South Carolina produce shipments are underway in light volume and North Carolina isn’t far behind.
Grower Network of Lake Park, GA markets fresh produce from the Carolinas and notes shipments usually peak in mid-June for South Carolina and mid-July for North Carolina with volume increasing 3 to 5 percent, which is typical,
In 2019, North Carolina produced 2.2 billion pounds of sweet potatoes, 37.5 million pounds of blueberries, 185 million pounds of cucumbers, 190 million pounds of watermelon, 61 million pounds of bell peppers, 64 million pounds of summer squash, and almost 80 million pounds of pumpkins, according to the USDA.
In 2019, South Carolina produced 127.5 million pounds of peaches, 161.3 million pounds of watermelon, according to the USDA statistics service.
Titan Farms of Ridge Spring, SC is the premier grower, packer and shipper of over 2.4 million boxes of fresh peaches and vegetables annually. Peak loadings of Titan peaches are occurring from June 15 to July 12.
South Carolin’s strawberry shipments have finished and now the state’s top-producing crops for late spring and summer: blueberries, peaches, melons, leafy greens, tomatoes and green onions are getting underway,
South Carolina peach shipments have been ongoing for over a month and loadings should last through August.
L&M Cos., Raleigh, N.C., will have increase shipments for summer because of more volume at its North Carolina and New Jersey farms. Squash loadings started in late May.
The shipper began moving South Carolina cucumbers nearly two weeks agos and will start shipping yellow potatoes around June 20 and North Carolina watermelons July 5.
L&M has vegetable farms in Florida, Georgia and New Jersey to offer product for longer windows of time, before and after the Carolina seasons.
Coosaw Farms, Fairfax, S.C., ships over 2 million pounds of conventional and organic blueberries a year, and this year shouldn’t be different,
Watermelon is the other big crop for Coosaw Farms. Along with the larger-sizing crop from Florida, watermelons grown in South Carolina should be shipping through July.
Jackson Farming Co. of Autryville, N.C., is planting more sweet potato acreage for the upcoming season. The company’s first harvest on seedless and seeded watermelons is estimated for the last week of June, with seedless through the end of September and seeded through mid-August. Cantaloupe should run mid-June to mid-August, and honeydews the first week of July through the first week to middle of August.
Pumpkins at the company’s Edenton, Ennice, Sparta and Autryville farms will be planted in July with harvest from September through mid-October.