YAKIMA — Soaring temperatures are kicking off a surge of early asparagus harvests.
“This warm weather has really kicked the asparagus into high gear,” Washington Asparagus Commission executive director Alan Schreiber said during a cellphone interview as he toured a packing house Monday.
“I’m walking into a cold room literally filled with asparagus. There’s just a ton of asparagus in here.”
That has Yakima Valley growers upbeat about the season, though many worry about having enough workers if surging production levels continue for the rest the season, which typically lasts until early June.
About 10 percent of the crop has been harvested.
Schreiber said his earlier prediction of an 18 million-pound harvest could reach 20 million pounds if the production surge continues, making it the biggest harvest in the last six years.
Harvest started on the Columbia Basin at the end of March; Yakima Valley growers started cutting in early April.
Local growers couldn’t ask for better timing. Washington asparagus entered the market just as the supply of Mexican and California asparagus dwindled. Prices now stand $56 to $58 per 28-pound box — up from $30 to $40 a box when the Mexican and California crops were being harvested. Schreiber called the current rate reasonable considering the volume of asparagus coming into the market.
Not surprisingly, growers are working long hours to get asparagus to market. Wapato grower Ron Granholm said Monday that he didn’t expect to finish work until the early evening hours.
Granholm said the crop has also benefited from moist soil from all the rain and snow the Yakima Valley received over the winter, a notable improvement from a year ago.
“Thank the Lord for the winter we had; we needed every drop (of water) we could get,” he said. “Last year we didn’t have a big crop; everything was horrible.”
Temperatures in the Yakima Valley are expected to be in the 80s through the end of the week before dropping to the 70s and high 60s. That will likely cause a cooling in production, but it should be warm enough to maintain steady levels.
“It’s perfect for asparagus,” Manuel Imperial, co-owner of Imperial’s Gardens, said about the weather. Imperial’s Gardens primarily sells its asparagus directly off its Wapato farm, though it also sells to grocery stores.
Asparagus is “coming out really nicely because of the heat,” said Norm Inaba, co-owner of Inaba Produce Farms, which has 250 acres of asparagus in Harrah. But “we might have a little too much heat. We’re a little short on labor.”
Schreiber said earlier growers anticipated having just enough workers, but things have changed. “We’re short because there is so much asparagus coming off,” he said.
Workers are paid 30 cents a pound, a sizable increase from 20 cents just a few years ago, he said, adding that it’s a standard growers use to retain workers. “The workers are getting paid pretty well, better than they’ve ever been paid,” he said.
Overall, Inaba considers the harvest a positive one. The quality of the asparagus is good too: He’s seen plenty of the big thick asparagus spears he says are ideal for grilling, his favorite way to prepare the vegetable.
“It seems to be even sweeter in the first month,” he said.
