Pickles begin with cucumbers grown for fresh markets and processing. In the United States, planted cucumber acreage rose from 83,200 acres in 2023 to 85,500 acres in 2025, while processing-cucumber utilization reached 544,452 tons in 2025. The figures below come from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026). Processing utilization is a farm-level input category for processed cucumbers; it does not represent the number of finished pickle jars.
Contents
- U.S. cucumber acreage and output
- Leading states by planted acreage
- Yields and production
- Cucumbers entering processing
- Processing cucumber prices
- Economic value of processing cucumbers
U.S. cucumber acreage and output
The national cucumber area planted was 83,200 acres in 2023, 84,800 acres in 2024, and 85,500 acres in 2025. Harvested acreage followed a similar pattern: 81,900 acres in 2023, 83,600 acres in 2024, and 84,300 acres in 2025. These are U.S. totals for all reported cucumber production, not only cucumbers destined for pickling.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area planted | 83,200 acres | 84,800 acres | 85,500 acres |
| Area harvested | 81,900 acres | 83,600 acres | 84,300 acres |
| Total production | 14,256.0 thousand hundredweight | 11,246.5 thousand hundredweight | 14,347.0 thousand hundredweight |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026).
Total cucumber production was 14,256.0 thousand hundredweight in 2023. It fell to 11,246.5 thousand hundredweight in 2024 before reaching 14,347.0 thousand hundredweight in 2025. The acreage series changed much less dramatically than the production series. That contrast matters when reading pickle statistics: the amount of land planted does not by itself describe the amount of crop available to processors.
The 2024 production figure was lower than the surrounding two years even though planted acreage was higher than in 2023. The published annual summary reports the measurements as collected; it does not, in the figures listed here, attribute the year-to-year movement to a particular cause. For pantry and preserving readers, the most useful takeaway is that annual cucumber supply can vary substantially while national planted acreage remains within a relatively narrow range.
Leading states by planted acreage
Michigan, Florida, and North Carolina were major contributors to the reported U.S. cucumber acreage in each of the three years covered here. Michigan’s planted area increased from 29,000 acres in 2023 to 34,000 acres in 2024 and 35,000 acres in 2025. Florida moved in the opposite direction, from 20,500 acres in 2023 to 17,300 acres in 2024 and 17,200 acres in 2025. North Carolina planted 8,400 acres in 2023, 8,100 acres in 2024, and 8,400 acres in 2025.
| State | 2023 planted | 2024 planted | 2025 planted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 29,000 acres | 34,000 acres | 35,000 acres |
| Florida | 20,500 acres | 17,300 acres | 17,200 acres |
| North Carolina | 8,400 acres | 8,100 acres | 8,400 acres |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026).
Michigan’s planted acreage was the largest of these three states in every listed year. Florida had the second-largest figure among them, while North Carolina’s acreage was lower but stable across the period. The state-level acreage figures describe cucumber planting and are not a direct ranking of finished pickle production. A state can have important processing activity without every cucumber acre being assigned to the processing category.
Yields and production
U.S. cucumber yield averaged 174.1 hundredweight per acre in 2023, declined to 134.5 hundredweight per acre in 2024, and rose to 170.2 hundredweight per acre in 2025. The yield series moves in the same broad direction as total production: the lowest listed yield and lowest listed national production occur in 2024, followed by a recovery in 2025.
Michigan produced 4,275.0 thousand hundredweight of cucumbers in 2023, 4,237.5 thousand hundredweight in 2024, and 5,190.0 thousand hundredweight in 2025. Florida produced 4,284.0 thousand hundredweight in 2023, 2,380.0 thousand hundredweight in 2024, and 3,485.0 thousand hundredweight in 2025.
| Production measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. average yield | 174.1 cwt/acre | 134.5 cwt/acre | 170.2 cwt/acre |
| Michigan production | 4,275.0 thousand cwt | 4,237.5 thousand cwt | 5,190.0 thousand cwt |
| Florida production | 4,284.0 thousand cwt | 2,380.0 thousand cwt | 3,485.0 thousand cwt |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026). “Cwt” means hundredweight.
