A Growing Industry...
Vegetable initiative offers research,
recommendations for Tennessee farmers.
by Lisa Byerley Gary
If you shop for vegetables
at a typical grocery store in Tennessee, chances are the produce in your
cart isn't local. Probably it isn't even regional.
Your tomatoes were picked green, gassed to create the pinkish
tone that passes for ripe, then trucked in from fields in California or
Florida. The "fresh" lettuce has been sitting around for days
on its way from Arizona.
Most consumers say they would welcome the chance to buy
locally grown produce that is fresher, tastier, and fully-ripened, but they
don't have time to hunt it down. Many Tennessee farmers say they need the
diversity that vegetables could bring to their operation, both in local
sales and in truckloads shipped out of the area. And land and climate conditions
here are just fine for growing vegetables.
Vegetable growing in East and Middle Tennessee is an industry
waiting to happen. But before it can, potential supply must be matched with
demand.
Five years ago the value of commercial vegetable production
in this area was barely $34 million. In 1997 commercial vegetable sales
were expected to reach $50 million in only 24 counties in East Tennessee.
This in a region that, until recently, has had no reliable outlet for commercial
sales. The current figures only hint at the potential that could be lurking
in the East Tennessee hills, say UT agricultural scientists. They are working
hard on a vegetable initiative to help Tennessee farmers tap into what seems
to be a growing industry.
To Market, to Market
In June 1994, producers in East Tennessee finally got a
commercial outlet: the East Tennessee Regional Food Distribution Center
opened at White Pine in Jefferson County. Early last year, Produce Kountry,
an Arizona-based vegetable wholesaler, signed a contract to truck vegetables
out of White Pine. The company spent seven months at the site, occupying
a 37,800 square-foot processing area and providing the first reliable outlet
for area vegetable growers. Cornell Howard, manager of the center, is working
to recruit other agricultural enterprises to occupy the site. (See related
article, Like a Rolling Stone.)
The whole idea of selling regionally grown vegetables to
regional buyers just makes sense, says Jim Wills, coordinator of UT's vegetable
initiative. Why pay to ship potatoes in from Idaho when good quality potatoes
can be produced in Tennessee? Not only are shipping costs eliminated, but
quality improves with most crops and buyers are also contributing to their
local economies. And it isn't just local retailers who are buying more Tennessee
vegetables. In the past year, vegetables moving through the East Tennessee
Regional Food Distribution Center have been shipped to all the surrounding
states and up to the Northeast.
But the first markets established through White Pine are
only the beginning, Wills said. To attract a major national distributor
and keep it in place, producers will have to supply a steady stream of good-quality
produce.
"They don't need a truckload of cabbage a day for
a couple weeks," Wills said. "They need several truckloads of
cabbage every day for as long as our growing season will allow. That's what
we're going to have to provide to keep them here."
But, Wills quickly emphasizes, UT's vegetable initiative
isn't about keeping one company happy. It's about keeping conditions favorable
for Tennessee producers so they can successfully and profitably grow and
sell vegetables. That involves, among other things, understanding the economics
of keeping a major buyer in place and developing management practices to
help meet demand.
To that end, a team of researchers from the UT Agricultural
Experiment Station and specialists from the UT Agricultural Extension Service
are working together in the vegetable initiative. Wills describes it as
the most harmonious coming together of a committee he's ever seen. "This
is a very dedicated group who want to help Tennessee farmers succeed in
growing vegetables."
The Research
The components of a successful operation are many, varied,
and ever-changing thanks to shifting government regulations and the unpredictable
pressures of weather, pests, and consumer-buying habits. The 32 UT ag scientists
addressing these issues are looking at topics including:
· Retail demand for fresh produce
· Selection of varieties for marketability, production, and resistance
to pests
· Taste and quality studies
· Selection of irrigation systems and other equipment
· Selection of colored plastic mulches to impact growth, yield, soil
moisture and temperature, and populations of soil-borne pathogens.
