Plenty of quality California strawberries remain for shipping to retail and foodservice companies entering the last half of summer.
Well-Pict Inc. Watsonville, CA came off seven weeks of peak loadings the second week of July when it was estimated to be picking over 100,000 packages a day. Needles too say, volume has been excellent.
The company will be shipping good supplies of strawberries from Watsonville into mid September, although production will be tapering between now and then.
Bobalu Berries of Oxnard, CA will have a fall strawberries in Oxnard for the first time this year.
Oxnard kicks in early September and will complement the Santa Maria crop. This means the company will more late-season fruit at a time strawberry volume tends to drop.
Strawberry taste, size and quality have been good this summer for Gem-Pack Berries LLC, of Irvine, CA. It has been shipping medium and large sized berries.
As of July 9, California growers had shipped nearly 128 million trays of strawberries this year, according to the Watsonville-based California Strawberry Commission. That’s an increase from 112.3 million trays at the same time last year and 121.8 million trays in 2020.
Last year’s total volume was 212.8 million trays, up from 210.2 million in 2020.
Wish Farms of Plant City, FL ships summer berries from Salinas, which includes conventional and organic strawberries.
The company reports good quality this season with high sweetness levels and good flavor and sizing.
It also reports the costs of trucks to deliver products alone has dropped a little but remains 30% higher or more than past seasons.
Loads which were shipping for $5,000 before now are shipping for $8,000.
By Brandon Huebler,Transportation Intern, ALC Cleveland
One of the current, major transportation issues is rising fuel prices, surging from the lack of Russian oil and high inflation. The average price per gallon for diesel has almost doubled, in the past year from $3.24 to $5.77, leaving the transportation industry scrambling. There is plenty of uncertainty within the industry regarding where prices will go. How much will the rising prices actually affect freight rates? More drivers have been asking for fuel advances here in the Cleveland office. So, it would seem that the diesel rates could be affecting the freight rates in many cases.
This rise in fuel prices hurts every industry though, not just the transportation industry. One example of an industry that is being indirectly affected by rising fuel prices and high inflation is the food retail industry. Studies show that grocery store food prices have increased 8.8 percent from the same period last year.
In looking at the USDA site regarding food prices, they cited the following specific increases – fresh fruit prices between 8.5 and 9.5 percent, cereal and bakery product prices between 7.0 and 8.0 percent, nonalcoholic beverage prices between 7.0 and 8.0 percent, and other food prices between 7.5 and 8.5 percent. In a move made by the current administration, a federal tax holiday will remove the 24-cent tax on diesel fuel.
What effect this will have on overall transportation costs is yet to be seen. The reality is that when the cost of moving freight increases, the cost of the items that are being moved will become more expensive.
Western New York vegetable shipments got off to a good start in spring and early summer, and expectation are for this to continue on through the rest of summer.
Hansen Farms of Stanley, NY is has 1,200 acres of cabbage it is shipping, up slightly from a year ago.
This northern cabbage stores well for long periods at the farm at 33 degrees Fahrenheit and can be available year-round.
Apples, cabbage, sweet corn, squash, snap beans and pumpkins are top specialty crops for this state, according to the USDA’s 2021 state agriculture overview, updated July 1.
About 10,800 acres of cabbage for all purposes was harvested in New York in 2021.
In contrast, apples for the fresh market came from 44,000 harvested acres where apples were grown for all purposes.
Other produce for the fresh market are listed below:
Sweet corn from 23,600 harvested acres.
Squash from 4,400 harvested acres.
Pumpkins from 5,100 harvested acres.
Snap beans from 23,700 harvested acres.
Turek Farm of King Ferry, NY began shipping vegetables for the fresh market around July 10, first with zucchini, summer squash, cabbage and English peas, followed by sweet corn.
After watching sluggish volume movement out of Florida and Georgia this winter, Turek decided to plant 15% to 20% fewer acres of sweet corn, cabbage and zucchini in New York. For crops with more set prices from contracts, such as pumpkins, he didn’t reduce acreage.
SM Jones, based in Belle Glade, FL has New York grown sweet corn through fall, and in between, pumpkin, winter squash, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
Matthews Ridgeview Farms of Wynne, AR in the northeast part of the state is that state’s largest grower/shipper of sweet potatoes, and the company is expanding acreage again this year.
New crop harvest usually starts in September with the predominately grown beauregard variety.
The grower/shipper has plans to continue increasing acreage and production in coming years. Shipments mostly go to retailers, wholesalers and some foodservice operations.
The company packs about 1 million cartons of sweet potatoes sourced from several thousand acres annually.
Matthews continues to ship the 2021 crop, and the 2022 crop looks favorable. The company offers organic sweet potatoes, which now account for less than 10% of the marketer’s total sweet potato volume.
