Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
The Argentine Citrus Federation reports weather issues could delay Argentina’s citrus production in 2023.
Crops have been significantly affected by the changing weather conditions, including high temperatures causing heat stress. This is adversely affecting fruit size.
AFC is forecasting a 20 percent drop in production with lemons and as much as a 35 percent decline in oranges and mandarins.
Late rains have also caused growers to postpone harvest, hoping to improve fruit size.
About 70% of Argentina’s citrus production is exported, with 296,526 growing acres planted to date.
Main export markets for Argentine citrus include the EU, Russia and the U.S., with a very small percentage going to China, an emerging market for the category.
California growers and shippers are saying there should be good supplies and good-quality tree fruit, melons and other commodities this summer, despite a winter filled with unusually cold weather, combined with record rain and snow.
At the same time there will some items getting off to a later start than usual, and early volume on others may be less.
Trinity Fruit Sales Co. of Fresno, CA notes despite the rains, it really didn’t damage the product. However, the start of the season is experiencing a little lighter volume.
Early volume of peaches and nectarines is down because rain prevented bees from pollinating the flowers.
Trinity Fruit is optimistic about getting past early May and when it enters the main part of the season in June, July and August, when it expects a full crop and good volume on everything.
An early freeze affected the apricot crop, so it will get a later start. Supplies during May will be lighter than usual. However, good volume will be available in June continuing into early September.
Westside Produce of Firebaugh, CA reports California’s melon crop dodged the state’s cold, rainy winter.
Though the California melon industry has had a reduction in acreage over the past 20 years, things seem to have stabilized during the past five years. Volume has stayed the same due to better yields, even as some acreage has fallen off.
The company expects similar volume of cantaloupes, honeydews and mixed melons planted as in 2022 as in 2023.
As with other commodities, the season may get a later start, about late May, rather than usual for California’s Imperial Valley spring melon deal and the Westside summer program.
“I anticipate there will be some gaps throughout the spring, summer and fall based on the weather, water and environmental impacts we’ve seen,” he said.
Westside Produce recently joined with Classic Fruit Co. of Fresno to offer melons year-round.
Crown Jewels Produce of Fresno started its melon program in late April. The company offers cantaloupes, honeydews and watermelons as well as grapes, pears and pomegranates. All commodities will start 10-14 days later than usual because of rain and cold weather, but size and quality should be good. Volume should be similar to last year.
Grapes will start the last half May, pears will get underway the second week of July and pomegranates in September.
Nogales, AZ – The spring season and warmer weather is upon us, and for Divine Flavor, the grower, shipper will be in full swing with its melon program for the next 7 weeks. With watermelon (regular seedless and mini seedless), cantaloupe, and honey dew, grown both organic and conventional, the company anticipates a strong month of May with volume for their expanded melon program in Mexico.
Divine Flavor’s melon program, which is based in the northern state of Sonora on the outskirts of Hermosillo, normally starts around the first weeks of April but the season was delayed this year by a few weeks due to cooler weather in the late winter. Although the programs were pushed slightly, the company anticipates rebounding quickly for a strong month of May.
Elizabeth Smart, Melon Category Manager for Divine Flavor shares the importance this season will need to continue availability and dependability throughout the next month. “The season started now, and quality looks good and promising,” said Smart.
“We’ve added to all sides of our melon deal expanding our organic and conventional melon commodities which will be essential for breaking new ground with our customers and their needs. Each season we continue to grow with this commodity, and this adds to our ability to be a dependable source of quality melons of each variety all in one shot.”
Shipping continues until mid June.
ELTOPIA, Wash.–From the first spears poking up, to picking and packing, Washington State’s 2023 asparagus season is underway. Consumers can expect the harvest in stores starting this week, carrying into mid-to late-June.
Last year brought a shorter season of approximately 15 million pounds of Washington asparagus, with an economic impact of $27 million. These numbers reflect a tougher year that saw continued pressure from imports, a delayed harvest start, an unusually cool growing season, and increased domestic labor costs. Looking to the 2023 season, however, industry experts remain positive.
“Our growers are optimistic and off to a strong start. The organic asparagus production continues to tick up, currently at about eight percent, and newer asparagus varieties are naturally more resistant to soil disease,” said Washington Asparagus Commission Executive Director Alan Schreiber.
