After several delays, the Autopista Durango-Mazatlan highway, a 143-mile road from the growing regions of west Mexico to Texas ports of entry, now is expected to open sometime during the first half of 2014.
If you haul produce out of South Texas, this is significant.
It is open, but there are still sections of the road that are not 100 percent complete.
The route’s 1,280-foot-high Baluarte Bridge already has been completed. It is the highest bridge in North America and the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, according to the website highestbridges.com.
There is no need for trucks to travel up and down the mountain, because they bridges allows the 18 wheelers to go through the mountain.
The highway between Durango and the coastal city of Mazatlan has 61 tunnels and seven bridges that exceed 300 feet in height.
Nearly two-thirds of the produce Texas ships to the rest of the country comes from Mexico.
That only will increase when the new road opens, allowing Mexican growers to easily move product from growing areas in west Mexico to the eastern part of the country in an efficient manner.
Historically it has been impossible to do this because of the mountain ranges. However, the new road system flattens out the trip and making it entirely feasible for big rigs.
The shortcut should allow Mexican shippers and U.S. importers to save $2,000 when they ship a load east of the Rockies through Texas rather than Arizona or California.
Besides importing Mexican product, shippers may bring in Asian products shipped to deep water ports in west Mexico. This would allow importers to avoid Southern California’s Long Beach-Los Angeles harbor area, which is expensive and frustrating.
Completion of the road could boost south Texas to become the business port of entry for produce. Traditionally, Nogales, Ariz., has held the number one spot.
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PLEASANTON, Calif., — DeltaTRAK®, a leading manufacturer and provider of portable environmental test instruments and cold chain management solutions announces the new In-Transit Temperature Recorder specially engineered with a lighter, but durable vented case for superior air circulation and accurate temperature responses.
The new recorder includes streamlined documentation and an improved pull tab design to make the recorder easier to start. Serial numbers on every unit provides traceability documentation and the recorders’ patented design guarantees recording stops at the end of the trip.
“Our recorders’ patented design and new features makes the process of monitoring temperature and providing product quality documentation easier and less costly,” said Frederick Wu, president and CEO of DeltaTRAK.
The new DeltaTrak Single Use In-Transit Temperature Recorders, 16000 series models, are available in 5-Day to 90-Day transit periods. The recorder provides maximum accuracy and generates a permanent record of transit conditions on a 36 inch (91 cm) strip chart.
Its view port also allows the operator to visually confirm activation after the startup tab has been pulled. The in-transit recorders can be used to document the environmental temperature conditions encountered during storage and transportation of food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other temperature-sensitive commodities.
DeltaTrak® is a leading innovator of cold chain management, environment monitoring and food safety solutions for the food, pharmaceutical, life sciences and chemical industries. Contact DeltaTrak by phone at 1-800-962-6776 or by email at marketing@deltatrak.com. Additional information can be found at www.deltatrak.com. Source: DeltaTrak®
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When it seems the U.S. has fewer friends on the world stage, one exception continues to be the South American country of Chile. The United States enjoys a symbiotic relationship with Chile. The country ranks sixth among Florida’s top product export destinations, with over $3.9 billion in exports in 2011. Florida exports to Chile increased at a rate of 24.3 percent through October 2012.
The U.S. received 74 percent of total Chilean citrus exports in 2012.
And once that Chilean fruit arrives at an American port, you can bet it takes a truck to get it to the final destination.
Also in 2012, the U.S. imported fresh blueberries valued at nearly $419.8 million, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Just over 50 percent of those fresh blueberries originated in Chile, which provides fresh blueberries to U.S. markets during the period of mid-November through January.
Canada shares a high demand for Chilean fruit with the U.S. According to a press release issued by Chilean Fresh Fruit Association in May 2013, Loblaws, a leading Canadian supermarket chain, increased its use of Chilean fruit by more than 20 percent during an import promotional period earlier in the year. Loblaws serves more than 14 million shoppers a week. It also has over a thousand stores across the entire Canadian territory.
There is also another issue to consider when thinking about the future relationship between the U.S. and Chile and other South American and Central American countries. Geographically they may be closer than other nations, like those of Asia or Europe, but fresh produce moves quickly today.
