Author Archive
By Larry Oscar
As we get things going toward the next big election, things couldn’t heat up more for some Americans. It’s time that we took note of all we have seen in the past eight years and what our country needs to do to get our economy and American values back on track.
The recent situations in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD should make every American sit up and take note. Both of these situations have resulted in the release of years of frustration by the citizens of these communities and many other communities throughout this country. As a city councilman in Baltimore put it, “The violence is wrong, but it is a reflection of the lack of educational and economic opportunity for the people who live in this community.” Very well put.
And just who caused the educational and economic opportunity to leave the community, and many more just like them throughout the entire country? Well let’s take a look at both the education issue and the job opportunity issue. For starters, the education system in this country has been going downhill since the late 1960’s. To be exact it was 1968 when the federal government and the big teacher unions took over. This is when the central planning liberals in Washington D.C. started telling us what we could do to discipline and teach our children in the individual states.
Big Government, Unions Have Ruined Education
And this is when the big teacher unions decided the union membership handouts were more important than the children’s education. So why should people in the cities like Baltimore be surprised? After all, my bet is almost 90% or more of the people who live there voted for the very politicians who supported Washington D.C. central planning and the big teacher unions. The irony is it was one of their favorite sons, Franklin Roosevelt, who warned them about government worker big unions. They didn’t listen did they?
How to Improve the Economy
Now let’s take a look a jobs. It’s actually very simple. If you want tomatoes what do you have to do? Obviously you have to grow healthy tomato plants. If you grow poorly watered or cared for tomato plants you will get very few and very small tomatoes. To get large juicy tomatoes you must grow healthy robust tomato plants. It’s the same for jobs. If you want good paying jobs you must grow strong and healthy businesses. And you must have a variety of healthy small businesses, as well as healthy large businesses.
For several years now our government has been making it harder and harder for small businesses to survive, and even giving large global businesses a financial incentive to leave the country. We have the highest corporate tax in the world. The current liberal philosophy toward business is that the large corporations are “evil,” and if you have a small business you didn’t create it.
Stop Blaming Others
To quote the Clown-in-Chief, “Someone else made that happen.”
My father was a simple man. He went to night school and studied drafting. He spent over 40 years at his craft, and he was an exceptional draftsman. Dad never once complained about what he got paid. He was always there to help me and his values were conservative. He taught me that almost 100% of the time my problems in life were looking back at me in the mirror every morning. Dad wouldn’t let me blame others.
You know what? He was right. Americans of all races, cultures, economic status, and faiths must accept the fact that they alone have voted for and got what we deserve. If we treat businesses like ATM machines, and continue to let our educational system decline, like it has been for the past 50 years, then we can’t expect our great country and the promise of the opportunity it used to hold, to continue. We are killing the goose who has been laying the golden eggs.
Envy of those who are successful must stop. It’s time for all Americans to look into the mirror. Don’t expect a superman in Washington to come and save the day. Our problems are of our own creation. We need pro business leadership. We need to honor and value the businesses of our nation and the people who built them with their own hands. We need to acknowledge and encourage individual achievement.
Free Handouts vs. Self Reliance
Instead of giving handouts and creating a government dependant class, we need to teach self reliance and standing on your own two feet. Our country should be a place where it is the easiest place in the world to start a business. We should not be a nation of regulation roadblocks to success.
Hey people. If you think economic opportunity is bad in Ferguson and Baltimore, you should have been in the former Soviet Union. Remember….your vote matters. Vote for someone who is pro business, and let’s gets some decent job growth.
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
by The Alliance for Food and Farming
Watsonville, CA – The Consumers Union has released yet another produce “shoppers’ guide” list that can only contribute to increased consumer confusion about healthy dietary choices.
he article in Consumer Reports categorizes certain produce items that have been proven very safe as “high risk.” This categorization comes despite the Consumers Union’s own admission that half of the produce sampled by the USDA had no detectable residues at all. If residues were detected, the majority came in at levels well below Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tolerances (99.8%).
Further, both USDA and EPA state that “residues do not pose a food safety concern.”
