Posts Tagged “feature”
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.
While Colorado potatoes are pretty well known to produce haulers, here are some loading opportunities such as California mandarins, Michigan apples and what — broccoli from Maine! Yep, that is right. Check it out.
The San Luis Valley of Colorado has 51,900 acres of potatoes which is up 800 acres from last season. Russets remain the primary spud shipped from the region, making up approximately 95 percent of the annual shipments.
Red potatoes now account for around 5 to 7 percent of the volume, while yellows are also increasing making up nearly 10 percent of production. Fingerlings and specialties account for about 3 percent. Over all, annual shipments have remained steady in recent years Last season Colorado had 14 million hundredweight (cwt) of potatoes.
Colorado potatoes – grossing about $2100 to Chicago.
Sunkist Mandarin Shipments
Sunkist Growers Inc. based in Valencia, CA will start shipping California mandarins on November 1st, and will be shipping a lot more of the citrus this season. Mulholland Citrus of Orange Cove, CA recently joined the Sunkist cooperative and will add 8 million 5-pound cartons to Sunkist mandarin shipments this year, doubling the volume of Sunkist from last season. Sunkist has thousands of grower-members as part of its cooperative, which are based in California and Arizona.
Michigan Shipper Expands
Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc. of Sparta, MI ships about 35 percent of fresh Michigan apples and how now entered the apple cider business with the opening of the new Riveridge Cider 17,400-square-foot cold storage. The opening was September 8th starting with blended gallon and one-half gallon cider. It includes cold pressing and bottled blended fresh apple cider, as well as varietal blends of Fuji, Gala and Honecrisp. The new operation can bottle 30,000 gallons a day.
Maine Broccoli Shipments
Hapco Farms of Riverhead, NY has been growing and shipping Maine broccoli for over 20 years, producing in excess of one millions boxes every season from July through October. It has eight different varieties of broccoli, depending upon the time of the year.
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.
By Shenandoah Growers
ROCKINGHAM, Va. — Shenandoah Growers, Inc. (SGI), the leading grower and marketer of certified organic fresh herbs for retail in the U.S., announces the attainment of another milestone in the company’s drive to fundamentally change the way highly perishable produce is grown and distributed. Leveraging a proprietary combination of automated greenhouses and indoor LED vertical grow rooms to produce over 30 million certified organic plants per year, SGI brings a third indoor growing facility online. The new facility, located in Texas, is the latest component of SGI’s innovative hub-and-spoke farming and distribution system, and only the most recent step in the company’s three-year, multi-million-dollar nationwide expansion of indoor farming.
The company’s latest indoor growing facility takes its place in a system that is quickly scalable for market growth, allowing Shenandoah Growers to locally deliver certified organic superior flavor and shelf life at a fraction of the capital cost of other indoor farms.
“This indoor farm, and the two others in our system, are critical elements of how Shenandoah Growers is transforming the way perishable produce is grown and distributed,” said Timothy Heydon, CEO of Shenandoah Growers. “Shenandoah Growers focuses continually on innovation. With the integration of our modular indoor growing technology into our existing national footprint, we can grow amazing certified organic produce that delivers fresh flavor to consumers in a sustainable way, minimizing inputs of water, bio-media, land resources, and food miles. We are proud to be a part of transforming agriculture production and distribution for the future.”
Shenandoah Gowers’ Rockingham, Virginia farm complex serves as the eastern hub of a nationwide growing system. With a farming and supply chain platform spanning the country, the company’s unique indoor farms cover the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South Central markets. Shenandoah Growers continues the expansion of its farms, greenhouses and the implementation of an indoor farming hub and spoke system on the West Coast, with completion expected in 2018.
About Shenandoah Growers
Founded over 26 years ago and headquartered in Rockingham Virginia, Shenandoah Growers is a leading grower and marketer of fresh organic culinary herbs in the United States. The company’s mission is to bring fresh healthy flavor to food. Customer-driven with an expertise and passion for fresh flavor, the company has over 1,200 associates working across a nationally integrated platform of farms, production facilities and logistics operating in 11 states.
