Michigan leads the nation in the production of asparagus for processing and is third behind California and Washington for fresh-market asparagus production. However, in the last 12-18 months Peru and other countries have stepped up their exports of processed asparagus to the United States. He said several million pounds of Michigan asparagus were not harvested last year or unutilized because of competition from imports. The industry is committed to maintaining our shelf space for Michigan product, and our growers want to deliver all the asparagus that we grow. To make sure that happens, the committee felt we needed to reduce the base price this year.
Producers are willing to take a major price hit to help processors retain their markets.
Nye said growers decided to set a base price for spear-pack asparagus to reflect the historically higher prices paid for the crop, which is more labor intensive to harvest and handle.