The California city of Salinas, located in Monterey County is known as the "Salad Bowl of the World". The Salinas Valley has the climate to support lots of vegetable crops, so much so Dole Fresh Vegetable is situated there. However, recent rains in California threaten the harvest.
Salinas California produces roughly 70% of the worlds lettuce crop. Take a look at our map from our Premium Dashboard, Monterey County stands out!
While California has suffered from drought for many years, the 10-20 inches of rain is a surprise. While it replenishes their rivers and lakes, it makes the growing season tough as farmers had to delay planting and lost fields do to severe flooding. This will ultimately produce less vegetable crops causing lettuce prices and vegetable prices to rise in the U.S.
Being true to its nature Monterey County produces more then just lettuce (Lettuce is #1). A multitude of other veggies are grown and harvested in the region.
Our interactive dashboard (HERE) looks at the amount of acres per geolocation that a vegetable is planted. For the County of Monterey on average per year plants and harvests around a million acres of lettuce. In 2017 they recorded a maximum of 1.69 million acres devoted to lettuce production. Monterey County is around 2.1 Million acres, with only 85 thousand acres are populated. Meaning, this a farming community that grows lots of vegetables, especially lettuce.
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