By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s up-and-down growing conditions in 2008 didn’t hurt the state’s pickle output. According to a report recently published by the Michigan Field Office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the state ranked first in the nation for pickle production.

In addition, Michigan farmers grew more vegetables in 2008 than in the previous year, beating the odds against late spring frosts, flooding and drought. Overall, Michigan farmers produced 8 million cwt. of fresh market vegetables in 2008, up 1 percent from 2007, according to the report.

The office’s 2008 vegetable report also shows the value of fresh market vegetables, at the farm level, was $171 million, up 9 percent from 2007. Michigan ranked eighth nationally in the value of fresh market vegetables for 2008.

Michigan producers grew 413,350 tons of processing vegetables in 2008. The crops were valued at $68 million. The state ranked fourth among states in processing vegetable value; however, Michigan remains the top state in pickle production.

Vince Matthews, deputy director of NASS Michigan office, said yields largely were impacted by weather events in the state throughout the 2008 growing season.

“In general, weather affected the vegetables,” he said. “It was cool and dry during May and there was some late frost that affected crops that had already been planted. Heavy rains in early June caused some replanting in areas and threw things off in terms of their scheduling of crops for multiple plantings. But in June and early July, better weather came along and helped the crops develop.”

Producers had their hands full, however, when the weather took a turn later in the growing season.

“The long, dry August didn’t help much with maturing vegetables,” Matthews said.

Then, excessive rains in mid-September took their toll on harvest. “It was probably too late to do much good in terms of moisture for the crops. It affected harvest because of extremely wet conditions,” he said.

Nationally, fresh market vegetable and melon production in 2008 totaled 449 million cwt., down 2 percent from the prior year. Harvested area covered 1.73 million acres, down 3 percent from 2007. Value of the 2008 crop was estimated at $10 billion, up 4 percent from one year ago.

In terms of U.S. production, the three largest fresh market vegetables were onions, head lettuce and watermelons, which collectively accounted for 37 percent of total production.
National production of processing vegetables totaled 17 million tons in 2008, down 2 percent from one year ago. Area harvested was estimated at 1.23 million acres, down 2 percent, and the processing crop value was estimated at 1.86 billion dollars, 15 percent above 2007.

The three largest processing vegetables, in terms of U.S. production, were tomatoes, sweet corn and snap beans, which collectively account for 91 percent of total production.

Overall, Matthews said in Michigan “some crops were up, some were down, but it just kind of depended on which stages of development they were in when all that different weather hit.”