Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Wonderful Citrus headquartered in Delano, CA reports its Halo loadings could be down about 2 percent this season, due to torrential California rains. The company accounts for 25% to 30% of the total category volume in North America.
Any decline in the fruit this season is being attributed to unharvested citrus.
Soaked land in a grove can suffer substantial damage from harvest equipment.
This winter the greatest rainfall is flooding the central and northern parts of the San Joaquin Valley. Wonderful grows Halos through much of the valley’s 200-mile length, ending at Madera north of Fresno.
Recent precipitation levels across the state are well above average for this time of year at about 130-160% of average. Still, despite the storms, most major reservoirs – before the January 9 storm – were still anywhere between 40-60% of their historical average fill.
Wonderful Citrus has geographically and climatically diverse plantings to optimize market availability through the season. The strategy also helps dodge widespread damage, as is being proven this month.
Halos are shipped from November until about June. In recent years, new varieties were planted to extend this season from mid-May. Halos’ largest volume peaks in February and March. Last year’s volume was very light. The 2022-23 supply is up at least 20 percent.
Halos shipped from November into early January are Clementines. In the second half of the shipping season, the Halos brand is composed of mandarins, Tango, and Western Murcott.
While Wonderful Halos are shipped across North America, the heaviest distribution is in the central United States, as well as the length of the eastern seaboard. To a lesser extent, the company has a presence west of the Rockies.
Torrential rains and flooding in the Salinas Valley has continued and many growers are looking to other areas for spring plantings.
Church Bros. Farms of Salinas, CA expects shipping gaps this spring for vegetables.
Normally leafy greens harvest in Salinas starts about April 1. That harvest date requires a Jan. 1 planting. Salinas growers – with those in much of California’s Central Valley – received constant waves of torrential rainfall through the first two weeks of January. The Salinas River is overflowing.
Cole crops in the Salinas Valley are planted in November and December. Those plantings are lost. Church reports two of its growers have 2,000 acres underwater. In all, 20,000 acres are flooded in the valley. However, the company is unsure exactly how much of that total is cultivated. Some of that acreage will have to be disked if it was already planted with crops.
The grower/shipper reports loss of acres could create a gap in April and the following months as there are new food safety rules in place which did not exist in 1995. These rules restrict planting fields that were affected by the flood waters for 60 days and the soil must be sufficiently dried out. After 30 days, growers have to test the soil again before it can plant.
The company indicates that the Salinas River level in 1995 reached 30 feet and the flood level was 23 feet. Church notes that in a recent comparison photo, the river was measured at 24.6 feet and the damage was nowhere near what it was in 1995.
Some growers were already shifting to plant in Yuma. That inherent danger is the potential crop-killing heat in April. If those fields can withstand heat through April 10-20 they will still be better off than trying to plant using a pontoon boat in Salinas. Other growers are planting in Mexico to compensate for saturated Salinas fields.
The USDA is projecting a 51% decrease in overall production for Florida citrus, with both Valencia and Non-Valencia oranges showing the biggest drops.
According to the entity’s Agricultural Statistics Board, harvest for next month will close at 20 million boxes. This is down 8 million from the October forecast.
The Sunshine State’s produce industry is among the most affected by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, with many vegetable production areas flooded in the Everglades. This negatively impacted both growing plots and yields, as crop planting was largely just beginning when Ian hit Southwest Florida.
Regarding varieties, Valencia oranges would show the largest decline in production with 13 million boxes, down 4 million from the October forecast. Current fruit size is below the minimum compared to the previous 10 seasons, the report states.
This is similar to the projection for non-Valencia oranges (early, mid-season, and Navel varieties), which is also to decrease by 4 million, dropping to 13 boxes. Fruit size is currently below average and is projected to remain so at harvest.
Grapefruit production is also expected to decrease by 200,000 boxes to 1.8 total. Red grapefruit forecast lowered from 180,000 to 1.62 million boxes, while white grapefruit forecast decreased 20,000 boxes to 180,000.
Tangerine and tangelo yields are also predicted to go down by 100,000 boxes, for a total of 600,000.
