Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Markesan, Wisconsin — Alsum Farms & Produce grower partner, Trembling Prairie Farms Inc. is in full swing harvesting new crop Wisconsin Celery starting this week with the season expected to go through the first week of October. Located in the muck soils of Green Lake County, Trembling Prairie Farms is a family farm owned and operated by John and Connie Bobek along with their four children in Markesan. For more than a decade the Bobek family has been growing and packing locally grown celery serving the Midwest retail and foodservice markets. .
In 2012, Trembling Prairie Farms started with 3 acres of celery and today has expanded to over 45 acres. The farm starts with a celery variety that grows well in the Wisconsin climate. Peak freshness, a milder flavor and snappier crunch are all advantages of this locally grown celery variety.
The process of growing celery starts in local greenhouses in late February to early April and is then transplanted in 12 different plantings. Celery planting begins on May 1 with the goal of the last planting to be in the ground by July 1. Trembling Prairie Farms Wisconsin Grown Celery is available for distribution with ample volume of all sizes and packs available for the next 11 weeks, including:
- 24 count naked or sleeved
- 30 count naked or sleeved
- 36 count naked or sleeved
- 18 count celery hearts
“We’re happy to be able to bring our locally grown Wisconsin Celery to the market,” says John Bobek, farmer and owner of Trembling Prairie Farms. “Whether paired with peanut butter as a healthy kid-friendly snack, or chopped in a salad for an outdoor gathering, Wisconsin Celery offers a fresh taste for consumers looking for locally grown in the Midwest.”
Two medium stalks of celery offer many nutritional benefits including vitamin C, potassium and 2 grams of fiber all for only 20 calories. In the U.S., consumers eat on average six pounds of fresh celery annually. With its many nutritional benefits and versatility this crunchy, fiber-filling vegetable is delicious and good-for-you.
For more information on Trembling Prairies Farms Wisconsin Grown Celery, go to www.tremblingprairiefarms.com or www.alsum.com.
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Trembling Prairie Farms
Trembling Prairie Farms is a grower of Wisconsin red potatoes, yellow and red onions, and celery on 500 acres of rich muck soil in Green Lake County. Trembling Prairie Farms, a family owned and operated business, has grown to become a major supplier of Wisconsin-family farmer grown vegetables serving retail and foodservice markets.
About Alsum Farms & Produce
Alsum Farms & Produce Inc. is a leading fresh market grower, packer and shipper of Wisconsin grown potatoes, onions, and provider of fresh, quality produce. Established five decades ago and headquartered in Friesland, Wis., Alsum Farms & Produce is a vertically integrated family-owned farm, packing facility and logistics company providing quality produce. Committed to sustainability and stewardship of the soil, Alsum Farms grows 3,000 acres of Wisconsin Healthy Grown® Certified Alsum Potatoes along with pumpkins.
Record shipments occurred with Michigan’s 2022 apple crop. Although another record setter is not forecast this year, it is expected to come close. A year ago it was a record 32.4 million bushels (1.36 billion pounds).
The Michigan Apple Committee of Langsing, MI believes the crop will be approximately 85% to 90% the size of last year’s volume.
Honeycrisp, gala, and fuji are Michigan’s most popular varieties, while Cripps Pink (Pink Lady), EverCrisp and ambrosia are growing in popularity.
New trees are maturing every year at North Bay Produce of Traverse City, MI.
EverCrisp production has been increasing for the past couple of years, Pink Lady had good volume last year but will increase this season. Ambrosa shipments just recently started.
The company will kick off its harvest the last week of August with the Wildfire gala, Premier Honeycrisp, paula red and ginger gold varieties.
Volume should be up slightly at North Bay Produce, and some early summer rainfall will help sizing.
Sparta, Mich.-based Applewood Fresh Growers LLC of Sparta, MI will begin its harvest at the end of August with its early back-to-school variety, Rave, followed by the popular Sweet Tango.
Rave volume should nearly double last year, and SweeTango will up by 15% to 20%.
Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc. of Sparta will start its harvest the third week of August, three to four days ahead of last year.