“For all of us involved in promoting better consumer health, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables is among our main objectives. The benefits of consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables is absolutely indisputable. Consumers should eat both organic and conventionally grown produce without worrying about minute levels of pesticide residues,” says Dr. Carl Keen, Professor of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at University of California, Davis.
“Despite the best efforts of the government, health experts and nutritionists, consumption of fruits and veggies has stagnated. Telling consumers one moment that certain produce items are ‘high risk’ and the very next advising them to ‘eat more’ is confusing and cannot be helpful with efforts to increase consumption for improved health,” says Marilyn Dolan, Executive Director of the Alliance for Food and Farming.
Most recently, a peer reviewed study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of premature death by 42%, heart disease by 31% and cancer by 25%.
Recently, a new peer reviewed study conducted by the John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future found that conflicting messaging on food safety and nutrition may be having a detrimental impact on the dietary choices of consumers, especially those with lower incomes. Researchers involved in the study recommended that “those who want to improve food production techniques and those who want to improve nutrition cooperate to create consistent messaging about healthy eating for the benefit of consumers.”
“The science is clear that the best advice for consumers is also the simplest – eat more conventional and organic produce for better health,” Dolan says. “And, if you are concerned about residues, wash your produce.
The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers and farms of all sizes. Alliance contributors are limited to farmers of fruits and vegetables, companies that sell, market or ship fruits and vegetables or organizations that represent produce farmers. Our mission is to deliver credible information to consumers about the safety of fruits and vegetables. The Alliance does not engage in any lobbying activities, nor do we accept any money or support from the pesticide industry.
There should be excellent loading opportunities for produce haulers as shipments start to ramp up ahead of the Fourth of July. Here’s a round up of some Independence Day produce favorites.
Watermelon Shipments
On the East Coast watermelons loadings will be available from Northern Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. While Florida melon shipments are rapidly declining, Georgia loadings just started this week, with decent volume seen the week of June 15th….Meanwhile, in North Carolina, shipments of seeded watermelons should get underway around June 25th, followed by seedless melons about July 1st.
Northern Florida watermelons – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
In the Midwest, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri are typically shipping watermelons by late June or early July. However, use caution as many of these regions have been hit with heavy rains and cloudy weather for days on end. It has to have adversely affected quality, at least with some of these production areas. However, hot, dry weather has set in the past week or so. Maybe this will help.
Sweet Corn Shipments
Georgia should be shipping good volumes of sweet corn ranging from Bainbridge to the Vidalia area.
South Georgia sweet corn, or vegetables – grossing about $3600 to Boston.
Berry Shipments
Heavy volume with strawberries should be coming out of the Watsonville/Salinas area. California also will have strawberry loadings from the Santa Maria district…..California blueberry shipments could be a little “ify.” “Blues” are now shifting from the Golden State to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Watsonville berries and Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Tomato shipments have started from Arkansas, as the state’s sweet potato loadings continue. Additionally, New Mexico is now shipping onions.
Arkansas tomato shipments got underway in early June from the Hermitage area in the southern part of the state. Loadings will include a majority of vine ripe tomatoes, with much smaller volumes in romas and grape tomatoes. Despite a lot rain this spring, and less acreage due to the wet fields preventing some plantings, growers are predicting over all better tomato shipments than the past two years.
Arkansas may not be known for its sweet potato shipments, but Matthews Ridgeview Farms at Wynne in the Northeastern part of the state has been increasing volume significantly in recent years. It is still shipping sweet potatoes from the 2014-15 season. Matthews is looking to increase production 15 -20 percent for the 2015-16 season. It ships sweet potatoes through much of the Midwest and to a few receivers in Canada.
New Mexico Onion Shipments
A normal start with New Mexico onion shipments kicked off in late May and run through late August, with some sheds shipping through mid-September. New Mexico growers planted about 5,200 acres of dry onions in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
by Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum
Citrusdal, South Africa – Excellent weather conditions in South Africa have contributed to an earlier citrus harvest in the Western and Northern Cape regions of South Africa, resulting in earlier arrivals of citrus to the US. Containers carrying Easy Peelers and Navel oranges will arrive at the Port of Newark over the next 2-3 weeks.
