Many Michigan asparagus growers say they are growing more fresh crop as the demand for processing levels out and maybe hits its peak.
Four Michigan asparagus growers, Tom Oomen, Dave Smeltzer, Al Lawson and Ron Lundberg, were a part of “Fresh Market Production – A Grower Perspective” at the Asparagus Day in Shelby, Mich. on March 9. They told other asparagus growers about the differences in growing fresh compared to growing for processing and the need to turn to the fresh market as a niche or alternative market.
Oomen, who grows 260 acres of asparagus with his brother Rick, grew 15% of his crop last year for the fresh market. “We’ve always tried to support the fresh market to some extent,” said Oomen who first planted for fresh asparagus in 1980.
Oomen said sticking with the newer, hybrid varieties has made growing for the fresh market easier, although labor costs are somewhat higher. His workers pick it fresh in plastic lugs before it is hydrocooled prior to being brought to a processor.
“There’s definitely a need to go fresh as another option that everybody should take a look at. I think our processing market has leveled and we may be hitting the peak,” said Oomen.
“Per capita consumption of canned is not increasing. Processed asparagus is not a growth area,” said Jerry Campbell, division manager of the Asparagus Division of MACMA (Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association). Michigan canned and frozen asparagus totaled over 26 million pounds in 1999, boosted in part by the increased demand by some Michigan processors for canned spears, Campbell said.
Lundberg grows 125 acres of asparagus near Pentwater and grew fresh asparagus for the first time last year.
“I had a relatively good experience. At the end of the season we had higher prices,” Lundberg told the growers. The higher prices at the end of the season were due to fewer people bringing in fresh asparagus. Last year eight percent of his crop went for the fresh market and this year he said it will be closer to 20%.
Lundberg said one of his processors already told him he won’t take any asparagus the first two weeks of the season because of carryover. To deal with carryover situations, processors may grade harder or possibly go to a four-week season instead of the typical six week season, according to Lundberg.
When growing for the fresh market, growers have to adjust to fluctuating prices that may change from day to day or week to week, compared with set prices, bargained for processing. Lundberg said prices were good for fresh asparagus at the beginning of the season, went down in the middle of the season and by June 20 at the end of the season the prices were “fantastic.” He said his prices ranged from 54 cents per pound to a high of $1.11 per pound.
Fresh market demands call for 10.5–11 inch spears, 30% more than the standard 7.5 inches to processors, according to Lundberg. He said some gourmet restaurants like the whips or skinnies and call them gourmet. For fresh asparagus Lundberg may do 15-18 pickings per season, compared with 20-25 pickings for the processing. Lundberg said he has to pay his help more because fresh asparagus is oriented in the plastics.
Because of the newer varieties yields are twice as much as the older yields. Lundberg said 3,000 pounds per acre is not that hard to do today compared to an average of 1,300–1,500 pounds per acre from the older varieties. He’s taken out 50 acres in the last two years of the older varieties, which hasn’t noticeably affected the yield.
Lundberg said the acreage hasn’t increased that much but the smaller growers of 10-20 acres have gone out of business. He said more growers are interested in the fresh market. “More people are going into it. You’re just not going to have a choice,” he said. He said Michigan could see 30 million pounds of asparagus per year.
“We’ve got to find more places for asparagus. People in it have come to realize they’re going to have to find alternative markets,” Lundberg said.
Smeltzer, primarily an apple grower in Bear Lake in northern Michigan, has been also growing asparagus for the past 20 years. Currently he grows 65-70 acres of asparagus and he has been in the fresh market for the past four years. All his asparagus acreage is currently geared for the fresh market although some may go for processing, especially the initial blast of asparagus that’s usually not consistent, he said.
“We could see the processing season was going down,” said Smeltzer. He said his processor told him they have all the asparagus they need in the first two weeks of the season. Processing isn’t like what is was 20 years ago. “We have asparagus coming out of South America and California,” he said. Michigan asparagus growers must compete in a global economy.
Smeltzer agrees that growing for the fresh market requires more work. One of the challenges of growing for the fresh market, Smeltzer says, is the need for asparagus with uniform size and length. All the sorting is done in the field, as his packing line is rather primitive, Smeltzer said. “It really is kind of a dump and catch. Asparagus comes in one size and one color. It doesn’t float and it doesn’t roll. We have to move it differently with belts,” he said.
If there’s a 50% packout rate for fresh, all charges are assessed against that 50%. “Fifty percent of the product brings you 100% of the money,” he said. He also noted that fresh prices can be 30-40% higher compared to processing.
Smeltzer found a niche selling his produce directly to grocery stores and in the food service arena including catering companies, upscale restaurants and delicatessens. Already well known for his door to door deliveries of apples, Smeltzer found that asparagus fits in nicely with his fruit customers. “We’re a service oriented operation. You need to be very cognizant of what your customer wants,” he said.
Smeltzer first started selling asparagus in bulk with plastic lugs right from the field. Soon that became obvious that this approach wasn’t proper marketing, according to Smeltzer. He said buyers of his asparagus were very receptive to it for the first year, although it was a lot of labor on their end. He bought a couple of banders to make it easier for his buyers. Now he presents his product to customers in three different ways – loose oriented, banded or in 10 pound boxes.
Smeltzer regularly talks to chefs in the region to try to get them to use asparagus in their recipes. Once chefs decide to put asparagus in a dish, Smeltzer is able to sell a lot more asparagus. One restaurant purchased 600–700 pounds of asparagus per week.