Volume at Riveridge will be similar to last year with good quality.
The company has nearly 20 kinds of apples with the early varieties beginning in late August and the last one, Pink Lady, kicking off Nov. 1.
Honeycrisp, gala and fuji remain the grower’s most popular varieties.
Rice Fruit Company, based in Gardners, PA is a leading Pennsylvania grower, packer and shipper of apples, which has launched its 2023 apple season. The company is optimistic for a good crop.
In its 110th year of business, the company began apple harvest on early varieties in late July and started shipping in early August.
Rice Fruit reports the new crop is exceeding expectations due to sufficient rain and sunshine, along with cool summer nights, all leading to beautiful apples with great flavor.
The operation started shipping to retailers and distributors with their early apple varieties: Gala, Ginger Gold, and Honeycrisp.
Harvest of peanuts for the new season will be taking place mostly from a have a dozen southern states. Harvesting occurs from September into early November.
USDA statistics show states with the most U.S. peanut production are Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the U.S. peanut crop in 2022 was estimated at 5.57 billion pounds.
This year, the USDA reported on April 30 planting intentions in North Carolina totaled 130,000 acres, up 11% from 2022. For the entire U.S., the report said peanut planting intentions were 1.547 million acres, up 7% from 1.45 million acres in 2022.
Government reports indicate demand for in-shell peanuts produced primarily in the Carolinas is up 9.5% from August 2022 through March 2023.
Hampton Farms, based in Severn, NC has been in business 100 years has grown from a small family business to the leading roaster of in-shell peanuts.
The company has additional plants in Edenton, N.C.; Franklin, Va.; Springfield, Mass.; Lubbock, Texas; and Portales, N.M., Hampton Farms roasts, packs and markets finished nut products direct to customers nationwide.
A reduction in the projection of exports of Peruvian avocados has been lowered to 598,344 tons in 2023. The Hass Avocado Producers Association of Peru (ProHass) reduced the forecast after estimating shipments of more than 630,000 in March, according to La Republica.
This decline is even less than the 624,000 tons that ProHass announced in January and represents only 8 percent more than the 554,299 tons that were shipped in 2022. Until a few months ago, a growth of 14 percent was expected for the current year.
Juan Carlos Paredes, president of ProHass, attributed this setback to a harvest with fruits between 10-15 percent smaller due to the effects of the La Niña phenomenon in 2022. The estimate for shipments to Europe in 2023 had already gone from 358,685 to 341,850 tons.
“During the last few years, we have had a very large growth in avocado exports to the world. This year we expect to close at close to 600,000 tons, an advance of 8 percent compared to 2022,” Paredes said at a press conference.
ProHass expects export growth in the order of 10 percent by 2024. By 2023, it anticipates that demand growth will remain between 6-8 percent per year nationally and internationally.
“Initially, growth was projected at 14 percent, but we have reduced the figure due to a smaller fruit size. It is equally important, with Peru being the second exporter worldwide,” said Paredes.
It is not the only obstacle that the sector has encountered this year. The transit time to Asian countries –one of the markets most sought after by producers — has not yet recovered its pre-pandemic levels. Insurers also do not cover port diversion delays.
Consequently, the avocado is no longer exported to prevent it from spoiling along the way, and with this, the entry with larger volumes to still incipient markets for the Peruvian Hass avocado such as India, Japan, Korea, and China is lost. The latter has been multiplying the number of containers it receives.
“Transit times are long, which makes trade with countries on this continent difficult,” Paredes added.
Currently, Peru has around 60,000 hectares of Hass avocado, managed by a total of 23,675 producers. It is the second largest global exporter, only behind Mexico, to the point that 80 percent of the avocado consumed in the countries of Europe in summer is Peruvian.
The USDA July 12 crop production report showed reductions in 2022-23 estimates for oranges, grapefruit and lemons but an increase for tangerines.
The July report said the U.S. all-orange forecast for the 2022-23 season is 2.52 million tons, down 1% from the previous forecast and down 26% from the 2021-22 final utilization. The Florida all-orange forecast, at 15.9 million boxes (714,000 tons), is up 1% from the previous forecast but down 62% from last season’s final utilization.
