Florida vegetable shipments should experince significant increases entering April, with peak spring shipments occurring from about April 15th to the second week of May. Good growing conditions should mean heavier volume loadings earlier this year than last year with items ranging from sweet corn to bell peppers and cumbers, along with tomatoes, watermelons and other items.
20 years ago, there were virtually no Florida blueberry shipments. It was mostly U-pick farms and berries grown for local markets. This year, up to 25 million pounds of Florida blueberries could be shipped, putting the state in the ranks of other leading shippers such as North Carolina, Georgia, California and Oregon.
Michigan and New Jersey still lead in domestic blueberry volume with more than 50 million pounds each,
Florida shipped 21.5 million pounds of blueberries in 2013, up 14 percent over 2012.
Blueberry loadings in Florida have started with the past couple of weeks in Southern and Central Florida growing areas. You can expect North Florida blueberry shipments to start in mid-April. The crop is in good condition and Braswell expects volumes to peak during the second and third weeks of April, just ahead of the Georgia deal coming on at the end of that month.
South Florida produce shipments – grossing about $3300 to New York City.