Posts Tagged “apple shipments”
In typical fall fashion here are some of the better loading opportunities from four important produce U.S. shipping states.
Washington:
While apple shipments may not set a record this season, plenty will be available for hauling as another big crop is forecast. Last season harvest was so huge, believe it or not, some shippers are still loading “old” apples from last season. That’s okay, if your receiver is aware of it. Just make sure they know what is being loaded. Nearly 1800 truckload equivalents of apples are being loaded weekly primarily from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. Around 400 truckload equivalents of Washington pears are being shipped as well, with the best volume yet to come.
Idaho and Oregon
Another big crop of Idaho potatoes will be shipped between now and late next summer. Nearly 1600 truckload equivalents of primarily russet potatoes are being loaded weekly from the four primarily Idaho shipping areas lead by the Idaho Falls area.
Western Idaho and Malhuer County Oregon are shipping over 600 truckloads on storage onions per week. Last winter a number of onion storage sheds and other buildings were heavily damaged in Nyssa and Ontario, Oregon due to two separate winter storms, but adequate facilities appear to be in place for the new shipping season.
South Texas Produce Shipments
Literally dozens of tropical fruits and vegetables are crossing the border from Mexico at Pharr, Texas, but a majority of the are in light volume at this point. Vine ripe tomatoes are perhaps providing the heaviest volume with about 500 truckloads per week. Limes may be among the heavier volume tropical fruits with nearly 350 truckloads weekly.
Many Mexican items are just getting underway and in the coming weeks will provide better hauling opportunities ranging from strawberries to raspberries, honeydew, papayas and pineapples among others.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley grapefruit harvest is barely underway with good volume arriving in November.
A new production, storage and shipping for produce is coming to Burlington, WA. Meanwhile, shipments of the popular SweeTango apples are well under way.
by Bay Baby Produce Inc.
Burlington, WA – Bay Baby Produce Inc., a North American grower and leader in painted pumpkins, long stem ornamentals, and winter organic squash, has broken ground on their new state of the art facility.
After a long process of approvals, Bay Baby Produce Inc. broke ground on their new, state of the art, facility mid June. The new 55,000 square foot facility will offer expansive production, storage and shipping capabilities, as well as be home to their corporate office. The expanded space will allow for increased production capacity and will make it possible to meet the increased demand for Bay Baby Produce’s products in current and expanded markets. Their new facility is expected to be operational for their 2018 season.
About Bay Baby Produce Inc.
Bay Baby Produce, a woman-owned business for over 3o years, is located in the Skagit Valley, Burlington,WA. This area is one of the most fertile growing regions in North America. Our mission is to be a consistently reliable source for high quality painted pumpkins, long stem ornamentals, organic squash and value-added products grown on our farm. This new expansion will allow Bay Baby Produce to continue to grow well into the future.
SweeTango Apple Shipments
by Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative
WENATCHEE, WA – Harvest has begun for the 2017 crop of SweeTango apples. With orchards spread across prime apple-growing regions in Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Nova Scotia, Canada, timing of harvest varies by region, typically beginning in the West and concluding a few weeks later in Nova Scotia. The anticipated total crop is slightly larger than last season’s.
The West and Midwestern regions began picking on August 21, and the Eastern region will begin next week followed by Nova Scotia later in September.
The SweeTango season officially began as the apples first reach markets near Labor Day.
Here’s a shipping outlook for different areas and commodities ranging from Florida after Hurricane Irma, to Idaho potatoes, Washington apples and imported mangoes.
Florida’s projected 75 million-box orange crop may have been slashed by 40 percent or more due to Hurricane Irma, depending on where the groves are located. Heavy losses are also are expected with grapefruit and other items.
This is the off season for many Florida vegetable shipments, but products such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and strawberries in South Florida took a big hit and replantings will result in shipments being at least a month or two if not more later than normal.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Idaho potato shipments from the season that recently ended was 12 percent over that of two years ago. The diggings for the current crop are underway off of 308,000 acres, which is 15,000 acres less than last year. However, Idaho will still have plenty of potatoes to haul.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $3000 to Chicago.
Apple Shipments
Red delicious will soon lose its status as the volume leader in the Washington apple industry as the variety will amount to 25 percent of the 2017-18 crop, off about 5 percent from recent years.
Gala apples should account for 23 percent of the new crop, and is on track to surpass red delicious this season or next. Red Delicious popularity has declined because of a number of new varieties that are considered to taste better. Growers have been planting proprietary varieties or improved versions of varieties such as gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Cosmic Crisp.
Over 600,000 Honey Crisp trees were planted this year, and about 5.5 million more will go in the ground next year. A significant reason for more Honey Crisp planting is it has a harvest window very similar to that of the Red Delicious.
