A sluggish fresh potato market may be good for you as a consumer, but not so good as a produce hauler, if product isn’t being shipped. It also may not be so good for you as a tax payer as the government wants to keep spending more money if doesn’t have.
Despite threats and rumblings of dire consequences from the Administration and some in Congress, the sequester – a deadline for automatic federal spending cuts, hasn’t stopped the spending.
The lastest example is the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to purchase more than 30,000 50-pound bales of potatoes for school lunches and other federal assistance programs. Agricultural Marketing Service (part of the USDA) had asked for bids, specifing that 10 five-pound bags of russets as the desired pack. The deadline was March 5th.
The USDA plans to announce successful bids by March 12. Deliveries to Washington, California, and Arizona range from April 1 to May 31, according to the USDA.
This is small “potatoes” compared to some other fresh potato purchases by the USDA in the 2012-13 season. Last January, the government purchased over 500,000 50-pound bales for $5.49 million.
Last November, the USDA announced a $1.66 million purchase of potatoes for processing after making a $9.5-million purchase of processed potatoes in August.
Despite the bail outs by the USDA for fresh potato purchases. it has not had a pronounced effect on the market to date. Nor has the extra loadings believe to have had any positive effect on produce trucking rates.
Tomatoes
Meanwhile, if you prefer those Mexican vine ripe tomatoes over the mature green tomatoes grown in Florida and California, you’re going to be paying more for those Mexican vine ripes. As a tomato hauler, it remains whether the U.S. government imposed higher prices on Mexican vine ripes will decrease demand and loading opportunites.
The U.S. Department of Commerce published the final version of a newly renegotiated antidumping investigation suspension agreement with producers and exporters of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, which sharply increases the reference or floor prices at which Mexican tomatoes can be sold in the United States, effective immediately.
What you pay for Mexican vine ripe tomatoes will range from nearly 50 percent higher than under the previous agreement to nearly three times as high, depending upon the category of tomatoes.
The new agreement avoids termination of an agreement that has been in place for 16 years and a resumption of the anti-dumping investigation initiated in 1996 at the request of domestic (primarily Florida) tomato growers.
The popularity with consumers for vine-ripe tomatoes from Mexico are one reason why the tomato shipments and consumer purchases has grown so much in recent years in the United States.
Imports of Mexican tomato shipments are now entering a peak for the season.
Tomatoes and other Mexican veggies at Nogales – grossing about $3800 to Atlanta.