An Economics Study Of Tomato Production In Cherokee County, Texas

Fresh green-wrap tomatoes were the leading vegetable crop in East Texas until 1952, with an annual value of approximately 12 million dollars. The Texas tomato industry started about 1890 near Jacksonville, Cherokee County, in East Texas, and has expanded to practically all vegetable-growing sections of the state. The industry is largely a spring enterprise which is divided into the early spring crop in the Rio Grande Valley and a late spring crop in East Texas. There is some fall tomato production in the state. The tomato areas supplement each other and give Texas almost a year-round tomato production season. The main problems of tomato production in Texas are the low price paid to farmers and the poor quality of tomatoes. The low prices and poor quality are related. Because of the low prices received by farmers, quality is often neglected for volume. An increase in poor quality tomatoes reduces terminal prices and the demand for East Texas tomatoes. The tomato industry in Cherokee County has decreased considerably in the last few years. Many farmers have dropped them completely, others have cut production in half, and still, others grow an acre or two as a side-line while holding some other public Job. They contend that producing tomatoes purely as a cash crop does not pay to sell as green-wrap and there are extremely low prices received for ripe tomatoes