Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s first citrus crop forecast for the 2015-2016 season, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam released this statement:
“On the heels of the smallest orange crop in nearly 50 years last season, this initial citrus crop estimate confirms that Florida’s citrus industry is in a fight for its life. The health of Florida citrus is important to every Floridian – not just those who depend on it for their livelihoods. We will continue to fight to save the industry, its more than $10.7 billion economic impact and the more than 64,000 jobs it supports.”
Commissioner Adam H. Putnam has requested $18,700,000 from the Florida Legislature this year to support critical research, grow clean citrus stock, remove and replant diseased trees and more.
The USDA’s initial forecast of 80 million boxes of oranges, weighing 90 pounds each, is down 17 percent from last year season. This represents a decline of more than 67 percent since the peak of citrus production at 244 million boxes during the 1997-1998 season.
Heavy rains should keep pumpkin shipments lighter than usual around much of the country heading into Halloween (October 31st).
For example, Mike Pirrone Produce Inc., based in Capac, MI expects just 300 loads of pumpkins to be shipped this year This would be down from the 500 loads of pumpkins normally shipped.
West Texas pumpkin shippers have a similar story. If the prediction of 50 percent fewer shipments this season holds, it would be the lowest production in 20 years.
At Lusk Onion Co. of Clovis, N.M., average shipments are expected, but the product is maturing in smaller sizes than usual. The overall crop is being described as pretty average in volume, but the size is a little smaller.
There also have reports of pumpkin shippers in Indiana being particularly hit hard due to excessive spring rains.
Both North Carolina and South Carolina have taken hits in production thanks to Hurricane Joaquin and it’s drenching rains.
It’s difficult getting any current national production, or shipping numbers for pumpkins since about 40 states grow and ship the item, but mostly on a local and regional basis.
Apple shipments from West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are forecast to increase over 41 million pounds this year across the three states, according to the USDA. Meanwhile, imports of Chilean blueberries continue to increase.
Pennsylvania apple shipments should see a 32-million pound increase over 2014.
Meanwhile, West Virginia apple shipments are expected to increase by 8 million pounds, while Maryland apple shipments are projected to have a 1.6 million-pound hike.
Pennsylvania, which had 493 million pounds of apples in 2014, ranked fourth among 29 major apple-producing states. West Virginia ranked ninth, with 82 million pounds last year.
Chilean Blueberry Imports
Chilean blueberry production will continue to grow during the 2015-16 season, and global exports of fresh blueberries will be in the range of 218 million to 241 million pounds. This means an increase of 7 to 19 percent over the previous season’s exports of 203 million pounds.
North America is by far the largest export market for Chilean blueberries, with 67 percent of Chilean blueberry exports landing in this market during the 2014-15 season. Europe comprised 23 percent of Chile’s fresh blueberry exports and Asia 10 percent.
Chile’s blueberry acreage continues to expand, with about 39,289 acres currently planted. In 2014-15, Chile exported a total of 34.1 million boxes, with over 19 million boxes shipped to North America. In 2015-16, exports to America are projected to exceed 20 million boxes and reach new historic highs.
The first export peak is expected to be similar in timing to 2014, with projected exports of 9-13 million pounds in December.
Texas citrus shipments from the Lower Rio Grande Valley are underway.
Shipping started the first full week of October and will continue until April. While volume is still light, it is increasing and should be “normal” heading into November.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley has about 28,000 acres of citrus trees. With new plantings, over 30,000 of trees or expected in the next few years. These new plantings should result in greater yields, which could mean a 10 percent increase in potential shipments over the next several years. About eight million cartons are expected to be shipped this year.
Broken down, those eight million cartons are comprised of about 75 percent red grapefruit and 25 percent oranges. Last year, Texas shipped about 7.8 million cartons of citrus.
Though some groves are still coming out of production, the Texas citrus industry is gaining acreage.
Two devastating freezes in the 1980s, urbanization, marketing conditions and other factors drastically reduced the number of acres devoted to citrus in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, where grapefruit flourished for decades. But in the past decade, investment in the industry has been on the rise, which has led to some consolidation and increased plantings.
Mexican fruit and vegetable imports at Pharr, Tx, plus South Texas citrus – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
The California navel forecast of 86 million 40-pound cartons — up from 76 million last season — is larger than originally predicted. Shipments are just starting out of the San Joaquin Valley. Volume will be increasing as we get latter into October.
Central San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Lemon Shipments
Lemon shipments out of California and Arizona from the desert growing region, which will provide most loadings for the next few months, with volume expected to be off by 15 to 20 percent compared to a year ago. However, volume out of the San Joaquin Valley should be similar to a year ago. Lemons shipments will continue out of the desert until December before moving to the San Joaquin Valley.
Wisconsin Potato Shipments
Wisconsin potato yields are expected to average 440 to 460 hundredweight per acre, which is considered very good. A year ago, the Badger State averaged between 410 and 420 per acre, which also is considered to be good. (add # shipments per week) Harvest continues.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – grossing about $1000 to Chicago.
Red River Valley Potato Shipments
90 percent of the Red River Valley crop from North Dakota and Minnesota will be harvested in October. Some potatoes have been going directly into the fresh market, but most are being placed into storage. Average yields and shipments are seen for this season.
Grand Forks, ND red potatoes – grossing about $1750 to Chicago.
Most Florida fall vegetable shipments should be normal, except for sweet corn and green beans, which could see shipping gaps during the start of their seasons.
