Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Here’s an update on the Michigan apple shipments, as well as U.S. potatoes, and mango imports from South America.
Michigan’s apple growers will harvest approximately 24 million bushels of apples this year for the 2015-16 shipping season. In 2014, Michigan shipped 24 million bushels (1.008 billion pounds) of apples, after shipping a record crop of 30 million bushels in 2013. In 2012 Michigan had only three million bushels, due to extreme weather conditions.
Apples are Michigan’s largest and most valuable fruit crop. The state ranks third in national in apple shipments, behind Washington and New York.
Potatoes
It is estimated U.S. fall potato shipments for 2015-16 will be 404 million hundredweight, slightly higher than the 403.7 million loadings for the 2014-15 season….North Dakota potato loadings are expected to come in at 23.5 million cwt., down 1.6% from a year ago.
Mango Imports
Peak U.S. arrivals of mangos from Brazil are expected to begin arriving this week, while imports from Ecuador will be arriving late this year.
The Brazilian season, which started in August, is running a little lighter than last year’s crop, although it’s on par with volumes from previous seasons. Total imports are expected to reach 6.7 million boxes by the time it wraps up in November.
Ecuador mango imports should be delayed this season because of cool weather. While shipments usually ramp up in October, sizable volumes could be delayed to as late as November. Additionally, it is estimated cooler weather could cut yields by 20 to 25 percent.
Here’s a round up of California produce shipments ranging from kiwifruit, to lettuce and honeydew.
California’s kiwifruit shipments should be a similar to last year, with initial production estimates pegged at around 6.5-6.8 millon 7-pound-tray-equivalents.
Last season, volume finished with about 7.4 million tray equivalents. Harvest should get underway for most growers the first two weeks of October. Fruit can be held in storage and marketed until about April of next year.
About 75 to 80 percent of production will be shipped within the U.S., with Mexico and Canada being the p;rimary export markets.
California Lettuce
California lettuce shipments have been down and will continue to be significantly lower than normal shipments until loadings shift to Huron in the San Joaquin Valley the second week of October.
Salinas lettuce continues to have quality problems because of trip digit temperatures this fall, which is resulting in seed seem that reduces yield and weight of the lettuce heads. Lettuce shipments out of Huron will last about three to four weeks as the new harvest of lettuce begins from the desert areas of California’s Imperial Valley and Yuma, AZ.
California honeydew
California honeydew shipments from California are down, partly due to less acreage planted due to the California drought. The state’s water shortage has growers cautious about overextending themselves with too many supplies and too little water.
Central San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – grossing about $6000 to Orlando.
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $5200 to Detroit.
If there’s any doubt Idaho is the king of potato shippers, consider the state is home to about 600 farms which grow potatoes for the fresh market and process.
Overall, potatoes are grown on approximately 324,000 aces, and will ship about 13 billion pounds of potatoes this season. That would fill about 500 football stadiums 10 feet high.
By early September, 50 percent of the potato harvest in western Idaho had been completed. The eastern side of the state was facing greater challenges with a lot of moisture and heat. Harvesting will finish in mid-October, with quality looking good.
Approximately 40 percent of Idaho potato shipments go to the fresh market.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $5100 to Philadelphia.
U.S. Potato Shipments for 2014-15
About 442 million cwt. of potatoes were produced in the U.S. in 2014, 2 percent more than in 2013.
Table stock (fresh) shipments accounted for about 107 million cwt. of that total.
About 1.05 million acres of potatoes were harvested in the U.S. in 2014, up slightly from 2013.
The average yield last season, 421 cwt. per acre, was 7 percent higher than in 2013.
While production was up in 2014, prices were lower. The value of the 2014 crop was about $3.66 billion, down 7% from 2013. The average price, $8.88 per cwt., was 87 cents lower than the price for spuds harvested in 2013.
Of the 442 million cwt. total, 404 million cwt. were harvested in the fall.
California’s upcoming Navel orange shipments are expected to be 86 million 40 pound cartons.
Of those cartons, 83 million are projected to be produced in the three-county Central Valley region comprising District 1 and represents an 8.5 percent increase over the 76 million cartons shipped last year.
