Good Year For Processing Vegetable Growers
Despite a challenging season, tomato growers in southwestern Ontario were able to meet their production goals this year. Walt Brown, a Leamington area farmer and a director of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, says the producers set a record yield. Brown reviewed the 2009 season at the district meeting of the OPVG that was held in Chatham on December 7.
Although the growing season was marked by poor weather and diseases in the field, Brown says the average yield was 41.2 tons per acre. As a result, Brown says the growers were able to meet the needs of the processing companies.
Looking ahead to 2010, Brown is expecting that prices for processing tomatoes will be lower. He says the prices will likely be pressured by the stronger Canadian dollar and the large crop that was produced in California this past year.
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On a positive note, Brown says global consumption of processing tomatoes continues to rise.
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Big Expansion For Cucumber Production
The growers stepped up to meet the new demand by an American firm for cucumbers. OPVG Secretary Manager John Mumford says cucumber production more than doubled following the investment made by Hartung Brothers Incorporated.
Mumford says the American company purchased the Chatham cucumber grading station from Smuckers. The company started green shipping and selling the cucumbers to Ontario and U.S. processors.
A “green” shipper is a facility that buys cucumbers from producers and sorts, grades, cleans, inspects and separates them.
Meanwhile, Mumford says 2009 was a good year for other cucumber growing regions in North America. He says the boost in supply could mean a reduction in contract tonnages for 2010. In this clip, Mumford reviews the 2009 crop and looks ahead to 2010.
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