By Malinda Geisler, content specialist, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University.
Revised June 2008.
Florida leads the nation in the value of squash production followed by Georgia, California, New York and Texas. The United States grew 789 million pounds of fresh market squash in 2007 valued at $227 million.
Winter squash is late growing, has a hard, thick rind and dense orange or yellow flesh. It is less symmetrical and tends to be rough, warty or oddly shaped. The thick skin allows for winter squash to be stored in a dry, cool place for several months. Winter squash includes types of pumpkins. Some of the popular types of winter squash grown in the United States include butternut, acorn, spaghetti, buttercup and hubbard.
Summer squash varieties are small, fast growing and usually consumed while the fruit is immature, before the seeds and rinds begin to harden. The three primary types of summer squash grown in the United States are zucchini, yellow and scallop.
Squash is used primarily for the fresh market. Per capita consumption of squash has grown in recent years and was 4.7 pounds in 2005.
The United States grows four percent of the world's supply of squash and pumpkins. The United States also imports the most squash in the world. In 2007, the United States imported 256,613 metric tons of squash valued at $214 million. Mexico is the primary source for imports followed by Costa Rica and Honduras.
- Commercial Production and Management of Squash and Cucumbers, University of Georgia - A comprehensive site that includes sections on marketing and production costs.
- Crop Profile: Squash in New York, Cornell University, 2000 - This profile mentions the marketing channels for New York-grown summer and winter types of squash and pest challenges.
- Florida Crop/Pest Management Profile: Squash, University of Florida - This site provides an overview of squash.
- Jack Creek Farms - This is a fifth-generation farm in the coastal foothills of Central California. In addition to several varieties of summer and winter squash, the farm raises a variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers that are available as you pick or at their country store.
- Just a Plain Farm LLC, Carp Lake, Michigan - This farm offers a family-run market from July through late November. It also grows pumpkins and 20 varieties of fall squash.
- Organic Pumpkin and Winter Squash Production, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), 2003 - This document covers production, weed and pest management, harvesting and marketing.
- PlantFacts, Ohio State University - This Web site provides a full-text search engine of all extension and academic department information from all land-grant universities in the United States. Additionally, there is a significant image and video database, FAQ database and glossary.
- Pumpkins and Squash, Vegetable Research and Information Center, University of California Cooperative Extension - This resource site has links to summer and winter squash and pumpkin production.
- Schwebach Farm, Moriarty, New Mexico - This family farm grows summer and winter squash, which it sells at its own farm market. The farm specializes in white sweet corn, pinto beans and bolita beans.
- Squash, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2004.
- Vegetables, NASS, USDA, 2007.
Links checked February 2008.