The crop is believed to be at least the same as last year and probably bigger. Fruit size is reported to be larger, and fruit set — especially on late varieties — is better in most groves. The improved fruit size is attributed to timely rainfall and good growing conditions following petal fall last spring. Early rains this fall could result in additional growth that would equate to more cartons.
The external quality is very good and the extended periods of high temperatures this summer have increased Brix, so flavor is expected to be excellent this season. The crop is maturing well, with harvest expected to begin in early October.
Thousands of acres have been removed during the current California drought. The estimate of a 2,000-acre reduction in citrus groves is believed by many observers as probably conservative, in which case shipments could eventually come in below the 86 million carton estimate.
Central San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Northwest pear shipments are underway and estimated at 19.9 million boxes for the season. Both apple and pear shipments are increasing.
This is down slightly from an earlier estimate last spring. However, this will still be the fifth largest crop on record. It’s 4 percent less than 2014 but just 1 percent less than the five-year average. The record is 21.6 million in 2013.
Overall, the Northwest provide good loading opportunities, not only for pears this season, but apple shipments are predicted to be the third largest volume on record.
The Wenatchee district forecast was revised downward from 9.4 million to 9.24 million boxes.
The next district in volume, Yakima, is forecast down 12 percent, the Mid-Columbia (Hood River, Ore.) is down 7 percent and the smallest in volume, Medford, is up 16 percent.
Washington state is shipping nearly 500 truck load equivalents of pears a week, with weekly volume from the new crop still increasing.
Apple shipments from Washington are hitting about 1,800 truck load equivalents each week, but still increasing as new crop volume is on the rise, and the old crop winds down.
Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $6800 to New York City.
Virginia Apples
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects Virginia apple shipments to total 180 million pounds.
Virginia is ranked No. 6 among apple-growing states. Quality this season is reported to be good.
Georgia fall produce shipments are underway, and should provide steady, although only moderate loading opportunities. The Carolinas have light volume veggies.
There are adequate supplies of bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, sweet corn, green beans and cabbage coming out of Southern Georgia. One of the state’s largest vegetable shippers is Southern Valley Fruit & Vegetable Inc., based in Norman Park.
Another good sized vegetable shipper is Baker Farms LLC in Norman Park, Ga., which started shipping leafy greens, including kale and collard greens, on September 14th. Baker ships product throughout the year but increases its fall volume in September.
A number of Florida-based vegetable shippers also have farming and marketing operations in Georgia. One example is Pioneer Growers Co-op of Belle Glade, FL, which plans to start harvesting sweet corn and green beans in Bainbridge, Ga., in late September.
Carolina Vegetable Shipments
You’re probably not going to be finding full loads of produce in Georgia, and certainly not in the Carolinas this fall. There is light volume with greens from the Lexington, SC area, as well as from Eastern North Carolina. Even sweet potato shipments are lighter than normal from Eastern, NC. The old crop in virtually finished, while the harvest is underway for a new crop that needs to be cured before being shipped.
Otherwise, Western North Carolina has a number of vegetables ranging from bell peppers to eggplant and squash, all of which have light volume.
Growers from California’s two primary pear growing regions—Lake and Mendocino counties and the Sacramento River Delta—are wrapping up harvest this year with positive reports about fruit quality. The two regions combined should ship approximately 170,000 tons of pears this season that will be shipped to fresh markets ranging from retailers to wholesalers and foodservice operations, plus canned markets across the U.S. and around the globe.
The total California pear shipments for Bartletts is estimated at 159,500 tons.
Of the 159,500 tons of pears expected this year, 113,000 tons are sold to canneries, 37,200 tons to the fresh market, and the remainder goes to baby food, puree and juice.
Rivermaid Trading Co. of Lodi, CA is the largest grower, packer and shipper of fresh pears in California, representing at least 50 percent of pears packed in the state, Most of these are Bartlett pears, although there are other varietals such as boscs, red pears, French butter and Comice.
California pears – grossing about $6600 to New York City.
Chilean Cranberry Imports
Chilean fresh cranberries will be exported to the U.S. for the first time, beginning in 2016. The Southern hemisphere country, which has a season opposite those of this country, will harvest its cranberries March through May.