In Florida, early, midseason and navel varieties are forecast at 6.15 million boxes (277,000 tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but down 66% from last season’s final utilization. The Florida valencia orange forecast, at 9.70 million boxes (437,000 tons), is up 1% from the previous forecast but down 58% from last season’s final utilization.
The California all-orange forecast is 44 million boxes (1.76 million tons), down 2% from the previous forecast but up 13% from last season’s utilization, the report said. The California navel orange forecast is 37 million boxes (1.48 million tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but up 17% from last season’s utilization. The USDA said the California valencia orange forecast is 7 million boxes (280,000 tons), down 14% from the previous forecast and down 8% from last season’s utilization.
The Texas all-orange forecast, at 1.13 million boxes (48,000 tons), is up 8% from the previous forecast and “up significantly from last season’s utilization,” the report said.
Good quality and volume are being predicted by California strawberry grower-shippers through summer and into fall despite an unfavorable start to the season.
The California Strawberry Commission of Watsonville, CA reported as of the week ending July 8, the state’s growers had produced about 109 million trays of strawberries this season, down from last year’s 128 million trays to date because of a slow start caused by cool weather and an unusually wet winter and spring.
In fact, Bobalu Berries of Oxnard, CA has called it one of the worst starts in a long time.
However, conditions have improved significantly as the season progressed.
Bobalu reports it has been able to harvest much longer than usual in Oxnard. Historically, the Oxnard strawberry harvest is over by Mother’s Day. This year, the company was able to ship fresh fruit all the way through Memorial Day.
By July, weekly strawberry shipments were comparable to last year’s volume at Bobalu. However, it is unlikely total volume for the season will equal last year.
Seven Seas, of Visalia, CA is part of the Tom Lange Co. Inc., of St. Louis, which believes its volume should be up slightly this summer,
The company produces late-summer and early-fall strawberry crops in Santa Maria, Calif., and Lompoc, Calif., and transitions to Mexico in November for year-round production.
Gem-Pack Berries LLC, of Irvine, CA, which recently partnered withWell-Pict Berries, of Watsonville, CA grows most of its late-summer strawberries in Watsonville, with some fruit coming from Santa Maria. A fall crop is scheduled for the Oxnard district.
Gem-Pack ships strawberries year-round, with volume tapering off in late fall in the northern district just as Oxnard and central Mexico start to increase. Strawberry seasons in Florida and Irvine come into play in early winter.
Naturipe Farms LLC of Salinas, CA will have summer strawberries from the Watsonville/Salinas area and will transition in the fall to its Santa Maria and Oxnard operations.
Shipments are expected to be good for apples, sweet corn, squash, onions, snap beans and many other items from New York state this summer, according to grower-shippers.
The New York State Vegetables Growers Association reports has production for the fresh market and the processors. Vegetables for processing are grown by operations with thousands of acres , but also includes small organic, niche growers, plus everything in between.
Most of the state’s farms are within four hours of many major metropolitan areas and distribute produce to a number of East Coast cities.
Eden Valley Growers Inc., Eden, N.Y., began harvesting green squash, cabbage and cucumbers in June, and corn by the second week of July. It had variety peppers by the end of July.
Reeves Farms of Baldwinville, NY reports good quality on its conventional sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, winter squashes, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, cabbage, pumpkins, peas and eggplant.
About 15% of the company’s production is organic grape tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, blueberries, zucchini, yellow squash and winter squash.
When it comes to fruit, the New York Apple Association notes apple harvesting typically begins in mid-August with Paula Red and ginger gold apple varieties. The Paula Red is a tart tasting apple and is one of the earliest varieties to be harvested.
The fresh-picked ginger gold is considered a great snacking apple in late summer.
The state produces over 250 apple varieties, 30 of which are available in commercial volumes.
Other favorites include jonamac, SweeTango, mcintosh, gala, Honeycrisp, SnapDragon, cortland, macoun, empire, red delicious, fuji, RubyFrost, Crispin, golden delicious and EverCrisp.
The state produced 32.2 million bushels of apples last season.
