Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Southern Florida avocado growers are expected to harvest 900,000 bushels of avocados during the current season, which lasts from March to April of the following year. Peak loadings occur between August and November.
Brooks Tropical of Homestead, FL has the SlimCado, the trademarked name for its hydrocooled green-skin avocados.
Florida avocado shipments are expected to be similar to last season.
The Florida Avocado Administrative Committee of Homestead reports
Some consumers use hass avocados from California or Mexico for guacamole and Florida avocados in their salads.
The committee has states there is room for various versions of the fruit and you don’t just eat one kind of apple. Why eat just one kind of avocado?
Some consumers use hass avocados from California or Mexico for guacamole and Florida avocados in their salads. Florida avocados are larger than the hass variety, and they brown much more slowly, which means dishes can be prepared the night before they’re served.
During the off-peak season in Florida, they’re imported from the Dominican Republic. The East Coast and the South are the biggest U.S. markets for green-skin avocados.
J&C Tropicals in Miami has added a 50-acres to its grove for green-skin avocados. This brings the company’s avocado groves to 200 acres and is planning further expansion.
By U.S. Apple Association
USApple calculates the USDA’s August estimate of 253.6 million bushels (down 3 percent from the 2019 crop) would be the 9th largest crop since the government department began reporting apple production in the 1940s.
The 2019 apple crop was the 6th largest crop in history, said the U.S. Apple Association recently at the organization’s 125th Annual Crop and Outlook Marketing Conference. Apple exports also rebounded during the past year, with a 15 percent increase in volume.
At 262 million (42lb units) bushels, the 2019 apple crop was up 8 percent in volume from 2018.
The industry continued the trend to adapt to consumer preferences by increasing production of Honeycrisp, which is expected to rise by 12 percent, moving it ahead of Granny Smith and Fuji into third place in national production.
“With the 2018 crop, Red Delicious lost the position it had held for decades as the largest volume variety to Gala,” said USApple Director of Regulatory and Industry Affairs Mark Seetin. “Projections for the current crop are that Gala will continue to expand its edge over Red Delicious and will remain the largest volume variety produced.”
The 2020 top five produced apple varieties are: 1) Gala 2) Red Delicious 3) Honeycrisp 4) Granny Smith and 5) Fuji.
The top 3 varieties (Gala, Red Delicious and Honeycrisp) comprise 48 percent of all production. The top five varieties (adding Granny Smith and Fuji) comprise 67 percent.
Caution is urged loading Salinas Valley lettuce, which could cost you money due to rejected loads, claims or deductions from your freight rate.
Below is an update from Markon Cooperative Inc. of Salinas, CA regarding the explosion of plant virus and disease issues heavily impacting lettuce crops over the last couple of weeks in California’s Salinas Valley.
- Green leaf has been the least affected, but yields are down 20 to 50 percent in some iceberg and romaine lettuce crops
- Sclerotinia is not uncommon in late summer/early fall crops, but the Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus is typically not as widespread as it is currently being reported
- Harvesting crews are heavily trimming heads to detect and cull defects, but may not be able to eliminate these issues 100%
- Production crews are harvesting fields at a faster pace due to the increase in culled product; upcoming fields will have less time to fully mature
- Expect light weights, intermittent quality and shelf-life issues, and elevated markets for lettuce items for the duration of the Salinas season
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $8700 to New York City.
Both California kiwi and persimmon shipments are expected to be down this season.
Trinity Fruit Sales of Fresno, CA handles sales for Venida Packing Co. of Exeter, CA. Venida reports the 2020-21 California kiwifruit crop should be about 9 million tray pack equivalents compared to 10.5 million last year.
Kiwifruit is a storage crop, similar to apples, with packing being completed by the end of November, with shipments continuing out of storage until May. The company has seen a tremendous increase in loadings to retailers, but a huge drop in foodservice as more consumers are staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for persimmons, fewer shipments are predicted this season.
Persimmons are an alternate-bearing crop, with a heavy-volume year usually followed by a lighter one.