“Chances are 2 out of 3 that the current all orange production forecast will not be above or below the final estimates by more than 8.4 percent, or 8.3 percent excluding abnormal seasons (three hurricane seasons). Chances are 9 out of 10 (90 percent confidence level) that the difference will not exceed 14.5 percent, or 14.4 percent excluding abnormal seasons,” the report said.
Hapco Farms of Westhampton Beach, NY, has tripled its broccoli acreage on the East Coast this year and now ships domestically grown broccoli 12 months a year.
With new acreage in Florida and North Carolina, Hapco Farms reports it is now the largest grower of broccoli on the East Coast.
The company’s goal is to grow product as close to its customers as possible. It is moving acreage from Mexico to the United States, specifically the East Coast, which allows delivery of product fresher, faster and cheaper.
Since Hapco Farms already had acreage in these areas, expanding growing operations there was the natural next step, and it now has the ability to supply U.S.-grown product on a year-round basis.
Hapco’s broccoli season in Florida runs from December through March. It transitions to North Carolina for a small window in mid-May to early June before moving to Maine for the summer. North Carolina production resumes in late October and runs until Florida picks up again in December.
Having expanded acreage also will provide opportunities to grow and ship other commodities, such as cauliflower and sweet corn.
South American grape shippers will likely be looking to increase export volumes to the U.S. because of stagnant or less demand from European and Asian markets this winter, according to an article in FreshFruitPortal.com in a recent interview with industry veteran John Pandol, director of special projects for Pandol Bros., Inc., Delano, CA.
Pandol called the situation “scary” and “…could get out of hand,” with extra volume showing up because the European market can only take so much volume.
By contrast the US has regional independent supermarket chains that can respond to increased volumes and do this to compete against the big program buyers.
The first Peruvian grapes began to arriving in the U.S. in early November in anticipation of transition from California grapes, which occur in December or January, depending on the buyer.
At the same time Far East and Latin American importers are being conservative for both economic and supply chain reasons.
Those in the winter grape business is still feeling “burned” after Peruvian fruit stacked atop the peak Chilean volume early in 2022. The inclination now is to move Peruvian grape volume early to avoid another collision with Chile.
California’s grape season wrapped up several weeks ago.
A larger than normal amount of grapes were not harvested, for a variety of reasons. It is estimates 3-4% of the potential fresh crop was diverted to wineries or other byproducts.
California’s table grape estimate for 2022 was 97 million boxes. The final fresh volume will measure in the low 90s, by Pandol’s estimation.
Another important factor that may haunt growers is some of their new tasty proprietary varieties may be negatively impacting overall sales. In red and white seedless, varietal preferences lead many perfectly good reds or whites being forced into artificially short market windows or becoming obsolete all together. In blacks and specialty grapes the expectations for demand never materialized and now there is oversupply that simply goes unharvested.
In essence, he said the table grape industry faces issues relating to varietal preference, varietal obsolescence and an oversupply of niche grapes.
While excessive rains and flooding has temporarily disrupted normal shipments of winter vegetables out of California, there could be longer term affects if current plantings for the spring crops keep being interrupted.
Boskovich Farms in Oxnard, CA, reports heavy rains and cooler weather has adversely affected celery loadings. Located in Ventura County, more rains are coming this week and will dampen volume on leafy greens, Romaine, parsley and some of the other vegetables.
Boskovich has ben sourcing leeks, green onions and radishes from Mexico, but supplies there are short as well.
Gold Coast Packing Inc. of Santa Maria, CA also has been dealing with heavy rains and notes their cauliflower shipments have been affected the most.
/The grower/shipper sources most of its value added vegetables from the desert this time of the year. The product is trucked to Santa Maria, and packed before nationwide distribution. However, desert supplies have been lighter than usual.
Gold Coast reports a bigger impact from January rains will probably result in supply gaps in supply in March, April and May when the transition from the desert production areas to coastal California growing districts take place.
Church Bros. Farms in Salinas, CA, agrees the biggest potential impact from California’s current unrelenting rains is lack of shipments in the spring. Rains will prevent most growers from planting for the next week or two. Those fields currently being planted won’t be ready for harvest for about three months, which gives growers a chance to “catch up” if the weather cooperates. The company is currently planting for the start of the Salinas vegetable season.