· Evaluation of herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides for vegetable
production
· Sequential cropping of vegetables with Burley tobacco
· Companion crops for vegetable producers
· No-till production of vegetables, especially tomatoes
· Biological control of insects and soil-borne pathogens
Specific crops being evaluated include:
· lettuce
· snap beans
· cabbage
· bell pepper
· potatoes
· sweet corn
· pumpkins
· peas
· summer squash
· yellow zucchini
· sweet potatoes
· tomatoes
· turnips
The Challenge of Growing Vegetables
A small-scale grower might market his goods directly to
consumers and eventually build a following, Wills says. But folks wanting
to operate on a larger scale have had no place to take a truckload of cabbage
or other produce on any given day until the advent of the White Pine facility.
Now many traditional row-crop producers are considering
adding vegetables to their operations, but they'll have to make a shift
in their thinking to grow and market vegetables in wholesale volumes, says
Dr. Al Rutledge, vegetables and small fruits specialist for the UT Agricultural
Extension Service.
"Don't try to stereotype vegetable production into
traditional row-crop production," he advises. "There are some
things that will transfer. Some of the equipment will. But the marketing
problems, insect problems, scouting and equipment involved in pest control,
harvesting and packaging-all these things are completely different. You
have to make different decisions if you intend to be successful in the vegetable
business."
Consumers are picky about the produce they buy and when
they buy it, Rutledge said. And producing a saleable crop doesn't come about
by accident.
"Consumers buy a higher volume of produce on certain
week days or during certain periods of the month," he explained. "To
succeed in such systems, both growers and buyers/shippers must coordinate
harvesting and shipping schedules.
"It's not like putting four tomato plants out in the
back yard and going out and picking one when you want it. It takes a lot
of planning and effort to coordinate all the production and all the marketing
and all the disease control and insect control that's involved in putting
the kind of product that consumers tell us they want on the market."
A major difference is the time component of supply and
demand.
"In vegetable production, you can't plan to make money
on every crop, every year, and at every time of the year," Wills said.
"For example, the snap bean growers on the Cumberland Plateau grow
beans at cost for much of the growing season. But all they really hope to
do is hit a two- to four-week period when supply is short, and the price
is up. Then they make a good profit on those beans for a while. If a tornado
or hurricane strikes elsewhere, the price of beans here will shoot sky-high.
And if you've got beans on the market at that time, you'll make money on
them. You've just got to be there."
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
The impact of having a commercial vegetable buyer in East
Tennessee hits home with just a little simple math, Rutledge said.
Jefferson County, home of the food distribution center,
had no measurable commercial vegetable sales in 1990. This year it had $2.75
million.
"We haven't been in a situation in a long time to
tap into the volume markets on a consistent basis," he explained. "The
White Pine facility gives us an opportunity to do that in this area."
Since 1990, vegetable income in neighboring Hawkins County
has increased from about $300,000 to $2.25 million. In Hamblen County, the
estimated value of 1997 vegetable crops exceeds $2 million.
In fact, Rutledge said, the commercial vegetable industry
in 24 East Tennessee counties alone could be worth more than $50 million
in 1997.
"If we could double our acreage and successfully market
it, that could mean a $100 million a year industry. If we tripled it-$150
million," he said.
He doesn't know if that is feasible. There are limits to
what the market can bear, Rutledge said, and it's hard to get a fix on just
what the potential might be. Area business and government leaders are interested
in attracting other vegetable-related industry. With the cabbage acreage
being grown in the area, for instance, it might be possible to attract a
vegetable processor to make coleslaw.
The Growers
The new vegetable farmers are a varied group. Some are
existing vegetable growers who are adding acreage because of increased demand.
Some are former Florida growers who have moved to Tennessee because of the
impact of NAFTA on the marketability of vegetables in the Florida growing
season. (See related article, NAFTA). A third group consists of East
Tennessee dairymen and tobacco growers who are adding acreage to diversify
their income.
Although a variety of produce is being grown-including
pumpkins, watermelons, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, sweet sorghum, and
strawberries-cabbage is particularly interesting to farmers in East Tennessee,
Rutledge explained. That's because cabbage and its cousin cole varieties,
broccoli and cauliflower, are cool season crops. They work well for a tobacco
grower who wants to generate an additional source of income by planting
vegetables before, after, or even in combination with a tobacco crop.
"We don't think everybody needs to be doing this,"
Rutledge emphasized, "and we're not trying to put the tobacco farmer
out of business. Our philosophy is that if we can diversify into high-management
and high-return crops that add to the agricultural system already in place
in the state of Tennessee, then why not do that?"
