Posts Tagged “feature”
By Western Growers
IRVINE, Calif. – Western Growers has revamped its Produce Price Index (PPI) website to allow consumers to easily identify the price difference between what customers pay at grocery stores for fresh produce and what farmers actually receive for their products. In an effort to educate consumers and stakeholders on how much farmers receive for the fruits and vegetables they grow, the PPI details the selling price at the farm, the average price charged at major retail stores and the percentage spread between the two.
“The escalating input costs farmers have to pay in order to sustain a nutritious and reliable global food supply is often overlooked,” said Tom Oliveri, director of trade practices & commodity services at Western Growers. “With this improved Produce Price Index, we’ll continue to educate the public on the gap between farm and retail prices, as well as help consumers understand the pricing structure in the agriculture industry.”
Western Growers has been providing pricing data on fresh produce items since 1996. The index, which is now outfitted with an improved interface and easier navigation, highlights how farmers continue to remain price takers rather than price makers. Many consumers do not realize that on average farmers receive less than 16 cents of every $1 spent on food. Due to rising input costs for farmers—including labor, water, land and other resources—and the continuous implementation of costly buyer and regulatory demands, the historically-lean profit margins for fresh produce farmers continue to tighten, requiring continuous innovation by farmers in order to maintain the long-term economic viability of many family farming businesses.
The PPI is updated weekly and lists prices from U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and New York. Users now have the ability to search the database by commodity, date range and location. Visit the PPI website at http://www.producepriceindex.com/. For more information, contact Tom Oliveri at (949) 885-2269.
About Western Growers:
Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California and Colorado. Our members and their workers provide half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including half of America’s fresh organic produce. For generations we have provided variety and healthy choices to consumers. Connect with and learn more about Western Growers on our Twitter and Facebook.
By Scott Farms International
Scott Farms International, based in Lucama, N.C., has long been one of the leaders in the sweet potato industry. Keeping in that tradition, the Scott Family continues to expand and innovate.
In just two short years, the grower-shipper has built a 60,000 sq. ft. automated packing facility, opened an additional international office, and completed construction of an 80,000 sq. ft. storage and curing facility. All to the betterment of sweet potatoes.
“Sweet potato consumption is growing in the US and around the world”, Linwood “Sonny” Scott, Jr. said. “We built our automated line with the expectation it would offer a more consistent pack for our customers. It was only natural we move on to the next phase with more storage, as well.”
The company boasted 1.6 million bushels of environmentally controlled storage before adding another 600,000 bushels in the new facility. “Increasing our storage capacity will help us serve our domestic and international markets better and more efficiently”, Dewey Scott, Vice President, Sweet Potato Operations, said. “Our new office in the Netherlands will complement our already successful office in the UK. Our domestic business is growing with the trends in consumption as well. Scott Farms is committed to being at the front of the industry with quality, consistency and safe products.”
In addition to infrastructure expansions, the operation is expanding product lines as well. In August, their new Steam-In-Bag line was added to complement their other added-value products. “The Steam-In-Bag product is starting to gain traction with our retail customers”, Stephanie Williams, Director of Sales for Scott Farms, said recently. “Our customers are the driving force for us. We are in a unique position as the grower, packer and shipper of our sweet potatoes to have control of the entire process from the plant to the customer. It is great to be able to offer the quality and consistency we do for our customers.”
Key Facts:
- Scott Farms is a sixth generation family owned farm
- Incorporation date – 1980
- Scott Farms International office opened in the United Kingdom – 2005
- 2.2 Million bushels of environmentally controlled storage and curing
- 60,000 sq. ft. packing facility opened – March 2015
- Second Scott Farms International office opened in Holland – 2016
- Additional 80,000 sq. ft. storage and curing facility opened – October 2016
Located on approximately 13,000 acres in North Carolina’s sweet potato and tobacco heartland of Wilson and surrounding counties, the company has been in continuous operation and expansion for 150 years. The sixth generation, family owned farm specializes in growing corn, wheat, soybeans, tobacco and sweet potatoes. The Scott Family employs a hands-on approach to supplying the highest quality products to the marketplace with efficiency while maintaining the strictest food safety standards. The addition of a 60,000 sq. ft. grading and packing facility for sweet potatoes has allowed the operation to expand the reach of supply to the international market, as well as, opening Scott Farms International offices in the United Kingdom and Holland.