Mexico’s leading papaya and melon grower, shipper and processor, Super Star International LLC, started shipping honeydews in early January and will continue into April.
The company’s honeydew melons has continued to increase in volume for more than 60 years, during the cooler weather months.
For three generations, Super Starr has farmed in the U.S (based in Pharr TX ) and Colima, Mexico to produce superior year-round papayas and winter honeydew melons by growing, packing, and shipping. With this type of total control, Super Starr ensures the highest quality of fruit is placed on store shelves.
Seeded Produce LLC, based in Rio Rico, AZ. Seeded distributes a full line of Mexican vegetables and melons and predicts fewer shipments this season.
The company believes lower yields are a result of cold weather, combined with a cut in acreage due to inflation increasing the cost of operations. While production figures are not available the company estimates it is off 20 percent.
There are fewer smaller growers venturing into agriculture because of all the increases due to the costs of inflation. It’s taken a toll on Mexico. At the same time the larger growers are producing less and being more careful in how they diversify.
Canada is expected to import more apples, pears and grapes in 2022-23, a new USDA report projects.
The annual Canada Fresh Deciduous report predicted both production and import numbers for apples, grapes and pears.
The report estimates Canadian apple production will grow 4% for marketing year 2022-23, as production has rebounded in Ontario and Quebec following adverse growing conditions in marketing year 2021-22.
British Columbia apple growers saw lingering impacts from the 2021 heat dome, and the 2022 crop will be reduced compared with 2021, the report said. Growers in British Columbia also experienced cool, wet conditions in spring, poor pollination due to bee shortages, and heat impacts through summer 2022 into autumn, with estimates suggesting production will be down 20% to 25% this season compared with marketing year 2021-22.
Hurricane Fiona negatively impacted apple harvest in the Maritimes with losses most substantial on Prince Edward Island, the report said.
Following two years of increases in Canada’s apple cultivated acreage, the USDA is forecasting a slight decline in marketing year 2022-23.
“Re-planting to higher density orchards will lead to production gains but minimize acreage expansion,” the report said. Higher land, labor, and input costs combined with labor shortages have negatively impacted expansion opportunities, according to the report.
Canadian pear production for marketing year 2022-23 is forecast to grow 15% because of a bumper crop in Ontario, especially of the bartlett variety, according to the report. The pear crop also improved in British Columbia compared with 2021, the report said.
Table grape production in Canada will decline 5%, but volumes will remain above the five-year average.
The first container of fresh Colombian mangoes recently arrived in the United States at the port of Savannah, Ga., according to a release from ProColombia. From there, 20 tons of the fruit was transferred to Gulf Port Mississippi to be distributed across the southeastern coast of the U.S.
This comes after several years of mango negotiations between the government of Colombia and the U.S. ProColombia says expectations for the mango industry are high, given that the U.S. imported $552 million in 2021 and has registered a growth of fresh mango purchases of 29% from 2018 to 2021.
The mangoes were grown at the Varahonda Farm in the municipality of Palmira and were packed at Frutales Las Lajas in Zarzal, in the department of Valle del Cauca. They are being exported by Trópico Produce SAS and imported by the American company Seasons Farm Fresh Inc.
With the addition of the U.S., Colombia now exports its mangoes to more than eight countries, including Canada, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, among others.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cecilia López Montaño, “there are approximately 35,000 hectares (86,486 acres) of mangoes in Colombia distributed in 22 departments, of which Cundinamarca is the largest producer, followed by Antioquia and Norte de Santander.” Colombia has production capacity for this product every month of the year.
Nick Bernal, CEO of the American Importer Seasons Farm Fresh Inc. of Miami, FL, thinks Colombian mangoes will start playing a competitive role within the market in the upcoming months.
“We know that mango consumption in the U.S. is very high, and Colombia — besides having many logistical advantages, such as several ports across the territory in the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Atlantic, as well as a strategic geographical location close to the U.S. — has one additional asset: It can produce mangoes all year long,” he said. “We began by importing in this shipment keitt mangos, but soon, we also expect to bring baby mangos,” Bernal added.