Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
The Central Minnesota potato season kicks off the upper Midwest potato season each year and demand for trucks has been strong this year.
The season started July 24th with red potatoes out of Big Lake, MN as well as Long Prairie, MN although in most years Long Prairie gets underway a week to 10 days later. The two areas only have five or six major shippers, but they will load 4000 to 4100 trucks in roughly a six-week period. The season starts winding down after Labor Day. Central Minnesota russet shipments just started late last week.
The DeChene Corporation of Big Lake has finished its season, while Peterson Bros. River Valley Farms Inc. of Long Prairie should be finished by Labor Day. John Petron of Long Prairie should wrap up its season no later than the third week of September.
A few shippers in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota also market and ship potatoes from Big Lake and Long Prairie. While Big Lake and Long Prairie have wash plants, there are no storage facilities so they wash, pack and ship as much product as possible directly from there.
Some Red River Valley potato shippers, such as NoKota Packers Inc., of Buxton, ND ,which has both wash, packing and storage facilities handles early season spuds from Minnesota until the valley gets going. NoKota, which is one of the valley’s largest red potato shippers already had 44 truckloads of potatoes sold yesterday for this week (August 28 – September 1) that were grown in Central Minnesota.
A primary reason truck supplies can be in short supply, whether it’s Central Minnesota or the valley is the lack of freight to haul in into those potato producing areas.
NoKota Packers plans to get started with valley potatoes by September 11th. The valley’s largest shipper, Associated Potato Growers Inc. of Grand Forks, ND is hoping to get its season under by September 18th.
While shippers have been scrambling to get enough trucks this season out of Central Minnesota, load board service DAT recently reported a critical truck shortage occurred on August 16th out of Central Minnesota. It pointed out there were 23.4 loads of potatoes available for each truck posted! DAT reported at that time rates from St. Cloud, MN (which is 57 miles Southeast of Long Prairie and 27 miles northwest of Big Lake) were $3171 to Atlanta and $2652 to Dallas.
Yesterday NoKota Packers reported rates at about $3600 to Plant City, FL and $2800 to San Antonio.
Idaho farmers are ramping up to start harvesting potatoes soon. Plus, an updated report on how Michigan apple shipments will be in the wake of that spring freeze.
The 2017 Idaho potato harvest commences with days coming off of 308,000 acres. Over 700 farmers will be preparing to dig about 13 billion pounds of potatoes in a short six-week window.
This year’s crop, which will produce approximately one-third of all potatoes shipped in the United States, will contribute more than $4.5 billion to Idaho’s economy and provide more than 30,000 jobs. Idaho potato shipments are easily the largest volume in the country. Heres some more interesting facts:
When fall potatoes are harvested, approximately 62 percent will be used as processed products; 29 percent will be sold as fresh potatoes to retailers and foodservice operators; and 9 percent are grown for certified seed
- More than 25 potato varieties are grown in Idaho
- The average American eats about 113 pounds of potatoes each year
- Idaho potatoes are certified by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy food
- A 5.3-ounce potato provides 110 calories, 45 percent daily value of vitamin C, nearly twice the potassium of a banana, three grams of fiber, and are fat-, sodium-, cholesterol- and gluten-free.
- The potato is the world’s fourth-largest food crop.
- At a White House dinner in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was the first person to serve French fries in the United States
- New York consumes more Idaho potatoes than any other state, followed by Ohio, Florida and Texas
- The first potato was grown in Peru between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Michigan Apple Shipments
Following a hard frost on May 8-9 apple buds were damaged in certain Michigan production areas. However, opinions vary on how much fresh apple shipments will be affected this season..
Still, the majority opinion sees volume at about 75 to 80 of normal. In 2017 there was a huge crop that totaled 30 million bushels. Another difference this season will be timing. Crops of 2015 and 2016 were about three weeks earlier than normal. This season, the harvest and shipments will start on a more normal pattern, any day now with the Sweet Tango, Gala and McIntosh varieties.
The Ridge, which produces the majority of Michigan’s fresh apples, fared a little better, which is why the crop is not down more. The northern part of the state pretty much will have a full crop. Southern Michigan growers may be off 20 to 30 percent.
Northwest potato shipments from the Skagit Valley should be good this season. At the same time imports of Peruvian onions are looking favorable for American ports.
Skagit Valley Potato Shipments
The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington. According to Wikipedia, its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities including the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Sedro-Wooley, Concrete, Lyman-Hamilton and Burlington.
There are about 90,000 acres of land devoted to agriculture, which has long been the primary industry in the Skagit Valley of the Cascade Mountain Range. Farmers produce some $300 million in a variety of crops that include potatoes, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers and the iconic tulips and daffodils as well as livestock and dairy products.
