Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Brazil has been exporting mangoes since the first week of August and will continue through December. It is projected to export 10.7 million boxes, according to the National Mango Board.
The primary varieties in Brazil are Tommy Atkins (81 percent), Kent (7 percent), Keitt (6 percent) and others (6 percent).
The volume shipped in the week ending August 3 was 28,560 boxes (4kg). In the same period last year, the amount shipped was 39,984 boxes.
Brazil is currently harvesting and/or packing the fruit.
The board reports that in Mexico, approximately 3.4 million boxes were shipped in the same week this year. In the same week last year, the volume was 3.6 million boxes.
Currently, the Mexican regions of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Southern Sinaloa, and Northern Sinaloa are harvesting and/or packing mangos. The top three varieties shipped were Kent (53 percent), Keitt (31 percent), and Ataúlfo (12 percent). There is also limited supply of Tommy Atkins, Manilla Rosa, Nam Doc Mai, and Manilla.
The NMB indicated that the volume of mangos shipped from week 32 (August 10) through week 37 (September 14) is expected to be 9 percent higher than last year, with arrivals expected between weeks 33 and 38.
Currently, the Mexican regions of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Southern Sinaloa, and Northern Sinaloa are harvesting and/or packing mangos. The top three varieties shipped were Kent (53 percent), Keitt (31 percent), and Ataúlfo (12 percent). There is also limited supply of Tommy Atkins, Manilla Rosa, Nam Doc Mai, and Manilla.
Family business Bland Farms in Glennville, GA., has been exporting Peruvian sweet onions for 28 years — and this year is shaping up to be a good season with a good-sized crop and quality.
A difference this year is Vidalia onion shipments are lasting longer, which can affect imports of sweet onions from Peru.
The Vidalia sweet onion season is running a few weeks longer than normal. Because of this, Bland Farms has slowed imports of its Peru premium sweet onions.
The company prefers to ship the Vidalias as long as they are available and the quality is good. Fortunately, Bland has been able to move most of the sweets it has out of Peru to Spain and Chile.
It’s a similar situation for Shuman Farms of Reidsville, GA. The grower/shipper expects the operation to start shipping sweet onions from Peru in mid-September.
Shuman has had a robust Vidalia season this year, and is prepared for a smooth transition to its Peruvian season.
G&R Farms of Glennville, GA, had recently visited Peru, where it met with the farm’s production team. Harvest was underway south of the equator and the crop looked good.
G&R Farms, which has exported onions from Peru for 15 years, sources its onions from the Ica and Arequipa regions in Peru.
Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, WA expects a big increase in organic Cosmic Crisp apple volume this fall.
The grower/shipper notes volume is finally to a point of making this a top apple variety organically.
Approximately 30% of Stemilt’s entire tree fruit volume is grown and certified organic.
Organic apples make up a large portion of the firm’s organics, and it is considered a leader in the hard-to-grow organic pears and cherries. The organization’s entire stone fruit program (peaches and nectarines) is organic.
While Stemilt is down on organic apples year over year, the 2023 crop was large and the marketer expects good volume on organics in the 2024-25 season.
Stemilt reports a 40% increase on organic pears, while the conventional pear crop is down.
Cosmic Crisp organic volume will be up significantly, and SweeTango is back on track after less volume last year. In contrast, Honeycrisp volume in 2024 is expected to be down nearly 17% compared with the 2023 crop.
Chicago — After record-breaking production last year, apple growers expect another high-performing year, according to a new report released by the U.S. Apple Association (USApple) at the organization’s 129th annual Outlook Conference in Chicago.
USApple’s Industry Outlook 2024* provides the most up-to-date data and analysis on U.S. and global apple production, utilization and trade. Authored by USApple Vice President of Insights and Analytics, Chris Gerlach, the report takes an in-depth look at the trends and forces – from political headwinds to weather events – that shape the U.S. apple industry.
*The Outlook Report is based on recently released United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates. After the presentation of those numbers, USApple members met in-person to discuss current growing conditions to formulate a more up-to-date production estimate. The final USApple 2024/25 crop year forecast is an adjustment of the USDA numbers based on those conversations.
U.S. Production
According to USApple’s analysis, total U.S. apple production for the 2024/25 crop year (CY) will be 259,517,252 bushels. This represents a 10.1% decrease compared to last year’s final production figure.
“Growers from across the U.S. are reporting the crop quality is excellent,” said Gerlach.
These figures are more comprehensive than USDA data, which only look at the top seven apple-producing states. USApple analyzes the production from states outside of the top seven and adds that back into USDA’s figure. It also incorporates feedback from growers based on what they’re seeing in the field every day.
