By Clint Thompson
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another spring vegetable season for Georgia producers was marred by rising imports that deflated market prices.
“While we were in D.C. (recently), one of our growers was talking about $4 a box was the market price for squash. It was what it had fallen to when imports starting to hit the market,” said Chris Butts, executive vice president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA). “He had gone from a much higher price earlier in the season to that floor. It’s well below his cost of production. In fact, it’s almost what it cost him for the box. This season shaped up to be no different than the other ones.
“USDA data backs it up. There’s just more and more of (those imports) coming across from Mexico.”
New data from the University of Georgia supports the belief that imports from Mexico of blueberries and peppers are pricing some domestic producers out of business. U.S. blueberry growers suffered a revenue loss of $72 million in 2021. Mexico has more than tripled its export volumes of blueberries since 2016 during April to June, impacting Georgia, California and North Carolina.
Bell pepper producers suffered a loss of $48.27 million. Mexico accounted for 94% of U.S. fresh bell pepper imports in 2021, and imports have doubled between 2014 and 2021 during the July-December season, mostly impacting growers in Georgia and California.
“Unfortunately, it’s a lot of the crops that are produced here. Blueberries are obviously a big one, but then squash, zucchini, peppers, across the board in the vegetable category. Our position is if you’re growing a commodity that’s not facing import pressure, we think it’s only a matter of time before you will,” Butts said. “They’ve proven they can grow these crops, so why not figure out how to grow these other ones. We’re just going to see that problem get worse and more widespread.”