Posts Tagged “feature”
DURHAM, N.H. – Pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween. At the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire, researchers have ensured that pumpkin lovers have plenty of variety to choose from, including the popular white pumpkins, when decorating for this spookiest holiday of the year.
For more than 80 years, UNH has made a substantial contribution to Halloween and autumn because of its breeding of new and often unique varieties of pumpkins. Currently under the direction of Brent Loy, professor emeritus and researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, of the 150 or so pumpkin varieties available from Northeast seed companies, more than 30 hybrid pumpkin varieties contain either one or two parental lines from UNH pumpkin breeding.
Loy’s experiment station-funded work, which has largely taken place at the experiment station’s Kingman Research Farm, Woodman Horticultural Research Farm and Macfarlane Research Greenhouses, has resulted in more than 80 new varieties of cucurbits — squash, pumpkins, gourds, and melons — sold in seed catalogs throughout the world. Along with cucurbit breeding introduced by the late Dr. Yeager in 1940, this breeding research represents the longest continuous squash and pumpkin breeding program in North America.
According to UNHInnovation, UNH has executed more than 50 exclusive licenses for inbreds and hybrids developed by Brent. Throughout his career at UNH, more than 200 hybrids and inbreds have been licensed or utilized in trial and germplasm agreements. Royalties generated by this portfolio continue to increase each year, including an expected 10 percent increase from last year. Royalties have generated more than $2 million for the university since commercialization began of these varieties.
Recently, UNH has concentrated on developing different sizes of white pumpkins, and pumpkins with unique pigmentation such as yellow and tan. Moonshine was the first white pumpkin released from UNH, a medium-size pumpkin with a dark handle. Other white pumpkins containing a UNH breeding line are Blanco and Snowball, developed respectively by Seneca Vegetable Research and Hybrid Seed of New Zealand. Six additional white hybrid varieties, representing different size classes, have been released to Northeast seed companies for production and sale. All new hybrids have intermediate resistance to powdery mildew disease.
In the yellow class of pumpkin, UNH has developed Owl’s Eye, marketed by High Mowing Organic Seeds, and Sunlight and Mellow Yellow, both produced by Hybrid Seed. “Sunlight is one of my favorites because of its high productivity, good tolerance to powdery mildew, and attractiveness for sales when marketed with white pumpkins. It is excellent for face painting,” Loy said.
“In the standard orange class of pumpkin, there are a lot of varieties from which to choose, but the key is finding pumpkin varieties that have consistently good handles,” Loy said, explaining that the handles of many varieties fall down in this category, especially when growing conditions are challenging.
Secretariat, a relatively new variety containing UNH breeding, has a very robust stem and an appealing, slightly flattened shape. And an older variety, Racer, which has a UNH inbred line, still is popular the 15 to 20-pound class, despite lacking resistance to powdery mildew.
This year saw two new UNH-developed varieties, Carbonado Gold (Rupp Seeds) and Renegade (Johnny’s Selected Seeds), hit the market. “Both look like real winners for the 15 to 20-pound pumpkin class. These two have nice ribbing, outstanding color, and most importantly, handles that resist shrinkage and breakage after harvest. Renegade has a slightly more robust handle than Carbonado Gold; whereas, the latter variety has earlier maturity,” Loy said.
Two years ago, Rupp Seeds introduced Bisbee Gold, another variety containing a UNH breeding line. In the 8 to 10-pound class, this pumpkin is an excellent size for younger children to carve. This variety also has superb color, a very robust handle, and is extremely productive. With the exception of Racer, all the above-mentioned varieties have intermediate resistance to powdery mildew.
“There does not seem to be an end to the new stream of varieties entering the market,” Loy said.
Founded in 1887, the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture is UNH’s original research center and an elemental component of New Hampshire’s land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding, including support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources and rural community topics. We maintain the Woodman and Kingman agronomy and horticultural research farms, the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses, the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, and the Organic Dairy Research Farm. Additional properties also provide forage, forests and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.
The University of New Hampshire is a flagship research university that inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top ranked programs in business, engineering, law, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. UNH’s research portfolio includes partnerships with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, receiving more than $100 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
California pomegranate shipments are expected to be off some from a year ago, but volume from Trinity Fruit Sales Co. of Fresno, CA is forecast to be up about 5 percent due to new plantings.
Harvest started in early September with the company’s proprietary Aco variety, which originated in Israel. The company cites this variety as better than other early varieties such as foothill.
The company also has expanded its production lines this season. In addition to fresh pomegranates, Trinity Fruit has year around shipments of fresh, dried and frozen arils.
“It’s been very successful for us,” he said.
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An import and distribution facility in Mission, Texas has been opened by La Bonanza of Uruapan, Mexico, for avocados and guacamole products.
The La Bonanza, Mission, TX facility has 15,000 square feet, with 10 loading doors, 8 of them refrigerated for receiving and shipping, according to a news release. The facility can process more than 1,100 tons of product a day.
La Bonanza has packed and shipped avocados to the U.S. and Canada for 25 years, Gabriel Villasenor, president, said in the release.
