Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that California’s vegetable value of utilized production declined last year. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the value of California’s 2020 utilized vegetable production dropped just under one percent compared to 2019, to a total of $7.68 billion. Despite the overall decrease to the total value of utilized production, several crops showed increases. Multiple types of lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and sweet potatoes all experienced various levels of growth in utilized production value.
Plantings were also down in 2020, with less than 940,000 acres of fresh market and processing vegetables planted. While the overall value was down, utilized production was nearly 434 million hundred weight, a slight increase from the year before. The report from NASS includes survey data collected for 26 vegetable and melon crops with information on acreage, production, marketing year price and value.
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