Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Updated estimates continue to show fewer Red River Valley potatoes for hauling this season, plus here’s a look at California strawberry loads and Texas citrus.Fall Potato production in North Dakota is 20.8 million hundredweight, down 25 percent from 2015, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Yield, at 325 hundredweight per acre, is down 20 hundredweight from a year earlier. Area harvested, at 64 thousand acres, is down 16 thousand acres from 2015.
Red River Valley potatoes – grossing about $1700 to Chicago.
California Strawberry Shipments
January rains in California may have disrupted the harvest and shipments of strawberries, but the welcome moisture should bode well in the weeks and months ahead. Volume is building out of Ventura County leading up the popular St. Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Oxnard shipment should continue through April. In the meantime, light volume from the Watsonville area as well as Santa Maria will start in March.
Strawberries and vegetables from Ventura County – grossing about $6200 to New York City.
Texas Citrus Shipments
Citrus acreage in Texas is expected to increase from 27,000 acres this year to as much as 30,000 acres by next year, despite challenges like citrus greening and the Mexican fruit fly.
Most of the state’s citrus are Texas red grapefruit varieties, but there also are early and mid-season oranges, navels and valencias.
The season has been progressing smoothly and orange shipments should continue through March and possibly into April.
The firm started grapefruit in early November and expects to continue through April.
Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas grapefruit, oranges and imported Mexican vegetables and tropical fruits- grossing about $2500 to Atlanta; $2800 to Chicago and $4200 to New York City.
Consistent loading opportunities for imported melons are expected in coming months. However, an expected bump in avocado shipments leading up to the Super Bowl will not be as big as originally thought.
Steady imports of imported melons are seen throughout the winter season for distribution throughout the U.S. and Canada by truck.
Guatemala’s imports finished in late January, but will be ramping up again in March.
Imported Mexican watermelon volume is much better this winter and are dealing with El Niño-affected volumes like last year. Current Colima production will shift to Sonora from May through July.
Excellent fall and winter growing conditions in Guatemala have been very good for record melon yields and imports.
Mexican melons, tomatoes, vegetables crossing at Nogales, AZ – grossing about $3400 to Chicago.
Mexican Imported Avocados
There will not be any increase in imports of Mexican avocados for U.S.. produce truckers anytime soon from the state of Jalisco, which was planned for shipping in time for the February 5th Super Bowl. Avocado shipments typically increase significantly prior to the big game since it so popular with Super Bowl parties, etc. Still, there should be enough avocados to meet the demand.
Shipments from Mexico’s state of Jalisco — thought to be on track in mid-January — are expected to be delayed for three or four months. However, final clearances have not been approved and some issues apparently have to be resolved.
Jalisco’s share of Mexico’s 3.4 billion pounds of output is estimated at about 5 percent. The USDA reported that 2016-17 acreage of avocados in Jalisco totaled 44,000 acres, about 9 percent of Mexico’s total avocado acreage of 503,000 acres.
Mexico accounted for about 95 percent of U.S. avocado supply in mid-January, with light volume also noted from Chile, the U.S. and the Dominican Republic.
Mexcian avocadoes crossing through the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas – grossing about $4200 to New York City.
A small decrease is expected for Florida citrus shipments this season, while increases are projected for California and Texas.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates in its Jan. 12 report that Florida orange shipments will 71 million 90-pound boxes, one million less than expected in the USDA December forecast, a decrease of about 1 percent.
Loadings for midseason and navel varieties remains unchanged at 36 million boxes, but the forecast for the later valencia oranges is now 35 million, down about 3 percent from the earliered total of 36 million. These small changes are considered normal for season to season.
The good news is observers believe the citrus industry is gaining ground on fight citrus greening disease (huanglongbing) as new trees are now being planted.
The overall forecast of 71 million boxes of Florida oranges is 13% less than last season’s production.
Florida is projected to ship 9 million 85-pound boxes of grapefruit, off about 3 percent from the December forecast, with the expectation for red grapefruit steady at 7.3 million boxes and the outlook for white down from 2 million to 1.7 million.
The projection for tangerines and tangelos in Florida was up slightly to 1.52 million boxes from 1.5 million in the December forecast.
Southern and Central Florida citrus, strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $2400 to New York City.
California Citrus Shipments
California is expected to ship 53 million 80-pound boxes of oranges, up about 5 percent from the December forecast of 50.5 million. The state is expected to ship 44 million boxes of non-valencia oranges and 9 million boxes of valencia oranges. In December, the forecast was for 42 million boxes of non-valencias and 8.5 million of valencias.
The Golden State is expected to produce 4.1 million 80-pound boxes of grapefruit, up 2.5 percent from the December prediction of 4 million.
