Posts Tagged “feature”
Over the past 20 years blueberry shipments have soared.Total blueberry shipments nationally in 1996 was 164 million pounds, with the largest producer being the Great Lakes at 45 million pounds, versus 25 million pounds from Oregon and Washington.
In 2015, total production was 711 million pounds, with 75 million pounds from the Great Lakes versus 196 million pounds from Oregon and Washington. That 2015 total production is equivalent to 17,775 truck loads.
If you count British Columbia and California, the shift from the East to the West is even more dramatic during that period, from 38 percent to 59 percent of total production.
Blueberry plantings continue at a brisk pace. Between 2007 and 2014, worldwide plantings grew at a compounded annual rate of 10 percent.
In North America, the figure for that period was 8 percent. By the end of 2014, blueberry acreage in North America totaled 143,636 acres. Worldwide, the total was 273,929 acres.
No slowdown in plantings is seen thus far, although like many other produce commodities over the years over production is bound to hit the blueberry industry.
One major change is that wild blueberries are becoming a direct competitor with highbush blueberries.
Wild blueberry growers now differentiate their product as “the better blueberry,” claiming wild blueberries taste better and provide twice the amount of antioxidants of planted blueberries.
The first domestic blueberry shipments each year usually start in late March from Florida.
B
y South Carolina Department of Agriculture
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina peach shippers are looking forward to an excellent peach crop in 2016 in spite of the challenges they faced last year. Favorable growing conditions have given growers a positive outlook for a fruitful crop of everyone’s favorite summertime treat.
After delays from heavy rains in the fall, growers immediately began working on the upcoming season. Planting new trees, installing irrigation lines, and pruning established orchards keep South Carolina growers busy year round. Countless hours of hard work are required in the fall and winter to set up ideal conditions for the spring and summer.
“We are off to a good start for the 2016 peach crop,” said Matt Forrest, President of the SC Peach Council and co-owner of Dixie Belle Peaches. “After a late start to winter, we now expect to accumulate more than enough of the necessary chill hours and are anticipating a normal bloom date in a few weeks.”
With an unusually warm fall, growers have been monitoring weather stations daily. Peach trees require between 600 – 1000 chill hours, depending on variety, to overcome dormancy. Farmers choose plant varieties that coincide with their location based on these figures to ensure the highest quality fruit. As the weather has finally turned cool, these hours below 45°F are steadily accumulating and South Carolina peach farmers feel confident that these requirements will be met.
“Although we had a late start to our winter season, once the cold temperatures arrived, we have been in an excellent position to accumulate chill hours with very consistent temperatures and highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s,” said Chalmers Carr, president of Titan Farms. “We are well-beyond the minimum chill hours necessary and look forward to a great spring leading into an even better peach season.”
With a firm foundation already laid for the 2016 peach season, South Carolina farmers are anticipating a successful season. As the top peach producing state on the East Coast, and second in the nation only to California, South Carolina represents a large percentage of the nation’s peach crop. Customers from across North America are expecting quality South Carolina peaches to put on their tables. South Carolina farmers are excited to again provide them with the tastiest peaches in the country.
In 2014 f.o.b. prices for San Joaquin Valley walnuts topped $2 a pound for higher-quality nuts. But even California walnut growers guilty of over production knew it wouldn’t last.
Walnut growers haven’t been told how much they’ll get for the nuts they sold last year, but some experts estimate that top prices may be no higher than 75 to 80 cents per pound. Those declining prices are the result of China increasing its production, while U.S. growers have become victims of their own success.
Walnuts have been one of the more stable and valuable agricultural commodities in the Central Valley — where about 90 percent of U.S. walnuts are grown. But over the past decade, farmers have planted more trees to expand their acreage, while others replaced other crops with walnuts in hopes of better returns.
Many trees reached maturity within the past couple of years, significantly increase walnut supplies. Additionally, China, normally a major buyer of U.S. walnuts, is expanding its own walnut industry and competing with U.S. growers. A strengthening U.S. dollar compared to the Euro, is also hurting prices.