At the varietal level, Gala is expected to retain the top spot with more than 48 million bushels produced, accounting for around 17% of the U.S. apple market. After Gala, rounding out the top five are Red Delicious (12.3%), Granny Smith (10%), Honeycrisp (9.8%) and Fuji (9.4%).
In general, the varieties on the rise include Honeycrisp, Pink Lady/Cripps Pink and Cosmic Crisp®. Fuji, Rome and “other” varieties have remained relatively consistent compared to 2019/20 production volumes. Varieties on the decline include Gala and Red Delicious.
According to USDA trade data, fresh apple exports totaled 46.4 million bushels in the 2023/24 CY (July to June). This is around 14 million bushels higher than 2022/23 export levels – an astonishing 44% year-over-year increase.
During the same period, fresh apple imports dropped by around one million bushels, a 15% decline. The joint effects of increasing exports and decreasing imports caused the already net positive fresh apple trade balance to grow to more than 42 million bushels.
The surge in fresh apple exports is largely attributed to the abundant domestic supply, competitive pricing abroad, and favorable positive trade policies.
Morris, MN– Fresha, a premier supplier of top-quality carrots has announced the beginning of the Minnesota carrot season. With an early start to planting, favorable weather conditions have set the stage for an exceptional shipments this year.
“We are thrilled with how this season is unfolding,” says Matthew Wulf, VP of Sales and Marketing at Fresha. “Our early planting has given the carrots a head start, and the combination of good moisture and recent heat has been perfect for sizing up the crops. The quality of the carrots looks outstanding.”
The favorable weather conditions have contributed to an expected yield that is slightly above average. In addition to a promising start to the season, Fresha has expanded its acreage for both conventional and organic carrots from 2023 to 2024. By increasing carrot cultivation, Fresha aims to provide consumers with more options and ensure a consistent supply of fresh, locally grown carrots throughout the season.
“We are also working closely with retailers to promote Minnesota Grown carrots,” Wulf adds. “Our goal is to highlight the exceptional quality and freshness of our local produce, and we’re looking forward to the opportunities to showcase the best of what Minnesota has to offer.”
For more information about Minnesota grown carrots or to contact a sales representative, please check out www.freshaproduce.com.
About Fresha
Fresha, a leading producer of premium carrots, takes pride in delivering farm-fresh, quality produce to households nationwide. Established in 2019, Fresha operates as an employee and grower-owned company, vertically integrated for seamless quality control.
Zespri has released its first full forecast for the 2024-25 kiwifruit season, with forecast per hectare returns up from last season for all categories, according to a news release.
The report predicts record levels for green and organic green.
With a total crop of more than 190 million trays to sell, Zespri was focused on finishing the second half of the season strongly, said Ted Brake . CEO of Zespri.
Zespri is headquartered in Auckland, New Zeland with its North American offices in Newport Beach, CA.
Brake said the latest forecast reflects both the strong season start and the competition seen more recently in markets, including from summer fruit.
“The industry put a lot of work into getting off to a really strong start to the season to meet early season demand and that’s set us up well in a year where we have a lot more fruit to sell,” Brake said in the release. “Although strong competition is always challenging around this time of the year, we’re already seeing signs that this fruit is moving off shelves and we expect this trend to continue over the next few weeks. The fact we’re on track for a strong lift in per hectare returns across all varieties this season, and record returns for green and organic green growers, is a testament to the hard work the industry has put in following a really challenging period.”
Increasing competition reinforced the importance of Zespri’s global supply strategy, set up by growers more than 20 years ago, Te Brake said. The strategy involves Zespri working with offshore growers in Italy, France, Japan, Korea and Greece to provide kiwifruit for 12 months of the year, allowing Zespri to have counter-seasonal supply in place to complement the New Zealand season and drive value for New Zealand growers, he said.
With the maximum 5,000 hectares of offshore SunGold plantings now allocated and the gap between supply and demand growing, the industry is discussing the potential expansion of its Zespri’s global supply program to protect value for the industry, the release said.
“The next stage of these conversations over the coming months will look at what a potential expansion of our [Zespri global supply] program might look like, as we make a decision as an industry on how ZGS can continue to deliver value for our industry,” Te Brake said.
Zespri says it is now seeking industry feedback on potentially expanding the current 5,000-hectare cap by up to 420 additional hectares of SunGold kiwifruit per year over six years across Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Greece. Depending on the nature of those conversations over the next few months, Zespri may consider formally seeking grower support for expanding the Zespri global supply program via a producer vote, which would require 75% support to proceed, the release said.
