US: Steady markets, growing conditions favor cabbage

Irish eyes are smiling upon California cabbage growers in time for St. Patrick's Day. "So far, everything's looking good as far as all the varieties," said Frankie Oliver, field supervisor at Pacific Fresh Produce in Oxnard. "It's been good quality, and everything's coming along just right." In Imperial County, Scott Howington started planting organic cabbage transplants in early September in his fields near Holtville and El Centro. "Quality-wise, it's been excellent—probably one of our better (seasons)," Howington said. In 2019, the most recent year with statewide figures available, California farmers planted 14,800 acres of cabbage and harvested 14,500, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Yield was 410 tons of cabbage per acre, worth just north of $212.2 million. Cabbage acreage in the state was relatively steady throughout the 2010s, according to CDFA, trending slightly downward from 13,700 planted acres in 2010 before growing to a high of 14,900 ...