U.S. Watermelon Production

Watermelons for Fresh Market: Area Planted and Harvested, Yield,  Production, and value by State and United States, 2002-2004

Watermelons for Fresh Market: Area Planted and Harvested, Yield, Production, and Value by State and United States, 2002-2004

Florida

Production - According to the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA, planted acreage for the 2004 watermelon crop totaled 27,000 acres. This was up from the 2003 crop acreage of 25,000. Harvested acreage amounted to 25,000 acres, up 1,000 acres from the 2003 crop. In 2004 the yield was 320 hundredweight (cwt) per acre, compared to 300 cwt per acre during the 2003 season. 2004 production totaled 8,000,000 cwt, compared with 7,200,000 cwt in 2003. In 2004 producers received an average price of $8.40 per cwt, down from $8.60 per cwt. average in 2003. Overall value of the 2004 production was $67.2 million, up from the $61.92  million value of the 2003 crop.

Weather & Crop - Generally dry with occasional light rain was featured during early March with some Northern areas receiving only 1/3 inch of rain. The below average temperatures did not help some early transplants. Temperatures during late March were in the low 30's to some panhandle and northern peninsula localities and lows in the 40's in many central peninsula areas. Temperatures remained mostly 8-10 degrees below normal during the last week of the month.

Early April brought temperatures as low as 30 degrees in the panhandle which delayed some field work. The next week, mostly dry, warm weather allowed fieldwork to proceed at a normal pace. Watermelon harvesting around Immokalee slowly gained momentum by mid-month. By mid-May watermelon harvesting increased around Arcadia and Wildwood, with harvest gaining momentum to meet the Memorial Day holiday demand.

During early June, rainfall and sharp lightning curtailed harvesting periodically. Rains and lightning also interrupted some watermelon harvesting in the northern peninsula and panhandle in early June. Watermelon harvesting slowed in some northern peninsula and panhandle localities during late June due to wet weather and sharp lightning. The harvest of spring watermelons came to an end during the first week of July.

There was a small group of growers that harvested a fall crop of watermelons again in 2004. However, due to rain and cool weather from September through December, there weren't enough consistent supplies to issue an f.o.b. report. Shipments were tracked and reported on a weekly basis and are included in the statistics in the transportation section of this narrative.                                         Source: Florida Agriculture Statistics Service.

Marketing - The first f.o.b. shipping point price report of the season was issued on April 28, 2004. The 36 inch bin per cwt. price of Red Flesh Seeded type 50 count  was mostly $17.00-18.00. The price of 45 count melon in a 24 inch bin was $23.00-24.00 per cwt. The last price report was on July 1 with Red Flesh Seeded type, approximately 50 count in 36 inch bins, at $8.00-10.00 per cwt. and a 45 count Red Flesh Seedless type in 24 inch bins at $8.00-10.00 per cwt.

Transportation - The majority of the crop was shipped by truck with some piggyback rail shipments. Total truck shipments from April 3 through October 2 totaled 15,957 truckload equivalents. Of these, 5,395 were seeded melons and 10,562 were seedless. Seedless shipments accounted for approximately 66 percent of the total loads shipped, up from 2003's 59 percent.