Forecasts for lemon shipments were down nearly 5 percent in California, from 21 million 80-pound boxes to 20 million, and down nearly 14 percent in Arizona, from 1.8 million to 1.55 million.
The expectation for California tangerines and tangelos was unchanged at 23 million boxes.
Southern California citrus, tomatoes and kiwifruit – grossing about $3900 to Chicago.
Texas Citrus Shipments
The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, should ship 1.45 million 85-pound boxes of non-valencias, up from a December projection of one million, a 45 percent increase. The forecast for 350,000 boxes of valencias was unchanged from last month.
The USDA projected Texas production will be 5.3 million 80-pound boxes, up nearly 13 percent from the December forecast of 4.7 million.
In the last 10 seasons, the January citrus forecast for the various regions has deviated from final production by an average of 5 percent, ranging from 15 percent below production to 10 percent above production.
South Texas citrus, Mexican tropical fruit and vegetables – grossing about $2800 to Chicago.
By California Avocado Commission
IRVINE, Calif. – Despite some consumer media stories stating that California had a short avocado crop in 2016, the California Avocado Commission (CAC) reported that last year’s harvest was above average in volume at 401.4 million pounds. It also delivered the third highest California avocado crop value on record. However, for 2017 a smaller California avocado volume forecast will mean a tighter window for supply and shipments.
“The California avocado harvest for 2017 is projected to be around 225 million pounds, and sizing of the fruit on the trees is looking very good now,” said Rick Shade, California Avocado Commission chairman. “CAC representatives and I have been out in groves in the various California avocado growing regions, and early sampling of the crop confirms the quality should be excellent this year.”
Shade has plenty of experience to be a good judge of avocado quality. A California avocado grower for more than 35 years, he learned the business from his grandfather. Shade served as CAC chairman of from late 2007 to late 2009, and was elected chairman again in November 2016. He explained that California avocados are an alternate bearing crop. Often, but not always, a larger crop one year is followed by a smaller crop the next season, which seems to be the case for 2017. Other factors contributing to a smaller 2017 California avocado crop estimate are weather-related events from 2016, and vary by region.
“The recent rains in California are good for this year’s crop as well as for next year’s,” said Shade. “We’re evaluating what the rain will mean in terms of harvest timing. While some California avocados are already in distribution in a few local chains, in general it looks like a ramp up of harvesting in mid to late spring.”
About the California Avocado Commission
Created in 1978, the California Avocado Commission strives to increase demand for California avocados through advertising, promotion and public relations, and engages in related industry activities that benefit the state’s nearly 4,000 avocado growers. The California Avocado Commission serves as the official information source for California avocados and the California avocado industry.
Southern California citrus – grossing about $5300 to New York City.
Chilean grape imports by U.S. importers should be much better than last season.
During the 2015-16 season, Chile exported a total of almost 85.5 million 18-pound equivalent boxes of table grapes. While there are no official estimates for 2016-17, table grape production is expected to be around 90 million boxes. The main variety out of Chile is globe, with global exports of more than 28 million boxes, followed by crimson with 18 million, thompson seedless with 16 million and flame seedless with 8.5 million boxes.
The Chilean grape season started a little earlier than normal, and by the week of Dec. 19th, Chile had shipped nearly 47,000 tons of grapes to the U.S. This compares with just 12,600 tons last season.
As of January 10th, the South American country had shipped 91 percent more than the same time last year; — 78,629 tons compared to 41,035 tons. Flame seedless, sugraone and thompson seedless were the main varieties that had shipped.
Total volume will be similar to last year and if not higher, although a significant difference will be in timing of U.S. imports, with the season starting and ending sooner than last season. In essence, Chilean grape availability will be condensed to about an eight to 10-week timeframe compared to the normal 10-12 week interval.
Heavy volume of imports are expected in the next two months from Chile’s southern region.
There were heavy rains in Chile last December the northern growing regions where early season grapes were the most affected, with some damage to flames and sugraones.
Still there is a 250 percent increase year-to-date in volume over last year, with a lot of loading opportunities coming at U.S. ports in February and March.
By contrast, Peruvian grape imports have fallen short of pre-season expectations while Chile is harvesting at a record rate, especially with red grapes.
One importer indicated that so far this year, there have been 16.3 million cases combined between Peru and Chile season-to-date compared to 12.7 million last year.
A second serious snowstorm ranging from 12 to 18 inches has caused the collapse of more onion storage sheds in the Treasure Valley region. Onion haulers had been showing up at some buildings, but had nothing to load due to the chaos. The weather forecast predicted much less snowfall and a number of companies shut down packing lines January 20th to focus all efforts to removing snow from roofs. Some onion shippers in Nyssa, OR are describing the event as a catastrophe.