Yakima Valley apples – grossing about $6600 to New York City.
Mango Imports
As Mexican mango imports seasonally decline the slack its being picked up by imports from Brazil. Brazil’s season is expected to continue through November with a projection of approximately 8.2 million boxes Peak imports are expected mid-September to mid-October.
As Brazilian imports wind down, imports will be available from Ecuador followed by Peru, which will take production into the new year with the return to volume from Mexico coming in March.
Mexican mangoes through Nogales – grossing about $4000 to Chicago.
A second consecutive increase in apple shipments from all of the Eastern states has been predicted by a recent USDA forecast.
New York state us the second-largest apple shipping state in America and has an estimated volume for this season of 28.5 million 42-pound carton equivalents. This is a two percent increase over 2016’s 28.1 million cartons, but well below 30 million-plus production of the three season of 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Pennsylvania the second-largest apple shipper among the Eastern states and is forecast to have 11.7 million cartons, which would be up 11 percent over 2016’s 10.5 million cartons. Virginia’s estimate is 5.2 million cartons, up a whopping 22 percent over a year-ago when volume stood at 4.3 million boxes. Virginia avoided a devastating spring freeze, unlike a year ago, so it should ship way more fruit this year.
West Virginia is predicted to have 2.2 million cartons, which is 18 percent higher than the 1.9 million cases from last year.
But to put this in perspective, Washington state should ship 159.5 million cartons of apples in 2017, down eight percent from the 174.3 million cartons in 2016. Meanwhile, Michigan’s estimate is 19 million cartons, off 32 percent from nearly 28 million a year ago.
In the Gardners, PA areas the first harvested apples of the season took place the week of August 7th with, ginger golds, while galas and Honeycrisps followed within days.
New Eastern Apple Varieties
In New York two of the newest apple varieties are on the brink of major shipping increases. Crunch Time Apple Growers of Wolcott, NY, a grower cooperative, which has 145 growers, and ships about 60 percent of the apples in New York. It expects to load 100,000-boxes for the first time this season, which will be the fourth year for SnapDragon and fifth for RubyFrost. This would nearly double the shipments this season for these varieties. The new crop of SnapDragons will be on the market in the fall, with RubyFrost shipping out of storage in January.
The first shipping forecast for California kiwifruit has been issued, while we take a look at coming mango imports, and domestic apples loading opportunities.
California kiwifruit shipments are expected to be off only a little from a year ago when California growers produced 31,324 tons. An initial forecast this season, which is called by some “conservative,” estimates there will 30,449 tons of kiwi. About 98 percent of the U.S.-grown kiwifruit is produced in California.
Around 80 percent of of the crop is shipped to domestic markets, while some fruit exported, primarily to Mexico, Canada and Japan.
California kiwifruit shipments occur from late September until April
Western Fresh Marketing Services Inc., of Madera, CA. should start initial shipments the third or fourth week of September.
The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC, Hanford, CA., will have 86 acres of gold kiwifruit grown under large tents this season as the company plans to ship about 50,000 cartons of gold kiwifruit from October until January and possibly February.
Mexican Mango Imports
Imported mangoes from Mexico should continue through September. Light volumes of imported mangoes from Brazil are now arriving at U.S. ports. Brazilian mango imports will peak in mid October and run until November, with a projected 7.8 million boxes.
Meanwhile, Through the week ending Aug. 12th, Mexico had shipped about 67.9 million boxes, up from about 66 million boxes through the same week in 2016.
Apple Shipments
The U.S. Apple Association projects a 248.3 million carton crop for 2017-18, which would be 8 percent smaller than last year, but right on the 5-year average.
“There’s every reason to be optimistic about this year’s apple crop,” said Mark Nicholson, co-owner of Red Jacket Orchards, Geneva, N.Y.
The estimate is only 400,000 42-pound cartons lower than the USDA estimate from a few weeks ago. The estimate came at the conclusion of the association’s annual Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference, August 24-25 in Chicago.
The Washington crop is estimated at 159.5 million cartons, 1 percent higher than the 5-year average but 8 percent smaller than last season. New York’s crop is estimated at 28 million cartons, 1 percent above the 5-year average and nearly the same as last year’s production.
A USDA crop production report predicts U.S. apple shipments will be down 7 percent compared to last season.
The apple crop (both fresh and processed uses) should total 248.6 million 42-pound cartons, off from the 268.4 million cartons in the 2016 season. year ago.
On the up side, apple shipments from the Eastern state will increase. However, a significant decline in apple volume is predicted for the Central U.S. states, while a moderate decrease is seen in Western growing regions.