The Skagit Valley grows over 80 crops on 93,000 acres annually, including” some 300 million pounds of red, yellow and white potatoes. Additionally, about 95 percent of the red potatoes grown in Washington state are grown in the Skagit Valley. The acreage is used to produce mostly fresh market reds, whites, yellows, purple, fingerlings and some chipping potatoes.
About 12,000 acres of potatoes are now grown in Skagit County, a number that has remained constant for the last year of available records, 2015.
Harvest is just getting underway and good volume shipments are seen starting around Labor Day.
Peruvian Onion Imports
Last year Peru exported about 3,500 containers representing nearly 108,000 tons to the United States, with similar volume expected this season, which begins in a couple of months.
Peru has 6000 to 7200 acres of sweet onions with the main production areas being Ica, Norte Chico de Lima, and Arequipa.
Peru imported sweet onions get underway as the Vidalia sweet onion storage program is winding down. Some U.S. onion companies have partnered with local Peruvian growers. Volume is growing each season by about 5 to 7 percent. About 85 percent of Peruvian onion exports are coming to the United States, arriving mostly by boat at ports on both the east and west coasts.
Nationally, cranberry shipments will be down this season. Meanwhile, favorable weather helps boost New Jersey to second place nationally in peach shipments.
Cranberry growers in Wisconsin are expected to have another big harvest this fall, although it will be less than last year when average yields reached an all-time high.
The USDA has released its latest forecast for the 2017 cranberry crop showing Badger State producers are projected to rake in 5.6 million barrels of the tart fruit, down nine percent from the 2016 crop.
The Wisconsin Cranberry Growers Association says producers will begin harvesting their crop in late September and continue through much of October. Approximately five percent of the state’s cranberries will be sold as fresh fruit, with the remainder being frozen and stored for dried cranberries, juices, sauces and more.
Nationally, about 9.05 million barrels are forecast to be harvested, down six percent from 2016. In Massachusetts, growers will harvest less than half of Wisconsin’s total production at 2.2 million barrels. Washington producers expect 2017 to be a good year due to favorable weather conditions.
NJ Peach Shipments
by New Jersey Department of Agriculture
TRENTON) –The USDA’s August Crop Production Forecast for 2017 sees New Jersey peach shipments rising to second in the U.S. The forecast, which is based on phone calls, mail, internet, and personal interviews with farmers in New Jersey and around the country, predicts state peach farmers will produce 48 million pounds of peaches this year.
“Conditions in New Jersey have been perfect for growing peaches this season, allowing farmers to have an extremely high yield of the juicy, sweet tree fruit,” New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher said. “We want people to know Jersey Fresh peaches are plentiful and available at supermarkets, farmers markets, and roadside stands. We appreciate the work the USDA does to keep produce buyers and consumers up to date on the current trends in the industry.”
New Jersey is on track to harvest approximately eight million more pounds of peaches in 2017 than it did last year, and is behind only California in peach production. The Jersey peach season should continue through mid-September.
The USDA surveyed approximately 21,700 producers for the crop production report. The producers were asked questions about probable yield. These growers will continue to be surveyed throughout the growing season to provide indications of average yields.
The August Crop Production report also forecasted a crop of 44 million pounds of apples for the Garden State, also up from last year. New Jersey cranberry producers expect to harvest 590,000 barrels, which would rank New Jersey third in the U.S. in cranberry production.
(Editor’s Note: Both South Carolina and Georgia suffered severe crop losses this year due to a spring freeze, allowing New Jersey to come in second in peach volume. Also, virtually all of New Jersey cranberry production is for the processed market, not fresh.)
The last half of summer is typically good for hauling California tomatoes as well as California table grapes.
California’s San Joaquin Valley mature green summer tomato shipments started in late July and will continue into November. About 500 truck loads of mature greens are being loaded weekly.
Caution is recommended when loading this product. There’s been some triple digit weather this season, which can stress the product and lead to quality issues. The weather is supposed to be in the mid to upper 90s this week in the Merced area, but inching towards the 100 mark by next weekend. However, in Brawley, scorching temperatures well above 100 are predicted all week.
In the San Diego and Baja California areas summer vine ripe tomatoes and romas are being shipping in a similar timeframe as those in the San Joaquin Valley. California tomato shipments have been good this summer as weather has impacted tomato seasons in Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee.
California Grape Shipments
Sun Pacific Marketing Cooperative Inc., based in Pasadena, CA is perhaps better known for its easy peel Cuties brand clementines and mandarins, as well as it Mighties brand kiwifruit.
However, it has become a significant player with table grape shipments and this season should move about 4 million cartons of grapes from the San Joaquin Valley. The company is looking to increase it grape volume by as much as 50 percent over the next few seasons.
California has steady loadings with grapes now and is averaging around 1700 truckloads per week. The vast majority of the fruit is still being shipped from the southern half of the valley, but this will gradually shift to greater tonnage coming out of more northern parts of the valley as we approach fall.
