Yuma County lettuce harvest in full swing

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma County, as well as the Imperial Valley, produce over 80 percent of North America’s leafy greens from November through March.

Putting many of these vegetables on Thanksgiving tables across the country.

“There’s a big buildup to Thanksgiving and then these crews are out here fulfilling all those orders that are going on your supermarket shelves,” said Matt McGuire, J.V. Smith Company's Chief Agricultural Officer.

It’s that time of year when the emerald green fields of Yuma County are being harvested. 

“Green leaf lettuce, like behind us, red leaf lettuce, like behind us iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green onions,” said McGuire.

Matt McGuire says the growing season this year is going smoother.  

“The weather this year has been very good, yeah we had a few hot spells but we didn’t have any monsoons, last year about October 6th we were drowned out, couple inches of water made planting very difficult,” said McGuire.

Farm crews began harvesting just a few weeks ago.

McGuire encourages locals to keep an eye on Ag vehicles on the road through the rest of the season. 

“As you’re driving around town, be safe, there’s a lot of harvest trucks, field trucks in town, there's a lot of big semis carrying this produce across the country,” said McGuire.

The Yuma area Ag industry brings in an annual gross economic return of about $3.2 billion, more than one-third of Arizona's annual total of $9.2 billion.

As long as people need to eat, farmers will keep agriculture the leading industry in Yuma County.