Overview

Vegetable Crops

About the North Carolina Vegetable Industry

There are over 1800 commercial vegetable growers in NC, producing vegetables on 150,000 acres with a value $260 million. These farmers grow over 30 different vegetables commercially with sweetpotato, cucumber (fresh and pickling), and Irish Potatoes produced on over 20,000 acres each. Snap bean, cabbage, watermelon, sweet corn, tomato, pepper, summer squash, and cantaloupe add to the crop diversity. We do grow small amounts of oriental vegetables, green and dry onions, okra, specialty greens and others. For the most part, the small growers use vegetables as part of a diversification program, which includes tobacco, corn, small grains, soybean, peanut, and cotton.

We have about 1000 small vegetable growers who grow 20 to 200 acres of vegetables on farms that are about 700 acres in size. We have about 300 large producers growing 200 to 3,000 acres of vegetables. They depend on vegetables for most of their living and only use agronomic crops for rotation, except tobacco which is a staple to most of these growers. We have about 500 very small growers who produce vegetables as a sideline to their regular job, or as part of an animal or tobacco enterprise.

The largest concentration of growers (1000) is in the eastern part of the state. Next (500 growers) is the mountains in the western part of the state, and finally those (300 growers) in the central-Piedmont part of the state. We have growers with the most modern technology who have a farm as a business, and growers who are just above subsistence level who use their farm as a place to live.

Marketing techniques of area growers

Most of the large growers have someone on their staff who handle sales and marketing for them. They sell to chainstores, processors, and to some terminal markets. Some growers are connected with larger organizations that are in the market all year and sell vegetables from Florida to New Jersey, and then return following the eastern seaboard. The small growers may have their own brokers, or sell to large grower/shippers that have their own sales staff.

The Faison auction market still has some produce sales. Many of the very small growers sell through state, regional, or local farmers markets. We have a few cooperatives that have their own broker, and about 400 roadside stands. We also have some pick-your-own production, mainly associated with strawberry.