A Review of Watermelon Production and Price Trends from 2010 to 2021: FE1137, 6/2023

Abstract

Watermelons are primarily produced by eight states on over 100,000 acres each year (USDA-NASS, 2022). Most of the fruit (almost 80%) are cultivated in California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas with Florida leading in domestic production (USDA-ERS, 2020a). In 2019, Florida’s watermelon output accounted for 25.2% of total U.S. production, 24.7% of national watermelon acreage, and 29.6% of the overall crop value in the U.S (USDA-NASS, 2021). The value of Florida's watermelon output accounted for 13.2% of the state's total vegetable production (USDA-NASS, 2021). In 2021, the value of watermelon produced in the United States totaled $534 million, and production totaled 34.1 million cwt (USDA-NASS, 2022). These values show a decline in the value of watermelon produced and total production from 2020, by 7% and 1%, respectively (USDA-NASS, 2022).

This report provides information on both seeded and seedless conventional watermelon acreage, volume, and pricing for California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas from 2010 through 2021. It is one of a series of EDIS publications that illustrate trends in Florida’s five most economically important specialty crops, excluding citrus: tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelons, sweet corn, and strawberries. This information will be useful to producers, extension agents, and others interested in trends concerning specialty crop commodities. It serves a single location where important information about specialty crop market and production trends can be found.