From RURAL MIGRATION NEWS
Census of Agriculture 2017: California Vegetables
June 17, 2019
The value of US vegetables, potatoes, and melons was $20 billion in 2017; California’s vegetable, potato, and melon sales were $8.4 billion or 43 percent of the US total. The COA reports data in several ways, including by NAICS code in Table 75; vegetables are NAICS 1112.
There were 45,165 US vegetable farms in 2017 with total sales of $19.7 billion, including $17.2 billion worth of vegetables. The 9,900 US vegetable farms that had sales of $50,000 or more accounted for 98 percent of US vegetable sales.
Six vegetables accounted for over half of California’s vegetable sales: broccoli, carrots, celery, lettuce, bell peppers, and fresh tomatoes. Table 36 of the state Census of Agriculture report found 810 California broccoli farming operations that harvested 109,000 acres in 2017, almost all for the fresh market; California broccoli had a farm gate value of $850 million in 2017. The 36 California broccoli farming operations that harvested 1,000 or more acres accounted for almost 60 percent of California broccoli acreage.
There were 785 California carrot farming operations that harvested 63,000 acres in 2017, almost all for the fresh market; carrots were worth $615 million in 2017. The 25 carrot farming operations that harvested 500 or more acres accounted for two thirds of the California carrot acreage. There were 323 California celery farming operations that harvested almost 30,000 acres in 2017, 98 percent for the fresh market; celery was worth $302 million in 2017. The 21 California carrot farming operations that harvested 500 or more acres accounted for about two thirds of California celery acreage.
Lettuce is the most valuable vegetable grown in California, worth $2.4 billion in 2017. There were 1,114 California lettuce farming operations that harvested 250,000 acres in 2017, all for the fresh market. The 67 California lettuce farming operations that harvested 1,000 or more acres accounted for 80 percent of the California lettuce acreage, which included 102,000 acres of head lettuce, 90,000 acres of romaine lettuce, and 58,000 acres of leaf lettuce.
Some 780 California bell pepper farming operations harvested 15,800 acres in 2017, including 80 percent for the fresh market; bell peppers were worth $282 million in 2017. The 49 California bell pepper farming operations that harvested 100 or more acres accounted for 85 percent of California’s bell pepper acreage. There were 1,900 California fresh tomato farming operations that harvested 24,300 acres in 2017; fresh tomatoes were worth $206 million in 2017. The 58 fresh tomato farming operations that harvested 100 or more acres accounted for 80 percent of California fresh tomato acreage.
The value of California broccoli, carrots, celery, lettuce, bell peppers, and fresh tomatoes was $4.7 billion or 56 percent of the value of the state’s vegetables. For California’s six major fresh vegetables, the largest farms were less than 10 percent of all farms, but they accounted for 60 to 85 percent of harvested acreage of each commodity. Other California vegetable commodities include processing tomatoes worth $848 million in 2017, garlic worth $390 million, cauliflower worth $304 million, and mushrooms worth $275 million.
The acreage of California broccoli harvested for the fresh market rose by 14 percent between 2012 and 2017, the acreage of carrots for the fresh market increased by five percent, and the acreage of lettuce rose by eight percent. The acreage of bell peppers harvested for the fresh market fell by 20 percent between 2012 and 2017, and the acreage of tomatoes for the fresh market fell almost 40 percent.
California’s vegetable agriculture differs from US vegetable agriculture in several ways. California six major vegetables include only two of the six major acreage US vegetable commodities, which are potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sweet corn, and sweet potatoes.
Potatoes (1.1 million acres) and sweet corn (500,000 acres) are the leading acreage US fresh vegetable crops, with potatoes accounting 30 percent of US vegetable acreage, including 55 percent in Idaho. California has the most acreage of sweet corn with 93,000 acres, but sweet corn acreage is trending down. By contrast, the acreage of lettuce and especially sweet potatoes is rising.
The largest California vegetable farms were less than 10 percent of farms producing each of the six major fresh vegetables, but they accounted for 60 to 85 percent of harvested acreage
Potatoes accounted for 30 percent of the 4.4 million acres of US vegetables in 2017
Potatoes dominate vegetable acreage in ID and WA; lettuce and tomatoes dominate in CA
