Farming in the Yuba-Sutter area began with John Sutter's Hock Farm in 1841 and hasn't stopped since. To this day, it remains one of the leading industries in Sutter County and in the portion of Yuba County that is in the Sacramento Valley. Farm products invented in the Yuba-Sutter area include Proper Wheat (developed by Edward Proper in 1868), Thompson's Seedless Grape (developed by William Thompson and first propagated slightly west of Sutter in 1872), Phillips Canning Cling Peach (developed by A. F. Abbott and Joseph Phillips in the 1880s), and the Rio Oso Gem peach (developed by William F. Yerkes in the 1920s).
As of 1997, Yuba County ranked sixth among all the nation's counties in production of peaches and sixth in production of plums and prunes. According to the 2010 Yuba County Crop Report, the top six agricultural commodities in Yuba County are rice, walnuts, plums/prunes, peaches, milk, and cattle, in that order. Kiwifruits, timber, almonds, hay, grapes, and alfalfa are also commonly grown here.
In Yuba County, the leading industry is the construction industry, but farming is a close second. As of a July 2007 estimate, 14% of employed males in Linda, 11% of employed males in Olivehurst, and 10% of employed males in Wheatland and Beale Air Force Base work in agriculture.