While 2015 was a “bumper” year for walnut growers, what happens next season is uncertain, because of the heavier-than-average production per tree that generated a record 575,000 tons of nuts.
The industry was left with about 60,000 tons of unsold walnuts from last year — 20,000 tons more than average — which will have to be sold this year with the new nuts. A “bumper” harvest tends to be followed by less productive years, which should help reduce the glut of walnuts on the market and help elevate prices.
Record heat and above-normal rainfall have played havoc with Florida produce shipments, making tighter supplies likely for at least the next couple of months.
Florida cabbage shipments are particularly lacking, with some of the vegetables growing to the size of footballs, while other heads are maturing too slowly, risking they won’t be ready by the prime shipping time leading up to St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th.
The situation is really serious in South Florida, which was deluged by nearly eight inches of rain in four days in early December. Afterward, shipments of cucumbers, endive, escarole, radishes, squash, grape and Roma tomatoes plummeted.
At the end of January, 14 of 15 shipments of different Florida vegetable crops were running behind, with celery, squash, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, sweet corn and avocados among the hardest hit.
The Florida Department of Agriculture predicts shortages will continue through late March or early April.
April and May are typically the months for heaviest Florida produce shipments during the year. How long the peak shipping season lasts usually depends upon when summer heat starts taking its toll.
Florida produce shipments – grossing about $2100 to New York City.
A 20-year lease agreement with Port Everglades has been renewed by Marine terminal operator King Ocean Services Ltd. Inc.
King Ocean operates twice a week from Port Everglades with services to Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Aruba, The company recently celebrated its 22nd year at the port and the agreement at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., port calls for a minimum 72,000 container lifts annually over an initial 10-year term.
King Ocean nearly doubled its port marine terminal recently to 41 total acres in two locations and in 2015, moved 153,984 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) through the port, according to a news release.
The agreement includes relocating King Ocean’s terminal within the port’s Southport cargo area during construction of the port’s Southport Turning Notch Extension project which is designed to lengthen the deep water turnaround area from 900 feet to 2,400 feet.
Those improvements should allow for up to five new cargo berths and construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and be completed by the end of 2019, according to the release.
“King Ocean has established successful business models at Port Everglades that take advantage of the port’s robust trade lanes to Latin American and the Caribbean and direct highway access,” Steven Cernak, the port’s director and CEO, said in the release.
The roller coaster ride of western winter desert vegetables has seen peaks and valleys in volume over the past three months and it is not over yet.
Light shipments of Western vegetables occurred in holidays ranging from Thanksgiving and Christmas through New Years and well into January. Then volume experienced a dramatic increase with lettuce and many vegetables heading into February. However, a potential shipping gap is looming as it appears winter vegetable shipments may come to a conclusion in mid- to late March. This would be ahead of the transition for many produce shippers to the Salinas and Santa Maria valleys.
The winter weather forecasts of hugh amounts of rains El Niño in Southern California have failed to materialize. Although a wet March is still being forecast. If that occurs and it drenches the desert, an even earlier end to vegetable shipments would most likely occur.
Some are saying that regardless of the El Niño situation, desert loadings are going to end early. While Salinas Valley vegetable shipments might get an early start, volume still will be light.
There will be some early Salinas fields harvested from mid-March to mid-April, but shipments will be variable at best.
Yuma, AZ vegetables shipments – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Imported Mexican produce volume has been much lower than normal due to rain and cold weather throughout the winter, plus a freeze at Christmas delayed plantings and tightened supplies of many items. However better weather is resulting in higher volume in February.
While Mexican produce shipments in late February were approaching normal, some items remain in much lighter volume. For example, bell peppers are expected to remain lighter than usual. Mexican watermelon shipments should remain good until the last half of March when production will be less. Yellow mangoes loadings have started within the past week, with volume picking up heading into March.
Mexican watermelon imports should hit good volume by mid-April. A similar situation is expected with honeydews and cantaloupes. Steady Mexican vegetable shipments are expected to continue with zucchini, yellow, gray, acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash.
