A list of the over 300 crops grown in Washington ranges from apples and asparagus to wine grapes and yellow onions. But when it comes to competing for production, Washington comes out on top for eleven crops. Learn which crops make Washington an over-all agriculture champion.
#1 State for world exports of potatoes
Not only does Washington export more potatoes than any other state, it also grows them with fewer inputs per ton, making Washington potatoes the most sustainable in the nation. Washington's soil and climate allows our growers to rank first in the world in per-acre yield of potatoes by growing 44% more potatoes per-acre than the US average.
#1 State for sweet cherry production
Some sweet facts about cherries:
- Sweet cherries grown in Washington are the number 1
dollar-per-square-foot item in U.S. grocery stores each July.
- Thanks in part to
research funded by Washington growers, we know that sweet cherries are a
natural anti-inflammatory.
- Rainier cherry juice won't stain, so they are a favorite with parents.
#1 State for blueberries in cultivation
#1 State for pear production
With almost 5 million pear trees, Washington grows more pears than any other state and of those, more than half are the Anjou variety. Pears are one of the few fruits that don't ripen well on the tree. Washington growers give them special handling to make them sweeter than pears grown anywhere else in the world.
#1 State for apple production
Two-thirds of all the apples in the US are grown in Washington. 2014 saw the largest apple harvest in the state's history with over 142 million fresh bushels. Washington exports more apples than any other state. Washington apples are sold in over 60 countries.
Washington's Red Delicious apple is known as the "world's favorite snacking apple". It has been marketed since 1874. Washington apple growers are extremely dynamic at producing new varieties consumers love. Honeycrisp is currently very popular but look for Cosmic Crisp coming to stores in 2019. They will only be available from Washington growers.
#1 State for Concord grape production
#1 State for spearmint oil production
One acre produces about 19 gallons of mint oil. Over half of the oil produced goes to flavor the world's toothpaste.
#1 State for producing wrinkled-pea seeds and green peas for processing
What's a wrinkled-pea seed?
Delicious, sweet peas that are processed for freezing contain high levels of sugar. The sugar makes the pea seeds wrinkled. Because there are no late-fall rains in eastern Washington, wrinkled-pea seeds can be grown without diseases or quality problems. Consequently, Washington produces wrinkled-pea seeds for all the pea growers in the nation.
#1 State for hops production
And the winner is....
Whitman County produces more wheat than any other county in the US. The fertile soil in the Palouse region is one of the most highly productive, dry land farming areas in the world. No other county can produce even half of what Whitman farmers can grow.
