Posts Tagged “feature”
Here we take look at Washington apple shipments, Idaho and Oregon onion loads, Idaho potatoes, plus the outlook for California strawberry shipments coming for Easter.
Washington state ships approximately 60 percent of the apples in the United States, but it is responsible for over 90 percent of the apple exports. In a typical year, Washington exports one-third of its production outside of the United States. Needless to say, exporters were relieved to see the port labor dispute on the West Coast settled.
Yakima Valley apples – grossing about $1000 to Seattle, $5000 to Dallas.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Looking at the Twin Falls, ID area, potato shipments remain pretty steady from week to week and are averaging around 1800 truck load equivalents per week….Moving to western Idaho and eastern Oregon, there are about 300 truck loads of dry onions moving from storages per week.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $5600 to New York City.
Western Idaho and Malheur County, OR onions – grossing about $4700 to Atlanta.
California Strawberries
Easter Sunday is April 5th, and all three California berry growing regions will be up and running, and shipments should be good. Also, keep in mind the primary California strawberry shipping areas are cranking up a couple of weeks early this year because of excellent growing conditions.
Oxnard, which typically peaks from mid-March to mid-April is starting shipments about two weeks early. Santa Maria will also will have strawberry shipments for Easter, while Watsonville will play a supplemental role with light strawberry volume for the holiday…..Currently Oxnard not only has light volume with berries, but other items ranging from celery to romaine and leaf lettuce, as well as cabbage.
Ventura County (Oxnard) produce – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.
There is angst among some in the Canadian produce industry because the rules set up by an entity of America’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has changed some rules regarding protection they receive when there is a dispute involving a produce transaction. However, it could be worse. What if the Canadians had absolutely no protection against unfair practices, something U.S. produce truckers have never had.
The U.S. government recently took away a trading privilege from Canadian produce companies that has been available for more than 75 years. The result is fruit and vegetable producers risk losing thousands of dollars, closing their businesses, or moving across the border into the U.S.
Canadian produce companies that were owed money from U.S. companies could pay $100 to start a legal process, under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). This would happen when U.S. companies didn’t pay their bills on time, at all, or when the company declared bankruptcy.
However, in October 2014, the United States withdrew Canada’s privileged access to PACA after the Canadian government neglected to implement the same privileges this side of the border. Now Canadian fruit and vegetable producers have to pay double the amount of money they’re owed to get access to the unpaid funds. If they’re owed $100,000 for cucumbers for example, they have to pay $200,000 as a bond to get the process started.
For decades, this writer has advocated owner operators, small fleets and large fleets hauling fresh fruits and vegetables be afforded similar protections the USDA’s PACA provides for the produce industry. This would be invaluable for produce truckers facing unfair claims or deductions or rejected loads. However, the produce industry has always fought against such measures and the PACA has certainly shown no interest.
About the only recourse for produce haulers is going through the court system, which can be costly, time consuming and particularly difficult considering the fact the problem may have taken place thousands miles from the trucker’s home base. Otherwise, hope and pray you have a good truck broker or shipper backing you when such issues arise. — Bill Martin
By Sakata Seed Co., Inc.
Broccoli is known for its anti-inflammatory and detoxifying properties, which benefit more than just the heart; in fact, studies show that broccoli consumption can lead to better vision, healthier skin, reduced cholesterol, stronger immune system and improved digestion. Better yet, broccoli delivers a powerhouse of nutrients, while remaining low in sodium and calories.
‘Need-to-Know’ Broccoli Nutrition Facts
- Good source of fiber
- Good source of Potassium
- High in Vitamins: A, B6, C
- Nutrients: Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Iron
Sakata urges you to eat healthy, exercise and educate yourself on how to prevent heart disease. A heart healthy America starts with you. Here are some important steps for decreasing risk for yourself and others.
6 Steps Toward Building a Heart-Healthy America
- Increase knowledge
- Exercise regularly
- Eat healthy
- Manage stress
- Regulate weight
- Spread awareness
The American Heart Association has deemed February American Heart Month. As a continued supporter of the American Heart Association, Sakata is doing their part to promote a heart-healthy America. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death of American adults today. Proper diet and exercise are the building blocks of heart disease prevention, which is why finding foods that naturally prevent heart problems is crucial.
It will take several months for West Coast ports to return to normal and catch up on a backlog that has piled following a nine-month labor dispute. The two sides reached tentative agreement February 20 on a new five-year contract.
