Kale
Brassica oleracea (Acephala group)
Cool-season leafy brassica grown as an annual for non-heading leaf production (Acephala group of Brassica oleracea, the same species as cabbage, broccoli, and kohlrabi). Adapted to USDA hardiness zones 3-9 with cultivar selection; many curly and Tuscan-type kales tolerate hard frosts and short freezes, and flavor improves after light frost as sugars accumulate. Direct-seeded or transplanted in early spring for summer harvest and again in mid- to late-summer for fall and early-winter harvest; in zones 7 and warmer, overwintering plantings yield through winter and bolt the following spring. Marketed as bunched leaves, baby-leaf salad cuts, or processed (frozen, dehydrated, juiced). Demand has expanded substantially since the early 2010s on the strength of nutritional-density marketing; per-capita availability remains a small fraction of total fresh vegetables but the price per pound is among the highest of the cooking greens.
Crop Snowflake Score
Overview
Optimal growing temperature is roughly 60-70F; growth slows above 80F and leaves can become bitter or trigger premature bolting in long-day, hot conditions. Common types include curly (Scotch/Vates), Tuscan (lacinato/dinosaur), Red Russian, and Siberian. Spacing varies by market: 12-18 inches in-row for bunched fresh, 1-2 inches for baby-leaf salad mix. Yield of 13,000-25,000 lb/acre is typical for bunched fresh-market production; baby-leaf systems yield less per cutting but support multiple harvests on shorter intervals. Major insect pests include cabbage looper, diamondback moth, imported cabbageworm, harlequin bug, and flea beetles; key diseases include black rot (Xanthomonas), Alternaria leaf spot, downy mildew, and clubroot. Rotate at least 3 years away from other brassicas to suppress clubroot and Sclerotinia. Floating row cover at establishment is widely used for flea-beetle and lepidopteran control. Kale is a heavy nitrogen user; 100-150 lb N/acre split into base + sidedress is a typical fresh-market regime, with reduced rates for baby-leaf cuts that are harvested earlier. Storage is short relative to head brassicas — bunched kale holds 10-14 days at 32-34F and 95% RH; baby-leaf cut bagged in modified-atmosphere packaging holds about a week. Crop is moderately tolerant of soils with pH down to 5.5 but performs best at 6.0-7.5; calcareous soils (pH >7.5) can induce micronutrient deficiencies.
Growing Season
- Plant
- early spring – late summer
- Harvest
- late spring – early winter
- Frost-free days
- 60+
- GDD (base 50°F)
- 1,100 – 1,500
Yield
- Typical yield
- 180 cwt/acre
- Productive lifespan
- 1 years
- Labor
- 200 hrs/acre
Market Fit
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Market Channels
Climate Fit
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Soil Compatibility
Soil Texture
Drainage
Infrastructure Fit
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Storage Requirements
Fresh cold storage
Temperature
32–34°F
Humidity
95–100%
Max Storage
21 days
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)
Temperature
32–34°F
Humidity
95–100%
Max Storage
28 days
Frozen (blanched)
Temperature
-10–0°F
Max Storage
300 days
Finance Fit
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Risk Fit
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Risk data for this crop is being collected. Check back soon.
Nutritional Yield
Nutrition data pending.
Research agents will profile Kale against USDA FoodData Central on the next maintenance pass. Per-acre nutritional yield will appear here once the per-100g panel is recorded.
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem service data pending.
The next research-agent rotation will document this crop's contributions to pollinator support, soil health, water quality, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration.
Nearby Buyers
Data Sources
Every data point on this page is traceable to its source. Below you'll find the complete provenance trail — which sources were used, when data was last verified, and a full change history.
Primary sources: Data sourced from USDA Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) Kale commodity profile — https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/vegetables/kale — and Penn State Extension "Kale Production" — https://extension.psu.edu/kale-production. Cool-season agronomy, hardiness, and post-harvest handling cross-referenced with Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Production Guides and Ohio State University Extension factsheets.
9 tracked changes across 1 data category