Overview

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Commercial production of dates in 2009 totaled 20,500 tons in California, the largest producer. Prices continued to fall, reaching $1,450 per ton. Despite the lower prices, the increase in date production led to an increase in date value. Date production was valued at $29.7 million in 2009. Arizona also raises dates commercially.  (NASS 2010)

According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture (2009), the number of date farms in the United States has declined 20 percent since 2002 and now totals 168. However, date trees are currently planted on nearly 7,670 acres, a slight increase in acreage during the last five years. Of the 7,670 acres, 5,400 are bearing acreage in California.  June 2010 ... Dates
 

Marketing

• California Dates, Marketing Order 987, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), USDA.
• Dates, Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations (UN).
• Dates, Fruits and Nuts: 2007 and 2002, 2007 Census of Agriculture - State Data, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2009.
• Dried Fruit Association (DFA) of California (now known as the American Council of Food Safety and Quality) - A nonprofit organization representing the collective interest of the dried fruit and tree nut industry from grower to consumer. Its membership includes cooperatives, independent packers and grower packers. The site has files relating to quality standards, worker-safety issues, and food and plan biosecurity.
• Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook Yearbook, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, 2008.
• The Marketing Potential of Date Palm Fruits in the European Market, FAO, UN, 2003
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA, 2009.
• Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts, NASS, USDA, 2008 - Provides such stats as dried date production in California, average price for dried and fresh dates and domestic consumption.
• United States Standards for Grades of Dates, AMS, USDA, 1955.
• U.S. per capita food availability, ERS, USDA, 2008.

Production

• Cal Sungold Inc - The largest independent date producer, annually producing, processing and marketing six million pounds of Deglet Noor and Medjool dates.
• Date, Fruits of Warm Climates, New Foods, Purdue University, 1987.
• Date, University of Georgia, 2004.
• The Date, Phoenix Dactylifera, University of California, Davis, 2002.
• Dates: A Fruit of Promise for the Food Industry, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
• Imported and American Varieties of Dates in the United States, University of California, Davis, 2007, $25 - This book is the first comprehensive account of all varieties of dates and the date palm industry in the United States. While written with the California and Arizona commercial grower in mind, growers and palm enthusiasts worldwide will find this an invaluable reference.
   

Links checked June 2010.