California Drought Creates Opportunity For South’s Vegetable Growers

A drought in California could lead farmers in the Southeast to consider new crops, a Georgia horticulturalist says.

“Some of the larger vegetable growers in Georgia, particularly eastern Georgia, are being asked by their buyers to diversify,” said Tim Coolong, a vegetable specialist with the Extension Service. “The primary driver is concerns over water in California.”

California leads the country in the production of several vegetables, including artichokes, asparagus, snap beans, broccoli, cauliflower, fresh market cabbage, celery, lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes.

But more than 80 percent of the state is in extreme or exceptional drought (the two driest categories on the scale), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Western farmers are making the most of any irrigation water they can find and, when they can’t get water, they are making tough choices. Citrus and almond producers got the sympathy of farmers across the country this summer as some cut down their trees in the face of the third year of extreme drought.

Eighty percent of California is in extreme drought (in red) or exceptional drought (in brown), including areas that grow much of the U.S. supply of lettuce and spinach.

And 2015 is expected to be dry, too, according to a study done by the University of California at Davis this summer, which found that farms have lost around $1.5 billion.

At the same time, U.S. consumers have developed a taste for leafy green vegetables – think about the kale craze – and distributors need farmers to grow those greens.

“Some of the leafy vegetables grow well in the Southeast … and some do not,” Coolong said. While the Southeast has a long, hot summer, the windows of mild weather – spring and autumn – are short.

“In order to grow large-scale commercial romaine, it’s very difficult to get to the average weight requirement per head with the weather patterns in the South,” Coolong said. Growers can easily produce lettuces for farmer’s markets or local organic markets, but have a tougher time reaching the 1.5-pound-per-head requirement for large-scale distributors, he said.

Still some growers who specialize in peppers, watermelons and cucurbits are branching out into greens and lettuce.