All kinds of agricultural commodities, including produce, were affected by the dispute, which began after the last contract expired July 1. Though the terms of that contract were extended and there was never an official strike, there were many disruptions caused by work slowdowns or the closing of the ports by the terminal operators.
Ag groups and other experts say the dispute cost the U.S. economy more than $7 billion. No numbers on the cost to the trucking industry was given. While $7 billion is a significant number, it pales in comparison to the estimated $2.1 billion that would have been lost each day if the ports would have been closed by a strike or a lockout.
The Chilean produce industry, which exports fruits and vegetables to the United States to ports on both coasts, report the west coast port problems cost its industry $50 million. The port work slowdown had delayed the unloading of ships from a two-day average to 7 days and was expected to get even worse before the agreement was reached.
It was reported last week there are approximately 1.8 million boxes of fruit from Chile at the ports. If the dispute had not been resolved, the situation would have become dramatically worse. In mid March, 5 ships are scheduled to the ports with a combined total of 2.5 million boxes of fruit.
Southern California fruit – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Freezing temperatures late last week that descended upon the South apparently sparred most Florida vegetables. However, some big time damage has hit blueberry crops in Florida and Georgia.
Florida Produce Shipments
Widespread damage to Florida vegetable crops, which is less than two months from entering peak spring shipments, apparently has been avoided. Strawberries in the Plant City area also escaped damage. Temperatures were reported around or just below freezing. Assessments are underway and more will be known in the days ahead. There are reports of freezing pocket areas scattered around Florida. For example, there are reports of damage to green beans and sweet corn in the Lake Okeechobee area, where growers had helicopters flying to circulate the air. This helps keep temperatures up.
South Florida vegetables – grossing about $2800 to New York City.
Georgia Blueberry Shipments
However, blueberries in Northern Florida and Southern Georgia the night of February 20th were not so lucky. There are areas in the Gainesville, FL area where there is definite blueberry damage. It is reported that other Florida blueberry shipping areas didn’t get hit with cold enough temperatures to hurt the fruit.
However, it is different in Georgia. Temperatures in the low 20s for several hours occurred in the Alma, Baxley, and Homerville, Ga.,regions, which experienced their third consecutive night of freezes.
It may be the end of February before the full extent of the damage in Georgia is known. Blueberry growers ran frost protection systems throughout the night. Damage may be less severe in Homerville, which is farther south than the other areas and is in a warmer microclimate.
The early blueberry shipments set to start in mid-April sustained the most damage and the state’s loadings could be delayed until early May.
From North American potatoes, to desert vegetables, here is a shipping update.The potential for potato shipments in the U.S. and Canada is up 2 percent from the previous season. About 510 million cwt. (per hundredweight) of potatoes were produced last fall in North America. About 408 million cwt. were grown in the U.S., 102 million cwt. in Canada. The U.S. total is 3percent more than the year before, the Canadian total 1 percent less. The U.S. harvested 929,500 acres, down from 930,500 acres in 2013. However, U.S. yields increased from 425 cwt. to 439 cwt. per acre. Canadian acreage fell from 351,300 in 2013 to 343,700 last year. Yields rose from 292 cwt. to 297 cwt. per acre.
Idaho potatoes shipments – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
Desert Vegetable Shipments
Perfect weather in the Southwestern deserts of Arizona and California may be great for production and volume with head lettuce, romaine, broccoli and other vegetables. However, demand for such items in portions of the upper Midwest, and especially the Northeast has been killed because of snow storm after snow storm. The desert shipping areas have another month or so before the transition to the Huron district in the San Joaquin Valley. Vegetable loadings typically occur for about three weeks from Huron before shifting to the Salinas Valley.
Desert vegetables – grossing about $5400 to Atlanta.
According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA) our industry currently needs another 30,000 qualified drivers. The number is expected to rise to 200,000, over the next 10 years. Drivers are getting old. The average age for -hire is about 49; about 55 for less-than-truckload drivers (LTL) and private carriers. Average turnover rate is 115-120%.
Hauling more than 70% of all freight in the US, trucking is a vital component to economic growth of the country. But there is not enough capacity to handle the anticipated growth. The result is that everything slows down.
Being away from home for long stretches is a major drawback to attracting recruits to drive trucks. The age requirement, restrictive regulations and demanding work schedules are further deterrents.
Des Moines Truck Brokers (DMTB) President Jimmy DeMatteis pointed out that “The driver pool is being pinched from both ends. Baby boomer drivers are retiring. But we have also lost young people who elected to go into the work force right out of high school. They used to be allowed to drive interstate at the age of 18. Now that age has been raised to 21.
