Overview

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Commercial production of dates in 2007 totaled 16,300 tons in California, the largest producer. Due to a significant increase in price, $860 per ton in the last two years, date production in the state was valued at $37.3 million (NASS). Arizona also raises dates commercially.

According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture (2009), the number of date farms in the United States has declined 20 percent since 2002 and now totals 168. However, date trees are currently planted on 7,669 acres, a slight increase in acreage during the last five years.

Per person consumption of dates in the United States shows little change. Of the dried fruits, date consumption per person was only 0.15 pounds in 2007, following (in order) raisins and prunes (ERS).  June 2009 ... Dates
 

Marketing

• California Dates, Marketing Order 987, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), USDA.
• Dates, Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations (UN).
• Dates, Food Availability (per Capita) Data System, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.
• Dates, Fruits and Nuts: 2007 and 2002, 2007 Census of Agriculture - State Data, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2009.
• Dried Fruit Association (DFA) of California (now known as the American Council of Food Safety and Quality) - A nonprofit organization representing the collective interest of the dried fruit and tree nut industry from grower to consumer. Its membership includes cooperatives, independent packers and grower packers. The site has files relating to quality standards, worker-safety issues, and food and plan biosecurity.
• Fruit and Tree Nuts Situation and Outlook Yearbook, ERS, USDA, 2008.
• The Marketing Potential of Date Palm Fruits in the European Market, FAO, UN, 2003.
• Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts, NASS, USDA, 2008 - Provides such stats as dried date production in California, average price for dried and fresh dates and domestic consumption.
• United States Standards for Grades of Dates, AMS, USDA, 1955.
• U.S. Trade Internet System, Foreign Agriculture Service, USDA.

Production

• Cal Sungold Inc - The largest independent date producer, annually producing, processing and marketing six million pounds of Deglet Noor and Medjool dates.
• Date, Fruits of Warm Climates, New Foods, Purdue University, 1987.
• Date, University of Georgia, 2004.
• Date Palm Products, FAO, UN, 1993.
• The Date, Phoenix Dactylifera, University of California, Davis, 2002.
• Dates: A Fruit of Promise for the Food Industry, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
• Imported and American Varieties of Dates in the United States, University of California, Davis, 2007, $25 - This book is the first comprehensive account of all varieties of dates and the date palm industry in the United States. While written with the California and Arizona commercial grower in mind, growers and palm enthusiasts worldwide will find this an invaluable reference.
   

Links checked June 2009.