Favorable, warm weather in Washington during the month of April has made for good quantities of asparagus. Quality is reported as good while prices are firm.Harvesting started around the middle of this month and is expected to continue through June. And although there was cool weather the first week of the season, conditions quickly became favorable and have led to a good crop.
“Things were cool during the first days of the season,” said Alan Schreiber of the Washington Asparagus Commission, “but it has warmed up a lot and the asparagus is coming on heavy.” Production has picked up so quickly that Schreiber noted some growers are having issues finding enough workers to keep up.
As the season progresses, however, that production pace could slow down, according to Chad Roberts of Andrus & Roberts Produce.
“We had a good start to the season,” he said, “and our tonnage was up this April compared to last year, but it looks like production will drop off a little going into May.” He noted that as supplies tighten, and with low supplies coming from California, prices should firm up.
“The market is improving,” he said, “movement is increasing, quality is excellent and prices are good.”