The Ups and Downs of Winter Weather
From some Arizona vegetable farmers, news is not all bad

As most of you recall, exceptionally hard-freeze conditions threatened citrus, strawberry and vegetable crops in southwestern Arizona’s winter agricultural valleys throughout several stretches in January, 2007. In fact, Yuma County reported a low reading of 25 degrees on January 14 — its lowest reading for more than 36 years.

On vegetable operations, hard frosts forced harvest crews to postpone their usual crack-of-dawn start time to as late as mid-afternoon, when the fields finally thawed. During normal hard freezes, crews can begin harvest by 10 a.m., but temperatures remained cold which delayed the thaw on several bone-chilling days. Many farmers equipped their harvest machines with fluorescent lights so that crews could harvest from their delayed start times until the freeze set again in the evening.

Yuma County has been called the winter vegetable capital of the United States. C.R. Waters, president of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, said the area produces 90 percent of the winter vegetables consumed in the United States and Canada, including 98 percent of the iceberg lettuce.

Silver lining for Doug Mellon

The freeze certainly had its down side for America’s “Salad Bowl,” such as tighter supplies and smaller sizes for head lettuce. However, Doug Mellon, owner of Doug Mellon Farms, a 6,000-acre vegetable operation in Yuma, observed a silver lining among all the frost crystals.

Mellon said, “In reality, the freeze was good for growers because we had better prices this winter than the last two winters when we produced an oversupply of vegetables that pushed prices way down. This winter brought the opposite. We cut our plantings back by 10 to 15 percent, and with Mother Nature kicking in cold temperatures, supplies were limited, but markets for our product were significantly better.”

Fellow Yuma vegetable grower John Boelts agreed. In a recent Western Farm Press online article, John said, “Some vegetables were ruined but most took the cold fairly well. Cold snaps lasting two weeks don’t usually cause extensive damage. Fresh vegetable markets have been depressed for the last few years. Now we’re able to make some money back.”

Doug Mellon added, “It may shock some in the industry to hear about the ‘good side’ of a freeze. But I believe that overproduction is our worst enemy. With overproduction, our prices for iceberg lettuce were as low as $6 or $7 for a standard box of 24 head. During this winter freeze period, we received as high as $25 or $30 a box, a significant difference. Yields were somewhat lower than normal and head sizes were smaller, but we were able to pay the bills.”

Back to business as usual

Today, the Mellons are back to business as usual, already negotiating prices for the next season. “We don’t have much slack time,” says Doug. “Our ground grows double crops — and sometimes triple crops — in one year. Once a winter vegetable crop is harvested, we will plant cotton, wheat, alfalfa or another crop in the same ground.

“This year, for example, we harvested a lettuce crop, and planted spring mix on the same land, and then turned around and planted Sudan. Our ground is expensive and water is costly so we have to grow as much as possible.”

So life goes on for the Mellon Farm, and the bottom line on the freeze is this: While the cold weather may have driven prices up slightly at the grocery store, thanks to Doug Mellon, John Boeltz and countless other Arizona growers, American consumers continue to enjoy safe, economical and nutritious products when shopping the produce aisles in their local supermarkets.

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