Here’s a round up of the most active produce shipping areas in the Western states including the Pacific Northwest apple, potato and onion loading opportunities, as well as movement from the deserts of California and Arizona, including Mexican crossings at Nogales.
Pacific Northwest Shipments
Washington apple shipments easily lead national fresh produce volume with about 2900 truck load equivalents being moved a week, mostly from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
A note of caution is offered when loading Malheur County, Oregon and Western Idaho onions. Some freeze damage is being reported to product coming out of storage, which resulted from cold weather moving in before the harvest was completed last fall.
Potatoes and onions are being shipped from Southern Washington’s Columbia Basin and the adjacent Umatilla Basin of Oregon. There are nearly 750 truck load equivalents of potatoes and onions being shipped a week.
Arizona Shipments
Mexican vegetable crossings at Nogales are led in volume by tomatoes (vine ripes, romas and grape) averaging nearly 1650 truck loads a week and volume continues to increase. Bell peppers and cucumbers are accounting for nearly 1400 truck loads weekly. Zuchnni squash along with much smaller volumes other varieties are averaging nearly 500 truck loads a week. Additionally there numerous other veggies being loaded as well, ranging from sweet corn to eggplant, among others.
Mixed loads involving multiple pick ups and drops are inevitable this time of the year and often the first partial loading begins in California before that last one occurs in Arizona. Thus it’s hard to discuss one state without the other.
This is the most active time for shipments from the Yuma area. Head lettuce and romaine are together accounting about 750 truck loads with much smaller amounts of various leaf lettuces, cauliflower and broccoli.
Yuma vegetables – grossing about $6100 to New York City.
California Shipments
Many of the same items coming out of Yuma are coming out of California’s Imperial Valley located less than 90 minutes to the West of Yuma.
Otherwise most California loading opportunities are in the San Joaquin Valley and to the south. Both of these regions are shipping heavy volumes of oranges. In the Bakersfield area world leading carrot shipper Grimmway Farms leads production. About 450 truck loads equivalents of carrots are being loaded each week. In Ventura County over 375 truck loads of celery is being shipped. At the Port of Los Angeles around 400 truck loads of Chilean grapes are arriving weekly.
Idaho Potatoes
Steady shipments of America’s most famous spud are amounting to over 1500 truckload equivalents.
Idaho potatoes from the Upper Valley and Twin Falls and Burley areas – grossing about $5300 to New York City.