Organics continue to increase as has been the case sine the operation began growing organics.
Peebles Organic of Augusta, AR., is a USDA-certified organic vegetable operation that farms about 2,000 acres of organic sweet potatoes, organic edamame (immature soybeans) and watermelons. The company ships to other produce shippers, processors and retail customers.
Avocado prices have fallen sharply over the past month due to an oversupply of Peruvian avocado. The decline is spurred by fears of recession impacting the consumption of relatively expensive food products, according to agriculture commodities data group Tridge.
Tridge data reveals wholesale prices of avocado in Mexico dropped by 47% month-on-month, and avocado prices in the U.S. also fell by 27% month-on-month.
Colombian avocado prices also fell by 39% month-on-month.
“The price downturn is due mainly to oversupply,” Tridge reported.
“Peru has been increasing avocado export by 25% every year for almost five years, and this year, its export volume has increased by 30%.”
There is an “avocado disaster” in Europe because of oversupplies, and U.S. and Asian markets are starting to exhibit similar market reactions.
Additionally, some avocado market participants observe consumption of avocados is falling because people are buying fewer avocados while high inflation and recession affect household income. In some countries, avocados are sold lower than the farmgate price, Tridge reported.
The Mexican berry industry expects to have a 12% increase in blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry exports for the 2022 season, with shipments – primarily to the neighboring U.S. market – already up to 386,894 tons.
The Mexican National Berry Export Association (Aneberries) reports growers in the country were expected to export more than 584,000 tons of soft fruit by the close of 2022, compared with 462,000 tons in 2021.
Aneberries notes the total exported by June 16 comprised 62,011 tons of blueberries, 50,900 tons of blackberries, 206,238 tons of strawberries and 67,744 tons of raspberries.
Some 95% of Mexican berry exports are destined for the U.S. market, with the remaining 5% divided between 37 countries, covering Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia.
According to Aneberries data, the current planted area in Mexico for berries totaled 34,595 acres.
DINUBA, Calif. – Something new is happening in the world of cantaloupe! According to the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, which represents all growers of cantaloupe in California, cantaloupe growers around the world are increasingly planting newer varieties that have longer shelf life, which helps to reduce food waste.
California cantaloupe farmers are no exception. This summer nearly all of the state’s cantaloupes – which are harvesting now – will be newer, longer shelf-life varieties. And this means your old method for selecting a good one has changed.
“California cantaloupe growers want people to know these new varieties offer consumers that same great cantaloupe taste they love, along with some extra benefits,” said Garrett Patricio, of Westside Produce, a California melon supplier. “But with these new varieties comes some new rules to follow when selecting a ripe cantaloupe at your grocery store.”
Selecting the perfect cantaloupe has often been considered challenging for many people. But, according to Patricio, new cantaloupe varieties make that process easier in many ways.
“Plant breeders are constantly working to improve cantaloupe varieties to give you the best eating experience possible,” says Patricio. “These new varieties are bred to be sweeter and to have firmer flesh, which means they last longer on store shelves and in people’s refrigerators. This means they can help people stretch their food dollars and less food ends up in the trash.”
Patricio also explains that under a program known as the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, farmers are required to test their melons for sugar content before they harvest. The sugar requirement is enforced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture for all cantaloupes produced in the state.
“We do this by testing for brix, which is a measurement of sugar content,” explains Patricio. “California cantaloupes must have at least 12 brix when they are harvested. However, many new cantaloupes are actually harvested at close to 14 or 15 brix. Meaning you can expect a very sweet eating experience and shoppers can have confidence when it comes to picking out the perfect cantaloupe in stores.”
The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board also offers some updated tricks and tips for selecting the perfect cantaloupe.
How to Pick a New Variety Cantaloupe
A Little Green is OK
While a cream color is always a good indicator of a mature melon, new varieties may often have a somewhat green hue. Don’t be deterred by a slightly green cast on new variety of cantaloupes.
2. Cracking Isn’t Always a Bad Thing
If the ‘blossom end’ (the end opposite the stem) is beginning to show a bit of cracking, this can be a good indicator of ripeness, so don’t worry that the cracking is a defect. Another sign of ripeness, this blossom end will be somewhat soft to the touch, meaning it gives slightly when pressed gently with the fingers.
3. Stem or No Stem – Either is Fine
The stem end of newer cantaloupe varieties may be smooth, but it’s just as likely to have a bit of stem left on the melon. A good sign of a mature melon is that some netting is growing up the stem. Netting is the raised net-like texture on the shell of the cantaloupe.
4. The Nose Doesn’t Always Know
Newer cantaloupe varieties don’t emit a natural gas called ethylene, which enhances ripening. This is one reason they last longer, but it also means they don’t give off the same traditional, sweet melon smell, even though they typically have higher sugar content than the old varieties. Note: Please note that today’s new cantaloupe varieties are NOT produced using genetically modified breeding techniques but are done using traditional cross pollination methods for varietal development.
