Loading opportunities for more than doubled over the past decade for sweet potatoes, although like its cousin the potato, may be the best paying produce item. However, it’s also less risky to haul since it is less perishable.
North Carolina remains the number one shipper of sweet potatoes. The USDA reports it produced 1.24 billion pounds in 2012. California was second at 617 million pounds. Those two states , along with Louisiana and Mississippi, ship over 90 percent of the USA’s sweet potatoes.
In total American truckers will haul 2.65 billion pounds of sweet potatoes from the 2012 crop. This compares with 1.28 billion 10 years ago.
Total acreage in the U.S. in 2011 — the last year for which that statistic is available — was 130,300 acres, up from 82,300 in 2002.
California Strawberry Shipments
California strawberry shippers have been loading a lot of fruit leading up to Easter (March 31). Strawberry loadings will continue heavy from Southern California right on through Mother’s Day (May 12), when Oxnard starts a seasonal decline.
At some point in May the Watsonville/Salinas district should have really crank up with significan shipments, about the same time various types of vegetables really get going.
As of March 9, California strawberry shippers had moved 9.07 million trays, down from 11.8 million trays for the same period in 2012.
The Oxnard district is expected to hit its peak right after Easter.