There have been a lot of opinions expressed about the “Left Coast” and its rules, regulations and politics and what effect it may have on everything from produce truckers willing to do business in California, to produce growers shifting more of their operations to Mexico and other states.
Based on a new report from the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, as looney as our friends on the West Coast may sometimes seem, last year California still accounted for 47 percent of harvested acreage, 52 percent of production and 60 percent of value in 2014. If that’s the case, then there must have been trucks for the most part delivering those agricultural products to markets across North America.
Production of U.S. melons and 24 top vegetables was down one percent in 2014. The overall value of those crops also fell last year.
About 413 million cwt. of leading vegetables and melons were harvested in 2014. Harvested acreage, at 1.58 million acres, also was down, by three percent.
The value of the 2014 crops, at $10.9 billion, was down 5 percent from a year ago.
In terms of production, onions, head lettuce and watermelon were the top three crops, accounting for 36 percent of total production.
Tomatoes, head lettuce and onions were the most valuable, making up 29 percent of total value.
While the vast majority of produce shipments occur by truck, California produce shipments also easily lead the pack in terms of volume over other states.