“By the time they are in the labor market for three years, young adults can be well on their way to a career in construction, retail or service. They are not interested in starting all over again from the bottom as a brand new truck driver. Raising the age limit has been a major blow to driver recruitment.”
There is a move afoot to convince insurance companies to create training standards that would allow young drivers behind the wheel. DeMatteis notes, “At the age of 18, they are allowed to go into combat and fly a plane and drive a car. With the proper training, they should also be able to drive a truck.”
Driver pay must be increased if the capacity shortage is to be addressed. In real dollars, drivers today earn less than they made in 1990.
Solving the driver shortage will undoubtedly cause an increase in the cost of shipping. It will also take innovation and a dose of reality as shippers and carriers face the problem head-on, in 2015.
Reprinted with permission from the 2015 February issue of Dashboard, which is published by Des Moines Truck Brokers.
Among the healthy foods that were considered to be trendy in 214 was kale, according to some nutrition experts. So what is expected to take center stage in 2015?
Nutritionist see increasing attention towards antioxidizing vegetables and protein-rich grains.
Surprisingly, one of the new foods in the limelight is cauliflower. Registered dietitian Alison Sacks sees cauliflower will stealing some of the spotlight from kale. Her focus is helping clients prevent and heal chronic conditions. She notes cauliflower is nutritious and very versatile.
In 2015, expect to see cauliflower grated to make a flour substitute in pizza crust, mashed (instead of mashed potatoes) and roasted.
“It’s the new, healthy ‘white food,’ ” says Sacks, referring to the trend of avoiding white foods — meaning refined carbs such as white-flour pasta and bread — because of their high sugar and gluten levels and low fiber content.
Another dietitian Sarah Waybright says Brussels sprouts — with high levels of fiber, iron and vitamins K and C — are also a looking good for 2015. Instead of steaming broccoli, she suggests roasting it instead.
Waybright also suggests using some olive oil or other fat – maybe a flavorful, anchovy-based sauce – to give them a crispier surface. Fat doesn’t just create better texture and flavor, she says, it also helps the body better absorb plant-based vitamins and other nutrients. Furthermore, it helps create a feeling of fullness that is hard to come by with veggies only.
There have been a lot of opinions expressed about the “Left Coast” and its rules, regulations and politics and what effect it may have on everything from produce truckers willing to do business in California, to produce growers shifting more of their operations to Mexico and other states.
Based on a new report from the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, as looney as our friends on the West Coast may sometimes seem, last year California still accounted for 47 percent of harvested acreage, 52 percent of production and 60 percent of value in 2014. If that’s the case, then there must have been trucks for the most part delivering those agricultural products to markets across North America.
Production of U.S. melons and 24 top vegetables was down one percent in 2014. The overall value of those crops also fell last year.
About 413 million cwt. of leading vegetables and melons were harvested in 2014. Harvested acreage, at 1.58 million acres, also was down, by three percent.
The value of the 2014 crops, at $10.9 billion, was down 5 percent from a year ago.
In terms of production, onions, head lettuce and watermelon were the top three crops, accounting for 36 percent of total production.
Tomatoes, head lettuce and onions were the most valuable, making up 29 percent of total value.
While the vast majority of produce shipments occur by truck, California produce shipments also easily lead the pack in terms of volume over other states.
An extended warm weather streak is occurring in the California and Arizona deserts, resulting in fair to good movement of vegetables. The only problem is treacherous winter weather in many northern and northeastern markets is hurting demand.
Desert vegetable shipments are taking place from the Imperial, Coachella and Pal Verde valleys of California, as well as the Yuma area in Arizona. Everything from head lettuce to romaine, as well as broccoli and cauliflower, and greens are being loaded. The primary problem might be if there are some temporary shipping gaps due to weather factors earlier in the season….Mexican asparagus volume is building at the Calexico, CA border crossing.
Carrot shipments from the Bakersfield area are averaging over 300 truck loads per week.
While strawberry loadings out of the Oxnard district are light, there is better volume with celery.
California citrus shipments ranging from oranges to tangerines and mandarins are available from shippers in Central and Southern California.
California avocado shipments have recently got underway and the forecast calls for loadings to total 327 million pounds during the 2014-15 season, about 10 percent greater than this past season. Volumes are expected to build into March with ‘promotable’ volume beginning in April.
Overall, this is perhaps the lightest volume time of the year for California produce shipments, which too often results in multiple pick ups to fill the trailer.
California desert shipments – grossing about $4400 to Chicago, $6500 to New York City.