Per capita availability of vegetables up in 2017

Americans each had nearly 389 pounds of fresh and processed vegetables available to them in 2017, and nearly 57 percent of those were grown in California, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

Domestic availability of vegetables grew slightly in 2017, due primarily to a steep decrease in exports, USDA said.

Per-capita availability of fresh vegetables in the United States climbed to 188.7 pounds; up about 1 pound from 2016 levels. Similarly, per capita availability of processed vegetables grew to 200.16 pounds; up just more than 3 pounds from the previous year.

The USDA report said export volumes for both fresh and processed vegetables fell in 2017, while import levels rose for fresh vegetables and remained relatively steady in the processed market. Lower exports, plus a large amount of beginning stocks of canned vegetables, helped to raise per-capita availability and put downward pressure on the price of processed vegetables.

Overall, according to USDA, domestic fresh vegetable production was down approximately 2 percent in 2017 from the previous year, and processed vegetables were down more than 12 percent from 2016 levels. Crop yields were hindered by unpredictable weather patterns, which lowered 2017 production of fresh and processed vegetables.

Through early 2018, weather in major crop areas of California points to boosted yield potential, USDA said, noting that this, when coupled with current acreage, indicates higher production of fresh-market and processed vegetables. Additionally, imports for 2018 show continued signs of growth. Exports of fresh vegetables also seem poised to surpass 2017 levels, while exports of processed vegetables remain depressed.

Excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms, the United States produced 35.7 billion pounds of fresh vegetables in 2017, down almost 2 percent from a year earlier. This continues a gradual decline of 16 percent from the most recent peak in 2004. California leads the country in total vegetable output, accounting for 57 percent of total annual utilized production of all vegetables in the United States.

Behind California, Washington and Arizona contributed 5.5 and 5 percent, respectively, to total output of fresh vegetables. The four largest fresh-market crops, in terms of volume, in 2017 were onions, head lettuce, tomatoes and romaine lettuce, which combined accounted for 48 percent of the total production.

Tomatoes, head lettuce and romaine lettuce claimed the highest values of utilized production in 2017, generating $1.7 billion, $1.6 billion, and $1.4 billion of farm value, respectively.

California growers accounted for 56 percent (or $7.9 billion) of vegetable farm value of utilized production, followed by Arizona with 12 percent. Total U.S. utilized production farm value increased almost 6 percent to $13.8 billion in 2017 due to higher prices for numerous fresh and processed vegetables.

USDA said production increases in 2017 for cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, garlic, romaine lettuce, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes were offset by declines in artichokes, asparagus, snap beans, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, chile peppers, pumpkins, spinach and squash, to generate an overall decline of approximately 2 percent for fresh vegetables.

A 7-percent harvested area gain boosted U.S. production of romaine lettuce to 3.1 billion pounds in 2017, up 2 percent from the previous year despite average yields declining to below trend levels, the USDA report said. The spring and summer romaine crop is partially situated in the Central Coast California Climate Division as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Yield potential in this major California growing area was likely hindered by precipitation well below normal in May-June 2017, coupled with above normal temperatures.

The California spring and summer romaine crop constituted 54 percent of total romaine shipments during 2017. Historically, March precipitation and May temperatures have been shown to affect romaine lettuce yield potential, USDA said.

As of April 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning customers not to buy or consume all types of romaine lettuce produced in Yuma, Ariz. This is in response to a national outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, which so far includes 53 confirmed cases across 16 States. Arizona is the second largest domestic producer of romaine lettuce, contributing about 30 percent (924 million pounds) of domestic production. This follows the Canadian outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in November and December 2017, also linked to romaine lettuce, which included 42 cases across 5 provinces.

Looking forward, USDA said the actual March 2018 precipitation amount and projected normal May 2018 temperatures point to higher 2018 romaine lettuce production if acreage levels are consistent with 2017.