The Western states, led by Washington, are projected to total 170.4 million cartons, down 9 percent from a year ago, according to the estimates. The Washington apple harvest is running a few weeks later than 2016, according to the USDA, with good quality but slightly smaller fruit expected compared with the 2016 crop.
Washington state apple shipments are pegged at 159.5 million cartons, off 9 percent from the 2016 crop of 174.3 million cartons. The state is expected tol account for 64 percent of total U.S. apple shipments in 2017, down from 65 percnt in 2016.
In Eastern U.S. states, apple loadings are forecast at 55.7 million cartons, up 8 percent from 2016. New York, accounting for half of Eastern apple shipments, has a crop of 28.5 million cartons, up slightly from 28.1 million cartons a year ago. Growers and shippers there reported localized hail damage and noted rainfall and cool temperatures could affect fruit size, according to the report.
Apple shipments in the Central U.S. is forecast at 22.5 million cartons, down 27 percent from a year ago. A freeze in early May hurt Michigan crop prospects, according to the USDA. Michigan’s crop is projected at 19 million cartons, down more than 30 percent from 2016 output of nearly 28 million cartons.
In its Agricultural Prices report, the USDA said the average grower price for apples in June was 36.3 cents per pounds, down from 38 cents per pound in June last year.
The U.S. Apple Association will release its annual crop production estimate during the Apple Crop Outlook & Marketing Conference Aug. 24-25 in Chicago
Apple shipments for the upcoming 2017 shipping season are projected to increase. Meanwhile, here’s a glimpse at California sweet corn shipments, as well as kiwifruit imports.Western state apple loadings are forecast higher, while and Midwest and Eastern apple shipments are seen to be down slightly compared to last season. The first estimate of the 2017 apple crop projects volume to hit 255.6 million (42-pound) cartons, up 2 percent from the previous season.
The 2017 estimate was released recently at the Premier Marketing Apple Forum in Syracuse, N.Y. The Premier estimate shows the East and Midwest region to be 4.5 percent less than the 2016 crop. However, apple production in the Western U.S. is forecast to be up 5 percent compared with 2016.
The estimate is the first for the 2017 U.S. apple crop.
Apple Shipper Expanding
Fowler Farms of Wolcott, NY is a grower/shipper of apples and is expanding the packing capacity it has for fruit coming from its 2,500-acre, six-farm operation. The company is now installing a new eight-lane grader/sorter system. The multimillion-dollar system should be operational in time for the start of Fowler’s apple harvest beginning August 1st.
Founded in 1856, family-owned Fowler Farms is one of the largest vertically integrated apple farms in the U.S., offering 23 varieties of fresh apples and a line of refrigerated ciders.
Sweet Corn Shipments
Uesugi Farms of Gilroy, CA shipped its first conventional crop of the season from the Coachella Valley before Memorial Day weekend, and the company is now harvesting in Brentwood, CA. That harvest will continue in Gilroy. The operation has added white, yellow and bi-color organic sweet corn to its list of products. The organic sweet corn will come in packages of four ears, and is being harvested in Wasco, CA., and harvests will then move to Northern California, the Coachella Valley and Mexico.
Kiwifruit Imports
New Zealand kiwifruit imports by the U.S. should increase overall as the season is already underway for green conventional and organic kiwifruit, as well as SunGold conventional and organic fruit. Imports started last May and will continue through November. Kiwifruit is a rapidly growing in popularity and the SunGold in particular is expected to increase by 40 percent over last season.
by Stemilt Growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. – Stemilt and their marketing partner, Douglas Fruit, are gearing up for another successful Artisan Organics® apricot season, which is predicted to start two weeks later than normal. Stemilt expects their organic apricots to begin harvest in late June, with volumes ramping up quickly for promotable volumes throughout July….Meanwhile, here’s a summary of the just finished Texas 1015 onion shipping season.
With a historic early start last year, it is only fitting to experience a late start for crops up and down the West Coast this year.
The Douglas family tree fruit growing roots date back to the 1890s and today, the fourth generation is hands-on when it involves the family’s growing and packing business, which includes apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, and cherries. In 2007, the Douglas family started the transition process to move the majority of its apricot orchards to organic production, as well as their entire crop of peaches and nectarines, viewing the move to organic as an opportunity to differentiate the flavors of its stone fruits.
“We’ve found a great niche in growing apricots organically that matches well with our flavor focus,” said Jill Douglas, co-president of Douglas Fruit. “We farm in the best locale, Washington’s Columbia Basin, where warm days and cool nights create beautifully colored fruits with exceptional flavors. Artisan Organics® apricots really exceed standards thanks to the climate and organic farming practices.”