Four buildings collapsed January 18 and 19 at Owyhee Produce in Nyssa, which included the company’s main storage facility. The operation lost around 20 millions pounds of onions in the storage shed. The good news is the packing shed had minimal damage and was planning to resume onion shipping on a limited basis this week.
The previous snow, followed by rain that saturated it, also caused numerous collapses. (See January 13th Trucking Report)
Murakami Produce of Ontario, OR was keeping its fingers crossed and has yet to lose any buildings, perhaps because it moved packing line workers to roof tops to shovel snow.
Snake River Produce in Nyssa, OR lost a facility January 19th in which it stores packed product. The building had about 20,000 bags of onions stored. The company was planning to convert another building to storage. It had lost another storage building, which had contained trucks but no onions, in the first snowstorm. It was hoping to start packing and shipping this week.
Golden West Produce, based in Nyssa has lost six buildings — three in each storm. The latest damage included the packing shed. Overall, about 30 to 40 onion buildings have collapsed in the last two weeks.
F.O.B. onion prices at shipping point have been increasing as a result of the weather-induced chaos. Around the holidays the price was between $4 and $5 cwt., but has increased to $8 and very well could go up more.
Idaho and Malheur County onions – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
Florida strawberries and tomatoes are leading produce shipments from the Sunshine state this month.
Florida has over 11,000 acres of strawberries are grown in the Plant City area each year, with Hillsborough County shipping about 15 percent of the nation’s strawberries and virtually all the berries grown during the winter.
Since late spring, the weather was good and the state has been leading the nation in strawberry shipments now for a number of weeks. Although small compared to California’s total strawberry shipments, Florida ships about 20 million flats each year.
Florida is loading about 1,000 truck loads of strawberries per week.
Florida Vegetable Shipments
Unlike some winters, Florida growing conditions also have generally been favorable for vegetables, leading to fairly stable shipments from week to week. Mature greens provide Florida’s heaviest tomato volume, with much less amounts coming from plum and grape tomatoes. However, if you add the three types of tomatoes together, they are averaging about the same amount of volume as Florida strawberries.
However, a major difference between hauling strawberries and tomatoes relates to geography. Florida’s strawberry shipments are concentrated in a relatively small growing area just west of Tampa. By contrast, Florida tomato shipments are spread throughout much of the state, with some areas being more active depending on the season.
At the same time, Florida also is shipping a number of other winter vegetables. However, volume with Florida vegetable shipments are much lighter this time of the year. While Florida may be shipping around 1,000 truckloads of mature green, plum and grape tomatoes each week, the next closest item is bell peppers, averaging only 250 truck loads weekly. Other leading Florida vegetables range from cabbage, to sweet corn, cucumbers, and beans, but the volume this time of year is only 50 percent or less that of bell peppers.
This will remain so until the last half of March, or April, depending upon weather conditions. All of this means mixed loads and only partial loads for the most part in the winter. Even during the heaviest Florida produce shipping season in the spring, multiple picks and drops are very common.
Grape production throughout the world is forecast to jump, rising 1 million tons to 21.9 million, as China’s growth continues and Turkey’s production recovers.
U.S. grape shipments is forecast to rebound back to near the 2013-14 record, rising 60,000 tons to 1 million tons, as vineyards recover from previous years’ adverse growing conditions. Exports are forecast up 37,000 tons to 365,000 on higher production and improved shipments to Asian markets. Imports are slated to rise 15,000 tons to 545,000 as consumption continues to grow and as domestic supplies are augmented by higher deliveries from Chile.
Chile’s production is forecast up 42,000 tons to 910,000 on abundant chill hours, warm spring temperatures, and good water supplies. Exports are expected to parallel production, rising 42,000 tons to 730,000 on higher shipments to top markets U.S. and China.
Peru’s production is anticipated to increase by 65,000 tons to 605,000 on higher yields in maturing vineyards and as new plantings come into production. Exports, averaging 60% of production the last 3 years, are forecast to improve to 370,000 tons as greater exportable supplies lead to higher shipments to the European Union and the U.S. Continued export growth sustains Peru’s position as the world’s second-largest exporter after Chile.
China’s production is forecast to jump 600,000 tons to 10.2 million on yields from higher growing area. Exports are anticipated to surge over 50% to 350,000 tons, as increased supplies and lower prices boost shipments to Asian markets, especially Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Imports are projected to maintain an upward trend, rising 20% to 300,000 tons, as strong demand continues to drive shipments from top suppliers Chile, Peru and the U.S.
