Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Wisconsin potato shipments should be good this season, as should be onion loadings from Idaho and Oregon.
The Wisconsin potato harvest has been underway for a few weeks and will continue into the fall.
Central Wisconsin potato shipments should average, with good quality. Nice color with yellows and red potatoes is reported, plus Wisconsin is shipping more niche potatoes like fingerlings, yellow and specialty potatoes.
Concerning national potato shipments this fall, it appears volume with be similar to last year, which means there will be plenty of loading opportunities for spuds. However, this won’t be certain for two months or more until product is in stoarges and the danger of frost damage is gone.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – grossing about $3300 to San Antonio.
Idaho Oregon Onion Shipments
A hot summer has led some Idaho and eastern Oregon onion growers to harvest onions as much as two weeks earlier than normal, resulting from triple digit temperature for a two-week span.
That acreage includes about 1,650 acres of red onions, and more than 500 acres of whites. The balance — and the vast majority — is yellow onions.
The region is expecting onion shipments to be similar to last year.
Loadings could be off a little because of the extreme temperatures. The Idaho-Oregon onion season overlaps with California and New Mexico.
Shipments from Idaho and eastern Oregon occur from August through April and rank second only to Washington state in terms of domestic acreage and volume.
Although yellow spot virus is a potential problem in some areas of the Northwest — including Washington’s northern Columbia Basin — Idaho and eastern Oregon growers claim the virus has not appeared to be a big issue for them this season.
Here’s an update on projected shipments of Washington apples, as well as a glimpse at Asian pear loadings out of California.
Washington state apple shipments are forecast to be their third largest on record. Loadings totaling 125.2 million 40-pound boxes of fresh apples are expected to be shipped. While this would be down approximately 10.5 percent from the 2014 record crop of 140 million boxes, it is just behind the state’s second-largest season of 128.3 million boxes shipped during the 2012-13 season.
Red Delicious remains the variety with the most shipments, representing a projected 25 percent of the crop. Gala is close behind at 23 percent, followed by Fuji at 13.7 percent and Granny Smith at 13 percent. This season, Honeycrisp is forecast to come in at 7 percent of the total crop, which would move it past Golden Delicious to become the fifth-ranked variety by production volume in Washington state.
The harvest started at the beginning of August for early varieties. Production typically peaks in September and October, finishing in November.
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $6000 to Orlando.
California Asian Pear Shipments
There has been a good transition from the Chilean season that is winding down to the California Asian pears in the second half of August. Shipments will continue into at least January, with similar volumes to last year out of the San Joaquin Valley.
Extreme heat in the second half of August had slowed California grape shipments, but volume is now picking back up. Meanwhile, you know fall is rapidly approaching when pomegranate and cranberry loadings get underway.
Grape volume have been hit and miss all season. At one point growers were waiting on green varieties to add sugar. In the second half of August, red varieties were taking their time to add color. It has made for an unpredictable years as far as steady shipments are concerned. Steady, more predictable shipments should come in the months ahead.
California grapes, stone fruit, melons and veggies from the San Joaquin Valley – grossing about $4800 to Houston, $6400 to Philly.
California Pomegranates
Very light volume from the Bakersfield areas has been underway for a couple of weeks, but will be strong from mid-October leading up to Thanksgiving (November 26th) with a resurgence in fresh pomegranate shipments prior to Christmas.
Cranberry Shipments
Fresh Cranberry shipments will get underway from Wisconsin and Massachusetts in late September, followed by Washington state.
About 33 million pounds of cranberries are expected to be shipped fresh in the U.S. this season, up slightly up from a year ago. Growers have seen market prices plunge because of new acreage that was planted in 2009. The U.S. produced 7.01 million 100-pound barrels of cranberries in 2009. In 2013, production was 8.96 million barrels.
The cranberry estimate for 2015-16 volumes is set at 8.6 million barrels.
Two leading fresh cranberry shippers are Habelman Bros in Toma, WI and Decas Cranberry Products of Carver, Mass.
Taking a look at Salinas Valley vegetable shipments this summer and you get a good hint at one reason why California produce have been less than stellar.
California’s coastal valleys near Santa Maria and Salinas have experienced unusually warm nights all summer long, which has resulted in some hollow hearts and other issues that basically reduced Iceberg and other varieties of lettuce volume and the weight of each head. Less tonnage per acre has resulted in a demand-exceeds-supply situation, with Iceberg lettuce prices topping $20 per carton.
The lack of lettuce quality is closer to what you normally find in late September or October. The lighter amount of lettuce shipments could continue until the end of the coastal valley deals in mid- to late October. In fact, improvements may not come until the transition to Huron in the San Joaquin Valley in the fall. However, many grower-shippers won’t be planting lettuce in Huron this fall because of the California drought.