There are two main kinds of California persimmons. The fuyu variety is squattier, and it is eaten when it’s hard, like an apple.
The hachiya variety is more the traditional cooking variety, or it can be eaten fresh once it’s soft.
Persimmons are shipped to major retail chains and club stores from October until mid-December.
Venidi
Light loadings of onions from Idaho and Eastern Oregon got underway in mid August and as diggings progress, shipments of storage onions are now going on.
Haun Packing of Weiser, ID cites nearly ideal weather and growing conditions resulting in an excellent quality onion crop this season. Some growers began harvest in July and full harvest throughout the region was underway by mid to late August.
RPE of Bancroft, WI ships red and yellow onions out of the region for a couple of growers and notes the season is on schedule.
Baker & Murakami Produce Co. of Ontario, OR points out the 2019 season was a rough one due to adverse weather, then onion loadings were stymied this spring due to COVID-19. The company sees a lot of uncertainty is shipments for the next 8 to 10 months because of the pandemic.
Wada Farms of Idaho Falls, ID notes onions in the Treasure Valley are looking great due to ideal weather and a bumper crop is expected. Shipments should continue into April.
Snake River Produce Co. LLC of Parma, ID ships onions from August until April and is optimistic about the shipping season. Similar views also came from Eagle Eye Produce of Idaho Falls, ID, as well as ProSource Inc. of Hailey, ID.
By Northwest Pear Bureau
Pear growers and producers from Washington’s Wenatchee and Yakima valleys and Oregon’s Mid-Columbia and Medford districts have estimated this year’s fresh pear shipments at 16.6 million standard box equivalents, or approximately 366,000 tons of fresh pears. The estimate is coming in slightly above last season’s total.
Harvest started in mid August for early varieties Starkrimson and Bartlett in all regions, with growers to begin picking Green and Red Anjou and Bosc over the last two weeks of August. Specialty pears Comice, Seckel, Forelle and Concorde pears started near the end of August and into the first week of September.
Four leading varieties make the up 96 percent of the Northwest crop.
The industry is expected to ship 8.6 million standard boxes of Green Anjou pears, which will be more than 51 percent of the total crop. Other primary varieties include 4.2 million boxes of Green Bartlett pears at 25 percent of the crop, 2.3 million boxes of Bosc for 14 percent of the crop, and just under 1 million Red Anjou pears at 5.5 percent of the total volume.
The organic pear estimate is expected to come in at 1.96 million standard boxes – more than 43,000 tons which is nearly 12 percent of the total Northwest crop. Green Anjou and Bartlett combine for 74 percent of the organic crop, and Bosc and Red Anjou make up 14 percent and 6 percent respectively, with the remaining specialty varieties also available to fill out the crop year.
About Pear Bureau Northwest
Pear Bureau Northwest is a non-profit marketing organization established in 1931 to promote the fresh pears grown in Washington and Oregon, home to 87% of the US commercial fresh pear crop. The Bureau represents over 800 grower families and partners with outlets throughout the world in an effort to increase overall success with the pear category.
About 40 percent of pumpkin acres in 2017 were grown in five States: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas, and California. However, all state produce at least some pumpkins.
At Turek Farms in King Ferry, NY the company observes people are not going on vacation, because they are staying home and spending more on landscaping and cooking,” said Turek ships hundreds of loads of traditional orange jack-o-lanterns to retailers in the Northeast.
The majority of Turek’s pumpkins are ready the last 10 days in September and the first 20 days of October.
At Jackson Farming Co. based in Autryville, N.C., pumpkins for carving are ready to be shipped in mid-September, although a few loads go out to retailers who set up their produce departments up right after Labor Day. Jackson’s peak shipping period is October 1 – 15.
Washington state is expecting plentiful supplies of pumpkins and ornamental gourds, according to Bay Baby Produce of Mount Vernon, WA. The operation grows over 550 acres of pumpkins in the Skagit Valley, including 15 pumpkin varieties from pie to ornamental and three varieties of long-stemmed, hard-shelled pumpkins for decoration.