For more information, visit www.FreshHerbs.com
Volume in terms of hundredweight is expected to be down only slightly for Wisconsin potatoes shipments this season. Meanwhile, the Red River Valley has very limited potato shipments at this point.
Wisconsin’s potato shipments are expected be off about 5 percent this season from a year amounting to 27 million hundredweight (cwt) the 2017 18 growing. storage and shipping season. The 2016=17 fresh volume totaled 28.5 million cwt.
Due to a late weather related planting, growers will be leaving the potatoes in the ground as long as possible to give time to gain size. This resulted in diggings getting underway September 11th instead of September. 1st. Updated forecasts will be needed as growers are rolling the dice a bit as the latter harvest increases the change of a damaging frost. Wisconsin’s potato farmers normally complete harvest by October. 10th. Digging of potatoes this fall could continue as late as October 20 to gain as much growing time as possible for a product that is gauged by weight. Thus, growers are praying for a late frost.
Russet potatoes currently make up about 70 percent of potato shipments in the U.S., followed by red potatoes that have increase to 20 percent and yellow potatoes amounting 10 percent. Russets also continue make up the biggest volume of Wisconsin potato shipments.
How Wisconsin Potato Volume Ranks
Wisconsin is the nation’s third-largest potato shipping state, and ranks number one No. 1 east of the Mississippi River. Frito Lay has become a big presence in the Badger State and accounts for 25 percent of Wisconsin’s potatoes shipped for the processing market. Another 10 percent of the state’s potatoes are shipped as seed.
Red River Valley Potato Shipments
Shipments haven’t really ramped up yet but red potatoes from the nation’s largest “red” production region have got underway. While red potatoes continue to grow in popularity, about 18 percent of the Valley’s fresh potato production will be yellows this fall, a number that has tripled in the last six years.
By Larry Oscar
Well, it’s that time again. Time to rant about some ignorant thing our left wing emotional liberals have done. But I guess we conservatives should not gloat so much.
It’s sort of like playing chess with the dog. The recent events have given us all pause to examine our values in greater depth. This country was built on diversity and that includes a diversity of opinion. That was what we taught children back in the day.
For some reason liberals think diversity ends at race now. I guess their little minds just can’t comprehend diversity being more cosmological. Diversity is actually rather simple. Just look at the universe around us. Our planet has a rich diversity of life that encompasses more than 100 million species. The truth is no one really knows how many species our planet has. 100 million is just a WAG by most scientists.
Guess what folks…diversity is the norm rather than the exception. For decades now we have heard those on the left preach diversity and now it becomes obvious they didn’t even know what they were talking about. The reality is that my left wing liberal friends are dumber than dirt. Diversity is NOT limited to race! I know, I know, that is a social shock to the tender ears of a liberal, so let them run for their “safe rooms”, but it is the truth. It was written somewhere that “the truth shall make you free”. Gee, I wonder who said that?
You see, diversity comes in all forms. There is diversity in individual abilities, individual thought, individual speech, and even individual wealth. And the list goes on. If the human species on this planet is to survive we must recognize that diversity in all aspects of human existence is a natural right of the individual. Our founding fathers understood we are all equal before God and the law. We are not equal in abilities, looks, wealth, or much of anything else. And it is NOT the governments job to attempt such a foolhardy endeavor as to “make us equal in everything.”
By trying to do so our government has promoted inequality. The government has, in the fog of stupidity, attempted to “right the wrongs of the past”. The government has created an atmosphere of intolerance and discrimination. Common sense tells us that two wrongs don’t’ make a right.
For decades our government has promoted a policy of “affirmative action” which by it’s very nature is discriminatory. You don’t punish the sons for the sins of the fathers. That creates resentment and is divisive. Our government takes the earnings from workers paychecks to fund handouts for people so fat cat politicians can “buy” their votes. If politicians offered one cent for a vote they would be in jail. Tell me, what’s the difference in offering money for your vote or a government handout paid for by some other American worker’s earnings?
Corruption is corruption and it doesn’t make any difference what party you are with. For nearly a decade now the Dumbocrats have ran on a platform of jealousy and envy of the successful people among us. They have promoted a “war on success,” and even instilled in the minds of the Millennials a “right” to live off of the hard work of others. If anybody wants to know why “we the people” are angry just let them listen to old ferret faced Mitch McConnell tell us that President Trump has “excessive expectations.” Are you kidding me?