Stemilt accounts for approximately 40 percent of Washington State’s apricot crop taking the leading position in apricot production. Stemilt is also the leader in organic cots, with 60 percent of its entire apricot crop grown and certified as organic. The leading variety that Stemilt produces is Robada.
The peak of organic apricot shipping season should start in early July and continue through the first three weeks of July. Organic food sales are growing by double-digits annually.
****
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
****
Texas Onion Shipments
Texas onion shipments were down early in the season, but finished strong where shipments for the overall season were about average. The Lower Rio Grande Valley was hit by excessive rains and insect damage by thrips. Thrips are a minute black winged insect that sucks plant sap and can be serious pest to ornamental and food plants when present in large numbers. Texas 1015 onion shipments got underway in early March about a month earlier than normal. Typically Texas will ship about 350 to 400 truck loads of 800 bags (40,000 pounds) daily, but during the period for Easter loadings shipments rose to around 480 to525 loads per day.
Lower Rio Grande Valley watermelon shipments – grossing about $4400 to New York City.
by Bee Sweet Citrus
FOWLER, Calif., – Bee Sweet Citrus Sales Manager Joe Berberian welcomes the start of Bee Sweet’s 2017 summer import program.
“Bee Sweet Citrus is grower, packer and shipper of premium California citrus,” said Berberian. “While our domestic season has come to an end, we can continue to provide exceptional citrus to our consumers through our summer import program.”
For over 15 years, Bee Sweet Citrus has been developing close ties with both Chilean and Peruvian citrus growers. In order to ensure that all imported products are safe, fresh and of high quality, the Bee Sweet Citrus Food Safety and Quality Control team ensure that all products are certified and audited in food safety, social accountability and sustainability.
“All imported citrus is sent straight to our facility where it’s re-graded to ensure the high quality,” said Bee Sweet Citrus Sales Representative Jason Sadoian. “Additionally, we offer our customers the ability to repack and reconfigure the fruit to any specific pack style that they may want during the program.”
Between May and October, Bee Sweet Citrus receives imported Clementines, Navel Oranges, Cara Caras, Minneolas and lemons. In addition, the Bee Sweet Citrus sales team handles all import clearance, logistics, inventory and conducts weekly market analysis calls with their international partners.
About Bee Sweet Citrus
A grower, packer and shipper of California citrus, the company was founded in 1987> It is a family owned and operated company, and ships over 20 different varieties of citrus.
Apple Shipments
Thanks to a large amount of red delicious and gala apples, May 1 fresh market apples remaining to be shipped to at 38.7 million cartons, up 16% from a year ago and 7% more than the five-year average of 36 million cartons.
The U.S. Apple Association reported fresh market holdings on May 1 were 38.7 million cartons, up from 33.4 million cartons in 2016 but down from 44.9 million cartons to 2015.
Washington fresh apples in storage stood at 35.9 million cartons, which accounted for 93% of total U.S. fresh supplies.
If you thought produce hauling was bad in January, you’ve probably not found February to be any better. But it’s that time of the year. Hang in there, March is coming and volume on many items will be picking up as we head into spring. In the meantime, here’s a national outlook for some of the better loading opportunities.
Apple Shipments
Washington state’s Yakima and Wenatchee valleys are providing the lion’s share of apple shipments, and the single biggest volume for any fruit or vegetable right now, moving around 3100 truck load equivalents per week. Michigan and New York state are loading some apples, but nothing close to Washington.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $6200 to New York City.
Potato Shipments
As has been the case for months, one of the heaviest volume produce item is with Idaho potato shipments. Originating primarily from the Burley and Twin Falls areas, the state is averaging around 1900 truck load equivalents per week. However, keep in mind with a big crop and low f.o.b. prices, shippers are looking for the cheapest transportation available, and often that is with the railroad….Colorado’s San Luis Valley is shipping about 600 truck loads of potatoes, while Central Wisconsin is moving about half that volume.
Idaho potato shipments – grossing about $5100 to New York City.
Imported Produce
Mexican imported produce continues crossing the border near McAllen, Tx. Avocados last week amounted to around 875 truck loads and volume is expected to increase. Mexican tomatoes are around 500 truck loads per week. There’s many other items in much smaller volume ranging from limes to watermelon crossing the South Texas border.
Imported cantaloupes are in good volume primarily from Guatemala and Honduras arriving mostly at Southern Florida ports and ports in Southern California…..Peruvian grape arrivals are pretty much finished. Problems with Chilean grape quality are supposed to be improving now, but still keep an eye on what’s being loaded. But Chile’s the only game in town now with grapes, with most arriving at Ports in the Philadelphia area.