Eden Valley Growers plans to expand its value-added product offerings by increasing its production of packaged corn this summer, Walczak said.
Overall, volume for the 10-member co-op, many of whom are fifth- or sixth-generation growers, should be about the same as last year or possibly up slightly.
The Wisconsin potato season is getting started and in what seems to be a pattern over the past number of years, acreage and volume remain fairly stable.
The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Association of Antigo, WI reports
growers are looking at average yields of about 420 cwt per acre. The potato harvest typically runs from late July into October.
Wisconsin shippers move potatoes every month of the year by supplying product from other areas in Badge State supplies run out. In the calendar year 2022, Wisconsin shippers moved 7.14 million cwt of Wisconsin potatoes, with peak shipments in November.
Potato acreage is also expected to be flat compared with last year’s 66,500 acres, with some shifts between red and yellow varieties.
Roughly 38% of Wisconsin’s 2022 crop went to the fresh market. Only a small percentage of the state’s potato volume is grown organically.
Wisconsin yellow potato shipments are ready at Alsum Farms in Arena, WI with the first potato loads being washed, graded and packed for fresh market delivery to distribution centers and retail grocers the first full week of August.
“The first harvest of yellow potatoes at Alsum Farm looks promising,” says Larry Alsum, President & CEO of Alsum Farms & Produce in Friesland, WI.
Red potato loadings started July 31st.
Alsum Farms russet potato harvest will begin on August 11th with the Russet Caribou and Goldrush varieties. Both early season varieties will be the first of new crop russets to be harvested off the field and freshly washed, packed and delivered to retail grocers in the Midwest and beyond. In addition, new crop Wisconsin organic russet, red and yellow potatoes will be available for shipping starting August 14th.
For 50 years, Alsum Farms & Produce has been a leading grower and shipper of locally grown potatoes and onions and provider of fresh, quality produce. Join us for the Alsum Farms & Produce 50th Anniversary Community Celebration, Tater Trot 5k/2-mile walk, plant and farm tours on August 11 & 12!
About Alsum Farms & Produce
Alsum Farms & Produce Inc. is a leading fresh market grower, packer and shipper of Wisconsin grown potatoes, onions, and provider of fresh, quality produce. Established five decades ago and headquartered in Friesland, Wis., Alsum Farms & Produce is a vertically integrated family-owned farm, packing facility and logistics company providing quality produce. Committed to sustainability and stewardship of the soil, Alsum Farms grows 3,000 acres of Wisconsin Healthy Grown Certified Alsum Potatoes along with pumpkins.
The Scotlynn Group of Vittoria, Ontario has 5,000 acres of sweet corn, watermelon, asparagus, pumpkins and ginseng in Ontario. Volume is expected to be similar to last year.
The company launched its asparagus program the first week of May. Pumpkins will start the last week of August and continue until the end of October.
Welsh Bros.’ of Scotland, Ontario started its sweet corn loadings the week of July 10 with volume similar to a year ago. The company ships primarily independent supermarkets within Ontario, though the operation is looking to expand its distribution area.
Ontario Potato Distributors Inc. of Alliston, Ontario started its early white potato harvest in mid July as usual. Later potato crops will follow in mid-August, September and October. The company also has russet, red and yellow potatoes.
OPDI ships year-round, and volume should be up slightly on all varieties compared to last year. The firm packs its potatoes under the Champion brand and also distributes private-label tubers for chain stores throughout Canada.
August’s Harvest Inc. of Gads Hill, Ontario began harvesting seven varieties of garlic in July, but it already was shipping garlic scapes — the flower bud of the garlic plant — in June. The product is available in June, July and August. The company’s fresh garlic should be shipping until April.
Procyk Farms 1994 Ltd. of Wilsonville, Ontario began shipping numerous vegetables in mid July and has tomatoes, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, sauce tomatoes, red and savoy cabbage, sweet corn, zucchini and red, yellow and green bell peppers.
Quality is good this season, and volume is similar to last year.
The fourth-generation, family-owned company ships to customers on the Ontario Food Terminal as well as retail chains and foodservice operators.