The state figures illustrate why production and acreage should be read together. Michigan’s planted acreage increased across the period, and its reported production reached 5,190.0 thousand hundredweight in 2025. Florida’s planted acreage decreased across the period, and its production fell from 4,284.0 thousand hundredweight in 2023 to 3,485.0 thousand hundredweight in 2025, with a lower 2024 result of 2,380.0 thousand hundredweight in between.
These production measurements cover cucumbers reported in the annual vegetable summary. They should not be treated as a count of pickles, jars, servings, or household preserving batches. The pickle-specific view begins with the separate processing-utilization figures.
Cucumbers entering processing
U.S. processing cucumber utilized production was 536,515 tons in 2023. It decreased to 430,680 tons in 2024 and then increased to 544,452 tons in 2025. This is the closest pickle-relevant measure in the supplied NASS figures: it records the farm-level cucumber input category used for processing, rather than finished pickled products.
Michigan supplied 187,673 tons of processing cucumbers in 2023, 193,654 tons in 2024, and 236,145 tons in 2025. California supplied 47,009 tons in 2023, 37,888 tons in 2024, and 45,709 tons in 2025. Michigan’s reported processing volume was higher than California’s in all three years.
| Processing volume | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. utilized production | 536,515 tons | 430,680 tons | 544,452 tons |
| Michigan supply | 187,673 tons | 193,654 tons | 236,145 tons |
| California supply | 47,009 tons | 37,888 tons | 45,709 tons |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026).
The 2025 U.S. processing volume was higher than the 2023 figure, while 2024 was lower than both surrounding years. Michigan’s 2025 processing supply was also its highest listed amount. California’s processing supply followed the national pattern, with a 2024 decline and a 2025 increase.
For readers comparing these numbers with food-availability research, the USDA Economic Research Service documentation identifies pickling cucumbers among vegetables for canning and explains that supply and disappearance estimates use NASS production and pickling-cucumber stocks. The Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System documentation is a separate resource and does not turn the farm-level utilization totals above into finished-product counts.
Processing cucumber prices
The U.S. processing cucumber price averaged $339.00 per ton in 2023, $288.00 per ton in 2024, and $287.00 per ton in 2025. The national average price was therefore lower in 2024 and 2025 than in 2023, while the processing volume in 2025 exceeded the 2023 amount.
Michigan’s processing cucumber price averaged $228.00 per ton in 2023, $212.00 per ton in 2024, and $241.00 per ton in 2025. California’s average was $250.00 per ton in 2023, $241.00 per ton in 2024, and $265.00 per ton in 2025.
| Average processing price | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $339.00/ton | $288.00/ton | $287.00/ton |
| Michigan | $228.00/ton | $212.00/ton | $241.00/ton |
| California | $250.00/ton | $241.00/ton | $265.00/ton |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026).
The state averages do not move identically. Michigan’s price increased from 2024 to 2025, and California’s price also increased over that interval. In 2025, California’s reported average was higher than Michigan’s, while the national average was $287.00 per ton. These are published average processing cucumber prices, not retail prices for jars of pickles or household ingredient costs.
Economic value of processing cucumbers
The value of U.S. processing cucumber utilized production was $181.826 million in 2023, $124.158 million in 2024, and $155.996 million in 2025. The values are presented in millions of dollars for readability from the annual summary’s thousand-dollar figures. They describe the reported farm-level processing-cucumber output, not the total retail value of pickles, packaging, distribution, or restaurant sales.
Michigan’s processing cucumber output was valued at $42.789 million in 2023, $41.055 million in 2024, and $56.911 million in 2025. California’s output was valued at $11.752 million in 2023, $9.131 million in 2024, and $12.113 million in 2025.
| Value of processing cucumber output | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $181.826 million | $124.158 million | $155.996 million |
| Michigan | $42.789 million | $41.055 million | $56.911 million |
| California | $11.752 million | $9.131 million | $12.113 million |
Source: USDA/NASS, Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026).
The national value was lowest in 2024, matching the lowest listed national processing volume and the lowest national average processing price in the three-year series. In 2025, the value increased to $155.996 million as processing volume rose to 544,452 tons, although the national average price remained below its 2023 level.
Michigan’s 2025 processing-cucumber value of $56.911 million was its highest listed value. California’s 2025 value of $12.113 million was also above its 2024 figure. These measures help show the economic scale of the cucumber input behind processed foods, while the NASS table does not separately identify finished pickle jars.