Florida is pretty dead for produce shipments this time of year, but a faint “pulse” will be found with new season citrus. Nogales is another dead spot, but here’s a preview of when it is expected to come to life. Finally, Mexican avocado loads through South Texas are coming back, joining a number of other produce items.
Florida’s Indian River citrus harvest has just started, making it 10 days to two weeks later than normal due to excessive rains, that were compounded by the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. Matthew dumped up to seven inches of rain on the region, but the brunt of the storm was further north. While Vero Beach sustained 70 mph-80 mph winds, wind speeds hit 50 mph-60 mph in the groves. In Central Florida, harvesting started about a week earlier than Indian River. Florida citrus really dodged a bullet and in the weeks ahead normal shipments are seen.
Nogales Produce Shipments
This is one of the slowest times of the year for Mexican produce crossing into Nogales, AZ for distribution to U.S. and Canadian markets. The next big volumes will occur from January through March. A second, but smaller surge typically takes place from mid-April through June. Tomatoes have historically led produce shipments through Nogales from Mexico, but watermelon volume has increased to the point it could over take tomatoes. Other big volume items range from squash to peppers and many other winter vegetables. A significant factor in the growth and popularity of Mexican grown produce is due to many California farming operations investing and marketing produce from south of the border. They see lower production and labor costs with fewer stifling rules and regulations, which continue to come with doing business in California….Kind of sounds like trucking in California, doesn’t it.
Mexican Avocado Shipments
A projected 40 million pounds of avocados were expected to be shipped to the U.S. for the week ending October 21st. Mexican volume, entering the U.S. primarily through South Texas, had fallen sharply to 13.7 million the week of Oct. 10 – 14.
There had been a strike by Mexican workers with the primary issue revolving around sales negotiations between the growers and packers. The dispute apparently has been resolved.
Mexican tropical fruit, tomatoes and vegetable shipments through South Texas – grossing about $2100 to Chicago.
Imported produce is relatively light, but is increasing as we advance further into fall. Full tilt will come during the winter months and continue until the North American spring starts coming into view. The vast majority of arrivals will be by boat at various U.S. ports.
Among the heaviest volumes right now are Mexican limes and lemons, crossing the border primarily through South Texas. Both are increasing in volume with limes averaging about 500 truck loads weekly, and lemons about half this amount. Mexican blueberries also are very light, but will be increasing in volume crossing the border in both Texas and Nogales. There’s also light volume of Peruvian blueberries coming by boat.
There is increasing arrivals of South African Valencia oranges at U.S. ports. Mexican Valencias will be very light until mid October through South Texas….Chile is a major supplier of winter fruit to the U.S., but that will mostly be after the first of the year. However, nearly 400 truck load equivalents of Chilean tangerines are currently arriving weekly…..Mexican avocados through Texas would normally be heavier now, but there is a strike underway by Mexican growers.
Port of Oakland
TraPac LLC plans to lease an additional 57 acres and two vessel berths nearly double its marine terminal size on the Outer Harbor at the Port of Oakland.
TraPac is the second-largest terminal operator in Oakland and a proposed 14-year lease agreement with the port will become final if approved at an October 27 board meeting.
“This is a significant step forward for TraPac and the port,” port maritime director John Driscoll said in a news release. “TraPac gets room to expand its thriving business and the port gets to revitalize valuable property with a highly respected tenant.”
TraPac, based in Wilmington, CA, handles 20 percent of the containerized cargo moving through the Port of Oakland. Under the new agreement, it would have four berths and 123 acres. Much of the land would be used for cargo handling.
TraPac began Oakland operations in 1991 and also manages other terminals in Los Angeles and Jacksonville, FL
The company plans to construct a new gate to give harbor truckers better access to the terminal.
GLENDALE, Calif. — Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI) and Dole Food Company recently announced plans to launch a new co-branded assortment of fresh produce featuring iconic Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel characters at grocery and retail stores nationwide beginning this fall. The announcement comes ahead of the 2016 Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit Convention and Expo that took place October 14-16 in Orlando, FL.
“Disney and Dole have a shared mission of providing high quality produce to help families lead healthier lives,” said Josh Silverman, executive vice president of global licensing, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. “As an industry leader in licensed food, we are excited to pair our unrivaled portfolio of brands, characters and stories with Dole’s fresh fruits and vegetables to support parents as they encourage their kids to make healthier food choices.”
