Texas farmers had 13,000 acres of sweet onions planted two years ago. This year there are only 8,000 acres of onions. So when I say there will be average onion shipments out of the Lower Rio Grande Valley this spring – it’s average for the number of onions that were planted.
The Texas 1015 sweet onion, which has suffered from drought and poor markets in recents years, is now be shipped. The first loadings got under way about two weeks ago, but volume shipments are just getting started. Peak shipments should occur aroun April, although loadings will continue until around the Fourth of July.
Blueberry Shipments
Florida blueberry shipments got underway in small volume in late February, around two weeks earlier than usual. Loadings should continue until around Memorial Day in late May. As with many other spring produce items, shipments then originate from more northern areas.
Georgia blueberry shipments typically get underway in late April, followed by North Carolina in the middle of May.
The leading Southeastern states of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina typically average about 27 percent of the USA and Canada’s fresh blueberry volume, amounting to about 136 million pounds.
Georgia loads more blues than any other Southern state. It had 69 million pounds of blueberries in 2012, up 13 million pounds from 2010.