Shipments of Mexican sweet onions have been crossing the border into South Texas since mid February and are about three weeks or so later than normal, due to cold weather. The Texas 1015 sweet onion crop in the Lower Rio Grand Valley is pretty much mirroring the Mexican onions and are behind schedule as well.
The Texas 1015 onion shipments should get underway within the next week and loadings should continue through May. The Winter Garden District just south of San Antonio should start shipping sweet onions the first week of May and continue for about eight weeks.
A number of Mexican produce loads are crossing the border in South Texas ranging from carrots to strawberries, raspberries and roma tomatoes, among other items.
Some good news on the berry front is that TransFresh Corp. of Salinas, CA is working with a warehousing facility to provide its Techtrol CO2 process for Mexican berries crossing the border. Bagged pallets of berries with the gassing process has been found to extend the shelf life and quality of berries. It also reduces the chances of claims relating to the quality of berries.
Texas citrus shipments led by grapefruit and oranges are moving in steady volume from the Lower Rio Grande Valley. About 100 loads of Texas oranges are being shipped weekly.
South Texas and Mexican produce – grossing about $5000 to New York City.