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Like areas of the West, parts of New England and New York have experienced significant drought.

May 13, 2021

3 Min Read
vegetables being sold at farmers market
MARKET TRANSITION: Demand was strong for locally grown vegetables in 2020 across the Northeast. But operators of farm stands and farmers markets had to make big changes to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, sales have varied across businesses. Farm Progress photo

The Northeast experienced significant drought in 2020, particularly in New England where some areas saw severe or extreme drought, according to USDA.

While most vegetable growers have adequate irrigation resources, the drought still caused stress to crops and additional work for producers. Dry weather continued across the region over the winter, and right now much of New York and New England is abnormally dry or in moderate drought.

Growers primarily selling to grocery stores have seen strong sales, while those who previously sold mainly to restaurants or food-service distributors have had to adjust their marketing.

For growers selling direct to consumers, demand for local produce has been strong, and some Community Supported Agriculture farms reported their strongest year ever in 2020. However, operators of farm stands and farmers markets have had to make significant adjustments to deal with the pandemic, and sales have varied. In many cases, operators who adapted their direct-to-consumer business model realized a significant improvement to gross and net profit margins.

Vegetable processors in New York are at capacity because of increased demand resulting from an uptick in home cooking that used more frozen and canned vegetables. The industry continues to consolidate with no new players entering the market.

Processors are reluctant to place extra capacity as market decline had been steady before 2020. Growers of sweet corn, snap beans and peas usually have soybeans and corn as an alternative, and will shift to commodity grain if processors remain at 2020 pricing.

Labor challenges

Keeping workers healthy has posed significant challenges, especially for farms with worker housing.

The availability and cost of labor remains a significant challenge for the sector. Initial concerns about the availability of H-2A workers were largely resolved, but both minimum wage and the Adverse Effect Wage Rate for H-2A increased significantly in many Northeast states. Growers have had to closely monitor their labor costs and try to gain efficiencies to remain profitable.

Last year, New York instituted a 60-hour threshold for overtime, which most farms were able to adjust to. The Farm Wage Board determined there would be no change in the threshold for 2021.

Dry year for potatoes

The growing season in Maine was one of the driest on record, and a series of frosts in late September brought the growing season to an earlier-than-expected end.

Yields varied widely across the region and were reportedly down 20% to 40% from the previous year, although some irrigated acreage produced above-average yields.

All market segments are seeing strong demand for potatoes, with prices above last year. Contracted production slated for french fries is returning better prices because of improved quality from last year, despite the smaller crop.

Table-stock markets in Maine also remain strong with prices $1 to $4 per cwt above last year, depending on variety. Seed potato markets also remain strong because of reduced overall supply and acreage cuts in other growing areas. Seed supplies are expected to be extremely tight this year.

It’s been an early spring for Northeast potato production, with snow leaving the area earlier than usual and relatively warm temperatures allowing growers to get crops in the ground earlier than usual. Planting of some broccoli and potatoes has begun in northern Maine and elsewhere, so we’ll wait and see what the rest of the season has in store.

Laughton is Farm Credit East’s director of knowledge exchange.

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