2025 Vegetables and Pulses Outlook

Main Takeaways

• The total harvested area of vegetables and pulses has been declining for the past 5 years, including a 25%–30% loss of Georgia’s fall vegetable crop because of Hurricane Helene, and the downward trend is expected to continue in 2025.
• Total imports of vegetables and pulses were $20 billion in 2023, an increase of 7% compared to 2022. This increased import trend and value is expected to continue in 2025.
• Although vegetable per capita consumption increased by 1.7% in 2023, the increase did not surpass the 405.4 lb consumed per capita in 2020. It is expected that 2025 will be much better.

According to a 2024 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, there was a decrease of 1.8% in the total harvested area of all categories of fresh and processed vegetables—which includes potatoes, dry beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, and mushrooms—from the 2022 to 2023 crop seasons. In 2022, a total of 6.2 million acres was planted compared to 6.1 million acres in 2023 (USDA ERS, 2024).

Three categories of fresh vegetables and pulses experienced a decline in harvested acreages in 2023 compared to 2022. Fresh vegetables and pulses decreased by 2.9%, dry beans, dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas also decreased by 2.9%, while mushrooms reported the highest decrease of 4.1%. This downward trend in area harvested was exacerbated in 2024 by the 25%–30% decrease in Georgia’s fall vegetable crop because of Hurricane Helene. This natural shortage in Georgia caused by Hurricane Helene may not be enough to affect vegetable prices, and the shortage is expected to continue in 2025 (Table 1).

Table 1. U.S. Vegetables and Pulses, 2020–23.

Despite the 1.8% decrease in harvested area, total production increased by 7.6% as 1,190 million cwt was produced in 2023 compared to 1,106 million cwt in 2022. Another positive indicator was the increase of 3.2% in crop value from $25.5 billion in 2022 to $26.3 billion in 2023. During the same year, total vegetables imported to the United States increased by 7.1%, while exports also increased by 5.8%. Import value in 2023 was $20.0 billion compared to $18.7 billion in 2022, while export value was $8.1 billion in 2023 compared to $7.7 billion in 2022 (Table 1).

According to a USDA report (2024), the total per capita availability for all the categories of vegetables and pulses also increased by 1.7%, as 403 lb were consumed per person in 2023 compared to 396 lb in 2022. That means that Americans ate more vegetables and pulses in 2023 than in the 2 years prior (Table 1). However, the total availability of fresh vegetables was 155 lb in 2023, a decrease of 2.2% compared to 2022.

On the other hand, the per capita availability of processed vegetables was 114.8 lb in 2023, an increase of 5% compared to 2022. An increase of 5% puts potatoes at 118.1 lb per capita while mushrooms were 3.5 lb per capita in 2023 (Wilma et al., 2024).

Unfortunately, vegetable growers must deal with the noisy prices from year to year and from month to month. It is usually difficult to predict or forecast vegetable prices. For instance, onion prices were much higher in 2022 compared to 2023. On the other hand, snap beans fetched higher prices in 2023 compared to 2022. Meanwhile, sweet corn and tomato prices fluctuated.

In 2024, all four vegetable crops—onion, snap beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes—started off at higher prices in the first quarter than the previous 2 years. It would be hard to forecast where these prices will land at the end of 2024 (Figure 1), especially since Hurricane Helene damaged approximately 25%–30% of Georgia’s fall crop according to UGA Extension’s Hurricane Helene Impact Report (Publication No. AP133-1).

Status and Revision History
In Review on Jan 15, 2025
Published on Jan 22, 2025