Posts Tagged “cherry shipments”
One knows we’re getting close to the peak period for spring and summer produce shipments when California’s San Joaquin Valley starts pumping out everything from stone fruit to grapes, berries and melons.
Stone Fruit Shipments
Very light volume with apricots got underway last month from the San Joaquin Valley, this means peaches, plums and nectarines soon follow. Weather factors has all stone fruit items maturing up to two weeks earlier than usual this spring. Volume is increasing on a weekly basis and should be hitting full stride by June. No estimates have been issued, but it appears there will not be bumper crops this season.
Grape Shipments
The Coachella Valley is currently shipping the nation’s only domestic grapes. However, the vast majority of California grape shipments will get underway with the Arvin district (Bakersfield) around June 23rd. California shipped a record 117.4 million boxes of grapes last season. No record shipments are forecast this year, but it will still be a huge crop.
Cherry Shipments
Sketchy information, and about the best info is it should be a “normal” crop. This is a much smaller volume than you’ll find out of the Northwest in a few weeks.
Apple Shipments
California apples shipments tend to fill a narrow window between the old season ending and the new season starting up in the nation’s leading state – Washington. California’s leading apple variety, galas, should start shipments around July 20th, with fujis getting underway around August 20th.
Melon Shipments
Because of the California drought, now in its third year, some acreage normally used for cantaloupe and honeydew is not being planted this season in the Bakerfield and Huron areas. Shipments will get underway around July 1st, but don’t expect any record volume.
Blueberry Shipments
Central San Joaquin Valley “blues” are in peak shipments, which should continue through June. Lack of water is a growing concern, but volume is expect to meet or exceed last season’s 53.9 million pounds.
Strawberry Shipments
Southern California strawberry loadings should be winding down as volume increases from the Santa Maria district and the Watsonville District.
Central San Joaquin Valley blueberries and cherries – grossing about $6300 to Atlanta.
Washington state cherries and sweet onions will be available for loading in the coming weeks.
Cherry Shipments
It is more than two weeks away, but there should be plenty of loading opportunities with the arrival of near record Northwest cherry shipments. Northwest cherries, that is led by Washington state, but also includes Oregon, will start shipping in early June, with decent volume coming in late June for the Fourth of July. Estimates call for over 20 million boxes to be shipped this season, and possibly rival the record crop of 23 million boxes in 2012. Last year, the region shipped only 14.3 million boxes. The shipments this season will be the earliest start in four to five years.
Northwest cherry shippers expect to load 7 million boxes in June. Peak loadings will occur in July when 12 to 13 million boxes are expected to be shipped. In August, cherry loadings should hit 2 to 3 million boxes to end the season.
Walla Walla Onion Shipments
Temperatures were warming up in the Walla Walla River Valley during April and that is good news for owner operators, small fleet owners and otherswho annually haul Walla Wala onions, grown on about 600 acres.
Volume is forecast to be normal from the area, which usually ships around 1,000 40-pound units per acre. That translates into around 600,00 cartons being loaded each season. Shipments should get underway towards the end of June and run through mid-August.
Yakima Valley apples and pears – grossing about $7,000 to New York City.
The Salinas Valley is shipping alot of mixed vegetables and generally receives most of the attention, however there are veggie loadings taking place just to south in Santa Maria. As with other coastal regions in the state, Santa Maria vegetable shipments got started nearly two weeks earlier than normal.
Items available for hauling range from leaf lettuce to romaine and broccoli, the latter which is shipped from here year around. Just becoming available now is celery. In all, while Santa Maria lacks the volume of Salinas, it still ships over 70 speciality vegetables, baby lettuce and speciality greens all year long.
California Grape Shipments
It also looks like California grape shipments will be early as well. The Coachella Valley should get going within a few days of the Mexican grapes — by early May. Coachella typically ships grapes out of the desert for a month or so. This will be followed by the Arvin District in the Southern San Joaquin Valley.
Cherry Shipments
Intial predictions call for California to ship between 2.5 and 3 million trays of cherries this season. This would be considered a decent sized crop, but certainly not a bumper crop. The early cherry deal in the southern and central San Joaquin Valley of California will have an earlier start than usual this year, by as much as two weeks
While initial shipments are expected the last week of April, peak loadings in the southern SJV are expected between May 5 – 19. Northern valley cherry loadings should occur around May 27 to the middle of June.
For the first time, moderate volume shipments of cherries were expected to be shipped in time for Mother’s Day (May 11th).
The early season cherries from the southern San Joquin Valley are expected to have lighter volume, while more normal shipments are expected from the northern valley areas from the later varieties.
San Joaquin Valley vegetables – grossing about $7800 to New York City.