The shortage appears to be mostly with various types of lettuce category, while supplies of broccoli, cauliflower and most of the other staple vegetable volumes are adequate.
Something else to consider is El Niño. Meteorologists studying the Pacific Ocean say the warm water patterns are surfacing from the equator to much farther north off the California coast which may mean very heavy fall and winter rains. If this weather pattern becomes a reality many low lying produce fields could become flooded, cutting into acreage and shipments.
Most are predicting that if the El Niño conditions that currently exist do bring huge amounts of rain, they will probably start in late September, with the brunt of the storms hitting from December through February. If that occurs, produce shipments could get cut short, and next season growers would have to delay planting in many fields. Enough speculation. We’ll have to wait and see.
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $4600 to Chicago; $6700 to New York City.
Here’s the outlook for Michigan apple shipments, as well imports for sweet onions from Peru.
Michigan has had three straight strong apple shipping seasons after having three very difficult seasons in a short period. In 2012 devastating freezes wiped out almost all of the state’s apples. In 2010 there was hail damage and a short crop. In 2007,T every district in the state had hail damage.
Michigan apple shipments are expected to be down only slightly last year.
Harvest of Paula Reds started about Aug. 15th, while Honeycrisp and Galas should get underway the second week of September.
Picking of Honeycrisp harvest should begin around Sept. 12-15 , while the Gala harvest will commence about August 30th. Red and Golden Delicious gets underway about September 29th and Fujis should start about October 25th.
Michigan vegetables and apples – grossing about $2600 to Dallas.
Peruvian Sweet Onion Imports
Peruvian Sweet Onion Imports will be down substantially this season from the 135,000 tons shipped during the 2014-15 season. Peruvian sweet onion hectares are down this season by 30 percent due to overproduction and very poor prices last season (1 hectare = 2.471 acres). About half of Peru’s onion supplies last season were available for export. The other half of the crop was left in fields unharvested.
Peru has planted about 3,500 hectares of sweet onions this season, down from normal plantings of 2,500 and 3,000 hectares. The United States is the main market for Peruvian sweet onions, receiving approximately 80 percent of the volume.
West Texas watermelons are now being loaded, plus here’s an update on California Valencia orange shipments in the latter part of the season before navels get underway.
Texas Watermelon Shipments
Watermelon shipments are underway from West Texas, with good growing conditions and rainfall report to be producing one of the regions better crops. For example, loadings are now taking place with Warren Produce LLC, out of Brownfield, Tx. Acreage is up a little in West Texas this season, particularly on seeded watermelon varieties. Shipments are expected to continue through August and September.
West Texas watermelons – grossing about $2600 to Chicago.
California Orange Shipments
California valencia shippers are reporting brisk loadings of high-quality fruit after a lull the first half of August. Volume has picked back up, especially with the kids starting back to school. Meanwhile, the forecast for the upcoming navel shipments, initially is showing lower volume ahead due to water restrictions.
Valencia shipments have been a mixed bag this summer, as growers approach water restrictions in different ways. Some shippers pushed heavy at the front end of the season, while others took a break and are now increasing shipments heading into fall. Valencia shipments should be strong until early October, about two weeks before growers transition to navels.
The initial estimate of 20 million cartons of California valencias could wind up being slightly high.
Southern California citrus – grossing about $5600 to Atlanta.
Here’s an update on California fall produce shipments, plus a glimpse at the outlook for Oregon potato shipments.
Among the leading items for fall produce loadings out of California are grapes, apples and citrus.
Grape Shipments
California ships over 60 percent of its table grapes after September 1st. Total California grape shipments this season are estimated at 113.3 million 19-pound boxes. So far grape quality has generally been good. However, we need to keep an eye on hot, humid and occasional rainy weather that could adversely affect quality.
San Joaquin Valley grapes and other items – grossing about $6700 to New York City.
Apple Shipments
California gala apple shipments got off to a slow start in mid July mainly because of Washington state’s old crop still being shipped. Loadings have now picked up. Fujis and granny smith apples shipments get underway in September, followed by pink lady in mid October. Primavera Marketing Inc., of Stockton, CA is the state’s largest apple shipper, with about 1.1 million boxes. The state’s apple shipments have taken a hit, however, with Bidart Bros. of Bakersfield, CA, pulling out of the apple business following a listeria outbreak at its packing facility. The company, which packed about 400,000 boxes of apples, is now focusing on other crops.
