American Harvest Series 2022 - Biggest Harvest Season In America

It's harvest time and across the United States, the race is on to bring in our food. And what's fantastic about this country is that 87% of what we eat is produced here. Growers in the United States are at the top of their game. Many of the crops grown by U.S. growers are truly world-class. But with unpredictable weather and changing consumer tastes on a daily basis, farming is also a tough business. Have we had enough summer sunshine for the crop? Or is this year's wet July washed away the harvest? This is the time of year when growers across the land find out whether the blood, sweat, and tears they poured into their farms has paid off. From acres of strawberries in California to wheat fields in Texas and sweet potato farms in North Carolina, we're tracking the harvest of some of the top United States producers in three distinct growing regions, each with its own set of challenges. Who had a good year? Who struggled with a bad crop? Now we'll find out together. This is Harvest 2022. The southwest of the United States is home to hundreds of acres of strawberry farms. Workers here are selecting thousands of quality seedlings to prepare for a new strawberry crop. Most of them are immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala. Thousands of strawberry seedlings will then be moved to farms to start a new life. As of 2021, the total area of strawberry cultivation in California is 39,000 acres, and two-thirds of that is in the Santa Maria area. Every August, about 9,000 workers flock to Californian farms to grow strawberries. Strawberries prefer a cool coastal climate, which is the major reason California's strawberry fields are so much more productive than those elsewhere. Currently, California has many different varieties of strawberries grown, so strawberry harvesting in this state occurs all year round. Despite the hot weather in California, the strawberry crop in 2022 is not affected. In particular, strawberry harvest yield at this time has increased by 8% compared to 2021. As of October 2022, California's strawberry harvest is 1.4 billion pounds. This is good news for strawberry growers in California and strawberry lovers across the United States. Each year, the lettuce fields in Arizona provide about 23% of the country's lettuce production. Early August is when thousands of workers flock to the lower Colorado River Valley area to grow lettuce. Growing lettuce is often done by these farm workers early in the morning to limit the heat of the weather. In 2022, Arizona is the second-largest lettuce-growing state in the United States, with 26,200 acres. The place with the largest lettuce-growing area is California, with 88,000 acres. In Arizona, hot weather in August and September is a big problem for lettuce farms. In addition, dozens of lettuce samples can also be damaged if they encounter heavy rains lasting several days. On some organic lettuce farms, weed control is done manually instead of using herbicides. The lettuce harvest usually takes place from mid-December and lasts until March of the following year. As of October 2022, the lettuce harvest in Arizona is approximately 53 million pounds, and this is also considered a successful crop for lettuce producers. Mid-April is when sweet corn is planted in the fields of Washington. In 2022, Washington was the second-largest sweet corn-growing area in the United States, with about 23,000 acres. The largest growing area of sweet corn is Florida, with more than 37,000 acres. Currently, most sweet corn varieties are grown in Washington and they take about 95 days until they're ready to be harvested. The sweet corn crop in Washington will be considered a success if it does not experience intense heat that lasts more than 20 days. Every year, nearly 8,000 workers flock to sweet corn farms in Washington to harvest. Up till now, the sweet corn harvest in Washington is about 757,000 tons, down 13% compared to the same period in 2021. If you ever go to the sweet corn farms in the harvest season, the atmosphere there is wonderful and will help you feel relaxed. In North Carolina, sweet potato planting usually begins in mid-May. In 2022, the United States has about 157,000 acres of land used for sweet potato production, of which the sweet potato-growing area in North Carolina is about 111,000 acres, 35,000 acres more than California, Louisiana and Mississippi combined. After about three months from planting, billions of sweet potatoes here are ready to be harvested. The process of harvesting sweet potatoes in North Carolina usually takes place from August and ends in early October. Every year, about 7,300 workers flock to sweet potato farms in North Carolina to harvest. According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the 2022 sweet potato production was 1.5 million tons, down more than 10% from last year, and it brought in a value of $613 million. This is the sugar beet harvest going on at Satellite County in Michigan. In 2022, the sugar beet acreage in Michigan is 163,000 acres. The time to harvest sugar beet in Michigan usually starts in early August and ends at the end of