Posts Tagged “apple shipments”

Colorado’s Western Slope to Start Shipping Peaches in Mid July

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DSCN3894Colorado peach shipments are expected to get underway in the middle of July.

Peach shipments originate from relatively few shippers on the Western Slope of Colorado’s, beautiful Rocky Mountains, generally in the Grand Junction area.  Shipments should continue through mid August and possibly up to the first of September.

There also will be a limited amount of cherries coming on around the first of July.  The apricot crop apparently will amount to few, if any this year.  The Grand Junction  area also will start shipping watermelons in mid July.

Colorado ranks sixth nationally in peach shipments, behind top ranked California, then South Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennyslvania.

Looking a bit further down the road, Colorado’s Western Slope will have apple shipments and pear shipments starting around the end of August.

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California Seasonal Produce Volume is Building Towards Peak Shipments

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DSCN0480One knows we’re getting close to the peak period for spring and summer produce shipments when California’s San Joaquin Valley starts pumping out everything from stone fruit to grapes, berries and melons.

Stone Fruit Shipments

Very light volume with apricots got underway last month from the San Joaquin Valley, this means peaches, plums and nectarines soon follow.  Weather factors has all stone fruit items maturing up to two weeks earlier than usual this spring.  Volume is increasing on a weekly basis and should be hitting full stride by June.  No estimates have been issued, but it appears there will not be bumper crops this season.

Grape Shipments

The Coachella Valley is currently shipping the nation’s only domestic grapes.  However, the vast majority of California grape shipments will get underway with the Arvin district (Bakersfield) around June 23rd.  California shipped a record 117.4 million boxes of grapes last season.  No record shipments are forecast this year, but it will still be a huge crop.

Cherry Shipments

Sketchy information, and about the best info is it should be a “normal” crop.  This is a much smaller volume than you’ll find out of the Northwest in a few weeks.

Apple Shipments

California apples shipments tend to fill a narrow window between the old season ending and the new season starting up in the nation’s leading state – Washington.  California’s leading apple variety, galas, should start shipments around July 20th, with fujis getting underway around August 20th.

Melon Shipments

Because of the California drought, now in its third year, some acreage normally used for cantaloupe and honeydew is not being planted this season in the Bakerfield and Huron areas.  Shipments will get underway around July 1st, but don’t expect any record volume.

Blueberry Shipments

Central San Joaquin Valley “blues” are in peak shipments, which should continue through June.  Lack of water is a growing concern, but volume is expect to meet or exceed last season’s 53.9 million pounds.

Strawberry Shipments

Southern California strawberry loadings should be winding down as volume increases from the Santa Maria district and the Watsonville District.

Central San Joaquin Valley blueberries and cherries – grossing about $6300 to Atlanta.

 

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Michigan Apple Shipping Outlook; Plenty of Apple Loads Remain from Current Season

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GAtks0314 030Here’s an outlook for Michgian apple shipments that will start soon with the new season.  However, there are still plenty of apple loads remaining for the current season that started late last summer, particularly from Washington, New York, and Michigan.

Michigan apple shipments should be good this spring, despite a harsh winter.  Initial loadings are only a few weeks away.  However, the jury is still out on other fruit items ranging from blueberries, to cherries, grapes, plums, apricots and peaches,  The fate of these items and the amount of damage will depend largely on what Mother Nature has in store the next few weeks.

National Apple Shipments

Concerning the old apple crop, about 48 million bushels of U.S.-grown fresh-market apples had yet to be shipped as of April 1, three  less than last year at the same.  The April total was, however, eight percent higher than the five-year average.  Washington accounted for 41.7 million bushels of the U.S. total, Michigan 2.8 million bushels and New York 2.5 million bushels.

Michigan apples – grossing about $3400 to Dallas.

Washington state apples – grossing about $4000 to Chicago.

Mango Imports

Mango imports in 2013 compared to 2000 have increased  a whooping 236 percent from Peru.  Peru is now the second largest source for imported mangoes, representing 10 percdent of mango volume.   Another big importer is Ecuador, which also has seen a rise in imports to the U.S., with a 160 percent increase from 2000 and 21 percent over last year. Peru has seen the biggest jump, with a 53 percent increase over last year. As of mid-March, 12 million boxes had been shipped. The projection for the year is 10.9 million boxes.

 

 

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A Roundup of Loadings in New York State, Michigan and the Appalachian States

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RdTkHPFrom New York state to the Appalachian States and in Michigan, here is a round up of some loading opportunities.

After devastating freeze losses in 2012, New York apple shipments are enjoying a very strong comeback season, while expecting a record volume exceeding 32 million boxes.  Loadings reported brisk, averaging around 250 truck loads per week.   While the Hudson Valley leads apple shipments, loadings also occur from the Champlain Valley, Central and Western areas of the state.  New York shippers expect a relatively normal end to its season when some companies will finish shipping in late May or June, while others will continue shipping into July.

