Carrots in California Growing
California accounts for about 85% of all the fresh market production. One city, Holtville, calls itself the Carrot Capital and celebrates each year with Holtville Carrot Festival. The carrot or Daucus carota is grown year-round in California, the top fresh carrot producing state. Michigan and Texas come in a distant 2nd and 3rd in crop yields. Carrots are also shipped from California year-round, with highest shipments from December to August. Major carrot imports come from Canada and Mexico. Statewide, California farmers produce about 62,000 acres of carrots with approx. one-quarter of that grown in the Imperial Valley. In recent years, carrots have ranked 17th among California's top 20 livestock and crop commodities, valued at nearly $500 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the southern San Joaquin and Cuyama Valleys, carrots are planted from December to March for harvest from May to July and from July to September for harvest from Nove