“Favorable weather conditions and optimum fruit ripeness determined the onset of the harvesting period. Our growers believe that in terms of fruit color and eating quality, it is perhaps the best fruit in years to start the season. The high eating quality is preferred by the US consumers,” said Suhanra Conradie, CEO of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum.
The first conventional vessel will arrive at the Port of Philadelphia at Gloucester City by June 15th bringing with about 3,800 pallets of Easy Peelers and Navel oranges. Two other conventional vessels are scheduled to arrive by June 25th and July 6th. “The detailed shipping plan has conventional vessels arriving through October usually every 10-12 days, based on market demand. Container vessels with smaller volumes will arrive between to assure a steady supply of our citrus,” said Conradie.
A pilot project at The Port of Houston will continue and is set to receive shipments, and provide key access to expanded Midwest and Far West regions of the US. “While we have seen 12 percent growth with volumes last year at about 45,000 tons, it is possible that we will ship more during the 2015 season,” said Conradie.
Early season Washington cherry shipments have gotten off to a less than a stellar start, thanks to adverse weather, plus a shipping update on other Northwest produce shipments.
What should have been big time volumes of chelans early in the season, instead has been only a trickle. Rainiers also have suffered some wind and rain damage.
Volumes were down about 65 percent the week of June 1st. Loadings also were expected to be off 50 percent the week of June 8th.
This week, the initial harvesting of bings should start from growing areas not hit as hard by the rains. However, cherry shipments will continue to struggle through June. In July, late season volumes should be much better.
Blueberry Shipments
Blueberry shipments are just getting underway from British Columbia through Northwest Washington state. Blues also are just getting started from Oregon and Washington. Volume currently is very light.
Potato Shipments
Potato shipments in the latter part of the season continue from Washington’s Columbia Basin and Oregon’s Umatilla Basin. About 450 truck loads of potatoes are being shipped weekly. The region’s onion season has pretty much wrapped up.
Washington/Oregon potatoes – grossing about $6000 to Atlanta.
Apple Shipments
Washington apple shipments and pear shipments are experiencing steady loadings from week to week.
Yakima and Wenatchee Valley apples and pears – grossing about $6900 to New York City.
While the agriculturally rich Rio Grande Valley has been spared the brunt of the most recent storms and flooding in Texas, nine months of above-average rain has taken its toll in the fresh produce growing areas, with many acres having already been lost.
There has been 60 inches of rain from the fall through the spring.
Many cities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley have tallied impressive rain totals for May, but they are still in single digits. In comparison, Houston received 10 inches of rain during one 24-hour period over the Memorial Day weekend.
The Texas spring onion crop was probably the hardest hit, losing about 30 percent of its acreage. Onion shipments have since ended.
Other crops, including melons and vegetables, have been hit hard and the late spring and early summer harvests should be curtailed a bit because of it. Some growers have seen their entire summer squash program washed out.
The silver lining in the big picture is that the moisture was really need in the drought plagued state. Texas had been in the midst of a pretty severe drought until it started raining late last summer.
Meanwhile, the Lower Rio Grande Valley remains a key distribution hub, particularly for the eastern half of the U.S., because Mexican grown produce continues to be imported.
South Texas/Mexican produce -grossing about $3200 to Chicago; $5500 to Boston.
Kenny Lund doesn’t argue with the American Trucking Associations annual study, American Trucking Trends, which shows independent truckers and leased owner operators making $56,167 on average in 2014, which was 7 percent more income than the previous year. However, the vice president of operations for the Allen Lund Company, a third party logistics provider, says freight rates still aren’t increasing enough and operating costs are high.
For example, gasoline in California is $4 per gallon, while Number 2 diesel is about $3.50 per gallon. Take on excessive government regulations, plus an economy that leaves a lot to be desired, and Lund doesn’t see the freight rates keeping up with other costs.
“Truckers are making more money, but the rates aren’t up as much as expected, and the economy was expected to be much stronger,” Lund says.
He points out produce trucking is still dominated by companies with five trucks or less.
