A little cold storage can go a long way with asparagus
When a farmer is already working with razor-thin margins, a profit boost of even a few cents per acre can mean a lot. That’s especially true when the domestic market for a specific crop – like asparagus – has shrunk dramatically over the past decade.
Asparagus production in Michigan has surpassed that of California and Washington State, which is great news for growers in the Wolverine State. (Michigan produced 30.24 million lbs. of the 51.36 million lbs. grown in the U.S. in 2024.) However, American production has declined by 75% since 2000 at the same time imports have surged from 159 million lbs. to 580 million lbs.
This shift places increasing pressure on domestic production. By 2022, only 6% of the fresh asparagus supply in the U.S. came from domestic production. Imports comprised the remaining 94%.
That means Michigan’s asparagus growers are vulnerable to price fluctuations caused by import competition, compounded by a short six-week harvest season. Consumer demand continues to remain high after the harvest season, which can drive market prices up by as much as 28% post-harvest – yet growers are often unable to capitalize on this price increase.
Studying this issue is a team from Michigan State University (Simone Valle de Souza, Benjamin Werling, Philip Engelgau and Randolph Beaudry) and John Bakker of the Michigan Asparagus Association. Valle de Souza presented “Optimizing Asparagus Marketability: The Economic Impact of Controlled- Atmosphere Storage for Michigan Growers” at the most recent American Society for Horticultural Science conference.
Their study considered the potential of extending the storage life of asparagus, particularly through controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage. Doing so could help mitigate the impact of price fluctuations on revenues by allowing growers to allocate surplus produce to the market based on demand while reducing produce losses.
Their model included yield capacity and the annual average costs per acre for Michigan growers. The team analyzed production costs and yield capacities over a 14-year lifecycle, with peak yields of 5,500 lbs./acre occurring between years 5 and 12.
Using data from a MSU Extension survey from 2022-23, it was noted the establishment costs for new asparagus fields were estimated to be $5,723/ acre. The vegetable’s market continues to be balanced between cuts and tips (27%), spears (13%) and fresh market asparagus (60%). At that optimal harvest of 5,500 lbs./acre, the breakeven price is 73 cents/ lb. Spears tend to sell for 87 cents/lb.; cuts and tips, 75.5 cents/lb.; and fresh market for 81.4 cents/lb. That means generally, producers operate on just a 7.5-cent margin.
The obvious challenges are labor costs (averaging $2,177/acre during harvest) and the lower price of imports, “but we need to also look at the timing of the imports,” Valle de Souza said. “Autumn is the beginning of the marketing year, and prices rise from July through December.”
(Note that fresh or chilled asparagus tends to be imported from Mexico and Peru, while preserved asparagus comes from Peru and China.)
The annual domestic drop in prices coincides with the timing of U.S. harvests in May and June, which is also when import numbers rise. But the MSU researchers think that extending American asparagus shelf life by even a few weeks can help with this issue.
Their study evaluated four scenarios with varying post-harvest storage durations: immediate marketing and then after one-week, two-week and three-week storage periods. It demonstrated that extending storage can lead growers to capitalize on post-season price increases, enhancing annual revenue – especially during those peak harvesting years.
The results suggest that Michigan growers can improve profitability by adopting CA storage for two whole weeks and align their storage strategies with market price fluctuations to optimize revenues.
Even better news? The harvest method – whether cut or snap – resulted in no difference in storability. Since the harvest method does not affect storability, producers can focus on optimizing harvest cost efficiency without compromising post-harvest quality. Utilizing CA storage and coordinating marketing channels to target those late-season high-price periods offers a realistic pathway to improve profitability.
Valle de Souza said only about 0.9% of the average annual production cost of asparagus goes toward paying for CA storage – but good storage can add 6 cents/lb./acre in profit to sell at a better time.
Ultimately, the research team found that adding just one week in CA storage can mean a 4% increase in revenue. Two weeks in CA storage can mean a 7% increase. It’s asparagus that’s worth the wait.
by Enrico Villamaino
