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Q. What is the U.S. per capita use of vegetables and melons?
A. On a fresh-weight basis, per capita use of all vegetables and melons averaged 440 pounds during the first 9 years of this decade, with potatoes accounting for 30 percent of the total. Tomatoes, all lettuce, all sweet corn, and onions round out the top five vegetables. For more data, see table 1 in the Vegetables and Melons Yearbook.
Q. What does ERS include in the category "vegetables and melons"?
A. The U.S. vegetable and melon industry is an artificial aggregation of a wide variety of agricultural products. Webster's Dictionary describes vegetables as "any herbaceous plant whose fruit, roots, bulbs, leaves, or flower parts are used for food." In ERS analyses, vegetables include potatoes, sweet potatoes, melons, dry beans, dry peas, lentils, mushrooms (technically a fungus), herbs (such as garlic and parsley), and other crops traditionally known as vegetables (tomatoes, leaf crops, onions, sweet corn, broccoli, among others). ERS groups avocados and olives, two vegetables, with fruit and tree nuts.
Q. What are the leading vegetables and melons in terms of U.S. farm cash receipts?
A. Cash receipts for all vegetables and melons (including potatoes, pulse crops, and mushrooms) averaged $17.4 billion during 2000-08, 14 percent of all crop cash receipts. Potatoes, the top vegetable for decades in terms of cash receipts, averaged $2.80 billion. Lettuce (all types) is the second largest in farm receipts with $2.01 billion, followed by tomatoes (fresh and processing) with $2.06 billion. Mushrooms ($0.92 billion) and onions ($0.85 billion) round out the top five.
Q. What U.S. States produce the most vegetables and melons?
A. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, every State grows vegetables and melons. If pulse crop acreage is excluded, harvested area (including double-cropped area) ranges from a low of 952 acres in Wyoming to nearly 1.2 million in California. California leads the Nation with about 25 percent of the harvested area and about 60 percent of fresh and processed production. Including potatoes and pulses, the top five producing States are California, Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, and Florida. Idaho and Washington are the top two potato-producing States. Wisconsin, also a leading potato State, ranks second as a producer of processed vegetables—primarily canned.
Q. What data does ERS have about vegetables and melons?
A. ERS receives vegetable and melon data from both Government and private sources. USDA agencies provide data such as acreage, yield, production, farm price, value, and stocks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides limited retail prices and retail and wholesale price indexes. The Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau reports official U.S. import and export statistics. Private associations provide stocks for processing tomatoes and dry beans. States provide production and price data for commodities such as eggplant and Brussels sprouts through their State statistical offices, while ERS produces cash receipt and per capita disappearance estimates.
Q. Are growers of vegetables and melons covered by Federal farm programs?
A. Dry peas, lentils, and small chickpeas have been covered by marketing loans since the 2002 Farm Act (marketing loan coverage was extended to large chickpeas in the 2008 Farm Act). Producers of all other vegetables and melons do not receive direct subsidies under Federal price and income support programs. In addition to several new research and promotion programs enacted or funded through the 2008 Farm Act, a variety of general programs cover these crops. Some of the general programs include Federal production assistance (such as Federal crop insurance), disaster assistance, and western irrigation subsidies. Also, several commodities benefit from export programs like the Market Access Program and Federal food purchases for various domestic and international feeding programs. See the Policy chapter for more information.
Q. How important are exports, and where do we export vegetables and melons?
A. About 11 percent of U.S. vegetable and melon supply was exported (includes commercial sales and Federal food aid) in 2008. Nearly half of U.S. vegetable, melon, and pulse exports are shipped to Canada, with Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, and South Korea rounding out the top five destinations.
Q. How important are imports and where do we get them?
A. Imports accounted for 18 percent of domestic vegetable and melon consumption in 2008, up from 12 percent in 2000 and 8 percent in 1990. Despite the continued steady gain over the past decade, imports are not generally a direct threat to most vegetable and melon growers. The majority of imports arrive during the late fall to early spring when domestic output is limited. Nearly half of U.S. vegetable, melon, and pulse imports come from Mexico, with Canada (24 percent), China, Peru, and Guatemala rounding out the top five destinations.
However, there are several individual commodity markets
facing heavy competition, including fresh and processed
asparagus, frozen broccoli, garlic, canned mushrooms,
fresh tomatoes, chile peppers, and others. For example,
frozen broccoli imports now account for more than 90 percent
of U.S. domestic use, and come primarily from Mexico and
Guatemala. Imports of fresh-market tomatoes account for
44 percent of domestic use—up from 30 percent in
1990 and 19 percent in 1990. Tomato growers and shippers,
especially in Florida, face heavy competition from imported
field-grown and greenhouse-produced products each year.
Q. What does it cost to grow vegetables and melons?
A. USDA does not estimate production costs for vegetables and melons. Budgets are available from university websites such as:
Q. How large is the U.S. vegetable and melon market?
A. Vegetables and melons brought in $17.4 billion annually for growers over 2000-08. This was about 14 percent of U.S. crop cash receipts. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, 69,172 farms produced vegetables and melons (excluding pulse crops) on 4.36 million acres. The census reports mushrooms and pulse crops (dry beans, dry peas, lentils) apart from vegetables and melons. According to the census, 15,014 farms grew potatoes, 1,910 sweet potatoes, 6,236 dry beans (excludes 167 farms with dry limas), 3,048 dry peas (excludes 73 with Austrian winter peas), and 811 lentils. Others include 462 mushroom farms, 4,075 operations with greenhouse vegetables, and 177 farms producing dried herbs. These farms may not be mutually exclusive.
Q. Where may I find information about organic vegetables?
A. Although organic vegetable production is a small part of the U.S. vegetable industry, it has been expanding rapidly for many years. Visit the ERS Organic Agriculture Briefing Room; USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program; and Foreign Agricultural Service, Organic Products for more information.
Q. What information is available about vegetables and pesticides?
A. Until discontinuing the series after 2007, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) published pesticide use by selected vegetable crop every 2 years in Agricultural Chemical Usage—Vegetables. Also, ERS has published several articles about vegetables and pesticides. A 1999 article in Agricultural Outlook highlighted the phaseout of methyl bromide, while another in the April 1998 Vegetables and Specialties Situation and Outlook Report (txt) contrasted food safety for imported and domestically produced fruits and vegetables. More recent information may be found in the ERS Agricultural Chemicals and Production Technology briefing room.
Q.
Where may I find information about biotechnology and vegetables?
A. ERS has a briefing room covering biotech issues but it has little on vegetables. For general information on USDA's role in biotechnology, visit the USDA biotechnology web page.
Q.
Does ERS have information on food safety and vegetables?
A. ERS has published several articles covering food safety and produce including articles on traceability, the 2006 outbreak of E. coli in spinach, and a case study of the 2003 outbreak of hepatitis in green onions. General information on food safety can be found in the ERS Food Safety briefing room.
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