Washington, DC, USA
February 11, 2011

A USDA/ERS report
Barry Krissoff, Mesbah Motamed, Edwin Young, and Chengxia You

Abstract

This report highlights the anticipated consequences of the 2008 Farm Act’s Planting
Transferability Pilot Program (PTPP) on processing (pickling) cucumber plantings.

PTPP allows program crop growers in seven Upper Midwestern States to reduce base acres and plant select vegetables for processing on those acres without reducing
Government payments on their remaining base acres.

Stagnant market demand and the farmers’ ability to enter or expand processing cucumber production without the pilot program may explain why the acres planted to pickling cucumbers may increase only marginally.

Our findings suggest that PTPP would increase production by 180 acres, or by less than 0.5 percent of acreage in the Upper Midwestern States.

About half an average-sized cucumber farm (43 acres) would be created in the region due to PTPP and an additional 137 acres would be planted by existing processing cucumber
growers.

With these small changes in regional cucumber acreage, PTPP is not likely to affect the national market and price outlook.

The availability of nonbase acres, prior planting history, and distance to a processor are signifi cant variables in determining
planted cucumber acres.

Entire report

Website: http://www.ers.usda.gov/

Published: February 11, 2011