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We did a report on freezing temperatures in California, as well as Arizona last week, and to be honest there’s not a heck of a lot more to report on how Western produce shipments will be affected. But in case you missed that other report, here goes – with some additional information.
In California, freezing temperatures occurred for a few nights late last week and through Saturday a.m. It is known there will freeze damage to mandrians and navel oranges. How much freeze damage probably will not be known until the first of the year, if not the first week of January. There also a limited amount of vegetables being grown in the Central San Joaquin Valley, but no word on the veggies either.
The Salinas-Watsonville area had already completed its vegetable and strawberry shipments for the season when the freeze hit. The Santa Maria area was on the tail end of the strawberry season and the cold quickly ended what product was left.
Strawberry shipments have now shifted to Ventura County. While the cold may actually be beneficial to the berries in some areas of the county, others located in hilly, higher elevations of the county probably will suffer losses. We’ll also have to keep an eye on Southern California strawberries, particularly in Orange County.
It also got pretty frosty in the desert areas of California and around Yuma, AZ for desert vegetable shipments. It is believed items such as head lettuce, leaf lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower will make it okay, although it will not be surprising if it looks a little like it has been in a fight with Mother Nature.
Southern California strawberries, citrus – grossing about $6600 to New York City.
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Normal volume of winter vegetables from West Mexico crossing the border at Nogales, AZ is expected this season.
While limited volume with winter veggies has been occuring for over a month, crossings are gradually increasing in December. Heaviest volume typically occurs after the first of the year and remains heavy through March. As vegetable volume declines, table grapes typically start crossing the border in April.
Among the larger Mexican produce shipments this time of the year are watermelons, squash, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers. However, it is tomatoes that really get shipments going. Tomatoes, along with green beans, are just getting started.
While overall volume this winter should be fairly normal, there apparently are a lot more Mexican watermelons crossing the border.
A trend produce truckers are likely to notice, especially in coming years, is that produce crossing the border at Nogales is on the decline, while increasing in South Texas.
One reason is that central Mexico grows fresh produce on a year around basis, and most of that product is distributed to the U.S. and Canada through South Texas. As the same time produce grown in the Sinaloa and Sonora ares of West Mexico is grown on a seasonal basis. This product has historically crossed the border through Nogales.
It was more than a decade ago that construction of the long awaited Mazatlan-Durango Highway started. Completion of the road is behind schedule, but expected to be ready in the first half of 2014. West Mexican produce being shipped to the eastern half of the U.S. is expected to be funneled to Texas instead of going through Nogales, using the new 143-mile highway that has 63 tunnels.
Mexican produce at Nogales – grossing about $3500 to Chicago; $5800 to New York City.
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Consuming grapes may help protect bone health, according to research presented recently at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Natural components found in grapes are thought to be responsible for these beneficial effects.
The eight week feeding study, undertaken by Purdue University, was designed to investigate the long term benefits of grape consumption on bone health using an animal model for menopause. An earlier study had demonstrated short term benefits with grape intake in these animals.
The study results, presented by Emily Hohman of Purdue University, showed that animals consuming a grape-enriched diet had improved bone calcium retention compared to those fed the control diet without grapes. Additionally, the grape-fed group had greater femur cortical thickness and strength.
Approximately 57 million Americans are affected by osteoporosis or low bone mass, the effects of which can be debilitating. Until the age of thirty, our bones naturally rebuild themselves on a daily basis, but as we age, we begin to lose bone density. For women, this loss is accelerated during the transition to menopause. Bone mineral density loss during menopause – once attributed solely to the loss of estrogen – actually depends on a combination of factors.
“These results suggest that grapes can improve yet another important aspect of health – our bones,” said Dr. Connie Weaver, lead investigator of the study. “This is an exciting new area of grape research that merits additional focus and study.”
The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research is a professional, scientific and medical society established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists involved in the study of bone and mineral metabolism.
Source: California Table Grape Commission
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Restaurants and other foodservice entities should be carrying more fresh fruits and vegetables on menus. Why? Because consumers want it.