“God bless the owner operators out there. They don’t realize collectively what they do for this country and how important they are,” Lund surmises. “We try to convey that as a company and treat these owner operators with the respect they deserve. They are a critical component in the economic system of the U.S.”
He recently heard someone point out if all access to Los Angeles was cut off, there is only a four-day supply of food available. Lund calls that thought “sobering” and notes people just do not realize what a great transportation system has been built in this country due to all of the small companies working together.
“With the efficient distribution system throughout the U.S., you can pretty much get strawberries anywhere in the U.S. the year around, and this is true with most major commodities,” he says.
ALC Logistics
As for Allen Lund Company, he is particularly excited about a division of the firm, ALC Logistics. He developed the company’s Transportation Management System, building it from the ground up. It is the first one created and provides software solutions ranging from claims management to freight audits, and carrier contracts, among other features.
“It is pretty exciting. We are running about $1.4 billion through the system, working with the companies we have now, and we are just getting started,” Lund says.
As for the trucking industry itself, Lund is very interested in the development of driverless trucks. For example the technology is now available where you can follow someone on I-40 from New Mexico to Arkansas and never touch the steering wheel. He sees this addressing problems associated with hours of service regulations.
“I think we’re only five years or less away from it (driverless trucks),” he notes.
“If you can sell this to the driver by saying you are almost out of hours, then you put it on auto pilot. The driver can then go to sleep while the truck is moving down the road, and have your hours still available when you arrive at destination,” Lund observes. “It makes the single drivers like teams.”
(This is part II of a two-part series. The Allen Lund Company was formed in 1976 by its namesake. I have known Mr. Allen Lund nearly since the founding of the company. His son Kenny Lund joined the company 26 years ago this month. At that time the operation had 32 employees. Today Allen Lund Company has 500 employees, arranges about 250,000 loads a year, of which about 40 percent is with fresh produce. The company has 30 offices nationwide and will soon break the $500 million mark in annual sales. — Bill Martin)
by Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market
Philadelphia — Today marks four years since The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM) moved into its state-of-the art home at 6700 Essington Avenue. “Our facility is unsurpassed in cold chain management, product safety, comfort, security, staging, loading, and recycling,” said Sonny DiCrecchio, President/CEO. “We are proud to be the largest enclosed, fully-refrigerated wholesale produce marketplace in the world.”
Philadelphia has a rich history in the produce business. Tracing its roots back to colonial times, merchants once occupied vibrant Dock Street and later the Food Distribution Center, a modern concept in 1959. By 2000, it was evident that more space and upgraded facilities were needed in order to provide customers with the standards they came to expect.
After a decade of intense planning for a facility that has no equal, today’s PWPM is a modern marvel that establishes the highest global standards for distribution of premium produce. Nearly 700,000 square feet, the PWPM employs over 1,000 people in both union and non-union positions and donates over two million pounds of produce to local charities every year. Made up of 24 fresh fruit and vegetable merchants, buyers have the opportunity to compare products, brands, and price points.
“We wanted to share this treasure with as many people as possible,” said DiCrecchio. “That’s why we chose to open our doors to the public.”
Find out more about the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market at www.pwpm.net.
Here is an outlook for stone fruit shipments ranging from Georgia and South Carolina to California and Washington state. Also, are California vegetable shipments getting over the ups and downs caused by shipping gaps from the coastal areas?
Initial Georgia peach shipments from the Fort Valley area got underway the week of May 18th. With the arrival of June, Georgia peaches are now moving in good, steady volume. Shipments should continue most of the summer…..South Carolina peach shipments are on a similar schedule with a little more volume.….Meanwhile, California stone fruit moves into volume beginning in late June and continuing through July….Washington state stone fruit shipments will build in volume in August for peak peach shipments during September.
California vegetable shipments this spring have been anything but good and predictable for produce haulers. Is that about to change? Maybe, but don’t necessarily bet on it.
Hot weather in the early spring with shipments out of the desert areas and then the Huron District of the San Joaquin Valley, vegetables were maturing ahead of schedule. However, with the seasonal shift of California vegetables to the coastal areas, colder than normal weather has put harvest and shipments later than usual. It also has resulted in shipping gaps and lighter than normal volumes in many cases.