“In that time, we have also added hundreds of our own hectares with plans to add more each year,” Villasenor said. “We own and maintain a fleet of 30 semis to deliver to the border and gas stations to guarantee fuel.”
The company also has a stake in a processing plant in Uruapan to offer guacamole products.
More than 90 percent of La Bonanza avocados are shipped to the U.S., Maggie Bezart-Hall, of La Bonanza’s sales and marketing, said in the release.
“The future of market growth and better supply to the U.S. and Canada is through direct sourcing of fresh and processed avocados from Mexico,” Bezart-Hall said in the release. “I joined La Bonanza because they are truly an integrated company that can offer high quality avocados from their own land and generations of partnerships with trusted family growers.”
By the Berry People
Hollister, CA – Berry People, an integrated, year-round grower-shipper of a full line of branded organic and conventional berries and avocados, has announced new berry shipments from Mexico to fill critical supply gaps in the North American market during the fall and winter.
New supplies of premium-quality fruit include organic blueberries from Jalisco and conventional strawberries from Guanajuato and Michoacán. These volumes will complement Berry People’s existing supply from Latin America and the U.S.
Meanwhile, the company is also expanding its U.S. operations from Long Beach, CA to McAllen, TX, to better serve its growing customer programs in the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. and Canada.
New Berry Suppliers
Berry People recently began harvesting the first-ever blueberries from its new high-elevation plantation in Jalisco, which will fill a key niche in the market from now until the end of January.
“We will have predominantly organic production from this ranch, filling a generally undersupplied October-through-January window, with a focus on customers looking for the crunch, snap, and sweetness that Mexico can readily provide,” said Jerald Downs, President of Berry People
“While our South American organic blueberries are key to supporting volume retail blueberry sales at attractive general consumer pricing, this Mexican organic production will be targeted to specific programs for customers who desire to further differentiate themselves at the consumer eating experience level.”
In addition to the new blueberry deal, Berry People started harvesting high-quality conventional strawberries at its ranches in Irapuato and Zamora in October. Volumes will peak from December through January, wrapping up by the end of February.
These supplies will fill the gap perfectly between the company’s crop in Santa Maria, CA, set to peak in October and November, and its crop in Baja California, Mexico, which will peak in February through April.
“This deal is a milestone in giving us our desired transitional overlap and increasing our continuity and quality of supply in a tricky market window for strawberries,” said Downs.
Downs said that expectations are high for the inaugural season of these new blueberry and strawberry crops, which are grown on farms belonging both to company shareholders and experienced third-party growers.
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The new berry deals also fit in with Berry People’s strategy to grow its customer-driven programs sustainably and fill market windows to offer a true year-round supply of organic and conventional blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.
“While the company’s individual commodity and overall category growth rate is projected above triple digits both for 2019 and 2020, we are very focused on building balance in our daily portfolio of berries,” Downs explained.
“We are working on filling our summer gaps and lulls on cane and strawberries, completing our pack-style and niche varietal offerings, and on getting better at harmonizing our supply and promotional activity, as well as our weekly fulfillment business, for week-over-week customer-grower satisfaction.”
Shipping increases are seen this season for almonds, pistachios and prunes, while declines are forecast for pecans and walnuts.
Almond Shipments
2019 California almond crop shipments are initially predicted to be 2.5 billion pounds, with volume to be 9.6 percent above the 2.28 billion pounds of the previous year, according to the USDA.
Bearing acreage for 2019 is forecast at a record high of nearly 1,2 million acres. Forecasted yield is 2,140 pounds per acre, 2.4 percent higher than the 2018 yield of 2,090 pounds per acre.
Blue Diamond Growers of Sacramento, CA, which specializes in almonds, expressed optimism over the new shipping season as the harvest wraps up this month.
Pistachio volume hit about 986.7 million pounds for the 2018-19 marketing year, which was up 64.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the USDA.
The Wonderful Co of Los Angeles expects this new season to be a normal off-year with California volume down 200 to 250 millions pound from the past year. The company’s pistachio harvest runs from September to August each year.
The year ending August 3st was a record on-year crop, with good quality.
Pecan Shipments
U.S. pecan volume from October 2018 to September 2019 was about 221.2 million pounds, on a utilized in-shell basis, down 27 percent from the previous year, on overall reduced bearing acreage and lower yields.
Production is down across all 8 reported pecan-producing states, with the biggest losses in big producers, Georgia and Texas. Hurricane Michael in October 2018 affected Georgia production.
In other states, pecan production declines were down due to “off-year” production in an alternate-bearing cycle.
Walnut Shipments
The 2019 walnut crop is estimated at 630,000 tons — down 6.8 percent from 2018’s crop of 676,000 tons.
Walnut bearing acreage continued to trend upward, with 15,000 new acres coming into production this year, for a total of 365,000 bearing acres.
Prune Shipments
The 2019 California prune crop is forecast at 110,000 tons, up 38 percent from the previous 80,000 tons forecast in 2018. California ships 99 percent of U.S. prunes. Prune plums are harvested in August, but prunes are available year-round.