Fall produce shipments such as pumpkins, squash and ornamentals originate from about 40 different states and in most instances truckers tend to haul the products on a local and regional basis.
Shipments on the East Coast are starting about normal this year. For example, one shipper is Jackson Farming of Autryville, NC that ships a half dozen different varieties of pumpkins, as well as limited amounts of squash and ornamentals. Heaviest loadings will occur during October.
Another example is Todd Greiner Farms, based in Hart, MI, which ships a few different varieties of pumpkins, squash and ornamentals.
Lusk Onion Co. of Clovis, NM ships its pumpkins regionally to Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The company has pumpkins with a heavy red color as well as white pumpkins, but its best volume is the medium-size carving pumpkins, which account for about 80 percent of its business.
Finally, there is Van Groningen & Sons Inc., Manteca, Calif., which ships a complete offering of pumpkins and ornamentals. The company packs and ships pumpkins in 24-inch short bins and 36-inch tall bins, or in high-graphic decorative bins.
Florida avocado shippers expect to harvest smaller volumes during the latter part of their season.
Peak Florida volumes are July and August although the region continues to ship fruit through February. Late season loadings will be 10% lighter than earlier season shipments.
Overall, the deal, which typically begins in early June, is expecting to ship about 1 million bushels, lower than last year’s 1.2 million bushels
Avocado Imports
Chilean avocado shipments to the U.S. should be light again this season as they were in 2014-15 season.
It was September before any Chilean avocado imports reached the U.S. About 1.1 million pounds of Chilean avocados arrived the week of Sept. 6, with 3.3 million pounds expected the week of Oct. 4 and 4.7 million boxes the week of Oct. 18.
But even when Chilean volumes hit 4.7 million boxes, they will be dwarfed by an estimated 37 million boxes that week from Mexico. with the vast majority of it crossing into South Texas. The Chileans have developed a good domestic market for avocados and have been exported more to Europe.
Mexican volumes, primarily crossing the U.S./Mexico border at McAllen, TX, will be huge throughout the season. California is expecting a big crop in its upcoming season.
In August, Mexico shipped about twice as many avocados as it did in August 2014, with September volumes forecast to be up 50%.
By the end of 2015, a projected 2.1 billion pounds of avocados will have shipped in the U.S., 14% more than last year. And with the massive growth in Mexico, shippers can meet demand even if Chile winds up taking another largely hands-off approach to the U.S. market this season.
Mexican fruit and vegetable imports through South Texas – grossing about $2100 to Atlanta.
California broccoli shipments continue to struggle with volume and quality, while raspberry loadings have improved. Meanwhile, record walnut loadings are forecast.
Just about the time it seem Salinas Valley lettuce shipments are getting straightened out from unpredictable highs and lows in volume, a similar problem is now occurring with Salinas Valley broccoli shipments. Again, similar to lettuce, broccoli has been facing some quality problems such as brown bead, hollow stem and stunted growth, which are the side effects of hot weather. Some areas of the Salinas Valley have hit 110 degrees recently. While quality is expected to improve going further into September, volume could remain below normal for weeks. It’s always good to check what’s being loaded onto the truck, so the buyer (receiver) knows what is being delivered.
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $6800 to New York City.
Berry Shipments
Raspberry shipments from the Salinas/Watsonville district have improved in the past week as the weather has cooled. The berries are grown under hoops and inside the hoops, and it was simply too hot. This time of the year, raspberry production is limited to the Watsonville and Salinas areas. Shipments of the fruit normally occur from May through October.
Watsonville/Salinas berries – grossing about $4500 to Dallas.
Walnut Shipments
This year’s California walnut production from the San Joaquin Valley is forecast at a record 575,000 tons despite a lack of chilling hours during winter and the California drought that continues to impact the state. The forecast is up 1 percent from 2014’s production of 570,000 tons.
According to the USDA, California walnut acreage amounted to 181,000 in 1990 and increased every year to 300,000 acres in 2015. In the past decade alone, acreage increased by 40 percent. The number of trees per acre went up significantly as well.