During the past decade more than two dozen grape varieties – red, green and black, have been introduced. This is leading to fruit with larger berries, more crunch and sweeter taste.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $6200 to New York City.
A USDA crop production report predicts U.S. apple shipments will be down 7 percent compared to last season.
The apple crop (both fresh and processed uses) should total 248.6 million 42-pound cartons, off from the 268.4 million cartons in the 2016 season. year ago.
On the up side, apple shipments from the Eastern state will increase. However, a significant decline in apple volume is predicted for the Central U.S. states, while a moderate decrease is seen in Western growing regions.
The Western states, led by Washington, are projected to total 170.4 million cartons, down 9 percent from a year ago, according to the estimates. The Washington apple harvest is running a few weeks later than 2016, according to the USDA, with good quality but slightly smaller fruit expected compared with the 2016 crop.
Washington state apple shipments are pegged at 159.5 million cartons, off 9 percent from the 2016 crop of 174.3 million cartons. The state is expected tol account for 64 percent of total U.S. apple shipments in 2017, down from 65 percnt in 2016.
In Eastern U.S. states, apple loadings are forecast at 55.7 million cartons, up 8 percent from 2016. New York, accounting for half of Eastern apple shipments, has a crop of 28.5 million cartons, up slightly from 28.1 million cartons a year ago. Growers and shippers there reported localized hail damage and noted rainfall and cool temperatures could affect fruit size, according to the report.
Apple shipments in the Central U.S. is forecast at 22.5 million cartons, down 27 percent from a year ago. A freeze in early May hurt Michigan crop prospects, according to the USDA. Michigan’s crop is projected at 19 million cartons, down more than 30 percent from 2016 output of nearly 28 million cartons.
In its Agricultural Prices report, the USDA said the average grower price for apples in June was 36.3 cents per pounds, down from 38 cents per pound in June last year.
The U.S. Apple Association will release its annual crop production estimate during the Apple Crop Outlook & Marketing Conference Aug. 24-25 in Chicago
Salinas Valley lettuce shipments continue with less ups and down in volume. Meanwhile, San Joaquin Valley table grape shipments will enter it biggest volume period of the season starting in September.
After a rocky start last spring hauling head lettuce and leaf lettuce out of the Salinas Valley, shipments have become more reliable and steady in the second half of the season.
However, there seems to be less overall volume this year, due in part to the stormy, water deluged fields earlier this year, and the fact a number of head or Iceberg major growers reduced acreage, in part because of the weather and partly due to past low prices. Those can result from over production, but just as importantly a lot of homegrown and eastern commercial operations are in full production from the Northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada.
Salinas Iceberg shippers are averaging over 1200 truck loads of product a week, and over 900 truck loads of romaine.
Leaf Lettuce Shipments
Spring plantings of leaf lettuce were erratic in a similar fashion to head lettuce. Items such a romaine, as well green and red leaf lettuce shipments haven’t been exceptional this season out of Salinas. There are freight advantages for buyers on the East Coast sourcing product much closer to home than California. As a result, a lot of California lettuce shipments are limited to the Western U.S.
Salinas Valley lettuce shipments, as well as broccoli, cauliflower and other vegetables – grossing about $4100 to Dallas, $7000 to New York City.
Grape Shipments
A generally hot weather pattern in the San Joaquin Valley since May apparently hasn’t hurt table grape quality, but if it continues could affect the quality of product being distributed around the country – particularly with red grapes and black grapes. It’s not unusual for the valley to have hot spells in summer, but not stretching out this long.
California growers are expected to ship 111.4 million 19-pound boxes of grapes this season topping last season’s nearly 109 million boxes. Over 60 percent of the volume will be shipped after September 1st.
San Joaquin Valley grapes, stone fruit and apples – grossing about $4600 to Chicago.
Stone or soft fruit shipments from Washington state are peaking. Meanwhile, here’s a round up mango shipments from key countries.
As the Washington state summer soft fruit shipping season enters final months, peak loadings are now underway for the next month.
For example, Stemilt Growers LLC of Wentachee, WA will be peaking with shipment of Artisan Organic peaches and nectarines that started in late July.
Based in south central Washington state, Artisan Organics peaches and nectarines are grown in arid and almost desert-like climates. These climates coincide with warm days, which allow peaches and nectarines to achieve high sugar levels and cool nights that allow the tree to rest and give stone fruit the opportunity to establish beautiful coloring. The climate combined with volcanic soils gives peaches and nectarines the necessary nutrients to flourish.
The company’s Douglas family transistioned to growing organic fruit about a decade ago.
Washington stone fruit, apples and pears – grossing about $4800 to Chicago.
Mango Update
by National Mango Board
The Mango Crop Report from the National Mango Board has been updated.
Mango volume shipped on week ending 7/29/17 was approximately 3.2 million boxes.