By Larry Oscar
As we get things going toward the next big election, things couldn’t heat up more for some Americans. It’s time that we took note of all we have seen in the past eight years and what our country needs to do to get our economy and American values back on track.
The recent situations in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD should make every American sit up and take note. Both of these situations have resulted in the release of years of frustration by the citizens of these communities and many other communities throughout this country. As a city councilman in Baltimore put it, “The violence is wrong, but it is a reflection of the lack of educational and economic opportunity for the people who live in this community.” Very well put.
And just who caused the educational and economic opportunity to leave the community, and many more just like them throughout the entire country? Well let’s take a look at both the education issue and the job opportunity issue. For starters, the education system in this country has been going downhill since the late 1960’s. To be exact it was 1968 when the federal government and the big teacher unions took over. This is when the central planning liberals in Washington D.C. started telling us what we could do to discipline and teach our children in the individual states.
Big Government, Unions Have Ruined Education
And this is when the big teacher unions decided the union membership handouts were more important than the children’s education. So why should people in the cities like Baltimore be surprised? After all, my bet is almost 90% or more of the people who live there voted for the very politicians who supported Washington D.C. central planning and the big teacher unions. The irony is it was one of their favorite sons, Franklin Roosevelt, who warned them about government worker big unions. They didn’t listen did they?
How to Improve the Economy
Now let’s take a look a jobs. It’s actually very simple. If you want tomatoes what do you have to do? Obviously you have to grow healthy tomato plants. If you grow poorly watered or cared for tomato plants you will get very few and very small tomatoes. To get large juicy tomatoes you must grow healthy robust tomato plants. It’s the same for jobs. If you want good paying jobs you must grow strong and healthy businesses. And you must have a variety of healthy small businesses, as well as healthy large businesses.
For several years now our government has been making it harder and harder for small businesses to survive, and even giving large global businesses a financial incentive to leave the country. We have the highest corporate tax in the world. The current liberal philosophy toward business is that the large corporations are “evil,” and if you have a small business you didn’t create it.
Stop Blaming Others
To quote the Clown-in-Chief, “Someone else made that happen.”
My father was a simple man. He went to night school and studied drafting. He spent over 40 years at his craft, and he was an exceptional draftsman. Dad never once complained about what he got paid. He was always there to help me and his values were conservative. He taught me that almost 100% of the time my problems in life were looking back at me in the mirror every morning. Dad wouldn’t let me blame others.
You know what? He was right. Americans of all races, cultures, economic status, and faiths must accept the fact that they alone have voted for and got what we deserve. If we treat businesses like ATM machines, and continue to let our educational system decline, like it has been for the past 50 years, then we can’t expect our great country and the promise of the opportunity it used to hold, to continue. We are killing the goose who has been laying the golden eggs.
Envy of those who are successful must stop. It’s time for all Americans to look into the mirror. Don’t expect a superman in Washington to come and save the day. Our problems are of our own creation. We need pro business leadership. We need to honor and value the businesses of our nation and the people who built them with their own hands. We need to acknowledge and encourage individual achievement.
Free Handouts vs. Self Reliance
Instead of giving handouts and creating a government dependant class, we need to teach self reliance and standing on your own two feet. Our country should be a place where it is the easiest place in the world to start a business. We should not be a nation of regulation roadblocks to success.
Hey people. If you think economic opportunity is bad in Ferguson and Baltimore, you should have been in the former Soviet Union. Remember….your vote matters. Vote for someone who is pro business, and let’s gets some decent job growth.
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
by The Alliance for Food and Farming
Watsonville, CA – The Consumers Union has released yet another produce “shoppers’ guide” list that can only contribute to increased consumer confusion about healthy dietary choices.
he article in Consumer Reports categorizes certain produce items that have been proven very safe as “high risk.” This categorization comes despite the Consumers Union’s own admission that half of the produce sampled by the USDA had no detectable residues at all. If residues were detected, the majority came in at levels well below Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tolerances (99.8%).
Further, both USDA and EPA state that “residues do not pose a food safety concern.”
