You say tomato, I say…

By Shayna Strang, staff writer
Posted on November 11, 2007

Move over tobacco, and soybeans; tomatoes are on the rise.

For years, the soybean has been battling with tobacco for the spot as the top cash crop in Virginia. Now, based on 2006 cash receipts from fresh market tomato sellers across the state, the fruit is number one.

The profits from the crop rose to $98,699,000, over $10 million more than in 2005, making it the top cash crop, according to the latest Virginia Agricultural Statistics Bulletin and Resource Directory by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

“Tomato consumption has been rising nationally, largely due to the popularity of greenhouse products,” said Gary Lucier, an agricultural economist with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

The phrase cash crop refers to a crop grown for direct sale in a market, as opposed to being grown for livestock feed of other purposes, Agricultural Statistician Amy G. Schavey said. Soybeans are listed as second, and corn knocked tobacco to fourth this year.

John Marker, owner of Marker-Miller Orchards, has been growing and selling tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables at his market in Winchester, Va for over 10 years. He considered his crop in 2006, though later than usual, an excellent harvest.

“Sales were good, always are,” he said. “People like home-grown tomatoes.”

According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, there are over 560 farms in Virginia harvesting the tomato plant.

“A large part of the crop comes from the Eastern Shore,” Marker said.

Since 2002, over 5,000 acres have been used for tomato production each year. Today, Virginia holds the third spot nationally for tomato production, keeping the United States as one of the world’s leading producers of tomatoes, second only to China.

“Virginia’s tomato crop fills an important market niche in supplying the nation with fresh tomatoes during the late summer and early fall,” Lucier said.

Virginia isn’t the only state discovering the benefits of the tomato crop.

“Several states increased value of production from 2005 to 2006,” Schavey said.

Some states, such as California and Ohio, saw growth of over $150,000 and $30,000 respectively, the NASS said this year. This led to an overall increase in profits seen throughout the country from tomato production.

But the dry and hot conditions we have seen this year have left the forecast for the next batch of tomatoes questionable.

“It depends on the weather, but Virginia will remain an important niche tomato supplier for the Eastern portion of the U.S.,” Lucier said.