New York also is shipping storage onions, led by Orange County, with around 150 truck loads are being shipped weekly.  Additonally Western New York is shipping cabbage.

New York cabbage – grossing about $1600 to New York City.

Michigan Produce Shipments

In a similar situation to New York, the state of Michigan has made a major rebound this season with apples.  It is moving similar volume compared to New York as well, averaging around 250 truck loads per week.  Michigan also is shipping  a moderate amount of potatoes, along with light volumes of onions.  A majority of Michigan winter produce shipments originate in the Western part of the state.

Michigan apples – grossing about $3300 to Dallas.

Appalachian Apple Shipments

The apple shipping region known as the Appalachian District comprises portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.  There is light, but steady volume with apples being loading here.

 

 

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Loading Opportunities Good for California Strawberries, Washington State Fruit

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TkapplespearsCalifornia strawberry shipments are head of this time last year, while Washington state pear loadings are on a record setting course.

California strawberry shipments

Unlike much of the country, it has been an exceptionally mild winter thus far in California (unless you’re a California citrus grower).  Temperatures into the mid-80s along the coast have brought on good strawberry shipments in the region.  As of February 1, about 4.6 million cases of strawberries had been shipped, compared with 3 million cases at the same time in 2013. The 1.2 million trays shipped the week ending Feb. 1 was well above the 805,000-tray projection.  Most of the berries are coming out of Ventura and Orange counties, and shipments are aided by the fact fewer strawberries have been loaded from Florida and Mexico due to cold weather.

There’s also decent strawberries volume coming out of the Baja California pennisula, where it is consolidated at warehouses in the San Diego area.  The Baja California and Oxnard growing areas have similar climatic conditions.

Southern California berries – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.

Apple Shipments, Pear Shipments

While apples dominate Northwest fruit shipments, as of January 31st there has been a record number of pears had loaded out of the Pacific Northwest, mostly from Washington state’s Yakima and Wenachee valleys.  We are talking around 14.2 million boxes of pears from Washington and Oregon.

There were over 1.3 million boxes shipped the first two weeks of January and 1.4 million boxes in the last two weeks.  That compares to 1.2 million boxes in each of those two-week periods at the same time last year.   The Northwest is on track to ship a record 22.2 million boxes of pears this year, 14 percent more than last season.

One important note is that both apples and pears ship well together in the same load.

Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $6500 to New York City.

 

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Nationally, More Apples Remain to be Hauled Than for the 5-Year Average

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DSCN1778About 91 million bushels of fresh-market U.S. apples were in storage on Jan. 1.  That is one percent more than last year at the same time.  The January total also is eight percent higher than the five-year average for remaining apple shipments.

The nation’s biggest shipper, Washington state, accounted for about 76 million bushels of the total.

Michigan still had about 6.5 million bushels in storage and has been setting weekly volume shipping records.    The estimate for total Michign apple shipments this season still remains at  30 million bushels.

New York apple shipments have  5.4 million bushels and Pennsylvania apple shipments 1.3 million bushels of apples remaining to be hauled.

January apples remaining in storage are up over last year despite holdings for several leading varieties being lower.

About 28.6 million bushels of red delicious were in storage, down from 31 million bushels last year. Fuji holdings fell from 14.9 million to 9.7 million bushels, golden delicious from 9.9 million to 8.7 million bushels and cripps pink from 2.9 million to 2.8 million bushels.

Gala holdings increased from 15.1 million to 15.6 million bushels and granny smith holdings from 9.2 million to 11.4 million bushels.

Much higher volumes of mcintoshes, empires and other traditionally Midwestern and Eastern varieties had yet to be shipped as of Jan. 1 compared to last year at the same time, as Michigan, New York and other states east of the Mississippi continue to bounce back from devastating 2012 freezes.

Washington state apples grossing – about $4600 to Clevelnd.

Michigan apples – about $2200 to Atlanta.

New York state apples – about $1900 to Orlando.

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Apple Shipments Across the Country are Moving at a Brisk Pace

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DSCN1986Here’s a round up of big-time apple shipments from New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the leader — Washington State.

New York

This year’s expected record-breaking apple crop has left many New York growers with fruit still on the trees and not enough storage space after the harvest.  Still, there should be record loading opportunities for apple haulers this season.

The bountiful 2013 growing season left many growers without enough workers to harvest the apples, not enough bins to place them in and not enough cold-storage capacity.  Last summer,  New York apple shipments were estimated at  a record-setting 32 million bushels, nearly double  last year’s harvest that was devasted by freezing weather.  That figure for this season could even be low.  Some observers see New York apple shipments topping 34 million bushels when all the figures are final.

New York apples – grossing about  $2000 to Atlanta.

Pennyslvania

But New York isn’t alone when it comes to record apple shipments this year.  In Pennsyvlania, one of the largest operations, Rice Fruit Co. in Gardners, is reporting number setting volume with its apple shipments.   Pennsylvania apple shipments should continue through July, until the new crop is harvested starting in August.