These bozo Republicans have lied to us for seven years and told us they had a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. “Just give us your vote” they cried, and when they finally got our vote they betrayed us. “We the people” may be facing what my ancestors, who came to this country in 1743, faced. We may be approaching a climate of revolution!
Many of us who voted in the elections of 2016 thought this was the last hope to save our country from the tyranny of big government. It was the fear of the tyranny of big government that was responsible for the second amendment to our Constitution. Now the liberals are trying to do away with our second amendment as they spew vicious attacks on our beloved Constitution.
Our liberal friends would be wise to take note. They may just get a taste of the wrath of patriots who live by the words of Patrick Henry. And you may see a day of reckoning for those of you who think you have a “right” to mooch off of your fellow countrymen. I was shocked when Vladimir Putin threw 755 US diplomats out of Russia. Who would have ever thought that we had 755 diplomats in Russia in the first place? As it turns out we had over 1200 diplomats in Russia. Go Vlad. And I bet almost all of these blood suckers are earning over six figures of tax payer earned dollars.
Drain the swamp hell…nuke the swamp!
While Salinas Valley veggie shipments have been hindered due to weather related issues, it may pale in comparison to Florida oranges after Hurricane Irma. Also, imported Japanese persimmons to be become a reality.
Salinas Valley vegetable shipments leading up to Labor Day were paired back because of hot weather and the effects are still being felt nearly two weeks later. When the temperature surpasses 90 degrees F. it becomes to hot for field workers, not to mention quality issues come into focus. The result has been lighter-than-normal loadings of leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower. Caution is urged when loading, as produce haulers should look for potential heat related quality problems.
Florida Citrus vs. Irma
The wrath of Hurricane Irma is bound to be bad news for Florida citrus, especially orange that already is reeling from declining production due to citrus greening. Florida accounts for 56 percent of U.S. citrus production and is the number one state for oranges, although the vast majority goes for processing. Still, we’re talking about Florida’s total production for oranges in 2015 was valued at $1.17 billion.
Other top produce crops threatened by Irma are tomatoes, and green beans, although neither are in peak season. Severe citrus crop losses seen for product exposed to hurricane force winds exceeding 85 mph.
Imported Persimmons
by USDA APHIS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is publishing a final rule allowing the importation of fresh persimmon with calyxes (a plant part protecting the flower) from Japan.
APHIS scientists prepared a pest risk analysis and determined that commercial shipments of persimmons with calyxes produced under a systems approach can safely be imported into the continental United States. The systems approach includes requirements for packing house registration, orchard monitoring and control of pests, fruit culling, biometric sampling, a phytosanitary certificate with additional declaration, port of entry inspection and traceback. These measures will protect our country against the introduction of plant pests.
U.S. domestic sweet potato shipments of the new crop started recently from two of the leading states, North Carolina and Louisiana.
Loading opportunities for sweet potatoes should be similar this season compared to a year ago from the top volume state of North Carolina, as well as from Louisiana. The harvest got underway in late August by some companies, while getting started in early September with others. Assuming the product is cured before shipping, this mean the hauling season has barely started.
Observers believe there are around 3.1 billion pounds of sweet potatoes to be shipped during the season that lasts about a year from approximately August to August.
SMP Southeast/Edmonson Farms, Vardaman, MS has added 350-400 acres this season with its beauregard, bellevue and orleans varieties.
Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co., Chadbourn, N.C., began its harvest the latter part of August, about a week earlier than last year and hopes to wrap up digging by the end of October.
Some sweet potatoes from this past season are still being shipped from storage as is the case with Ham Produce Co. Inc., Snow Hill, N.C. It should complete shipments of the old crop by the end of September, while transiting to its 2017 crop.
Potato and sweet potato shipper Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC, of Idaho Falls, ID markets sweet potatoes for some growers in sweet potato producing states. Its growers started harvesting around the start of September.
Kornegay Family Produce, Princeton, N.C., began harvesting around Labor Day.
