Washington asparagus: Less acreage planted but big increase in volume expected
Washington asparagus: Less acreage planted but big increase in volume expected
ELTOPIA, WA -- With fresh asparagus acreage in Mexico down by double-digit percentage points, and cool rainy weather flummoxing some California growers early this season, Washington state's estimated 33 percent increase in volume could be met by solid demand and good prices.
According to Alan Schreiber, executive director of the Washington Asparagus Commission, fresh-market asparagus acreage and production nationwide have declined over the past few years, and although his state again has fewer acres in 2006, Washington is expected to put 42 million pounds into the fresh pipeline this year.
Dr. Schreiber said that 12,500 acres of asparagus were in the ground last year, compared to this year's 10,500. But with a new player in the Washington packer arena picking up asparagus that was previously grown for Seneca processing, this year's fresh production will be 33 percent more than the 30.9 million pounds in 2005.
The leap in fresh asparagus numbers comes from Gourmet Trading Co., which opened a packing plant in Pasco this season. The new facility is packing fresh product from former Seneca growers, and Gourmet's Pasco-based Vice President of Operations Allan Nerell told The Produce News that he expects production to hit 10 million pounds.
While uncertainty that the fresh market can bear such an increase was expressed by some Washington handlers, Dr. Schreiber said that forecasts for California and Mexico have kept him optimistic.
In a presentation he made in Michigan earlier this year, Dr. Schreiber said, "Production appears to be declining in Mexico and California, [and] transportation costs from Peru, and to a lesser degree Mexico, help Washington and Michigan."
He said that Gourmet Trading Co. and others have become "a new model for supplying asparagus to the U.S. market," sourcing from "Mexico to Peru to Washington."
Describing Gourmet Trading as "the largest buyer of fresh asparagus from Peru" and "a large buyer from Mexico and California," the director went on to say that the packer has five-year contracts with former Seneca growers in Washington. "If 2006 is a successful year, they will have their growers plant additional acres in 2007," Dr. Schreiber said.
The fit could be right. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures from 1996 through 2004 show acres and production on a more or less steady decline for the nation. California rose and fell, hitting a high in 2000 when 37,000 acres were in production. Acreage in that state has decreased by approximately 15 percent each year since.
"Mexico is down by 17 percent, and California is again down by 15 percent," he said of acreage in the respective growing areas this year. "Also, Mexico will be out of the market by the end of March."
Washington has seen its total asparagus acreage diminish as well, dropping more than 50 percent from 23,000 in 1997 to approximately 10,500 this year.
"Typically a 33 percent increase in supply would be expected to wreck a fresh market. But not this year," Dr. Schreiber said in his presentation. "In Washington right now, there is a shortage of fresh asparagus," and he could place between 3 million and 4 million pounds if he could get it.
And, Dr. Schreiber said, Gourmet Trading is "likely to open export markets as well."
Fresh prices have been on the rise since 2002, increasing from 44.8 cents per pound that year to 49.9 cents last year. Dr. Schreiber, however, expects prices this season to be down 2 cents per pound, but he added that his predictions for 2006 depend on weather to a large degree.
Washington's minimum wage of $7.63 per hour, the nation's highest, is a major factor in the state's labor-intensive asparagus industry. But labor itself also looms large. "Last year we had enough labor, barely, for asparagus. We were on the ragged edge of having enough workers," Dr. Schreiber said. "This year we're hoping labor will be OK because of the diminished acres."
Addressing the issue of immigration and migrant labor forces, Dr. Schreiber said, "We need a stable, legal labor supply."
Growers don't want to "play immigration cop," and the "current approach to immigration is hurting our industry," he added. "Labor-intensive agriculture needs access to low- cost labor, and our industry is dependent on a flow of workers from Latin America. We need immigration reform that allows that flow."
(A full report on the Washington asparagus deal appears in the April 10 issue of The Produce News.)
According to Alan Schreiber, executive director of the Washington Asparagus Commission, fresh-market asparagus acreage and production nationwide have declined over the past few years, and although his state again has fewer acres in 2006, Washington is expected to put 42 million pounds into the fresh pipeline this year.
Dr. Schreiber said that 12,500 acres of asparagus were in the ground last year, compared to this year's 10,500. But with a new player in the Washington packer arena picking up asparagus that was previously grown for Seneca processing, this year's fresh production will be 33 percent more than the 30.9 million pounds in 2005.
The leap in fresh asparagus numbers comes from Gourmet Trading Co., which opened a packing plant in Pasco this season. The new facility is packing fresh product from former Seneca growers, and Gourmet's Pasco-based Vice President of Operations Allan Nerell told The Produce News that he expects production to hit 10 million pounds.
While uncertainty that the fresh market can bear such an increase was expressed by some Washington handlers, Dr. Schreiber said that forecasts for California and Mexico have kept him optimistic.
In a presentation he made in Michigan earlier this year, Dr. Schreiber said, "Production appears to be declining in Mexico and California, [and] transportation costs from Peru, and to a lesser degree Mexico, help Washington and Michigan."
He said that Gourmet Trading Co. and others have become "a new model for supplying asparagus to the U.S. market," sourcing from "Mexico to Peru to Washington."
Describing Gourmet Trading as "the largest buyer of fresh asparagus from Peru" and "a large buyer from Mexico and California," the director went on to say that the packer has five-year contracts with former Seneca growers in Washington. "If 2006 is a successful year, they will have their growers plant additional acres in 2007," Dr. Schreiber said.
The fit could be right. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures from 1996 through 2004 show acres and production on a more or less steady decline for the nation. California rose and fell, hitting a high in 2000 when 37,000 acres were in production. Acreage in that state has decreased by approximately 15 percent each year since.
"Mexico is down by 17 percent, and California is again down by 15 percent," he said of acreage in the respective growing areas this year. "Also, Mexico will be out of the market by the end of March."
Washington has seen its total asparagus acreage diminish as well, dropping more than 50 percent from 23,000 in 1997 to approximately 10,500 this year.
"Typically a 33 percent increase in supply would be expected to wreck a fresh market. But not this year," Dr. Schreiber said in his presentation. "In Washington right now, there is a shortage of fresh asparagus," and he could place between 3 million and 4 million pounds if he could get it.
And, Dr. Schreiber said, Gourmet Trading is "likely to open export markets as well."
Fresh prices have been on the rise since 2002, increasing from 44.8 cents per pound that year to 49.9 cents last year. Dr. Schreiber, however, expects prices this season to be down 2 cents per pound, but he added that his predictions for 2006 depend on weather to a large degree.
Washington's minimum wage of $7.63 per hour, the nation's highest, is a major factor in the state's labor-intensive asparagus industry. But labor itself also looms large. "Last year we had enough labor, barely, for asparagus. We were on the ragged edge of having enough workers," Dr. Schreiber said. "This year we're hoping labor will be OK because of the diminished acres."
Addressing the issue of immigration and migrant labor forces, Dr. Schreiber said, "We need a stable, legal labor supply."
Growers don't want to "play immigration cop," and the "current approach to immigration is hurting our industry," he added. "Labor-intensive agriculture needs access to low- cost labor, and our industry is dependent on a flow of workers from Latin America. We need immigration reform that allows that flow."
(A full report on the Washington asparagus deal appears in the April 10 issue of The Produce News.)
