Agriculture

While the area's economy is becoming more diverse, agriculture remains the area's main economic engine, producing billions of dollars of commodities and providing thousands of jobs.

In the process, it helps feed the nation and the world.

In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, the value of all agricultural commodities produced here came to more than $3 billion, according to the Yuma County Farm Bureau. Of that, 90 percent is field crops and vegetables, with the other 10 percent from livestock.

The county has 230,000 acres of cropland, 530 farms and more than 200 agriculture-related businesses, according to the Yuma County Cooperative Extension. And in the winter months, the industry employs more than 46,000 workers.

In the winter months, Yuma County produces an estimated 90 percent of the nation's vegetables, earning it the title of "Winter Lettuce Capital of the Nation."

Fields here produce a variety of lettuces that end up in salads across the United States and other parts of the world as well. Cartons of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and more exotic vegetables like bok choy and swiss chard also originate in Yuma-area fields.

Vegetables are the most valuable crop produced here. But the area also is a leading producer of lemons, along with other citrus such as tangelos. And the Yuma/Bard area is a major producer of the prized Medjool dates.

In the spring and fall, area fields yield another tasty treat consisting of cantaloupes, watermelon and honeydews.

As alternative crops, Yuma-area farmers also produce cotton, alfalfa for hay and other field crops. Lesser-known crops include safflower, black-eyed peas and Sudan grass. Add to that more than 36,000 acres of wheat, mainly desert durum prized by Italian pasta makers.

Yuma County also has a 3,500-cow dairy and a feedlot with more than 100,000 head of cattle. In the winter months, sheep can be seen grazing on alfalfa fields throughout the county.

All these commodities need to be cooled, processed, packed and sent to markets, leading to a variety of processing and distribution facilities.

For the vegetable industry alone, the area has nearly two dozen shipping and distribution plants, each with a capital investment in the millions. Among them are eight processing plants that prepare packaged salad mixes and one that specializes in green onions and radishes, said Vic Smith, a local agribusinessman in the produce industry.

All of them are stops for a steady stream of semi-trucks during the winter months that load up with the vegetables, then head for markets from one coast to the other and into Canada.

Dates, wheat and lemons also are supported by several packing and shipping plants. Cotton is ginned. And Yuma is home to two milk-processing plants.

All these plants add greatly to agriculture's economic impact on the area with the revenue they generate, the tax base they provide and the jobs they create.

To produce the crops takes seed, fertilizer, pest control products, irrigation pipes, tractors, fuel and trucks as well as financial and office services.

Then, all the farmers, business owners and their many employees need housing, food, clothing and health care.

All this activity is made possible through the area's year-round growing season and some of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River.