“For all of us involved in promoting better consumer health, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables is among our main objectives. The benefits of consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables is absolutely indisputable. Consumers should eat both organic and conventionally grown produce without worrying about minute levels of pesticide residues,” says Dr. Carl Keen, Professor of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at University of California, Davis.
“Despite the best efforts of the government, health experts and nutritionists, consumption of fruits and veggies has stagnated. Telling consumers one moment that certain produce items are ‘high risk’ and the very next advising them to ‘eat more’ is confusing and cannot be helpful with efforts to increase consumption for improved health,” says Marilyn Dolan, Executive Director of the Alliance for Food and Farming.
Most recently, a peer reviewed study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of premature death by 42%, heart disease by 31% and cancer by 25%.
Recently, a new peer reviewed study conducted by the John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future found that conflicting messaging on food safety and nutrition may be having a detrimental impact on the dietary choices of consumers, especially those with lower incomes. Researchers involved in the study recommended that “those who want to improve food production techniques and those who want to improve nutrition cooperate to create consistent messaging about healthy eating for the benefit of consumers.”
“The science is clear that the best advice for consumers is also the simplest – eat more conventional and organic produce for better health,” Dolan says. “And, if you are concerned about residues, wash your produce.
The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers and farms of all sizes. Alliance contributors are limited to farmers of fruits and vegetables, companies that sell, market or ship fruits and vegetables or organizations that represent produce farmers. Our mission is to deliver credible information to consumers about the safety of fruits and vegetables. The Alliance does not engage in any lobbying activities, nor do we accept any money or support from the pesticide industry.
There should be excellent loading opportunities for produce haulers as shipments start to ramp up ahead of the Fourth of July. Here’s a round up of some Independence Day produce favorites.
Watermelon Shipments
On the East Coast watermelons loadings will be available from Northern Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. While Florida melon shipments are rapidly declining, Georgia loadings just started this week, with decent volume seen the week of June 15th….Meanwhile, in North Carolina, shipments of seeded watermelons should get underway around June 25th, followed by seedless melons about July 1st.
Northern Florida watermelons – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
In the Midwest, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri are typically shipping watermelons by late June or early July. However, use caution as many of these regions have been hit with heavy rains and cloudy weather for days on end. It has to have adversely affected quality, at least with some of these production areas. However, hot, dry weather has set in the past week or so. Maybe this will help.
Sweet Corn Shipments
Georgia should be shipping good volumes of sweet corn ranging from Bainbridge to the Vidalia area.
South Georgia sweet corn, or vegetables – grossing about $3600 to Boston.
Berry Shipments
Heavy volume with strawberries should be coming out of the Watsonville/Salinas area. California also will have strawberry loadings from the Santa Maria district…..California blueberry shipments could be a little “ify.” “Blues” are now shifting from the Golden State to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Watsonville berries and Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Tomato shipments have started from Arkansas, as the state’s sweet potato loadings continue. Additionally, New Mexico is now shipping onions.
Arkansas tomato shipments got underway in early June from the Hermitage area in the southern part of the state. Loadings will include a majority of vine ripe tomatoes, with much smaller volumes in romas and grape tomatoes. Despite a lot rain this spring, and less acreage due to the wet fields preventing some plantings, growers are predicting over all better tomato shipments than the past two years.
Arkansas may not be known for its sweet potato shipments, but Matthews Ridgeview Farms at Wynne in the Northeastern part of the state has been increasing volume significantly in recent years. It is still shipping sweet potatoes from the 2014-15 season. Matthews is looking to increase production 15 -20 percent for the 2015-16 season. It ships sweet potatoes through much of the Midwest and to a few receivers in Canada.
New Mexico Onion Shipments
A normal start with New Mexico onion shipments kicked off in late May and run through late August, with some sheds shipping through mid-September. New Mexico growers planted about 5,200 acres of dry onions in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
by Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum
Citrusdal, South Africa – Excellent weather conditions in South Africa have contributed to an earlier citrus harvest in the Western and Northern Cape regions of South Africa, resulting in earlier arrivals of citrus to the US. Containers carrying Easy Peelers and Navel oranges will arrive at the Port of Newark over the next 2-3 weeks.