Michigan Apple Shipments

Looking at Michigan, its biggest apple shipper, Riverridge Produce Inc. in Sparta is reported record setting loadings.  The state should have record volume by the end of the season next summer.

Michigan apples – grossing about $3000 to New York City.

Washington State Apple Shipments

Finally, in Washington state, which ships as many apples as the rest of the states combined, should move about 110 million boxes of fruit this season.  That’s down about 9 million boxes from original estimates, but it will still be one of the biggest apple crops on record.

Washington state apples – grossing about $5400 to Dallas.

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Washington State Apple Shipments to Remain Heavy into Next Summer

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DSCN2904There will be about 7 millions fewer boxes of Washington state apples shipped  from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys this season, but it still should end up next August being the second largest crop of all time.

Last year’s record apple loadings hit 128.2 million fresh boxes, and is competing with larger New York and Michigan shipments, after devasting freezes hit those states in 2012.

As of December 1, 28 million boxes had been shipped compared to 31.5 million at the same time last year and 25.3 million two years ago.   Loadings  are still clipping along at 2.7 million boxes per week and should remain at that level into spring, possibly peaking around 3 million per week in January.

The crop’s current standing at 113.3 million boxes is up .1 percent from the November 1 storage report, down 5.5 percent from the August 1 forecast of 119.8 million boxes and pff 11.7 percent from the record 128.2-million-box 2012 crop.

Exports are down 10 percent from a year ago at 8.4 million boxes as of December 1 compared with 9.4 million at the same time in 2012 and 7.8 million in 2011.

Mexico and Canada are Washington’s largest apple export markets.

Mexico normally takes 10 million to 11 million boxes annually but hit 13.6 million last year.  Canada averages 5 million to 6 million and last year took 6.35 million boxes.

Thus far this season, Canada is at 1.2 million boxes and Mexico is just getting started at 1 million

Washington state apples – grossing about $6700 to Orlando.

 

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About 10 Percent More Apple Shipments Remain, Compared to a Year Ago

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DSCN1829It is another big season for apple haulers.  There are about 120 million bushels of U.S. fresh-market apples were in storage as of November 1st, 10 percent more than last year at the same time.

The November total also is 10 percent higher than the five-year average.

The nation’s leading apple shipper, Washington state, has about 99 million bushels of apples still in storage…..Michigan has about 8.3 million bushels left to ship, while New York has 7.4 million and Pennsylvania 1.7 million.

Michigan apple shipments are expected to be 10 times as plentiful as last year’s puny output. 

In a typical year, Michigan’s 9.2 million trees produce 20 million to 23 million bushels.

The state’s 2013 harvest is projected to be around 30 million bushels, which roughly equals out to 382 medium-sized apples for every state resident; 12 for every American.

Nationally, about 21.6 million bushels of galas have yet to be shipped, up from 20.6 million bushels. Granny smith holdings were up from 11.5 million to 14.5 million bushels.

Red delicious in storage dropped from 35.5 million to 35.2 million bushels, fujis from 15.5 million to 13 million bushels and golden delicious from 12.4 million to 10.8 million bushels.

Holdings of traditional Eastern varieties including mcintoshes, jonathans, empires, romes and cortlands were up significantly from 2012, when freezes devastated Michigan and New York crops.

Washington apple shipments – grossing about $6400 to New York City.

Michigan apples – about $3000 to New York City.

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Shipping Updates from California, Michigan, New York and Mexico

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DSCN0429Here’s a round up of California produce loads, as well as loadings from Michigan, New York state and border crossings from Mexico.

California Navel orange shipments should hit about  88 million cartons for the season, down only two percent from a year ago.

Harvest has been underway about a month, with light shipments having started a couple of weeks ago from the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

Mandarin orange  and clementine volume should be up a little mostly because of young acreage coming into fuller production.

Lemon loadings from California’s Imperial Valley and from Arizona should be up slightly this seaons.

The California desert, as well as the Yuma area in Arizona have light volume loadings of cantaloupe and honeydew.  Lettuce shipments are still several weeks away.

In South Texas, watermelon shipments are winding down, but melons from Mexico are just starting and will be crossing the U.S. border , not only in Texas, but at Nogales, AZ, until next May.

Michigan Produce Shipments

The Wolverine state has light volume loadings of carrots, celery and onions, with better volume for apples, the later amounting to around 250 truck loads per week.

New York Apple Shipments

New York is a big state and apple loadings originate in Eastern areas, primarily from the Hudson Valley and near the western shores of Lake Champlain.  Further west in New York, the primary shipping areas for apples are Utica, Ithica, Syracuse and Rochester.  Apple shipments from the state are similar in volume to Michigan’s 250 trucks per week.

San Joaquin Valley produce – grossing about $6500 to New York City.

Hudson Valley apples – about $3200 to Orlando.

 

 

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