fit into the valley

“Around the Salton Sea” covers a large area. For this story, I am looking at the farmland around its southeastern end and the broader Imperial Valley, including the agricultural communities around Calipatria, Brawley, Imperial, El Centro, and Holtville.

This is a different agricultural setting from the date gardens many of us associate with the Coachella Valley to the north. Here, the long views across open fields are part of the experience.

The scale is substantial. Imperial County reported approximately $2.49 billion in gross agricultural production for 2024. That is a countywide figure covering crops and livestock, not just the fields near the refuge—and gross production value is not the same as farmers’ profit.

In that report, cattle led the county’s commodities by value, followed by alfalfa, broccoli, leaf lettuce, and head lettuce. That combination helps explain what kind of farming region this is: fresh produce matters enormously, but so do livestock and the crops grown to feed animals.

What farmers grow around the Salton Sea

A green field is not always easy to identify from a passing car. The Imperial Valley grows a range of crops with very different uses.

UC Cooperative Extension lists many of those familiar vegetables among Imperial County’s principal vegetable crops. Their presence is a reminder that the agricultural landscape connects directly to ordinary meals: a salad, a side of broccoli, a bag of carrots.

The hay fields tell another part of the story. Their harvest may feed animals rather than appear in a produce aisle. Both kinds of production belong in the picture.

My wide photograph shows variations in color and field condition. It does not provide enough detail to name each crop. I like it for the larger view: the geometry, the green, and the amount of cultivated land stretching toward the mountains.

How the landscape changes through the year

Winter is a working season here. The county identifies winter vegetables as a major part of its agricultural role, supplying fresh food during months when growing conditions are more restrictive in colder regions.

One local example makes that season tangible: LaBrucherie Produce describes its organic vegetable supply period as late October through mid-March. That is the company’s season, not a fixed calendar for every farm.

Late summer and autumn bring preparation for the cool-season crop. Vessey’s published farm updates show activities such as late-summer transplanting and autumn planting. The green fields I enjoy in January have a history of work behind them.

Winter brings vegetable growth and harvest. Fields are on different schedules, so a drive can take you past growing crops, active fieldwork, and ground between crops. One stretch of bare soil does not tell you whether a farm is inactive.

Spring and summer bring a different mix of work. The region’s agriculture continues beyond its winter vegetable season. Hay production, for example, follows repeated harvest cycles. UC’s alfalfa guidance describes eight to eleven harvests in the low deserts of the Imperial and Palo Verde valleys; that is a regional pattern, not a promise for every field or year.

There is no single calendar that explains the whole view. Crop choice, weather, water availability, and a grower’s plans all affect what a particular field looks like when you pass it.

Who is growing it?

There are real families, businesses, and working crews behind those long rows. A few documented examples show the range of operations in the Imperial Valley.

Vessey & Company

Vessey describes itself as a fourth-generation Imperial Valley grower and shipper. Its operation includes fruits, vegetables, hay, and grain, with both conventional and organic production. The company traces its farming roots in the valley to the early 1900s.

LaBrucherie Produce

The LaBrucherie family’s agricultural history reaches back to 1912. Today, the company emphasizes organic vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, carrots, and a range of leafy greens and herbs.

Grower and shipper partnerships

The business also extends beyond companies based solely in the valley. Hitchcock Farms, a grower, packer, and shipper with operations in several regions, identifies the Imperial Valley as a growing area and names partnerships with the Fleming brothers and Roy Motter.

These are regional examples, not an identification of the farms in my photographs.

And “who grows it” includes far more than the name on a company website. Planting, irrigation, harvesting, packing, equipment maintenance, and transportation depend on people doing skilled work. A peaceful roadside view can make that labor easy to overlook.

How water reaches the fields

The basic connection begins far from the shoreline: the Colorado River supplies the Imperial Valley’s irrigation water.

The Imperial Irrigation District describes the All-American Canal as the route carrying water from Imperial Dam to the valley’s farmland. Its canal network distributes that water to delivery gates serving agricultural users.

Think of the journey in four steps: the river, the All-American Canal, the district’s distribution canals, and the farm delivery gate. Getting water to a field is an organized delivery process, not simply a matter of having a lake nearby.

That distinction is easy to miss when standing close to the Salton Sea. The sea is downstream of much of this agricultural activity. IID describes it as a terminal lake—a waterbody without an outlet—sustained primarily by agricultural return flows from the Imperial, Coachella, and Mexicali valleys.

Some water used in the agricultural system therefore continues toward the sea through drainage and waterways. This is one reason farming and the Salton Sea cannot be understood as separate stories.

It is also a complicated relationship. Return flows help sustain the lake, while water quality affects its habitat. The refuge identifies irrigation runoff as a pathway for selenium and studies its effects on wildlife. Seeing the fields as productive and beautiful does not require ignoring those problems.

Water conservation, agricultural production, and the future of the sea belong in the same conversation.

Where does the harvest go?

The crops do not all follow the same route.

Fresh vegetables enter retail, wholesale, and foodservice markets. Hitchcock Farms describes customers across the United States and Canada, including retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice distributors. Its seasonal growing regions help it maintain supply through the year.

Hay and grain reach other agricultural and food markets. LaBrucherie’s affiliated businesses describe hay exports to Pacific Rim destinations including China, Japan, and Korea, along with durum wheat marketed in the United States and Italy.

Those examples help explain why the roadside scene can feel so much smaller than the system behind it. A field near the Salton Sea may connect to a grocery store, restaurant supplier, livestock operation, or overseas customer.

I cannot trace the harvest from an unidentified field in my photographs. But I can look at the region differently knowing how far its agricultural connections extend.

The connection between farming and birds

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One of my favorite photographs from this visit shows a tractor with birds gathered around it, including birds perched right on the machine. It brings two things I enjoy about this area into the same frame: the farming and the wildlife.

On other visits, I have found burrowing owls beside agricultural roads and watched sandhill cranes farther out in the fields. Those encounters are part of why I keep exploring beyond the shoreline viewpoints.

At Sonny Bono, some farming is specifically for wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says refuge staff grow ryegrass and wheat for wintering geese and sandhill cranes. That managed habitat has a different purpose from a commercial field growing a crop for sale.

The distinction makes the landscape more interesting to me. A cultivated field can be part of food production, wildlife management, or a wider setting used by birds moving through the region.

For more on finding and observing the birds, I have a separate Salton Sea birdwatching guide.

Looking at the fields with a little more curiosity

I still come out here for the feeling of the place: winter light, green fields, open space, and the possibility of seeing something unexpected.

Now the questions extend beyond the birds. I want to understand the crop, the people working it, and the water that reached it.

If you explore these roads, give the working landscape room. Stay on public routes, respect posted access restrictions, and keep vehicles clear of farm entrances and equipment. A place that looks inviting in a photograph may still be someone’s workplace.

There is a lot happening in this quiet corner of the desert. The more I learn about it, the more I want to pay attention.

Read the companion story: Why I Love Winter Around the Salton Sea.