Turkey’s production is forecast to rebound from last year’s frost-affected crop, rising 345,000 tons to 2.4 million. Russia continues its ban on Turkish table grapes; yet, exports are expected to rise 50,000 tons to 225,000 on rejuvenated supplies and higher shipments to Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia.
EU’s production is expected to slip 61,000 tons to 1.7 million, as decreasing acreage has been exacerbated by adverse weather in top producers Italy and Greece. Exports are forecast to contract slightly to 84,000 tons as production losses are reflected in lower shipments to Belarus and Norway. Imports are forecast flat at 610,000 tons.
Russia’s production is forecast to rise slightly to 103,000 tons as higher yields offset declining acreage. Imports are projected to decline further, dropping 25,000 tons to 230,000 as Russia continues to ban table grapes from top supplier Turkey.
Argentina’s production will drop 20,000 tons to 40,000, as a late frost damaged vineyards and high costs drove growers to raise wine and raisin grapes. Exports are expected to continue their downward trend, cut 3,000 tons to 8,000, and down sharply — nearly 90% — since their peak in 2006-07.
California grape shipments – grossing about $4400 to Chicago.
by The Michigan Apple Committee
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Apple industry set new shipment records eleven weeks in a row in from October 15 through Christmas, according to the USDA Specialty Crop Market News Service.
“These record numbers come as no surprise after the Michigan Apple industry reported an estimated record crop of 31 million bushels for 2016. Growers, packers and shippers have been working very hard to continue to move the apple crop,” said Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee. “These numbers illustrate not only that we have a large crop, but also that there is great retail and consumer demand for Michigan-grown apples.”
According to the USDA Specialty Crop Market News Service, the organization that tracks shipment numbers, the Michigan apple shipments totaled 330,150 boxes of apples the week of October 15. The weeks of October 22, 29, and November 5 each recorded more than 300,000 boxes. The week of December 24 saw shipments at 153,787 boxes, more than 1,200 higher than that week in 2013. Comprehensive shipment data for Michigan and the entire U.S. can be found at the USDA Specialty Crop Market News Service website, at ttp://www.marketnews.usda.gov/portal/fv.
“With the adoption of high-density orchard plantings, more trees in the ground and new technology from the orchard, to the packing line, to the retailer, this is a trend that will continue,” said Smith. “Michigan is poised to increase apple production into the future, and the Michigan Apple Committee is prepared to support that growth through retail programs, consumer education and research funding.”
With 11.3 million total apple trees in commercial production on 35,500 acres, Michigan is the second largest producer of apples in the United States, and distributes apples to 27 states and 18 countries.
The Michigan Apple Committee is a grower-funded nonprofit organization devoted to marketing, education and research activities to distinguish the Michigan apple and encourage its consumption in Michigan and around the world. For more information, visit www.MichiganApples.com.
Western Michigan apples – grossing about $2700 to Atlanta.
A snowfall described by some that only occurs every 25 years hit the major onion shipping area of western Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon on January 8, damaging a number of structures, including some storage sheds. Transportation has been very difficult due to highways being closed, or are difficult to navigate.
Beside the large amounts of snow that fell over the weekend, rains followed that made the snow even heavier.
Snake River Produce of Nyssa, OR, lost a storage facility. Although it didn’t have onions stored there, several trucks reportedly sustained heavy damage. Three other Nyssa onion operations had packing and storage buildings collapse. One company reportedly lost about 4,200 bins of onions.
In Ontario, OR one shed lost about 2,000 bins of onions when the roof gave way.
Haun Packing of Weiser, ID, reported the loss of a storage building collapse. While the onions had already been moved out there was some equipment inside.
Collapses in the region were reported to be about 20 structures, including four or five packing sheds, with storage buildings comprising the rest.
Facilities costing hundreds of thousands of dollars even before losses of product or equipment are tallied are expected to be very significant.
Avocado Shipments
California used to the place if a produce trucker was hauling avocados. However, you load avocados now, chances are good the pick up will be occurring in South Texas with imported Mexican avocados.
Mexico provide year-round availability and a consistent, high-quality fruit and is the primary reason for the astronomical growth in popularity in the U.S.
Before Mexico, It used to be avocado availability was inconsistent due to the alternate-bearing nature of crops in both California and Chile. Supplies would be typically in good supply one year and tight the following season.
However, avocados grown Mexico year after year tend to provide a lot more consistency in supplies and quality. Buyers for major American retail grocery chains like that.
Additionally, Mexico has four blooms each year and farmers can grow in altitudes ranging from 4,000 feet to 8,000 feet. This is not the case in Chile or California.
Imported Mexican avocados account for at least 75 percent of the avocados shipped to U.S. markets.
Some California avocado growers, as well as a number of produce brokers and shippers in the U.S. sell more Mexican avocados than their own product grown in California.