Demand grows for fruits, veggies; COVID-19 creates many uncertainties for local growers

"Most fruit and vegetable growers make production plans well in advance of spring planting dates," Edisto Research and Education Center Clemson Extension Vegetable Specialist Dr. Gilbert Miller said. "Although there is some flexibility, most growers had plans in place at the onset of the pandemic -- what was going to be planted, how much and where on the farm was established."

It was soon obvious that any attempt to plan for 2020 and what it would be was a crap shoot.

Questions abounded about employment and transportation flow of goods.

"Early in the spring there was some concern about growers’ workforces being impeded by seasonal workers not being able to cross borders, or becoming ill themselves," Miller said. "Fortunately restrictions were eased on H2A (visa) labor crossings from Mexico and labor shortages were not nearly as severe as anticipated."

"Transportation of needed farm supplies and fresh produce saw some logistic delays and restrictions of movement, which was cumbersome but was not widespread," Miller said.

Plus, there were serious questions about what the market for fruits and vegetables look like amid coronavirus-induced shutdowns.

"Farms which marketed mainly to restaurants, schools and other entities in the food service industry, an entire distribution channel, were forced to shift to retail sales," Miller said. "Fresh produce retail sales have remained robust."

Miller said his assumption was that market consumption of watermelons, peaches, cantaloupes, cucumbers, squash and other fresh produce would be "greatly reduced" as a result of lost restaurant purchases and less consumer activity in the retail market due to COVID-19 concerns.

What transpired was much to Miller's surprise.

"In fact, demand has increased for fresh produce," Miller said. "Maybe consumers seek to increase their daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables to boost their immune systems."

Cameron row crop and vegetable farmer Josh Johnson said as a result of the shutdown of restaurants, most of his produce went through GrowFood Carolina, which is a food hub in Charleston.

Johnson said the food hub took the produce as part of a national coronavirus relief program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that encouraged food hubs to get product to the public through produce boxes.

"It was unpredictable," Johnson said. "We did not know what to do. I planted more acres than I had assuming more people would get more local this time and wanting to know where their food was coming from."

"We all know the toilet paper scare and what happened," Johnson said.

This year, Johnson grew about 40 acres of produce to include butter beans and edamame.

The crops were about 50% irrigated.

"We had a good year as far as yield-wise on the green and speckled beans," said Johnson, who farms with his father-in-law Bates Houck. "It was cooler weather in June and timely rainfall until mid-July at least."

White acre beans really hit it out of the proverbial ballpark in 2020, Johnson said.

"They did the best they have ever done," he said, noting he has grown the crop for about three years. "I think it was the warmer weather in July. Once it warmed up, they turned on."

The same could be said for pink eye peas, Johnson said. Edamame did 'better than average.'

While many uncertainties surrounded this years's crop, Miller said market prices for fresh fruits and vegetables remained stable "and above on-farm break-even costs."

As a result, Miller said there were generally "no significant changes from previous years in production acreage of fruits and vegetables grown in the tri-county area."

There was one exception: the fall production of watermelons, which had previously seen an increase in acreage.

"During the fall of 2019, the on-farm market price for watermelons was very good," Miller said. "Consumer demand for watermelon has become more of a yearly demand and consequently growers are expanding production for a fall harvest."

This year, though, Mother Nature added one more wrench in the 2020 plans.

"Unfortunately, environmental conditions for fall watermelon production in 2020 were dismal," Miller said. "Due to excessive rain this fall, watermelon diseases were rampant, and yields were greatly reduced."

Commercial Horticulture Area Extension Agent Eulalio Toledo said most growers will stand to make some money this year.

"Strawberry growers made really nice profits this season," he said. "Shipping and pick-your-own. It was in place with social distancing and COVID protocols."

Disease pressure was moderate and insect pressure was high to moderate across all fruits and vegetables.

"Pest and diseases were normal, with downy mildew giving cucumber famers the biggest problem," Toledo said.

Here are how other vegetables of note did in the area:

Sweet potatoes

An estimated 1,200 acres of sweet potatoes were grown, with yields looking good through the end of October.

The crop did have to contend with some wire worm damage, Toledo said.

Toledo said prices for both canning and fresh market sweet potatoes were good and a little higher than in 2019. He said fresh market potatoes were about 10% greater.

Greens

An estimated 1,400 acres were grown in what was an excellent crop. Rainfall was the reason.

Toledo said greens should be able to make most farmers some profit, especially those growing for the canned market.

Tomatoes

About 200 acres of tomatoes were grown.

The crop was a good one with the biggest challenge being whitemold and insect damage.

Prices for the crop are considered fair, Toledo said.

Squash

About 130 acres of squash were planted, and with good prices and a good crop, farmers should be pleased in 2020.

Insect damage was high on the crop, however, Toledo said.

Prices for squash were fair.

Hemp

Hemp was grown for the third straight year in Orangeburg County and for the first time there was no cap on the number of growers or acres that could be grown of the crop.

Despite the removal of the cap, locally there were very few acres of hemp actually planted in the county, Orangeburg County Clemson Extension Agent Jonathan Croft said.

In Orangeburg County, there were about 19 farmers who grew the crop, according to South Carolina Department of Agriculture data.

There was one farmer in Calhoun County and no farmers in Bamberg County to grow the crop in 2020.

"We won’t know how many actually planted and how many acres they grew until the SCDA releases that information," said Justin Ballew, Clemson Extension horticulture agent.

Statewide in 2020, hemp acreage was to be down, Ballew said.

"The biggest reason for this is growers have had a hard time finding buyers that were willing to take their crop once harvested," he said. "There were somewhere around 260 growers permitted by the SCDA for this season; however, not all of them ended up planting."

"The hemp market was already saturated from the hemp produced last season and folks that grew last season are still trying to find outlets for their crop," Ballew said.

"It is yet to be determined whether growers will be able to make any money this year," Ballew said. "A few will, though if I were to make a guess based on the last two years, most will probably not be happy."

"It is possible COVID-19 made it difficult for growers to find labor or get their input materials in a timely manner," Ballew said. "We should know more once the season is over."

The federal Farm Bill signed into law in 2014 approved the growth of hemp for research purposes in the states that allow it.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill into law in May 2018 making it legal for farmers to grow the crop.

State law allowed the issuance of only 20 permits for farmers statewide to grow 20 acres apiece in 2018.

In 2019, 114 farmers across the state grew hemp.

The law defines industrial hemp as any part of the plant with a THC concentration that does not exceed .3% on a dried-weight basis. Anything above that is considered marijuana and is illegal in the state.