Meanwhile, Southern Produce Distributors Inc., Faison, N.C., launched its harvest the first week of September with the covington variety and planned to start digging murasakis, an increasingly popular purple-skin, white-flesh Asian variety, three weeks later.
Garber Farms, Iota, LA., was on a similar path to getting its season underway and like other areas, was reporting good, quality sweet potatoes.
P
azazz apples shattered retail sales targets last winter, less than a year ahead of its nationwide 2018 roll out, according to Honeybear Brands. The variety, which debuted a month earlier than usual in December 2016, sold faster, in more markets and more retail stores than at any other time since its initial introduction.
“We’re looking at the sales numbers and receiving feedback from our retail partners as we speak,” Don Roper, Honeybear’s vice president of sales and marketing, said in a press release. “We’re thrilled. Pazazz did exactly what we designed the variety to do: offer a truly exceptional variety to help drive new revenue for retailers as well as provide an opportunity to extend their sales window of premium apple varieties well into the later winter months.”
Roper said it’s too early to put an exact number on final retail sales figures, but this year’s crop production was up nearly 400 percent over last year and is already sold out. Retailer feedback highlighted strong, repeat customer sales and a sharp rise in inquiries from new customers seeking out the variety by name.
“Pazazz has created a strong following among apple lovers,” Roper said in the release. “That’s an incredible development in just a few short years and an absolute win for retailers who are giving their customers another reason to get excited in the fresh produce aisle. It is a real testament to the unique eating experience of this apple and its flavor profile that has significantly raised the bar in the apple category.”
Thanks to increased production from planted acreage and the continued maturation of Pazazz orchards, the 2016-17 Pazazz crop debuted in many regions a month earlier than usual, arriving on store shelves in December 2016 and making an immediate impact on pre-holiday retail sales. In all, Pazazz was sold in more than 50 markets and 1,000 stores in January and February.
“We couldn’t be happier with the results we’ve seen from Pazazz,” Craig Clasen, group vice president of produce purchasing at Hy-Vee, said in the release. “For a new variety, it’s performing incredibly well across our more than 240 stores throughout the Midwest and it offers many of the things we try to bring our customers with every piece of produce that they purchase — excellence in quality, superior taste and freshness.”
From coast-to-coast apple growers are growing new apple varieties to increase sales.
For example there are New York apple growers looking to make a splash with the RubyFrost and SnapDragon varieties.
On the opposite side of the country there are growers and shippers pushing varieties for club stores such as Jazz and Envy.
The Honeycrisp is perhaps the best example of a meteoric rise in an apple variety, plus the initial success of the RubyFrost and Snap Dragon have been impressive.
While some of the new varieties have been seen as rising stars, the traditional favorites of consumers continue playing an important role such as in New York state with the world-famous mcintosh, as well as galas and empires.
While marketers heap praise on new varieties, not everyone is completely sold.
For example, Forrence Orchards Inc., of Peru, N.Y. has seen sales of its more traditional varieties such as McIntosh and Cortland adversely affected by the new varieties. At the same time Forrence Orchards also has invested in the Honeycrisp.
One of the more interesting aspects in all of these changes will be observing to see if consumers are willing to pay substantially higher prices for these new varieties which can easily be 50 percent or more. A generation ago the red delicious, golden delicious, golds and cortlands pretty much made up the choices in the apple section of local produce departments.
Planning Important
It is very costly to launch a new apple variety, including being labor intensive. The bottom line on whether it is worth the effort and cost ultimately depends on whether the consumer likes the product.
Even if the new variety proves popular with consumers, it also takes a lot of help from retailers through good placement in the produce department, promoting the product, and having reasonable pricing.
Stemilt Growers LLC of Wenatchee, WA offers its Piñata variety apple in bulk, organic bulk, 3-pound Lil Snapper conventional and organic kid-sized fruit and a value 5-pound pouch bag using an attractive display-ready carton. These efforts are backed by promotion with social media and in-store demonstrations.
Hess Bros. Fruit Co. of Leola, PA is launching a late season proprietary variety called Sweet Cheeks, expected to should be available at the end of January. The initial offering will only be a couple of truck loads.