2024 was an extreme year in horticulture – while the winter was rough on strawberries, harvest levels were high for vegetables and record-high for apples
Last summer, the production of outdoor vegetables totalled 186 million kilos, showing an increase of almost 17 million kilos from the previous year. While berry production remained at 15 million kilos, the apple harvest was excellent. Greenhouse vegetable production also showed an increase.
The number of horticultural enterprises decreased by more than a hundred farms due to the drop in the number of farms engaged in horticultural production. Then again, the horticultural production area increased slightly to 18,200 hectares. The number of farms engaged in horticultural production was highest in the regions of Southwest Finland, Satakunta and Ostrobothnia.
A good carrot summer
The production volumes of outdoor vegetables depend mostly on the successful production of key crops. While summer 2023 was not good for carrots, last summer’s harvest totalled almost 80 million kilos. The harvest of frozen peas produced for industrial uses increased to 4.9 million kilos. This is a positive trend considering the exports of frozen peas.
Difficult times for strawberries
The weather conditions of the previous autumn and especially winter have a significant impact on berry production. The total berry harvest remained at 15 million kilos. The cold winter with a thin snow cover in places was quickly replaced by a dry and warmer-than-normal spring which was disastrous for strawberry seedlings. The difficult weather conditions were especially reflected in the harvest volume of strawberry, the most significant berry in horticultural production, which remained at 11.5 million kilos. The key production area of Northern Savonia suffered the most devastating consequences.
“The last three harvest seasons have been difficult for strawberry farmers. This may also explain why the number and size of strawberry farms have been decreasing”, says Anna-Kaisa Jaakkonen, Senior Statistician at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
Tunnel production with high harvest levels is partly compensating for the downward trend in outdoor production. At best, the harvest level of strawberries produced in tunnels can be more than 30,000 kilos per hectare. In contrast, associated costs are higher than in outdoor production. Last year, the tunnel production area reported for berries was 113 hectares. Of this, strawberry accounted for 72 and raspberry for 35 hectares. Other berries such as highbush blueberry made up the remaining area.
Apples from Åland sufficient to cover demand far into spring
For the last ten years, apple production has increased considerably. The apple harvest was record-high in autumn 2024 at more than nine million kilos. Åland accounted for three quarters of this volume. Weather conditions in the main production areas, Åland and also Southwest Finland, have a significant impact on the volume of apples in stocks. Storage investments and the development of storage methods enable the availability of high-quality apples far into spring.
A record-breaking harvest for special tomatoes
The energy crisis started at the end of 2021 increased electricity prices which was especially reflected in greenhouse production volumes in 2021 and 2022 when winter production was limited.
In 2024, production returned to the 2020 level. Production totalled 101 million kilos, of which greenhouse cucumbers accounted for 54 and tomatoes for 41 million kilos. Of the tomato volume, special tomatoes made up 9.7 million kilos, which is a new record. A total of 104 million pots of potted vegetables was produced, of which lettuce accounted for 72 million pots.
Luke started to compile statistics on prices of horticultural products in 2024
Data on prices of horticultural products are collected from packaging plants and wholesalers that buy horticultural products. Kasvistieto Oy is responsible for data collection. Monthly and annual prices of horticultural products are published as part of the Statistics on Producer Prices of Agricultural and Horticultural Products
Background to the statistics
Luke collected the data for the statistics from approximately 2,400 horticultural enterprises using an online survey and telephone interviews. The publication of regional data shifted to a division by the official regions of Finland, and time series with the regional division of the statistical year are available from 2019.
------------
Note: The production data for outdoor vegetables in the opening paragraph of the news has been corrected on 26.3.2025.
Originally:
Last summer, the production of outdoor vegetables totalled 174 million kilos, showing an increase of almost 17 million kilos from the previous year.
Corrected:
Last summer, the production of outdoor vegetables totalled 186 million kilos, showing an increase of almost 17 million kilos from the previous year.