“Favorable weather conditions and optimum fruit ripeness determined the onset of the harvesting period. Our growers believe that in terms of fruit color and eating quality, it is perhaps the best fruit in years to start the season. The high eating quality is preferred by the US consumers,” said Suhanra Conradie, CEO of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum.
The first conventional vessel will arrive at the Port of Philadelphia at Gloucester City by June 15th bringing with about 3,800 pallets of Easy Peelers and Navel oranges. Two other conventional vessels are scheduled to arrive by June 25th and July 6th. “The detailed shipping plan has conventional vessels arriving through October usually every 10-12 days, based on market demand. Container vessels with smaller volumes will arrive between to assure a steady supply of our citrus,” said Conradie.
A pilot project at The Port of Houston will continue and is set to receive shipments, and provide key access to expanded Midwest and Far West regions of the US. “While we have seen 12 percent growth with volumes last year at about 45,000 tons, it is possible that we will ship more during the 2015 season,” said Conradie.
Early season Washington cherry shipments have gotten off to a less than a stellar start, thanks to adverse weather, plus a shipping update on other Northwest produce shipments.
What should have been big time volumes of chelans early in the season, instead has been only a trickle. Rainiers also have suffered some wind and rain damage.
Volumes were down about 65 percent the week of June 1st. Loadings also were expected to be off 50 percent the week of June 8th.
This week, the initial harvesting of bings should start from growing areas not hit as hard by the rains. However, cherry shipments will continue to struggle through June. In July, late season volumes should be much better.
Blueberry Shipments
Blueberry shipments are just getting underway from British Columbia through Northwest Washington state. Blues also are just getting started from Oregon and Washington. Volume currently is very light.
Potato Shipments
Potato shipments in the latter part of the season continue from Washington’s Columbia Basin and Oregon’s Umatilla Basin. About 450 truck loads of potatoes are being shipped weekly. The region’s onion season has pretty much wrapped up.
Washington/Oregon potatoes – grossing about $6000 to Atlanta.
Apple Shipments
Washington apple shipments and pear shipments are experiencing steady loadings from week to week.
Yakima and Wenatchee Valley apples and pears – grossing about $6900 to New York City.
While the agriculturally rich Rio Grande Valley has been spared the brunt of the most recent storms and flooding in Texas, nine months of above-average rain has taken its toll in the fresh produce growing areas, with many acres having already been lost.
There has been 60 inches of rain from the fall through the spring.
Many cities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley have tallied impressive rain totals for May, but they are still in single digits. In comparison, Houston received 10 inches of rain during one 24-hour period over the Memorial Day weekend.
The Texas spring onion crop was probably the hardest hit, losing about 30 percent of its acreage. Onion shipments have since ended.
Other crops, including melons and vegetables, have been hit hard and the late spring and early summer harvests should be curtailed a bit because of it. Some growers have seen their entire summer squash program washed out.
The silver lining in the big picture is that the moisture was really need in the drought plagued state. Texas had been in the midst of a pretty severe drought until it started raining late last summer.
Meanwhile, the Lower Rio Grande Valley remains a key distribution hub, particularly for the eastern half of the U.S., because Mexican grown produce continues to be imported.
South Texas/Mexican produce -grossing about $3200 to Chicago; $5500 to Boston.
Kenny Lund doesn’t argue with the American Trucking Associations annual study, American Trucking Trends, which shows independent truckers and leased owner operators making $56,167 on average in 2014, which was 7 percent more income than the previous year. However, the vice president of operations for the Allen Lund Company, a third party logistics provider, says freight rates still aren’t increasing enough and operating costs are high.
For example, gasoline in California is $4 per gallon, while Number 2 diesel is about $3.50 per gallon. Take on excessive government regulations, plus an economy that leaves a lot to be desired, and Lund doesn’t see the freight rates keeping up with other costs.
“Truckers are making more money, but the rates aren’t up as much as expected, and the economy was expected to be much stronger,” Lund says.
He points out produce trucking is still dominated by companies with five trucks or less.