“It’s rare that two iconic brands with as much passion and potential for improving the way America and the world eats can come together to make positive change,” said Bil Goldfield, director of communications for the Dole Food Company. “As one of the world’s foremost nutrition leaders, Dole is excited to partner with Disney to take both companies’ commitment to health and wellness to the next level. Together, we can do even more to deliver fun, educational and nutritional information around the power of produce to individuals and families across North America.”
The two brands will launch its first program this fall, followed by a host of other health and nutrition education programs themed around other Disney, Star Wars and Marvel films and characters in 2017. These programs will include consumer promotions, digital integrations, in-store activities, and themed recipes featuring DOLE products to encourage kids and families to adopt a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.
In 2006, The Walt Disney Company became the first major media company to establish a Nutrition Guideline Policy to associate its brands and characters with a more nutritious portfolio of foods and beverages. The company has since marked every year of its Healthy Living Commitment with significant milestones such as becoming the first major media company to launch food advertising standards for kids, launching new content and experiences that inspire healthier lifestyles, and introducing the Mickey Check. The Mickey Check is a quick and easy way for families to identify healthier food and beverage options in stores, on-air, on-line, at Disney theme parks and resorts, and other places where Disney products are sold. Foods and recipes that feature the Mickey Check adhere to the rigorous Disney Nutrition Guideline Criteria.
For more than a century, Dole has served as an unrivaled health and wellness resource to millions of healthy-eating enthusiasts worldwide. Dole is committed to nutrition and nutrition education, and to encouraging the world to adopt a healthier diet including more fresh fruits and vegetables. Dole believes that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can increase America’s nutritional health and help reverse a number of negative health trends, among them improper diet and inadequate exercise as the leading causes of preventable death. In 2003 Dole established the Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI) specifically to study the health and wellness benefits of fruits and vegetables, and a plant-based diet. Today, DNI remains the world’s most definitive, easily accessible and scientifically validated resource on nutrition and health. In addition, Dole recently established a Director and Department of Culinary Nutrition to translate produce-based research into compelling meals that prove the vital role of fruit and vegetables as the staple of a healthy diet.
Western produce shipments out of California, Washington and Arizona are making their typical fall season moves.
We are about a month into the fall produce shipping season and it is very much still in a transitional period for fresh fruit and vegetable shipments. Some items are increasing in volume, others are in a seasonal decrease, yet we have some products that are a few weeks, if not months away from changes – meanwhile remaining in a fairly steady amount of shipments from week to week.
California Produce Shipments
Table grape shipments out of the San Joaquin Valley in recent years have been one of the more steady, reliable items for hauling – with generally good quality that certainly reduces issues with claims or deductions in freight paid. This situation should continue for another six to eight weeks before a seasonal decline takes place making way for imported grapes led by Chile. California’s late season grape volume is averaging over 1900 truck loads per week…..The Central Joaquin Valley also is having consistent loadings with mature green and romas tomatoes – around 650 loads weekly. A little further south in Kern County, California carrots are averaging about 375 truck load equivalents per week.
It has been a rather ho-hum shipping season for vegetables out of the Salinas Valley. Still, loadings have been pretty consistent lately and should remain so for a few more weeks before a seasonal decline. Among the larger volume items are head lettuce, romaine, celery, broccoli and cauliflower. These five items combined are averaging over 3700 truck loads per week.
California grapes – grossing about $6200 to New York City.
Washington Apple Shipments
Apple loadings out of the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys have yet to hit stride in the new season, but are increasing on a weekly basis. This week about 500 truck load equivalents should be moved. Pear shipments from the same area also are increasing.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Arizona Produce Shipments
As the Westside district in the San Joaquin Valley comes to a conclusion for melon shipments led by cantaloupe and honeydew, the fall transition to central and western Arizona is underway. Arizona cantaloupe volume is on the rise, and honeydew will follow in a couple of weeks.
By Larry Oscar
As we all get older we have something to enjoy that all the young folks will just have to be patient to acquire….memories.
Memories are something that takes a lifetime to acquire. And in some cases they take a lifetime also to understand. Nothing in life is free, and this applies to memories just like everything else. You pay a price for the good and the bad ones. Funny thing, when you get old you can often look back on those bad memories with a bittersweet smile.
Somehow time and wisdom transforms those bad experiences in life to a not-so-painful memory. The whole thing just sort of fits together like a puzzle. The pains in life are something we have to experience along with the pleasures. Life is a mixed bag, or, as it has been said many times, “a box of chocolates”.
