Top Production Trends from the 2025 State of the Vegetable Industry Survey
When it comes to the annual State of the Vegetable Industry Survey from American Vegetable Grower, there is much more to the eye than at first glance. This is apparent in the latest iteration of the annual report, which comprises feedback from more than 500 respondents. Take a look at a few infographics that help tell the story of crop production trends revealed in the 2025 State of the Vegetable Industry Survey:
Berries Gain Traction
Half of vegetable growers also grow strawberries, a trend also seen in South Carolina (my location). As additional crops on vegetable farms, cane berries were produced by 41% of respondents and outranked grapes, forages, nuts, mushrooms, citrus, hemp, cannabis, and hops. Herbs, row crops, pome fruits, stone fruits, and ornamentals were also frequently grown by at least 20% of respondents. Herbs, the third most popular “other crop,” outranked mushrooms, citrus, hemp, cannabis, and hops, which are the minor “minor crops” among vegetable growers.
Annual strawberries are a popular crop for small farms because the workload is distributed across the year from fall transplanting, winter maintenance when fewer vegetable crops are in the ground, and early spring harvest. From an Extension perspective, strawberries are treated as a fruit crop, which means growers typically have to attend separate meetings to get updates about strawberries and vegetables.
Weeds on the Rise
In the past three surveys done in 2023, 2024, and 2025, significantly more growers reported problems with weeds than with insects or diseases. The most problematic weeds (in the 2024 growing season) were pigweed, lambsquarter, crab grass, morning glory, thistles, nutsedge, purslane, ragweed, and foxtail.
One reason for the widespread problems with weeds is the lack of effective herbicides registered on vegetable crops relative to the number of insecticides and fungicides available.
Follow our sister site, Growing Produce, for additional insights from the 2025 State of the Vegetable Industry Survey in the coming weeks.
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