Bay Baby expects to started harvesting the second week of August and continues until October 15, with product shipping from the first of September until October 25. Bay Baby’s designs are shipped across North America and down to Mexico, with some exported to Japan and Taiwan.
Frey Farms of Keenes, IL starts picking the last week of August and first week of September, stocking up building up its inventory. Then right after Labor Day it starts shipping to retail stores.
Frey’s ornamentals, from mesh bags of white, orange and striped mini pumpkins to gourds and decorative corn, start ramping up the second and third week of September. However, most loadings of its jack-type pumpkins take place in October.
Avocado imports from Mexico have been similar to a year ago, and shipments will continue to increase over the next several weeks.
Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. of Fallbrook, CA notes the country’s flora loca crop started in mid-July with a limited number of trucks coming into the U.S.
Volume had dropped to 600 truckloads — about 25 million pounds — per week for a few weeks, but movement increased to about 30 million pounds per week and nearing 40 million pounds by the end of September.
Volume from Mexico will gradually increase over the next few months with the aventajada crop and then the regular crop peaking in January.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula, CA sees the estimate for Mexico’s summer crop being strong, with an estimated 20 percent more avocados than last year.
Volume of avocados from Mexico in August has been 50 percent greater than July’s volume.
In all, Mexico supplies 75 to 80 percent of the avocados shipped to the U.S.
Colorado vegetable shipments are moving in pretty normal, steady volume, while the majority of the state’s peach crop was hit hard by a hard freeze during the growing season.
Tuxedo Corn Co. of Olathe, CO, as well as others, began shipping sweet corn early August. The company has about 1670 acres of corn.
Fagerberg Produce Co. of Eaton, CO began loading red, white, yellow and sweet onions in mid-August. The company has 1,500 acres of onion and should be shipping through February.
At Sakata Farms of Brighton, CO, onion loadings have just started from its 400 acres. About 80 percent of the company’s product is yellow onions, with the balance being with red and white onions.
Hirakata Farms of Rocky Ford, CO lost some of its cantaloupe to hail, but the remainder of the melons are in good shape. The company’s watermelon crops will lack yields in some fields this season, but have great yields in others. Still, volume will certainly look good after losing 60 percent of their melons last year to weather.
Hungenberg Produce Inc. of Greeley, CO got underway July 10 with its conventional and organic carrots being shipped through November. The company has 1,200 acres of carrots, with 250 acres being organic.
At Mountain Valley Produce in Center, CO is starting to harvest potatoes this week in the San Luis Valley. Diggings should be complete by October 10th, with loadings taking place into the summer of 2021.
A freeze that dipped into the low 20s last April has resulted in peach shipments being down 85 to 90 percent at Talbot Farms Inc. in Palisades, CO. Instead of shipping 8 million pounds of peaches this season, the grower/shipper will only have about 800,000 to 1 million pounds.
Overall, Colorado peach shipments are expected to be down 65 percent from normal.
Talbot reports some orchards had full or near-full crops through the Mesa County growing area, although Talbot was not among that fortunate group. Delta County is just to the south are has a better crop. Crops there were less advanced during that April freeze.
U.S. apple shipments from fresh and processed production is estimated for 2020 to be 253.6 million (42-pound) cartons, down from 262.3 million cartons in 2019, according to the USDA.
Forecast apple production this season is expected to be lower in all states except Oregon.
Late winter weather in Michigan delayed development of spring buds and some orchards there suffered a severe freeze in early May.
The USDA’s 2020 estimates for fresh and processed apples, in 42-pound cartons, with percent change from the 2019 crop:
- California: 6.42 million cartons, down 11.5 percent;
- Michigan: 21.9 million cartons, down 2.8 percent;
- New York: 30.9 million cartons, down 1.6 percent;
- Oregon: 4.28 million cartons, up 20 percent;
- Pennsylvania: 10 million cartons, down 17.2 percent;
- Virginia: 3.8 million cartons, 15.8 percent; and
- Washington: 176.2 million cartons, down 2.7 percent.