2011 was a rough year for Pa. produce

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s vegetable farmers harvested 13,000 acres of sweet corn for fresh market in 2011 with production totaling 819,000 hundredweight or 63 hundredweight per acre, according to the Pennsylvania field office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

This is 13 percent less than the 2010 production for fresh market.

Average value of fresh market sweet corn was $37.30 per hundredweight
Nationally, 242,450 acres of sweet corn were harvested for fresh market in 2011 and 326,650 acres were harvested for processing. Forty-three percent of the processing production was utilized for canning and 57 percent was for freezing.

Tomatoes, beans

Pennsylvania’s 2011 fresh market tomato production was estimated at 173,000 hundredweight, down 32 percent from 2010.

Area harvested was 1,900 acres, 400 acres less than a year ago, and yield was 91 hundredweight per acre, compared to 110 hundredweight per acre last year. The average value was $68.50 per hundredweight.

In Pennsylvania, 15,400 acres of snap beans were harvested for processing in 2011, 4,000 acres more than a year ago, and 8,400 acres more than 2009.

Total production was 43,580 tons with an average value of $292.00 per ton, compared with an average value of $272.00 per ton last year.

At the U.S. level, 163,950 acres of snap beans were harvested for processing in 2011. Canning utilized 464,960 tons or 68 percent of the production.

Strawberries

Pennsylvania’s 2011 strawberry production, harvested from 990 acres for fresh market and processing was 40,000 hundredweight, down 29 percent from 2010. Average value per hundredweight was $212, compared with $207 per hundredweight in 2010.

The U.S. strawberry production in 2011 was 28.9 million cwt., up 1.5 percent from 2010. Acreage harvested was 57,470; the average value per hundredweight was $82.90, up from $79.30 a year ago.

Cabbage pounded

Pennsylvania’s 2011 fresh market cabbage production was estimated at 155,000 cwt., down from the 396,000 hundredweight produced last year. Area harvested was 1,000 acres, down 200 acres from both 2009 and 2010. The average yield was 155 hundredweight per acre, down from the average yield of 330 hundredweight per acre last year. The average value was $20.60 per cwt., compared to $15.00 per hundredweight in 2010.

Good to be orange

Pennsylvania’s cantaloup production for fresh market was 185,000 cwt., up from the 145,000 hundredweight produced in 2010. Total area harvested was 950 acres, down from 1,000 acres last year. Average yield was 195 hundredweight per acre, up from last year’s average yield of 145 hundredweight The average value per hundredweight was $28.10 in 2011, compared with $24.30 in 2010.

There were 70,950 acres harvested. Pennsylvania’s 2011 fresh market and processed pumpkin production was estimated at 1,026,000 cwt., up from 972,000 hundredweight in 2010. Area harvested was 5,700 acres, down 1,000 acres from a year ago. The average value was $14.20 per cwt., down from the $17.00 per hundredweight average in 2010.

Nationally, 47,300 acres of pumpkins were harvested for fresh market and processing in 2011, with a total value of $113.2 million.