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
/acre
/acre
/acre
years
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
Active Regional Buyers
1 active buyer on record purchasing this crop.
Price Trend Stable/Up
3-year price trend not recorded for this crop.
Supply Below Demand
Commodity vegetable — regional and national supply is well established, limiting headroom for new entrants.
Multiple Buyer Channels
1 recorded buyer and 6 documented market channels. Multiple routes to market.
Value-Added Potential
6 documented market channels, including value-added and direct-to-consumer routes.
Market Growth Projected
Mature vegetable market; growth over a 5-year horizon expected to track population rather than outpace it.
Market Channels
Climate Fit
Hardiness Zone Match
Crop tolerates zones 3-9; region spans 5-6. Overlaps.
GDD Sufficient
Crop needs 1100 GDD (base 50F); region accumulates 2500+. Sufficient.
Precipitation Compatible
Crop needs ~20 in; region receives ~38 in/yr. Compatible, irrigation available as supplement.
Frost-Free Season OK
Crop needs 60 frost-free days; region provides ~180. Sufficient.
Chill Hours Met
Not applicable — biennial crop has no winter chill requirement.
Climate Trend Favorable
Crop spans 7 hardiness zones (3-9). Wide adaptive range buffers against warming trend.
Soil Compatibility
Soil Texture
Drainage
Infrastructure Fit
Equipment Compatible
11 documented equipment requirements. Within range adaptable from general row-crop or orchard equipment.
Storage Available
3 documented storage/handling requirements, all achievable with conventional on-farm or third-party facilities.
Irrigation Compatible
Requires ~20 in. Deliverable with conventional drip or overhead irrigation.
Field Layout Suitable
Suited to the small-to-mid-size fragmented parcels typical of the region.
Labor Availability
200 labor hr/ac vs catalog 75th percentile 250 hr/ac. Manageable with typical farm labor.
Processing Proximity
1 processor/cooperative buyer on record for this crop, 1 within NY/PA/OH.
Equipment Requirements
planting
Sets greenhouse-grown kale transplants at uniform spacing for an even, quick-establishing stand; common for fresh-market plantings.
Direct-seeds kale at accurate depth and spacing for baby-leaf and bunching plantings, reducing thinning labour.
general
Powers bed preparation, transplanting, cultivation and spraying across the vegetable operation.
irrigation
Supplies about one inch of water per week for fast, unstressed growth and tender, non-bitter leaves; drip reduces foliar wetness and disease spread.
spraying
Applies Bt and selective insecticides for the caterpillar complex and registered fungicides for leaf-spot and downy mildew.
cultivation
Excludes flea beetles, cabbage maggot flies and swede midge from young plantings and reduces splash spread of foliar pathogens.
Frequent shallow cultivation cuts weeds off just below the surface before they compete, without damaging shallow kale roots.
harvesting
Hand-harvest of single leaves or whole plants into vented totes; repeated leaf picks allow multiple harvests per planting.
post_harvest
Rapidly removes field heat immediately after harvest — critical for leafy greens, which lose quality fast at warm temperatures.
Rinses soil and dislodges aphids, then bunches/bags leaves to meet the strict cosmetic standards for leafy brassicas.
Holds kale near 0°C and high humidity through storage and shipping to maintain the cold chain and shelf life.
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
Revenue Above Average
Gross revenue not recorded for this crop in lake_erie. Cannot establish it exceeds the catalog median of $5,500.
Input Costs Acceptable
Input cost not recorded; not penalising. Catalog 75th percentile is $5,387/ac.
Payback Period OK
Reaches full production in 0 years. Acceptable payback.
Insurance Available
No federal crop insurance recorded for this crop; risk sits with the grower.
Revenue Per Labor Hour
Cannot compute — net return not recorded. Catalog median is $13.16/hr.
Grants/Subsidies
Vegetable crops are eligible under the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
Economics Breakdown
| Avg Price/Unit | $54/$/cwt |
| Gross Revenue/Acre | — |
| Annual Operating Cost | —/acre |
| Establishment Cost | —/acre |
| Total Input Cost | —/acre |
| Net Return/Acre | — |
| Revenue/Labor Hour | — |
| Crop Insurance | Not available |
Source: USDA NASS Vegetables 2025 Summary (February 2026) — US estimate (California only; NASS kale estimates began 2024) (2025)
Risk Fit
Manageable Pest/Disease
11 documented risk factors. Within the range manageable by conventional IPM.
