Young Lettuce Field
by Robert Bales
Title
Young Lettuce Field
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
The Yuma area produces over 90 percent of the winter lettuce for the United Stated.
Tucked away in the very southwest corner of Arizona, you will find sunshine, clean air, majestic vistas, and beautiful rows of fresh lettuce. Yuma lies in the Sonora Desert, framed by rugged mountains, irrigated by the Colorado River, and flooded with sunshine almost every day of the year. Known as the Winter Lettuce Capital of the World, Yuma produces the majority of the fresh lettuces you eat during the winter.
Now, of the 230,000 acres of land utilized for agriculture in Yuma County, 100 per cent are irrigated with Colorado River water delivered by one of the county's seven irrigation districts. Every single field in the county is also laser-leveled and graded using GPS technology, making Yuma's irrigation network one of the most efficient in the world.
All this has made Yuma County first in the state - and THIRD IN THE NATION - for vegetable production. In fact, about 90 percent of all the leafy vegetables grown in the U.S. from November through March are grown in and around the Yuma area.
To put this in perspective, the Yuma area is home to nine salad plants that produce bagged lettuce and salad mixes. During peak production months, each of those plants processes more than two million pounds of lettuce per day.
Uploaded
November 19th, 2018
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Comments (12)
Jan Mulherin
Congratulations!! This stunning image has been selected to be featured for the week in the “Art for Ever with You” Group Home Page. You are welcome to add a preview of this featured image to the group’s discussion post titled “2019 February: Stunning Group Featured Images and Thank-you’s” for a permanent display within the group, to share this achievement with others. Also feel free to post your feature on our group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296998814248643/ . If the activity is allowed, your image will also be posted to Twitter. Thank you for your participation in the group! ~Jan (February 7, 2019)
Toni Hopper
Congratulations! Your grand image has been featured in the HDR Photography group for 11/22/2018. You are invited to post it in the group's Features discussion thread and thanks for being an active member.
Alana Thrower
Wonderful leading lines and image! Wow! That's a lot of lettuce!! l/f/g+/t/p
Robert Bales replied:
Thanks Alana for the wonderful comments and the LFPG T!! (90 percent of the United States winner lettuce is grown here.
Felix Lai
Fantastic shot, love the leading lines and wide angle landscape, very well done! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! l/f
Robert Bales replied:
Thanks Felix for the wonderful composition comments and the LF!! I also like to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!!
Marvin Blaine
What a Great landscape capture Robert! Love the depth of field! Love this piece of yours! L/F
Guy Shultz
Great shot Robert! The lettuce is actually harvested by hand. Workers walk along the rows with a special knife. They spend the day bent over - literally back breaking work. A specially designed, long "table" is pulled by tractor in front of the pickers with workers seated on the table to sort the heads the pickers toss upon the table. Something to think about the next time one enjoys a crispy salad!
Robert Bales replied:
Thanks Guy for the comment and we watch them harvest them several times a year.
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