As the harvest soon gets underway, the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission reports the crop is shaping up very well.
The commission, which is part of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture notes some growers are expecting some of their best yields for this season thanks in large part of good growing weather. If this optimism holds this year will be much better than a year ago with Mother Nature was not nearly as cooperative.
At Matthews Ridgeview Farms in Wynne, AR this season’s crop is shaping up to be similar to last year’s thanks to good growing conditions in the state. Milder Arkansas weather, combined with an increase in sweet potato acreage has the company optimistic.
Garber Farms Lota, LA reports near perfect weather for their growing season giving high hopes of filling up their storage bins, unlike a year ago when there was extreme drought.
Markon First Crop (MFC) Asian-Cut Broccoli Crowns from the Salinas, California and Central Mexico growing regions are currently not available; Markon Best Available and packer label supplies will be substituted temporarily.
Salinas Valley broccoli crops are experiencing an uptick in insect activity:
- Diamondback moth larvae are feeding on outer leaves and crowns before pupating and emerging as adult moths
- While common to see increased insect activity in the late summer/early fall, an extended period of above-average temperatures created ideal conditions that growers have struggled to keep in check
- Although harvesting and processing crews for commodity and value-added broccoli packs are working to cull any product that shows signs of insects/insect damage, they are often difficult to detect and can’t be avoided completely
Mexican grown supplies are exhibiting similar defects from elevated insect pressure, with obvious evidence of insect damage in most packs.
Very thorough inspection and washing of commodity broccoli are highly recommended at the end-user level for the next two to three weeks.
Despite an early frost in August in Pennsylvania and New York, Eastern apple shippers say the fruit came through relatively unscathed are optimistic for the new season.
Hess Bros. Fruit Co, of Lancaster, PA like the way the crop is shaping up and expects it to be similar to last year.
Niagara Fresh Fruit Co., in Burt, N.Y., which is near Buffalo, N.Y., reports the crop in western New York should be much better than the 2023 crop when a late freeze hit the fruit already set and affected the finish of the final crop.
The company is expecting an average crop. Western New York experienced a good amount of rain, which will help with both fruit size and crop size.
The New York Apple Association of Fishers, NY, notes the warm temperatures are resulting in harvest around the state being about six or seven days ahead of normal. The state’s growers will produce about 32,500 to 32,700 bushels of apples this year, which is about 2.5 million more bushels than last year.
New York apple growers grow about 32 varieties commercially and start the season in mid-August with ginger gold, paula red, jonamac, zestar and then followed by mcintosh, gala, honeycrisp, cortland, macoun, empire and red delicious. Club varieties SweeTango, SnapDragon RubyFrost and EverCrisp join Rome, braeburn and fuji are later in the harvest season, which ends in November.
Rice Fruit Co. of Gardners, PA reports harvest began in August for Wildfire gala, honeycrisp and ginger gold in the Keystone State.
In its preliminary forecast for the 2024 Washington state fresh apple crop, a return to the historical norms after two unusual years is expected, according to The Washington State Tree Fruit Association .
The association provided the initial estimate of 124 million standard 40-pound boxes, following a survey of its members. In 2022, cool and wet weather resulted in a crop of 103.9 million, and in 2023, the crop rebounded with 136.1 million boxes.
“There is a lot of excitement as we are seeing a more normal harvest and excellent fruit quality this year,” Jon DeVaney, association president, said in a news release. “A moderate spring and a warm early summer created stable growing conditions, so our domestic and foreign customers can expect the flavor, size, color, and overall high quality that make Washington apples famous.”
The association said the moderate weather also helps the state’s organic growers, adding that organic apples make up about 16% of this year’s crop, up from 11% about five years ago. Growers in the state generate around 90% of the domestic organic apples, according to the release.
“Our growers work hard to deliver the apples that consumers want and enjoy, and for many consumers that includes organics,” DeVaney said.
The association said gala is the top variety produced in the state at 19%, followed by granny smith (14.5%), red delicious (13%), honeycrisp (12%) and fuji (10.5%).
Cosmic Crisp, developed at Washington State University, will make up 9% of this year’s crop, according to the association. Cripps pink will be about 7% of the crop, Envy and golden delicious around 3.5% each and Ambrosia at 2%.
Apples represent about 16% — or about $2 billion — of the state’s total farm-gate agricultural value in 2022 and exports about 30% of its apples, the association said.
“Thanks to more favorable growing conditions this past year, we expect the projected harvest to be not only high in quantity but also quality,” Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said in the release.