There is now good volume with imports through Nogales with tomatoes on the vine, beefsteak, roma, grape, yellow grape and cocktail tomatoes, yellow bell peppers and organic round and roma tomatoes and eggplant.
Imported Mexican produce through Nogales – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
Imported Mexican produce through Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley – grossing about $3900 to New York City.
By The Northwest Pear Bureau
A study has found that adult pear consumers had a lower body weight than non-pear consumers and they were 35 percent less likely to be obese.
In the new study, Fresh Pear Consumption is Associated with Better Nutrient Intake, Diet Quality, and Weight Parameters in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010, published in Nutrition and Food Science, revealed new information regarding the health benefits of pear consumption, particular interest is given the high rates of obesity in the United States,
“We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers,” the study states.
The epidemiologic study, led by Carol O’Neil of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, used a nationally representative analytic sample to examine the association of fresh pear consumption with nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy, diet quality, and cardiovascular risk factors in adults.
“The association between pears and lower body weight is very exciting,” said Dr. O’Neil. “We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers.”
In addition to discovering a correlation between fresh pear consumers and lower body weight, the study found that pear consumption was associated with higher diet quality (as defined by the Healthy Eating Index). Moreover, the consumption of one medium fresh pear per day had a positive effect on nutrient intake since consumers had higher usual intakes of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, copper, and potassium, and higher mean intakes of total sugars; consumers of fresh pears also had lower intakes of total, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and added sugars.
Pears are an excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C. One medium pear provides about 24 percent of daily fiber needs for only 100 calories. They are sodium-free, cholesterol-free, fat-free and contain 190 mg of potassium. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that people who eat more fruit as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to reduce their risk of some chronic diseases, although little is published on the health outcomes associated with individual fruits, including pears.
January and February are always frustrating for produce hauls since the lightest volume of the year for fresh fruits and vegetables occur. March often isn’t much better, depending on weather factors. So here’s a peak of various commodities and the shipping potential as we prepare to barrel into spring.
Brussels Sprouts
As with many produce items in the west brussels sprout out of California have been in exceptionally light volume due to the California drought. However, supplies of the tiny members of the cabbage family seem to be improving. After a slow start in Mexico, Brussel sprout shipments are picking up from Baja California. The product has increased in popularity since being declared a super food.
Mexican roma tomatoes
Good volume with Mexican roma tomatoes from Sinaloa, Mexico are crossing the border at McAllen, Tx.
Lower Rio Grand Valley, Texas Mexican fruit and vegetable imports and LRGV citrus – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Florida Lettuce Quality
Cool, damp conditions in Florida this winter has resulted in an increase in lettuce downy mildew, caused by the oomycete pathogen Bremia lactucae. Primarily a foliar disease, it has a direct effect on yield and quality. Downy mildew causes light green to yellow angular spots on the upper surfaces of leaves. White mycelial growth of the pathogen develops on the under sides of these spots. Over time, these lesions turn brown and dry up. Severely infected leaves may die. In some instances, the pathogen can become systemic, causing discoloration of stem tissue. Extra caution is urged if your hauling Florida lettuce. Know what’s being put in your truck and if need, inform your receiver before leaving the dock.
Florida produce volume still remains light, with multiple pick ups at best required.
Florida vegetables, tomatoes, melons and potatoes – grossing about $2200 to New York City.
A study claims lettuce may produce more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than bacon does by a particular metric. And there is more to the whole story.
The claim that lettuce produces more GHGs per calorie originates from a Carnegie Mellon University study that was promoted recently.
It found that the U.S. National Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recommendations on how much produce, seafood and dairy you should eat could be “harmful to the environment.”
The study, by Prof. Paul Fischbeck, and graduate students Michelle Tom and Chris Hendrickson, examined how many resources U.S. diets consume, and how many GHGs they produce per calorie.
“Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken,” Fischbeck said in a news release.
Many outlets (and Carnegie Mellon’s news release) jumped on the study’s finding that lettuce is “three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.”
And at least one expert blasted the claim as ludicrous.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon University offers degrees in 20 locations around the world.