Keep in mind Florida vegetable shipments in the fall are much lighter than during the more active spring shipping season. Still, what product that is available will see brisk movement in light of the early October losses from rains that pounded South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Florida sweet corn loadings in the Belle Glade area normally start in mid November, but due to heavy rains that disrupted early fall plantings, most shipments will not start until after Thanksgiving (November 26). Georgia corn shipments, which began shipments in late September, should be finished by mid November.
Meanwhile, Florida bean loadings should get underway the second week of November, with light volume continuing through mid-December. South Florida cucumbers started about a week ago, with bell peppers starting around October 20th, with eggplant getting underway about the third week of November.
“With all the rains, this season started tough and it’s been the toughest one I’ve ever seen,” he said in early October. “So far, we’re not behind on anything. Weather can change, but we are where we want to be. We should have consistent availability if the weather cooperates.”
South Florida vegetables – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
Costa Rica pineapple exports to the U.S. and domestic Florida grapefruit shipments are facing their own problems, but for different reasons.
Adverse weather conditions and unfavorable exchange rates contributed to the decline in Costa Rican pineapple exports the first half of 2015 compared with the previous year. The drop was 15 percent less in volumes of the tropical fruit shipped between January and June, amounting to 933,800 tons.
In June there was severe fl0ooding in Costa Rica and estimated pineapple losses could reach 20 million boxes, with nearly 45,000 acres of fields damaged. Exchange rates have also hit exports over the past year, with the Costa Rican colón rising against the euro and, to a lesser extent, against the US dollar since August 2014.
The U.S. is easily the biggest export market for Costa Rica. However, those exports to American plunged by 19 percent over the period, totalling 473,000 tons.
Florida Grapefruit Shipments
Florida had a hot and relatively wet summer resulting in poorer quality grapefruit as the minimum maturity standards for brix and acid levels were lacking early in the season. This delayed harvest by about two to three weeks.
The Florida grapefruit harvest recently started and shipments are expected to remain strong through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. After the holidays, demand declines. In general, US grapefruit consumption is going down. Older people tend to like grapefruit, but because of changing demographics, the industry is losing the older customer base. Younger people do not prefer the taste of this citrus variety. Consumption is also suffering from bad publicity during the past five years as the fruit is believed to interact with certain medications.
Florida grapefruit shipments – grossing about $2100 to Chicago.
The California pistachio harvest is going full bore and the state accounts for 99 percent of pistachio shipments in the U.S. This year is an off-year for pistachio trees, and may be off even more than usual for this type of year.
A mild California winter failed to provide enough chilling hours, adversely affecting pollination. However, the California drought also is hurting.
California’s lack of water is also impacting yields because the trees form a shell first and during a later stage, the nut fills the shell during a critical time. As a result many trees are only producing shells and the share of blanks has increased significantly. At this point it is difficult to predict total shipments, but the hare of blanks in some orchards are as high as 70 percent.
Between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015 California exported 61 percent of its pistachio production. China is the number one market for the US, followed by the European Union. Iran is the US’ main competitor in pistachio production, and the U.S. is at a disadvantage in China because of Iran’s proximity to China.
The New York state apple harvest is in full swing and New York apple shipments should pick up once the harvest is completed in a few weeks.
The Empire state is expecting normal apple shipments and volume this season from the state’s 700 growers.
The Hudson Valley is the largest volume provider in the state. However there also are shipments originating near the western shores of Lake Champlain in the Champlain Valley. Further west in New York, the primary shipping areas for apples are Utica, Ithica, Syracuse and Rochester.
New York is the nation’s second largest apple shipper and is forecast to have 26.2 million cartons this year, or about 13 apples for each of the state’s 19.75 million residents, if those apples stayed in state. However, the state’s apples are shipped from New England to Florida.
The 2015 crop is expected to be slightly smaller than the state’s average over the past five years of 30 million cartons, but produce truckers won’t notice the difference. New York has new apple plantings resulting in new apple varieties such as Honeycrisp – alongside their old New York state standards such as McIntosh and Empire. The new varieties like RubyFrost® and SnapDragon® can only be grown by select New York state growers.
Hudson Valley apples – grossing about $2600 to Atlanta.
N
orth Carolina sweet potato shipments all of a sudden are not looking nearly as good this season, while fall vegetables soon will transition from Georgia to Florida.
While North Carolina may have dodged the proverbial weather bullet that clobbered South Carolina, the Tar Heel state still got hit pretty good. From a produce trucking standpoint, the biggest change will be with opportunities for hauling North Carolina sweet potatoes. The state’s leading produce item had fields hit with rains for two weeks. Then they have to wait for fields to dry to continue harvesting. Meanwhile, farmers are fighting the clock when the first hard freeze will end diggings. Bottom line – No specifics yet, but undoubtedly there’s going to be substantial losses in North Carolina sweet potato shipments for the 2015-16 season. This means reduced yields and quality problems….There’s currently a mixture of the old and new crop being shipped, averaging only about 200 truck loads per week. We’ll provide more info as it becomes available.
Eastern North Carolina sweet potato shipments – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
Georgia Vegetable Shipments
Blessed with sandy soil in much of Georgia, it helps absorb excessive rains that occurred recently with Hurricane Joaquin. Items such as cucumbers and squash are being shipped in light volume, but will be declining as we approach November. There are a number of Florida vegetable shipments that will start increasing with Georgia’s decline. Still, we’re talking pick ups in terms of pallets, not truck loads.