October. It is estimated that in 2022, sugar beet production in Michigan will be 2.8 million tons and the finished sugar production is 545,000 tons, up 7% from last year. Apples are one of the most famous fruits in Washington. The end of February is when apple tree planting takes place on farms in Washington. These workers will plant about 650 apple trees per acre. As of 2022, there are about 1,455 apple farms in Washington State with an area of 172,000 acres. They typically harvest about 10 to 12 billion apples per year. In early spring, when young shoots appear, a probiotic is used to protect the buds from attack by insects and aphids. August is usually the time when thousands of migrant workers from Mexico flock to the farms in Washington to pick the apples. The wages of these workers will be calculated based on the number of boxes of apples that they collect. On average, each person will receive about $13 per hour. According to the Washington State Fruit Association's Apple production in 2022 will reach 1.9 million tons, down 11% compared to 2021 because of the impact of a long cold spring. This can be bad news for apple growers. However, do not worry because the number of apples is still quite a lot. In the next part of the video, we will go to some other farms in the United States to see how the harvest of thousands of tons of fruits and vegetables happens. The first place we will see in this video is a large vineyard in the San Joaquin County in California. Between August and October each year is the time when tens of thousands of workers flock to the vineyards in California to harvest. The average wage for each of these workers is about $17 an hour. According to statistics released in 2021, the total area of vineyards in the state of California is 895,000 acres, of which up to 73% of the area is planted with grapes for wine production. Each year, California grape farms produce about 3.8 million tons of grapes, accounting for 92% of the country's grape production. Hundreds of tons of grapes here after harvest will be transferred to the winery to produce wine. Here's what's going on in a chili farm in Florida. Around 230 workers are hired to this farm to harvest the chili. Currently, Florida, California and Michigan are the states with the largest chili production in the United States. In 2020, US chili production is about 325,000 tons, of which up to 75% is produced in California and Florida. Thousands of chili peppers after harvesting will be transferred to trucks thanks to this conveyor system. The third place we will visit in this video is a persimmon farm in Southern Indiana. September to November every year is the time when the persimmon harvest takes place here. Persimmon is a fruit with a rather hard stem, so these workers will need to use scissors to cut it instead of picking by hand like many other fruits. According to statistics released in 2021, the total area planted for persimmon in the United States is about 3,200 acres and the yield obtained is about 15,300 tons. 75% of persimmon production in the United States is consumed domestically, with the remainder being mainly exported to Canada and Mexico. Now we will go to a watermelon field in Arizona to see how thousands of watermelons here are harvested. Currently, Arizona and Georgia, as well as Florida, are the states with the largest watermelon production, accounting for about 27% of total watermelon production in the United States. Your watermelon is here. Oh, it's here! It's here! In 2021, in the U.S. around 105,000 acres of fields are used to grow watermelons and the yield is usually more than 1.6 million tons. The sixth place we will visit in this video is a peach farm in the state of Georgia. Oh look at these beautiful ripe peaches. Would you like to come here and pick them yourself? Currently California produces 73 percent of U.S. peach production. However in terms of taste and deliciousness peaches grown in Georgia are well known and appreciated by everyone. In 2021 the U.S. states produced about 689,000 tons of peaches of which up to 505,000 tons come from California. Next we will go to a kiwi farm in Yuba County in the state of California. Every September nearly 4,000 workers flock to kiwi farms in California to harvest. Millions of kiwi fruits after harvesting will be shipped to factories for packaging. Currently the kiwi fruit growing area in the United States is about 4,500 acres and the annual harvest is about 47,000 tons. These are pictures of a cherry farm in Washington. Currently the United States is the second largest cherry producer in the world after Turkey. In 2021 the cherries harvested in the United States are about 266,000 tons and bring in a value of about 522 million dollars. Here's what's going on at a tangerine farm in Alabama. Currently Alabama and Florida are the states with the largest citrus production in the United States. At the end of this video we'll take a look at the harvest taking place in several U.S. vegetable fields. How do you feel about the process of harvesting fruits and vegetables in this video? Let us know what you think in the comment section of the video. Goodbye and see you in the next video!