About 4,000 consumers nationwide were surveyed and 600 foodservice operators were contacted by Datassential in May and June and conclude that ‘produce’ is now a hot food item. Foodservice operators are getting the message and plan to roll out more produce on menus soon.
Foodservice operators, or ‘operators’ for short, include away-from-home food establishments, including restaurants, universities, hospitals, lodging, catering, and others.
“The survey data says about 80 percent of consumers want restaurants to feature more produce on the menu,” said Maeve Webster, senior director of Datassential, Chicago, Ill..
“This is a fundamental shift in what (foods) consumers will eat away from home. It’s not just a fad.”
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Freezing temperatures are slated to hit California’s Central Valley tonight (December 4) and stick around through Saturday. Whether this is a serious threat is too early to tell, and even if it is we’re looking at next week for any initial damage assessments.
The fruit needs a cold snap to finish ripening, but that typically comes during Christmas week. Growers will be watering the fields and getting the ground moisture up as a precaution.
Desert Vegetable Shipments
Good supplies of desert vegetables were available on basically all vegetables for the Thanksgiving and the same is expected through December, assuming the weather cooperates.
Produce truckers and growers are hoping warm weather continues and keeps the crops and shipments on schedule and produce good volume moving into the Christmas pull in mid-December.
Favorable weather actually has the crops are running a little bit ahead of schedule, but if it turns cold, things could change quickly.
We’ll keep an eye on the cold weather in the San Joaquin Valley and see if it not affects citrus shipments there, but grapes, as well as strawberries and other items in Southern California, plus the vegetables coming out of the California and Arizona deserts.
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When talking potato shipments, one has to start with Idaho, since it is the “Washington apples” of the spud industry in America. Here’s a round up of several of the larger potato shipping areas across the USA.
Idaho’s 315,000 acres yielded more than 12.5 billion pounds of potatoes, about average for the past five years. The state is averaging about 2,000 truck load equivalents per week. A higher percentage of tubers goes by rail than with most fresh produce commodities.
Idaho potato shipments – grossing about $6000 to Boston.
In Colorado, the San Luis Valley has ended up with one of its best crop we’ve had in many years in terms of appearance, size and overall quality. The valley is averaging abouot 750 truck loads of potatoes a week.
San Luis Valley potato shipments – grossing about $1300 to Oklahoma City.
The third heaviest movement of potatoes is coming out of Central Wisconsin, which is averaging about 500 truck loads weekly. There’s also the Columbin Basin in Washington state and the adjancent Umatilla Basin in Oregon, which has similar volume to Wisconsin right now.
Wisconsin potato shipments – about $3000 to Atlanta.
Loading opportunities experience a pretty big drop in the following areas, compared to what was just covered.
Potatoes are being shipped out the Hereford district of far Western Texas. In Nebraska, two distant towns – O’Neill and Imperial, have light volume. Michigan also has light volume with spuds.
Finally, in the far upper northeast, Aroostrock County, Maine is loading about 150 truck loads of potatoes a week.
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By the Alliance for Food and Farming
A new study from Colorado State University (CSU) shows that consumers continue to have concerns about the safety of conventionally grown produce and the government regulatory processes in place to protect public health. Among other findings, the study showed that: “A distrust in regulatory oversight is a key trigger in the valuation for local and organic.” And, consumers generally agreed with the statement that “eating organic lowers health risks.”
These findings are concerning since the body of nutrition science clearly shows that increased consumption of either conventional or organic produce results in better overall health and a longer life. Toxicological analyses also overwhelmingly show the safety of conventional produce – just look at the calculator function and accompanying report on safefruitsandveggies.com as an example. And, the perception that conventional produce is somehow inferior and less safe could have a negative impact on consumption, especially among lower income consumers who may not be able to afford the organic alternative.
Further, the expert panel report commissioned by the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) in 2010 examined the U.S. regulatory system in place to ensure food safety. The panel found: “The U.S. EPA’s current process for evaluating the potential risks of pesticides on food is rigorous and health protective. The EPA’s testing requirements for pesticides used on food are far more extensive than for chemicals in any other use category, and include testing targeted specifically to assess the potential risks to fetuses, infants and children.”
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