(NAFB) – The Department of Agriculture recently released its April 2021 Vegetable and Pulses Outlook.

Despite a continuing pandemic and weather-related events, USDA says the U.S. vegetable industry was able to overcome a myriad of obstacles and continue to supply consumers with an almost uninterrupted flow of vegetables and pulse crops. Assuming the impact of the pandemic begins to wane in the second half of 2021, potatoes and potato products may see a burst of demand as consumers resume some activities such as travel and away-from-home dining.

Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index for all fresh vegetables, excluding potatoes, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics through the first quarter of 2021, reveals fresh vegetable producer prices decreased by eight percent. And as global economic activity continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and energy prices return to and exceed pre-pandemic levels, growers can expect to pay more for most of the inputs required to produce, pack, and ship vegetables in 2021.