Date Shipments
Atlas Produce and Distribution of Bakersfield, CA reports the date crop in California endured a “cooler-than-normal” spring and summer, but this is not expected to affect volume. Harvest was completed this month and the company packs and ships the year around.
Citrus shipper Seald Sweet International of Vero Beach, FL is expanding into avocados with a partnership with Mexican grower Valvilla Produce.
Valvilla is a third-generation company in Uruapan, Michoacan, which has over 900 acres of conventional and organic avocados.
“Our initiative is to develop and strengthen our business by offering direct programs with the growers while adding value and supporting a transparent relationship that benefits all parties” Mayda Sotomayor, managing director of Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet, said in a news release.
Seald Sweet merged with Greenyard in 1998, to form Greenyard USA.
The partnership will focus on weekly retail and program business, with year-round imports; shipments begun crossing at McAllen, TX, in August, according to the release. Shipments could potentially arrive at Greenyard Logistics USA’s Swedesboro, N.J., cold storage and repack facility.
“We want to offer retailers product according to their needs, with flexible packaging and ripening options that adapt to their customers,” Michael Walsh, commodity manager at Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet, said in the release.
Luis Valencia, Valvilla Produce president, said the two companies share values.
“At Valvilla Produce we are convinced that the biggest sources of opportunities are collaboration and partnership, and we need to expose ourselves to that in order to succeed in our businesses,” he said in the release.
Colorado potato shipments could be off 10 percent or more this season due to less planted acreage and weather conditions during the growing season and harvest.
Rain and cool weather last spring delayed the potato harvest in the San Luis potatoes up to 2 weeks in some areas.
The Colorado Administrative Committee reports 8 percent less acreage has been planted this season. Even with favorable weather it is seeing 5 to 10 percent less volume and possibly more for the 2019 – 2020 shipping season.
Still, potato operations such as Fresh Farm Direct LLC of Monte Vista, CO insist quality will be good even with less product.
Skyline Potato Co. of Center, CO expects yields to be similar to last season.
Aspen Produce LLC of Center, CO expects a “really nice” crop for this season.
Potatoes from the San Luis Valley – grossing about $2150 to Chicago.
A new six-acre greenhouse expansion by Wholesum Family Farms in Nogales, AZ will produce an estimate of 3.5 million pounds of organic beefsteak tomatoess.
The expansion adds to the firm’s’ existing 18-acre facility in Amado, Ariz., according to a news release, and will use sustainable greenhouse technology. First harvest is expected in November.
The expansion adds 25 year-round employees and the new production will be Fair Trade certified, according to the release.
After the expansion, all of Wholesum’s beefsteak tomatoes will be grown in the U.S., according to the release.
“This expansion is very exciting for us at Wholesum,” Ricardo Crisantes, chief commercial officer, said in the release. “It keeps with our vision of creating an impact in the organic food industry through a sustainable business model that cares about its workers.”
The Ultra-Clima concept greenhouse offers energy-efficient control of climate conditions and features infared sensors to monitor plant growth, according to the release.
“We focus on social and environmental responsibility in every aspect of our operations and this greenhouse is a reflection of those efforts,” Crisantes said in the release.
The expansion concludes the second phase of Wholesum’s growth strategy, which began with a 12-acre facility built in 2011 and a six-acre greenhouse added in 2014. Two more construction phases are planned, according to the release.
The shipping season for Peruvian sweet onion lasts longer than any other sweet onion area – six to seven months. It starts in August as Vidalia sweet onions are winding down, and continues into February and sometimes March. A high percentage of those onions are exported to the U.S.
Bland Farms LLC of Glennvile, GA is the largest grower-shipper of Vidalia onions with 2,000 acres. It has nearly that much production from Peru. The company typically ships about 2 million 40-pound equivalent boxes of Vidalias, compared to 1.8 million out of Peru,.
Keystone Fruit Marketing Co. of Greencastle, PA points out due to the long onion season from Peru, the product is imported by the country 50 percent of the year.
L.G. Herndon Jr. Farms Inc. of Lyons, GA notes Peruvian onions are particularly important to East Coast markets in the U.S. In the west during the Peruvian season there are sweet onions being shipped out of California and Nevada.
The company points out Chilean sweet onions would be exported to the U.S. in February and March, but in the past seven to eight years that volume is much less..
California grape shipments in the fall of 2018 were up 11.2 percent from September through December compared to the previous year. A similar pattern is expected again as we close out this year.
Sunview Marketing International of Delano, CA credits a lot of this good volume to the firm’s mix of proprietary varieties.
Sun Pacific of Pasadena, CA notes their company has 19 varieties of grapes for shipping as they enter the fall. The operation has growing volume with organic grapes.
The official estimate for California grape shipments was adjusted downward from 116 million boxes to 110 million boxes. However, some observers believe the final packout could be even lower.
Top Brass Marketing of Bakersfield, CA cites excellent volume this season and does not believe loadings have been lagging as they were last year. The company sees the seasonal decline in shipments of cherries, stone fruit and melons as helping grapes take center stage from September through November.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $6300 to New York City.