Squash, melons, and cucumbers play a much bigger role in the vegetable industry than you may think. To learn more about the important category of cucurbits, we analyzed the results from our 2021 State of the Vegetable Industry survey.
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When we checked to see how specific cucurbits ranked, we found that no group of cucurbits fell below 50%. (This doesn’t include the mop up category of “other melons” — melons outside watermelon and cantaloupe — which came in at 26%.)
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A large majority of vegetable operations grow cucurbits — 73%. It’s a large category, so such a high number is no surprise. For comparison, 69% grow solanaceae crops (tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant).
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We saw a marked difference in average farm size when we compared cucurbit growers to their peers. What drives the difference? Cucurbit growers tend to grow several other crops, whereas those who don’t grow cucurbits are more likely to concentrate on less than five crops. Over the years, we’ve seen a strong correlation in an operations’ size to the number of crop types grown. Typically, the more diverse a farm, the more likely it is to grow for local markets.
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According to the survey results, here are some of the top trending non-vegetable crops that farmers are growing.
May 5, 2021 
