Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
The first shipping forecast for California kiwifruit has been issued, while we take a look at coming mango imports, and domestic apples loading opportunities.
California kiwifruit shipments are expected to be off only a little from a year ago when California growers produced 31,324 tons. An initial forecast this season, which is called by some “conservative,” estimates there will 30,449 tons of kiwi. About 98 percent of the U.S.-grown kiwifruit is produced in California.
Around 80 percent of of the crop is shipped to domestic markets, while some fruit exported, primarily to Mexico, Canada and Japan.
California kiwifruit shipments occur from late September until April
Western Fresh Marketing Services Inc., of Madera, CA. should start initial shipments the third or fourth week of September.
The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC, Hanford, CA., will have 86 acres of gold kiwifruit grown under large tents this season as the company plans to ship about 50,000 cartons of gold kiwifruit from October until January and possibly February.
Mexican Mango Imports
Imported mangoes from Mexico should continue through September. Light volumes of imported mangoes from Brazil are now arriving at U.S. ports. Brazilian mango imports will peak in mid October and run until November, with a projected 7.8 million boxes.
Meanwhile, Through the week ending Aug. 12th, Mexico had shipped about 67.9 million boxes, up from about 66 million boxes through the same week in 2016.
Apple Shipments
The U.S. Apple Association projects a 248.3 million carton crop for 2017-18, which would be 8 percent smaller than last year, but right on the 5-year average.
“There’s every reason to be optimistic about this year’s apple crop,” said Mark Nicholson, co-owner of Red Jacket Orchards, Geneva, N.Y.
The estimate is only 400,000 42-pound cartons lower than the USDA estimate from a few weeks ago. The estimate came at the conclusion of the association’s annual Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference, August 24-25 in Chicago.
The Washington crop is estimated at 159.5 million cartons, 1 percent higher than the 5-year average but 8 percent smaller than last season. New York’s crop is estimated at 28 million cartons, 1 percent above the 5-year average and nearly the same as last year’s production.
From South of the border in Baja California to just above the U.S., Mexican border and then up north in the San Joaquin Valley, good volume tomato shipments are coming soon.
Although Baja California tomato shipments have been under way since April, the seasonal increase in volume of Mexican tomatoes crossing the U.S. border at Otay Mesa, CA has just started.
August is typically a slower month, primarily since growers don’t plant as much because there will be homegrown garden tomatoes and regional production in the summer. When those summer tomatoes start fading, the larger commercial farmers come back for a fall season.
Everything from conventional and organic roma tomatoes as well as heirloom tomatoes and organic round tomatoes from Baja California started in June.
Higher volume shipments from this area south of San Diego in Mexico will ramp up in mid-October and continue into mid-January.
California Tomato Shipments
Meanwhile, shipments are also is underway north of the U.S. Mexican border.
West Coast Tomato Growers LLC, of Oceanside, CA, started shipping romas and round tomatoes in July, and supplies are expected to last into November. The company has increased its roma production 50 percent this season.
A decade ago, there were a handful of tomato growers in San Diego County, but now West Coast is the lone survivor. A primary reason is land values for home and commercial real estate, combined with the increase in Baja production. Labor and production costs also are cheaper south of the border.
Although the Baja California tomato farming production continues to increase, there is competition from California’s San Joaquin Valley. The valley has bee shipping tomatoes since the second week of June and will continue until the first week of November.
Hot summer weather in northern California led to below-average yields and some quality issues, but by September more favorable weather is expected that should result in better volume and quality out of northern California.
Northern California tomatoes – grossing about $4000 to Chicago.
Favorable weather across much of the United States is resulting in good loading opportunities for pumpkins and other fall items. Meanwhile an update on California grape shipments shows the best is yet to come.
Pumpkins are grown in almost every state and shippers in most areas see a good crop of pumpkins and hard squash for the upcoming season. Since these items are grown in so many states, most loads are regional or local.
While pumpkins are an American Halloween tradition, good volume typically occurs after after October 31st. Pumpkin shipments typically are brisk following Halloween as Americans prepare for Thanksgiving.
For example, Frey Farms in Keenes, Ill., started shipping its fall pumpkins the last week of August. Besides regular pumpkins, the company sells painted pumpkins as an in-and-out item and pumpkin tattoo kits – food-safe transfers that enable consumers to “paint” a pumpkin in a minute.
Van Groningen & Sons Inc. Manteca, CA starts shipping pumpkin and ornamentals around Labor Day.
Todd Greiner Farms of Hart, MI began shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals in late August.
Jackson Melons Inc., of Henderson, TX will start shipping carving pumpkins right after Labor Day.
Pumpkin Pyle of Floydada, TX is shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals, which will continue through until about October 20th.
California Grape Shipments
The California table grape shipments continues through the summers and by season’s end at the end of the year, maybe January, is projected at 111.4 million 19-pound boxes.
California grape shippers loaded 108.9 million 19-pound box equivalents, about 40 percent of which was moved from May through August. With the end of August, 60 percent of the overall crop had been shipped in 2016, but the season should last into January.
Over 85 varieties are grown in California, with the leading varieties being scarlet royal, autumn king, flame seedless, crimson seedless and sugraone. About 93 percent of the state’s grapes are seedless.
With California grape crop in 2016, 36 percent of the fruit was exported, mostly to Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.
by Giumarra Companies
LOS ANGELES – Giumarra announces it will be working with Bengala Agrícola to offer a 12-month supply of premium-quality golden Columbian pineapples grown in Valle de Cauca.
First shipments will arrive Sep. 4. Fruit will arrive on the East Coast via the Ports of New York and Philadelphia, and on the West Coast via the Port of Long Beach.
“Our grower Bengala is offering the only certified Costa Rican MD2 golden pineapple seed planted in Colombia,” says Tom Richardson, V.P. Global Development for Giumarra. “Our customers can trust the quality will be excellent and deliver a superior eating experience to consumers.”
The pineapples will be available in single-layer cartons of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 counts.
“Giumarra Wenatchee is excited to offer this specialty, high-value item to our North American customers every week throughout the year,” says Jason Bushong, Division Manager. “Valle de Cauca’s lower rainfall rate results in consistent pineapple availability year-round.”
Bengala Agrícola farms 700 hectares, or more than 1,700 acres, of golden pineapples. The grower holds certifications from GlobalGAP, ICA, and BASC (Business Alliance for Secure Commerce).
About the Giumarra Companies
The Giumarra Companies is a leading international network of fresh produce growers, distributors, and marketers that encompasses a world of freshness. Since its inception in 1922, the Giumarra group of companies has taken pride in a longstanding commitment and tradition of quality, service, and industry leadership to feed the world in a healthy way.
The Nature’s Partner brand represents the core of what we do: a partnership with our people, customers, growers, and the land and its fruits. Products packed under the Nature’s Partner label represent some of the highest-quality fruits and vegetables in the marketplace, having met strict standards for food safety, quality control, and flavor. The Nature’s Partner Brand Promise:
“We are committed to the people we work with and those we serve.
Very simply, we look to provide the best service and improve upon it every day.”
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