GREENFIELD — July means tomatoes are being harvested in gardens and at farms across Indiana.
This summertime staple could be getting more expensive soon. The United States pulled out of a tomato price agreement with Mexico. This is ahead of new tariffs on imported tomatoes.
At Tuttle Orchards in Greenfield, they are already having a tough time trying to match people's appetite for their tomatoes.
"It's a good crop this year, things have grown well," explained Mike Roney with Tuttle Orchards.
"We grow a lot of tomatoes in our greenhouses early on, so that we get an earlier crop," Roney continued.
The greenhouses enable the orchard to plant tomatoes earlier in the spring, which in turn gives an earlier harvest.
Backyard gardens typically start to produce tomatoes in July, but Tuttle Orchards had their first harvest in mid-June this year.
Despite having an earlier crop, they say they still would like to produce even more tomatoes to keep up with demand.
Tomatoes grown on the farm are sold at the farm's market. They are also used as ingredients in the food at their farm cafe, like BLT sandwiches.
Tuttle Orchards doesn't have enough tomatoes to consider selling them wholesale.
Roney believes staying involved in retail will keep them from feeling any major impacts from tariffs.
"If you're wholesaling, it's a whole different world, because it's much more competitive, farm to farm, or business to business in your wholesale areas," Roney explained. "We're kind of sheltered from that in that we're all retail."
Roney weighed in on whether tariffs could drive up the demand from consumers looking to save money by buying locally produced tomatoes.
"It's a little early to tell at this point," Roney stated.
Roney continued that he thinks demand will continue to increase as more people move into the area surrounding his farm.