The local asparagus industry faces competition from year-round imports, especially from Peru and Mexico.
Washington fresh asparagus exceeds USDA U.S. Number One standards with Extra Fancy-designated stalks, evident in more tightly and evenly packed bundles. Washington asparagus also means a far smaller carbon footprint with quicker farm-to-market transit times, and more freshness, flavor, juiciness and quality over imported counterparts.
Asparagus also packs in the nutrients. It naturally contains a built-in detoxifier, an amino acid called aspargine, vitamins A, C, K, E, folate, fiber, and glutathione (an anti-carcinogen and antioxidant). It can aid in protection from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease and is fat-free and cholesterol-free.
When shopping, choose odorless, green (or purple) firm asparagus stalks with dry, compact or barely-opened tips. Wrap the bases of the stalks in a wet paper towel, placed inside a plastic bag, then refrigerate. Before eating, rinse the spears under cool water and snap off or cut the lighter stalk base. Find tips and recipes at waasparagus.com/recipes.
Washington Asparagus Commission – Established in 1991, The Washington Asparagus Commission promotes Washington asparagus domestically, monitors and addresses trade issues, and advances environmentally sound production practices through research. The Washington Asparagus Commission represents the growers’ interest in areas and issues relating to the asparagus industry. Learn more waasparagus.com.
Heavy volumes with avocados are being predicted for the U.S. market this summer.
Mexican avocados shipments are forecast to be big through May when Peru will start to ship some of its fruit. At this time both countries will be joined by the California crop, providing a strong supply of the fruit all throughout summer.
Peru has been experiencing rapid growth in volumes being exported to the U.S., and should peak around June.
USDA statistics show in 2022, 269.65 million pounds of avocados from Peru were shipped to the U.S. The Peruvian Association of Hass Avocado Producers reports in 2023, Peru expects to increase this volume further by 13%.
McDaniel & Chirico Worldwide of Fallbrook, CA reports Mexico and Peru have very large crops, which will compete with the California avocado starting later this year due to the heavy rains.
Mexico continues to expand its avocado production with Jalisco now becoming a new producing region of exported avocados to the U.S.
According to the Association of Avocado Producers of Jalisco, they expect to export, by July 2023, between 80,000 to 100,000 tons of Jalisco avocados to the U.S.
A very rainy winter in California has been especially good for California growers this year.
McDaniel & Chirico Worldwide notes it costs a lot of money to irrigate avocados, but growers’ costs for water were greatly reduced this year because of all the rainfall. Also, high amounts of rain help the trees leach out the salt from the soil and roots, which keeps trees healthier.
These factors have taken the pressure off of growers to pick fruit quickly to pay for their water costs. This means that they are able to hang the fruit for longer, allowing it to size up, which is why the season will start later, as there is no hurry to harvest avocados at this point of the year.
McDaniel & Chirico report they were already 30 million pounds into the crop at this point last season, and this year they are only at around five million.
The California crop will likely run until August this year.
Naturipe Farms is kicking off the blueberry season from its Southeast growing region.
The company began shipping “blues” from Florida in mid-April and is transitioning to Georgia.
Following two years of unfavorable weather events like hurricanes and frost, Naturipe is reporting good volumes of high-quality blueberries for Florida and Georgia of conventional and organic fruit.
Naturipe has a year-round availability of its conventional and organic blueberries through its Globally Local program. The company is among the first to market with Florida blueberries, fulfilling East Coast needs and allowing for a smooth transition from Chile to Florida to Georgia.
Little Bear Produce of Edinburg, TX reports hot south Texas weather – which already had been in the 90s and even reached triple digits – has been good for melon vines. The company is just starting to ship watermelons, honeydew, and specialty melons. The season will last until around mid-June.
Little Bear started shipping sweet Texas 1015 onions in early March as well as Honeysweet onions. The season has been good, with good markets, yields and quality. The firm’s Texas onions loadings are now winding down, with the focus now shifting to Georgia’s Vidalia onions.
While early spring heat has been good for Little Bear’s melon crops, it has taken a toll on the company’s greens and vegetable crops. This harvest started last November and is now coming to an end.
No matter how you look at it, 2022-23 is a down year for the U.S. fresh apple shipments.