I know I find myself laughing at a lot of memories these days. Maybe that’s why younger people think all of us older folks are just plain crazy. You have to admit that it’s not normal to burst into laughter for no apparent reason at all. I hope the younger people today will have the same opportunity to experience the wonderful world that I have. What a time it was to be growing up in a free land of hope and prosperity.
It was a Christmas of electric trains, red bicycles, a soft warm puppy, and the safety of a warm home filled with smells of mom’s cooking. It was a new black and white television that yielded Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Roy Rogers, and the Lone Ranger. Bedtime was nine o’clock and the only reprieve was the Jack Benny or Red Skelton show.
Now just mention a black and white TV to a millennial and watch the cold stare in disbelief you get in return. In a conversation with a friend of mine he mentioned that his kids had been listening to some of his music of the sixties and seventies and how it captured their ear. They just don’t make music today like we did in the era of “peace and love”. I know one thing for sure. I wish I had my 56 Chevy back. Cars seemed to be a lot bigger back then. I’m sure that was because we were all much smaller in our youth.
I mean really, can you imagine crawling over the front seat to go make out in the back seat today. Why, you would have to call the fire department to be extracted from the car with a muscle sprain. Back in 1966, on a hot August night, my girlfriend and I were “parked” and she had her feet hanging out the back window. We were listening to KAKC radio with DJ Scooter Seagraves. Then out of the moonlight a very large Great Dane ran up and licked the bottom of her feet. Fifty years later I still have problems hearing out of that ear.
Over time life has a way of changing your opinions and outlook on things somewhat. Somehow the bad things just bring a smile of wisdom, and the good things a happy glow in your heart. When I sit outside my favorite bar now and watch the younger people walk by I can’t help but wonder what their memories of life will be like. I can hear it now….”Hey Bob do you remember the good old days when our country was only 20 trillion in debt and, we had Pokemon 2 going on those old Iphones?” They weren’t here when we landed on the moon.
If you mention the Beetles to them they think you’re talking about some form of roach. And I remember the day Mickey Mantle hit a homer out of Yankee Stadium. He hit it over five hundred feet. Are you kidding me? Ten million years from now, when this planet is visited by aliens, they will uncover one of my polyester suits from the seventies. Those things were completely indestructible. I had a polyester tie that glowed in the dark and repelled mosquitoes.
It is often said that the best things in life are free. Well, nothing is actually free, but I think the best part of life is the friends you make over time. Don’t let time pass you by without taking note of the positive impact your friends have made on your life. And if you have a few that affected you negatively, well just smile and thank God you have the wisdom to overlook them. We have lived in a land that enabled you to live out your life in an era of individual freedom. As humans we are not part of an ant colony. The fifty’s, sixty’s, and seventy’s could not have happened without the freedom of expression we enjoyed. Those freedoms that made this the greatest nation ever to exist on the Earth are slowly being eroded.
(Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.)
Fewer total U.S. citrus shipments are seen this season from the leading states of Florida, California and Texas.
Florida’s first forecast for citrus shipments reveals a continued decline across all varieties with grapefruit and navel oranges expected to be among the lowest levels in history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on October 12th forecast Florida to ship 81 million equivalent cartons of oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruit or tangerines, down from 94.1 million boxes last season.
The Sunshine state is expected to move 70 million 90-pound cartons of oranges with navel oranges amounting 1 million cartons. Navels are predicted to be three percent lower than last season and the lowest since the 1979-80 season when the USDA began separate navel forecasts.
Regarding grapefruit, Florida should ship 9.6 million 85-pound cartons, down 11 percent from the 2015-16 season and the lowest level in 50 years. As for tangerines, early season fallglos, midseason sunbursts and later season honeys are forecast to decline as well.
The USDA report forecast 7.5 million boxes of red grapefruit and 2.1 million boxes of white grapefruit.
California Citrus Shipments
California orange loadings are forecast to be down from 54.2 million 80-pound cartons last season to 50.5 million cartons this season. The state’s grapefruit shipments are forecast to increase from 3.8 million 80-pound cartons last season to 4 million cartons for 2016-17.
Texas Citrus Shipments
Texas orange shipments are seen falling from 1.7 million 85-pound cartons in 2015-16 to 1.4 million cartons this year. With grapefruit, Texas shipments are forecast to decline from last season’s 4.8 million 80-pound cartons to 4.7 million cartons this season.