- During the same week last year, volume shipped was approximately 2.9 boxes.
Mexico Mango Shipments
- Mexican mango shipping season began in January and will run until October with a projection of approximately 74 million boxes.
Volume on week ending 7/29/17
- Volume shipped from Mexico was approximately 3.2 million boxes for a total of 62 million boxes for the season.
- During the same week last year, volume shipped from Mexico was approximately 2.9 million boxes for a total of 60.4 million boxes.
Haiti Mango Crop
- The Haitian season began in March and will ran until August with a projection of approximately 2.1 million boxes.
Volume on week ending 7/29/17
- Volume shipped from Haiti was approximately 5,053 boxes for a total of 2.2 million boxes for the season. During the same week last year, volume shipped from Haiti was not available.
Brazil Mango Crop
- The Brazilian season will begin in August and will run until November with a projection of 7.8 million boxes.
Please note:
- U.S. entry ports report incoming mango volume on different schedules; some report daily and some weekly. This will cause discrepancies between the volume shipped from the source and the volume arrived at the U.S. entry ports in any given week.
- Boxes are 8.8 lbs (4.0 kg). Boxes from Haiti are 9.9 lbs (4.5 kg)
2018 will be a big rebound for California avocado shipments, if some observers are correct. Conventional avocado volume is expected to hit 2.275 billion pounds in 2017.
The Hass Avocado Board of Mission Viejo, CA believes there will be a 90 million-pound increase from 2,189 billion pounds in 2016. There should be a lot more avocados for hauling next year, with early projections ranging from 400 million to 425 million pounds. Those statistics include avocados from California, Peru, Chile and the Dominican Republic.
Mexico exported 1.7 billion pounds of avocados to the U.S. the shipping year ending in June, which was off from the original estimate of almost 2 billion pounds.
U.S. avocado volume has been increasing an average of about 15 percent over the past 10 to 15 years, but 2017 was the first year when the total shipments declined.
As supplies of California and Peruvian fruit taper off in late August and into early September, loading opportunities will be limited until Mexico’s aventajada crop starts ramping up in September. California’s 200-million-pound crop was about half the size of last year’s.
With Mexico’s next crop starting in September, it is expected to significantly boost loading opportunities with an expected 1,000 or more trucks per week. Mexico will hit its stride after Labor Day,with 45 million to 50 million-pound being shipped a week.
Peru doubled its exports to the U.S. this year compared to 2016, according to the Peruvian Avocado Commission in Washington, D.C.
Peruvian growers will export 140 million pounds of avocados to the U.S. this summer, compared with 70 million pounds last year, and next year’s crop should be even larger.
About Hass Avocado Board
The Hass Avocado Board (HAB) is an agriculture promotion group established in 2002 to promote the consumption of Hass Avocados in the United States. A 12-member board representing domestic producers and importers of Hass Avocados directs HAB’s promotion, research and information programs under supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. Funding for HAB comes from Hass avocado producers and importers in the United States.
Ventura County cabbage and greens – grossing about $6900 to New York City.
Pennsylvania apple shipments have started, plus an update on how apples are moving from California operations.
Rice Fruit Co. of Gardners, Pennsylvania have recently started its stone fruit season, which will continue until Labor Day. Shipments started with the company’s Premier Honeycrisp apple, an early season Honeycrip varietal. It will be shipped until mid-August.
The apple grower/shipper started with stonefruit, which is a short, fast and furious season, before quickly turning to apples, including the seasonal varietal ginger gold, the first-to-market Premier Honeycrisp and shortly thereafter, gala.
Rice Fruit Co. today is the largest fresh apple packing facility east of the Mississippi. Besides the fruit grown by R&L Orchards, the company packs fruit for about 75 other fruit-growing families, mostly in Adams County, but some from as far away as Virginia and New York. The company packs fruit year-round, using 18 controlled atmosphere storage rooms. In the spring and summer months, it also stores and repacks fruit from the southern hemisphere.
California Apple Shipments
California’s apple shipments got underway in mid-July and continues through early October. The early California apple forecast projects about 1.6 million boxes of which about 1.2 million boxes will go to processing.
No doubt California is a minor shipper of apples compared to Washington state that ships more apples in a week than the Golden State does over an entire year. California does not store apples, unlike Washington which places most of its fruit in storage for a near year around shipping season.
Calfiornia is the first state in the U.S. to ship apples from a new crop every year.
Although a large percentage of California apples are sold domestically, nearly 20 percent of California apple volume is moved offshore to places such as Canada, Mexico and Southeast Asia.
Primavera Marking of Linden, CA, which ships 90 percent of its apples to retailers, just started harvesting Galas the week of July 24 It will start shipping Fujis around Aug. 15, Granny Smiths around Aug. 28 and Pink Ladies the week of Oct. 16.