The USAppleTracker report, released on April 10 by USApple, indicates the total fresh crop and current product remaining in storage is down from the five-year average and recent years. U.S. fresh apple exports are also substantially off. U.S. fresh apple imports, which are always a relatively small industry factor, are also down.
As of April 2023, U.S. fresh apples in storage stood at 50.2 million 42-pound bushels. This is down from 53.3 million in April 2022, and down from the five-year average, which is 54.4 million bushels for April. The five-year average for total seasonal movement before April is 67.3 million bushels. For the 2022-23 season, 52.3 million bushels have been shipped from holdings.
Processed apple holdings for this season are slightly down. As of April 2023, 21.1 million bushels were in storage. The five-year average as of April 2023 is 22.5 million bushels.
Monthly U.S. fresh apple export volumes have all been well below the five-year average. Except for matching the three million bushels exported in December of 2022 and 2021, export volumes for 2022-23 have slightly trailed the previous year, which was also a down year for volumes.
Since July 2022, U.S. fresh apple exports have ranged between about 1.8 million and the three million bushels exported in December.
In July 2022, the U.S. imported about 1 million bushels of fresh apples. There is a rapid monthly decline in import volumes, with very little apple import volume indicated from November through February.
To date for this season, total fresh apple exports are about 14 million bushels. Total imports are about two million bushels. Both these numbers are the lowest of the last five years.
As of April 2023, controlled atmosphere (CA) storage dominated storage techniques, with national fresh holdings in CA totaling 40.3 million bushels. Washington State apples accounted for 34.2 million CA apples. Refrigerated storage in April only totaled 9.9 million bushels.
Strawberry shipments in time for Easter were largely a wash from California, but shippers are counting on a cold and wet early season weather finally giving away to more normal conditions. If this happens there should be decent volume occurring in time for Mother’s Day, May 14, at least for some shippers.
The Salinas Valley was hit by record rain and snowfall followed by flooding and a levee break along the Pajaro River. While there was significant damage to the affected farmers, the outlook for this year’s California strawberry crop is quite good, reports the California Strawberry Commission in Watsonville.
Only about 5% of the strawberry crop was damaged from the storms. Still, the season got off to a slow start, with February and March production well below last year. The number of trays picked as of March 18 was about 5.6 million trays, down from 14 million at the same time in 2022.
Well-Pict Inc. of Watsonville expects to have good volume through mid May and total shipments this season to be similar to last year.
Seven Seas Inc. of Visalia, CA reports strong plants and expects excellent quality despite running later than last season.
Bobalu Berries of Oxnard grows strawberries in Ventura County and Santa Maria and reports its crop is a month behind schedule.
Success Valley Produce LLC of Oxnard, CA reports it is two months behind schedule and supplies will be tight for Mother’s Day.
A lot of optimism is found with the upcoming California cherry shipping season, although a cold, wet growing season is expected to delay its start by two weeks or more.
Primavera Marketing of Linden, CA will begin its 34th season of selling California cherries. While the company usually starts cherry marketing in late April and continues through mid-June, this year’s timetable is about two to three weeks later than last year, although more like and 10 to 12 days later than what is considered normal.
While a few growers may start harvesting in late April, volume will pick up around May 17 and build momentum through May 25.
Peak volume shipments are expected from about May 26 through June 15, while wrapping up by June 20.
It remains to be seen how much of an overlap there will be from California cherries to the Northwest cherry season.
Oppy of Vancouver, BC expects its California cherry season to get underway around the second week of May, with peak volumes between May 20 to June 10.
Oppy’s California cherry season will end around June 20, just in time to overlap with the start of the Pacific Northwest cherry crop. The company’s 2023 California cherry crop should see a big increase over the short 2022 crop, which was hurt by frost damage and poor pollination.
Once Oppy completes its California season, it will move up through Oregon and ending in British Columbia. In Oregon, Oppy is celebrating its 100th anniversary with Orchard View cherries in The Dalles, Ore.
The USDA reported total cherry shipments from California’s San Joaquin Valley in 2022 totaled 2,256 truckloads, down 59% from 4,442 truckloads in 2021.
Although there are some counter-seasonal imports, nearly 90% of fresh cherries in the U.S. are shipped in May, June and July.