The Mexican grape shipping season wrapped up in early July and the Arvin District (Bakersfield), started with light volume shortly after the Fourth of July.
For example the Markon Cooperative of Salinas, CA started shipping California-grown grapes when its Mexican supplies came to an end July 10.
California-grown green seedless supplies and red seedless grapes started with a few days of each other.
Volume had quickly ramped up by mid July with good quality.
The new fresh potato crop for Washington state is just getting under way and normal volume is seen for the 2022-23 season.
The Washington State Potato Commission of Moses Lake, WA reports the crop outlook is favorable.
Although the official acreage report has not been issued, Washington’s potato acreage is expected steady in a range from 165,000 to 170,000 acres.
Early varieties were slowed by a later season due to weather factors. Potato processors usually start shipping new crop potatoes around July 5, but even by mid July, early potato volume was more limited than usual.
Washington fresh potato grower-shippers were running out of potatoes in late May, as last year’s hot weather drove down yields about 10%.
Washington shippers do not expect a gap between old crop and new crop potatoes, although there has been an escalation in pricing to ration supply.
Processing accounts for at least 90% of the Washington potato crop and that percentage continues to climb because of the demand for processed potato products.
The USDA reported that Washington’s growers in 2020 planted 80% russet varieties, compared with 84% in 2019 and 2018. The percentage of yellow varieties planted in Washington state accounted for 4% of the planted acreage, up from 2% in 2019 and 2018. The percentage of red varieties planted in Washington state in 2020 accounted for 6% of the total, up from 4% in 2019 and 5% in 2018. The percentage of white potatoes planted in Washington state was 10% of the total in 2020, the same as 2019 and up from 9% in 2018.
Washington’s Skagit Valley is seeing a shift over time from red potato varieties to increased yellow-fleshed potato varieties.
The percentage of reds and yellows grown in the Skagit Valley now are roughly 50-50.
The growth in consumer demand for yellow-flesh potatoes has growers increasing acreage to meet demand.
Petite potatoes grown in eastern or central Washington were harvested starting in early July, followed by red and yellow potatoes later in July, followed by the first of the russet norkotah harvest by early August. Skagit Valley harvest will begin in September.
Anyone who has worked in this industry has heard these words before: “I’ve been here three hours burning fuel, do you know when they’ll load/unload me?”
It’s never easy to talk a driver into being patient after telling them their load is ready, or the receiver has a dock door waiting. Delays at shipping or receiving run out the working clock on a driver’s ELD, burn diesel fuel unnecessarily on power units, and reefer units as well, should they be loading refrigerated items. With the push in the past few years for sustainability, keeping emissions low, and the ever-present argument for global warming, this topic has become a cornerstone of manufacturing operations across the globe.
“How do we do better with our sustainability?” Personally, I’ve seen more questions about sustainability and similar action plans when receiving RFI’s for manufacturer’s freight bids than I ever have before. With normal power units burning up to one gallon/hour while idling, and reefer units burning on average one gallon/hour while running – it can be costly to sit. With the national average for diesel at $5.71 (as of this writing), carriers’ fuel bills have the potential to impact their overall operating costs, in a large way. Additionally, carriers who haul refrigerated and perishable freight must run their reefer units on the ‘continuous’ mode, as opposed to ‘cycle’ or ‘stop-start’ mode, and will incur even greater fuel costs. Those micro situations turn into macro costs, and environmental impact, when we look at the bigger picture five or ten years down the road. On the flip side, greater fuel costs sure beat the alternative of an expensive temperature rejection and subsequent claim from trying to save a buck or two by running a reefer on ‘stop-start’ mode.”
One suggestion, per the DOE, states depots, shippers, and receivers alike can install external power plug-ins for reefer units, and a temp-controlled waiting area for drivers if wait times are unavoidable, to aid in truck and trailer emissions savings.
Per Statista, “The United States is by far the largest producer of transportation emissions worldwide”, with medium and heavy trucks accounting for 22% of CO2 emissions produced nationwide.
In 2021, Freightwaves reported, “Transportation was responsible for about 26% of Co2 emissions globally, and 28% of emissions nationwide” (EPA).
The question is – how much of this could be combated with a combination of lower dwell times at shippers and receivers alike, and the ability to plug into an electrical source to idle when necessary? And, if the impact study is as positive as we believe it would be, how do we begin to streamline communication between so many moving parts within the supply chain?
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Robert Johnsonhas been with the Allen Lund Company since October of 2016 and is currently a Business Development Specialist in the Richmond office. Johnson attended Longwood University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science. Robert is currently participating in an in-house management training program with ALC.