“God bless the owner operators out there. They don’t realize collectively what they do for this country and how important they are,” Lund surmises. “We try to convey that as a company and treat these owner operators with the respect they deserve. They are a critical component in the economic system of the U.S.”
He recently heard someone point out if all access to Los Angeles was cut off, there is only a four-day supply of food available. Lund calls that thought “sobering” and notes people just do not realize what a great transportation system has been built in this country due to all of the small companies working together.
“With the efficient distribution system throughout the U.S., you can pretty much get strawberries anywhere in the U.S. the year around, and this is true with most major commodities,” he says.
ALC Logistics
As for Allen Lund Company, he is particularly excited about a division of the firm, ALC Logistics. He developed the company’s Transportation Management System, building it from the ground up. It is the first one created and provides software solutions ranging from claims management to freight audits, and carrier contracts, among other features.
“It is pretty exciting. We are running about $1.4 billion through the system, working with the companies we have now, and we are just getting started,” Lund says.
As for the trucking industry itself, Lund is very interested in the development of driverless trucks. For example the technology is now available where you can follow someone on I-40 from New Mexico to Arkansas and never touch the steering wheel. He sees this addressing problems associated with hours of service regulations.
“I think we’re only five years or less away from it (driverless trucks),” he notes.
“If you can sell this to the driver by saying you are almost out of hours, then you put it on auto pilot. The driver can then go to sleep while the truck is moving down the road, and have your hours still available when you arrive at destination,” Lund observes. “It makes the single drivers like teams.”
(This is part II of a two-part series. The Allen Lund Company was formed in 1976 by its namesake. I have known Mr. Allen Lund nearly since the founding of the company. His son Kenny Lund joined the company 26 years ago this month. At that time the operation had 32 employees. Today Allen Lund Company has 500 employees, arranges about 250,000 loads a year, of which about 40 percent is with fresh produce. The company has 30 offices nationwide and will soon break the $500 million mark in annual sales. — Bill Martin)
by Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market
Philadelphia — Today marks four years since The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM) moved into its state-of-the art home at 6700 Essington Avenue. “Our facility is unsurpassed in cold chain management, product safety, comfort, security, staging, loading, and recycling,” said Sonny DiCrecchio, President/CEO. “We are proud to be the largest enclosed, fully-refrigerated wholesale produce marketplace in the world.”
Philadelphia has a rich history in the produce business. Tracing its roots back to colonial times, merchants once occupied vibrant Dock Street and later the Food Distribution Center, a modern concept in 1959. By 2000, it was evident that more space and upgraded facilities were needed in order to provide customers with the standards they came to expect.
After a decade of intense planning for a facility that has no equal, today’s PWPM is a modern marvel that establishes the highest global standards for distribution of premium produce. Nearly 700,000 square feet, the PWPM employs over 1,000 people in both union and non-union positions and donates over two million pounds of produce to local charities every year. Made up of 24 fresh fruit and vegetable merchants, buyers have the opportunity to compare products, brands, and price points.
“We wanted to share this treasure with as many people as possible,” said DiCrecchio. “That’s why we chose to open our doors to the public.”
Find out more about the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market at www.pwpm.net.
Here is an outlook for stone fruit shipments ranging from Georgia and South Carolina to California and Washington state. Also, are California vegetable shipments getting over the ups and downs caused by shipping gaps from the coastal areas?
Initial Georgia peach shipments from the Fort Valley area got underway the week of May 18th. With the arrival of June, Georgia peaches are now moving in good, steady volume. Shipments should continue most of the summer…..South Carolina peach shipments are on a similar schedule with a little more volume.….Meanwhile, California stone fruit moves into volume beginning in late June and continuing through July….Washington state stone fruit shipments will build in volume in August for peak peach shipments during September.
California vegetable shipments this spring have been anything but good and predictable for produce haulers. Is that about to change? Maybe, but don’t necessarily bet on it.
Hot weather in the early spring with shipments out of the desert areas and then the Huron District of the San Joaquin Valley, vegetables were maturing ahead of schedule. However, with the seasonal shift of California vegetables to the coastal areas, colder than normal weather has put harvest and shipments later than usual. It also has resulted in shipping gaps and lighter than normal volumes in many cases.