California Tomato Growers Deliver Record Crop

According to USDA, despite water shortages and a cool, wet end to the season, California tomato growers delivered a record-large crop to processors in 2009.

According to the final report by the California Processing Tomato Advisory Board, processors paid for 13.31 million tons of raw tomatoes, up 13 percent from a year ago and 9 percent above the previous record set in 1999. This is also expected to mark the first year that the field value of the California processing tomato crop will exceed $1 billion, according to USDA.

Production of black beans inched up 3 percent, as a 6-percent increase in harvested area outweighed 3-percent lower yields. With the exception of North Dakota, black bean yields were lower in all major producing states. Because of low beginning stocks, early grower prices for black beans have been 16 percent greater than two years earlier, according to USDA.

From an estimated $21 billion in 2009 and 2010, the value of farm sales of vegetables and melons is projected to grow by an average of 2 percent annually over the next decade, reaching $25 billion in 2019. Farm sales of fresh-market vegetables (excluding potatoes) are forecast to grow 1.8 percent annually, reaching $15.4 billion in 2019, according to USDA.

To read more from USDA’s latest “Vegetables and Melons Outlook,”click here.