Agricultural Experiment Station researchers have been exploring
the various aspects of double-cropping with tobacco since the early '90s,
and the results are being followed with great interest. (See related article,
More Income).
No Overnight Sensation
UT agriculturalists have been working with Tennessee vegetable
growers for decades now, conducting research and delivering information.
The latest push, the vegetable initiative, came about as a cumulative effect
of that effort.
"We've known for years now that we could grow vegetables
in Tennessee," Wills said. "We just couldn't sell them."
A lot of people have worked hard to gain the momentum that
we currently see, he added. "The Tennessee Department of Agriculture
has done a lot with their Pick Tennessee Products program (targeting consumers)
and their Buy Tennessee Products program (targeting retailers). We're seeing
more local buys from large retailers like Kroger. You'll see signs that
say 'Grown on this farm in this county.' Consumers seem to like that."
The Tennessee Vegetable and Fruit Growers Association also
deserves credit, Rutledge said. Much of the current interest stems from
association meetings in the mid-80s when William (Bill) Walker III was Tennessee
Commissioner of Agriculture. They worked with him and pushed to improve
vegetable marketing options for Tennessee producers.
At the same time, Dr. Bob Jenkins, a vegetable marketing
specialist with the UT Agricultural Extension Service, was working with
business leaders in various counties to convince the state to establish
the East Tennessee Regional Food Distribution Center at White Pine. He was
instrumental in organizing the East Tennessee Agribusiness Authority which
provided the seed money for White Pine.
Now, Rutledge said, there is increasing evidence that major
buyers are willing to buy from this area as growers commit to production.
Rutledge himself has spent 27 years working with growers
all over the state in matters ranging from choosing varieties and production
practices in a cost-effective way to advising producers, business people
and government officials on marketing options. He and other subject matter
specialists have trained county Extension personnel to work with producers
in their areas to expand marketing opportunities.
Grainger County tomatoes (technically a fruit but classified
for marketing purposes and used as a vegetable) are a perfect example, Rutledge
said. In 1982 and 1983, when the national supply of tomatoes was high, Extension
developed figures to show growers that there wasn't much profit to be made
in August, when everyone had tomatoes to sell. So growers in Grainger and
several other counties got into the greenhouse business to extend their
seasons into the more lucrative time periods. Now those greenhouses, though
profitable for spring tomatoes, sit idle several months a year. So UT researchers
are looking at niche markets to help make them more productive. Float bed
lettuce is being studied at UT Experiment Stations in Crossville and Knoxville.
(See related article, It Doesn't Get Much Fresher.)
"It's taken years of effort to get where we are now,"
Rutledge said. "And we're still not there yet. The best is yet to come
for East Tennessee vegetable producers."
The Vegetable Initiative
In the meantime, Tennessee vegetable producers need information
about commercial vegetable growing, and UT stands ready to help.
UT's role is to assist farmers by conducting research and
demonstrations to help them select better varieties and production methods
to bring high yields and increase profitability in vegetable production,
Wills said. "If we can do that, we've been successful. We're trying
to put out a lot of good information to help growers save money and boost
income. That's what we're all about."
His vegetable initiative team is just the group to do that,
he added. "We've received tremendous support from UT administrators,
"he noted." But it is the researchers who have really amazed him
with their can-do attitudes and cooperative spirit. When one project ran
short of funds, another department pitched in with leftover dollars to keep
things going. "You just don't see that very often in research,"
Wills noted. "They really believe in what they're doing."
All the vegetable initiative research is very preliminary
right now, Wills emphasized, and an unusually cool and rainy spring has
thrown off some data gathered on Experiment Station farms this year and
led to a difficult growing season with lower yields for producers. But in
the next four to five years the research team hopes to offer solid recommendations
on irrigation, fertility, no-till possibilities, varieties-things the producer
can take back to his or her own farm and use on an everyday basis. They'll
be releasing interim reports in the meantime.
"Success will come with consistent production and
good, high-quality vegetables," Wills said. "The volume buyers
want fresh vegetables 365 days a year. We obviously can't grow them year-round,
but the longer the period of time that we can stretch production, the better
off our growers-and consumers-are.
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