Citrus Shipments
California navel shipments should start in mid-October, although volume will be down this season due to 20,000 to 25,000 acres of trees being dozed because of the drought. For easy-peel fruit, satsumas will starte ahead of navels, in late September or early October.v Clementine loadings start soon after navels. Volumes should be up as younger trees come into production.
Oregon Potato Shipments
Oregon fresh potato shipments are expected to be similar to the 2014-15 season.
However, excessive heat could change spuds as the harvest progresses, especially if vines start dying early.
The table stock harvest started in early August from the Columbia Basin, with harvest in the Klamath Basin following shortly thereafter.
Oregon fresh potato shipments are 17 percent of total state production, with fresh acreage being approximately 7,000 acres.
Oregon potatoes – grossing about $4300 to Chicago.
Here’s an update on imported items arriving at ports on both the East Coast and West Coast of the United States.
Chilean avocado production this season is expected to increase a whopping 45 percent, estimated at 390 million pounds. Of this total, it’s estimate 100 million pounds will be exported to the United States, a significant increase over a year ago. For the 2014-15 marketing season, Chile had a total volume of 260 million pounds. Chilean avocados should start arriving at U.S. ports by September, with the best volume coming in by early October and continuing through March.
Chilean avocado imports have always had a strong following on the West Coast so volumes to this region are typically higher, although arrivals will occur at ports on both coasts.
Port of Long Beach imports, plus Southern California citrus, avocados, tomatoes – grossing about $4600 to Chicago.
South African Imports
Citrus imports from South Africa, as well as from Peru, are arriving in light to moderate volume, primarily at the Port of Philadelphia. Items range from clementines to oranges, tangelos and tangerines.
Avocado Imports
There is good volume with Chilean avocado imports arriving on both coasts, such as the Port of Long Beach and Port of Philadelphia.
South Florida Imports
There’s a lot of different imported produce items arriving at South Florida ports. However it is pretty light with commodities ranging from ginger to chayote, malanga blanca (yam) and clabaza (a large winter squash), among others.
The third largest apple shipping season on record is forecast for the 2015-16 out of Washington state.
Virtually all shipments, which will originate out of the Yakima and Wenatchee Valleys, are pegged at 125.2 million cartons, compared to the record 140-million-carton 2014-15 fresh crop. The new season forecast for shipments, if holds true, would be just below the 128.3 million cartons shipped in 2012-13.
The harvest this season, due to hot weather, got underway a week or more early with galas, which started August 6th. Apple haulers will be loading a rising amount of gala and Honeycrisp, but will see declines in red and golden delicious compared with the past three seasons. 10 million fewer cartons of red delicious are expected to be shipped this season, compared to a year ago.
Some Washington state growers have removed red and golden delicious trees and planted Honeycrisp and other varieties.
Red delicious apples now account for 25 percent of the crop, followed by gala with 23 percent, fuji at 13.7 percent, granny smith at 13 percent and 7 percent for Honeycrisp.
Honeycrisp has passed golden delicious in expected fresh shipments. Observers expect Honeycrisp production — near 9 million fresh cartons now — to continue to climb.
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $4700 to Dallas; $6500 to New York City.
From New Jersey, to Mexican imports in South Texas to the arrivals of Peruvian asparagus, here are some possible loading opportunities.
New Jersey Produce Shipments
New Jersey peach shipments are now moving in good volume. There are nearly 5,000 acres of red and white peach tree orchards in New Jersey.
The Garden state also is shipping cucumbers, squash, peppers and beans, among other veggies. Jersey planted 6,300 acres of sweet corn last year and similar acreage and volume is expected this year.
Peruvian Asparagus
As Peruvian asparagus growers move into their peak season, exporters are already ahead of the projected volumes for 2015. Peru produces asparagus throughout the year thanks to a favorable climate. Production areas are situated both in north and south of Peru, allowing exports to the United States after domestic shipments have finished. Peru exported nearly 220 million pounds of fresh asparagus in 2014, which represented an increase of 6.84 percent over export volume in 2013. The U.S. was the chief destination for fresh Peruvian asparagus, accounting for 60 percent of total volume. “Grass” arrivals are primarily at ports on both U.S. coasts.
Mexican Lemon Shipments
Beginning in mid-August, imports of Mexican lemons will start with product crossing the border at McAllen, Tx, which is during the seasonal gap between the California coastal and desert growing regions. Shipments through McAllen also offers a substantial savings on transportation for shipments to the Midwest and East Coast, compared to California. Product will be available through mid-October, leading into the start of California desert shipments.
Mexican fruits, vegetables crossing into the Lower Rio Grande Valley – grossing about $4500 to New York City.