Market Diversified
1 buyer, 6 channels. Not dependent on a single outlet.
Low Establishment Risk
0 years to full production. Low establishment exposure.
Climate Resilient
Tolerates zones 3-9 (7 zones). Broad tolerance indicates resilience to seasonal variability.
Regulatory Burden Low
No crop-specific licensing or reporting regime beyond standard food-safety and pesticide rules.
Diversifies Portfolio
Adds a vegetable revenue stream distinct from the region's grape-dominated base.
Known Risks
disease
Seed-borne bacterial disease producing yellow V-shaped lesions along leaf margins with blackened veins; spreads in warm wet weather and renders leaves unmarketable.
Soilborne pathogen that swells and distorts roots into galls, stunting plants and causing wilting; resting spores persist in soil for many years.
Common fungal disease causing dark concentric target spots on leaves that coalesce and degrade marketable quality, worse under prolonged leaf wetness.
Cool, humid conditions produce angular yellow leaf spots with grey-purple sporulation on the underside, reducing quality especially on young and stored leaves.
pest
Adults chew numerous small shot-holes in leaves; seedlings and young transplants are most vulnerable and stand loss can occur, and feeding scars also downgrade marketable leaves.
Larvae of these lepidopterans feed on leaves and bore into the crown, and their frass contaminates marketable foliage; young plants are most vulnerable and pressure is season-long.
Root-feeding larvae tunnel roots of seedlings and transplants, injuring and sometimes killing plants and creating entry for rot, worst in cool, moist spring soils.
Waxy grey aphids form dense colonies in leaf crevices and curls that are difficult to wash out, contaminating product and causing market rejection; they also vector viruses.
Tiny larvae feed at growing points causing distorted, twisted and stunted growth and blind heads; red Russian-type kales are especially attractive and damage can be severe.
weather
Heat and water stress slow growth, toughen leaves and trigger pungent/bitter off-flavours, while warm long days can bolt spring crops, ending marketable harvest.
market
Leafy greens are sold on appearance; insect shot-holes, aphid contamination and leaf-spot blemishes cause trimming losses and lot rejection even at low pest levels because tolerance for defects is very low.
Nutritional Yield
Macronutrients
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per acre |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 35 kcal | 1,914,603 kcal |
| Protein | 2.9 g | 159,733 g |
| Total fat | 1.5 g | 81,507 g |
| Carbohydrates | 4.4 g | 241,787 g |
| Fiber | 4.1 g | 224,282 g |
| Sugar | 1 g | 54,156 g |
Key micronutrients
Uncertainty: Per-acre values are estimates that compound the yield range, edible-fraction assumption, and a single representative nutrient panel. Treat them as order-of-magnitude planning numbers, not nutritional advice. Confidence: high.
Ecosystem Services
Soil health
- Biofumigation of soilborne pestsmoderate
Kale and other brassicas accumulate glucosinolates that, when residue is macerated and incorporated as a green manure, release isothiocyanates with broad suppressive activity against soilborne fungi, nematodes and weed seeds.
Applies when: When grown as a cover/green-manure crop and residue is chopped and incorporatedEvidence: Peer-reviewed·Confidence: high
Nutrient cycling
- Deep-root nutrient scavengingmoderate
Brassica roots capture residual soil nitrogen and other nutrients from depth that would otherwise leach, holding them in biomass and cycling them back as residue decomposes.
Applies when: When grown into the fall and as a cover cropEvidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: high
Water quality
- Reduced nitrate leachingmoderate
By taking up residual nitrate during rapid fall growth, brassica cover holds nitrogen in the field over winter and reduces nitrate movement to groundwater and surface water.
Applies when: When grown as a fall/winter cover after a cash cropEvidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: medium
Erosion control
- Rapid biomass ground covermoderate
Brassicas produce large amounts of fast fall biomass and canopy that protect the soil surface from raindrop impact and reduce runoff and erosion between cash crops.
Applies when: When grown as a cover crop providing ground coverEvidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: medium
Pollinator support
- Early-season nectar and pollenlow
If allowed to bolt and flower, brassica blooms provide an accessible, nectar- and pollen-rich resource for bees and hoverflies, useful early in the season when other forage is scarce.
Applies when: Only if plants are allowed to bolt and flowerEvidence: Extension guidance·Confidence: medium
Nearby Buyers
Eden Valley Growers
Eden, NY · 30.0 mi
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.
Economics data year: 2025 · Region: lake_erie View economics source →
16 tracked changes across 6 data categories