25 years ago or so , there were 30 shippers and packers of Texas grapefruit and oranges operating the Rio Grande Valley and shipment citrus across the U.S. as well as exporting. Today, there are only three shippers.
Worldwide citrus grower are concerned about citrus greening, the primary reason for the decline in Florida citrus volume. In Texas,, the crops have not been affected by the disease. However, observers point out Florida didn’t feel the decline [in volume and tree health] until the sixth year after greening was discovered. Texas is now entering its sixth since green was discovered in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. A lot of folks are holding their breath and taking a wait and see attitude.
Produce trucking sweet potato loads could be affected significantly for the 2016-17 shipping season due to damage caused by Hurricane Matthew. Loading opportunities this fall for Florida, Georgia and South Carolina will be impacted much less, although volume from these three states is limited this time of year.
Southeast produce growers are estimating damage from Hurricane Matthew which hugged coastal Florida and Georgia before slamming into South Carolina and North Carolina, where it flooded fields and caused evacuations
North Carolina Sweet Potato Shipments
Around 40 to 45 percent of the sweet potato harvest had been dug when the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain October 6 – 9 during the middle of the North Carolina harvest.
There is little doubt North Carolina sweet potato shipments were hit pretty hard, and significant losses will occur, but the bottom line is it will take days, if not week to assess the damage. Earlier this week many roads remained impassible with a lot of farmland remaining underwater as river levels were still rising in some areas.
Besides sweet potatoes, the Tar Heel state also grows and ships cabbage, greens and a variety of fall vegetables including bell peppers, cucumbers and squash.
South Carolina Vegetable Shipments
The South Carolina received 8-18 inches of rain and growers and state officials are assessing damages. However, South Carolina isn’t a significant player in vegetable shipments this time of the year, although it does have leafy greens are grown in small acreage in the flooded areas east of Columbia. There also are crops grown in sandy soils of the interior growing regions that should fair okay.
South Carolina’s peach shipments were completed in September, but there are cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and watermelons grown closer to the Atlantic Coast. There are expected to have damage.
Georgia Vegetable Shipments
Most of Georgia’s southern vegetables are grown in the south-central part of the state, but are believe to have escaped serious damage. As for the 2017 Vidalia onion crop that starting shipping in April, the area had up to six inches of rain resulting in minor damage to Vidalia onion seed beds, which are planted for the spring harvest.
Some Vidalia onion shippers lost power for about 10 hours. The electricity runs coolers for their imported Peruvian onions but no damage was reported.
Florida Produce Shipments
Little or no damage was reported with Florida vegetables or citrus.
by Sharon Durham, USDA AgResearch Magazine
Up until the early 1900s, blueberries were picked from the wild, and the bushes of the berries often did not survive when transplanted elsewhere. True domestication-involving propagation of the plant by the grower and plant breeding to improve desirable traits-was beyond reach until 1910. That’s when USDA botanist Frederick Coville discovered that blueberry bushes require moist, acidic soil to thrive. In 1916, exactly a century ago, the first commercial cultivated crop of
highbush blueberries was harvested.
That history is now enhanced by Baby Blues, a cultivar released in cooperation with the Oregon State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington State University’s Agricultural Research Center (ARS). This new blueberry is making its debut during the 100th anniversary of the first cultivated blueberry crop to go to market.
“Baby Blues is a vigorous, high-yielding, small-fruited, machine-harvestable highbush blueberry with outstanding fruit quality. It’s well-suited for those processing markets that require a small fruit size,” says Finn. “Baby Blues should offer growers and processors an alternative to the low-yielding Rubel highbush blueberry, and it may thrive in milder areas where northern highbush blueberries are grown.”
Finn also developed a new blackberry named Columbia Giant. This thornless, trailing blackberry cultivar came from the same breeding program as Baby Blues and was also released in cooperation with the Oregon State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station.
“This cultivar is a high-quality, high-yielding, machine-harvestable blackberry with firm, sweet fruit that, when processed, is similar to or better in quality than fruit from the industry standards Marion and Black Diamond,” says Finn. “Due to its extremely large size, however, Columbia Giant will most commonly be sold in the fresh market.”
Columbia Giant is adaptable to areas where other trailing blackberries successfully grow.
“Two Tasty New Berries From ARS” was published in the September 2016 issue of AgResearch Magazine.