Changes

==Commercial production==

==Commercial production==

[[Image:Asparagus_production_2007.PNG|thumb|center|600px|Asparagus output in 2007 shown by tonnage.]]

[[Image:Asparagus_production_2007.png|thumb|center|600px|Asparagus output in 2007 shown by tonnage.]]

As of 2007, [[Peru]] is the world's leading asparagus exporter, followed by [[China]] and [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf | publisher=World Horticultural Trade & U.S. Export Opportunities | title=World Asparagus Situation & Outlook | author=United States Department of Agriculture | accessdate=2007-02-27|format=PDF}}</ref> The top asparagus importers (2004) were the United States (92,405 tonnes), followed by the [[European Union]] (external trade) (18,565 tonnes), and [[Japan]] (17,148 tonnes).<ref>According to Global Trade Atlas and [[U.S. Census Bureau]] statistics</ref> The United States' production for 2005 was on {{convert|218.5|km2|acre}} and yielded 90,200 tonnes,<ref name=nass>{{cite book | author=USDA | title=Vegetables 2005 Summary | month=January | year=2006 | publisher=National Agricultural Statistics Service}}</ref> making it the world's third largest producer, after China (5,906,000 tonnes) and Peru (206,030 tonnes).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/336/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=336 | title = Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics (FAOSTAT) | accessdate=2007-11-11}}</ref> U.S. production was concentrated in [[California]], [[Michigan]], and [[Washington]].<ref name=nass/> The crop is significant enough in California's [[Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta]] region that the city of [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] holds a festival every year to celebrate it, as does the city of Hart, Michigan, complete with a parade and asparagus queen. The [[Vale of Evesham]] in [[Worcestershire]] is heralded as the largest producer within Northern Europe, celebrating like Stockton, with a week long festival every year involving auctions of the best crop and locals dressing up as spears of asparagus as part of the British Asparagus Festival.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/asparagus_festival.php#cotswolds | title=British Aparagus Festival}}</ref>

As of 2007, [[Peru]] is the world's leading asparagus exporter, followed by [[China]] and [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf | publisher=World Horticultural Trade & U.S. Export Opportunities | title=World Asparagus Situation & Outlook | author=United States Department of Agriculture | accessdate=2007-02-27|format=PDF}}</ref> The top asparagus importers (2004) were the United States (92,405 tonnes), followed by the [[European Union]] (external trade) (18,565 tonnes), and [[Japan]] (17,148 tonnes).<ref>According to Global Trade Atlas and [[U.S. Census Bureau]] statistics</ref> The United States' production for 2005 was on {{convert|218.5|km2|acre}} and yielded 90,200 tonnes,<ref name=nass>{{cite book | author=USDA | title=Vegetables 2005 Summary | month=January | year=2006 | publisher=National Agricultural Statistics Service}}</ref> making it the world's third largest producer, after China (5,906,000 tonnes) and Peru (206,030 tonnes).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/336/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=336 | title = Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics (FAOSTAT) | accessdate=2007-11-11}}</ref> U.S. production was concentrated in [[California]], [[Michigan]], and [[Washington]].<ref name=nass/> The crop is significant enough in California's [[Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta]] region that the city of [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] holds a festival every year to celebrate it, as does the city of Hart, Michigan, complete with a parade and asparagus queen. The [[Vale of Evesham]] in [[Worcestershire]] is heralded as the largest producer within Northern Europe, celebrating like Stockton, with a week long festival every year involving auctions of the best crop and locals dressing up as spears of asparagus as part of the British Asparagus Festival.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/asparagus_festival.php#cotswolds | title=British Aparagus Festival}}</ref>