Posts Tagged “feature”
Here’s a round up of New Jersey fall produce loads – if that is possible. Just keep in mind this is the fourth consecutive year that adverse weather has affected shipments during the spring and summer. We’ll see if the fall is any better.
So if your planning to haul Jersey fall produce, remember the loads won’t be available until the product it safely out of the ground.
New Jersey’s 11 principal fresh market vegetables are tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, escarole, snap beans and asparagus. The five main fruits are strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples and cranberries for processing. New Jersey is still shipping declining volumes of summer produce. Peaches started normally this year in mid-July and will finish up any time now. Warm season herbs, such as basil and mint, are also finishing. All of these products will be done at frost by mid-October.
New Jersey fall shipments include spinach, escarole/endive, lettuces, turnips, radishes, and sweet potatoes, which have just started. There also are lesser amounts of cabbage, collards, kale, beets, Swiss chard, pickles, cucumbers, radishes, butternut and acorn squash, and herbs such as parsley, dill, coriander, arugula and cilantro.
Partial loads of New Jersey non-storage apples began in early September, with the Gala, McIntosh, Jonathan and Courtland varieties. Available anytime now will be Red Delicious, Empire, Jonagold and McCoun. Golden Delicious, Rome, and Stayman Winesap start shipping by early October. Braeburn, Fuji and Granny Smith will start in mid-October.
Dale Hunt of Milwaukee, WI has no doubt lived an interesting life – but perhaps the most interesting adventures he has lived will never be known. After all, the former owner operator and now company driver, who used to be a Navy SEAL, will never talk about it.
As he said to me with a slight smile on his face, “If I told you anything I’d have to kill you.” I look at the Navy SEAL ballcap he is wearing and the SEAL sticker on his truck and reply, “let’s move on to another topic.”
Although the roots for Navy SEALS dates back to WWII, the group as it is known today was formed in 1962. The SEALS mission is to conduct counter guerilla warfare and clandestine operations in maritime and riverine environments. In other words, these are “bad” dudes doing brave and good things.
But Dale’s life these days appears more normal as a driver for Maglio & Co. of Milwaukee, a wholesaler and processor primarily for foodservice companies. Dale delivers produce mostly to Maglio customers.
He has been trucking 30 years, including 12 years as a Navy SEAL and five years as an owner operator.
Dale has been driving for his current company for two years and he sees advantages whether being an owner operator or a company driver. Right now he prefers being the latter, considering the weak state of the nation’s economy.
The company delivers freight to eight states stretching from Ohio to North Dakota. Although some of the firm’s drivers have no regular places they deliver, he has a regular route which brings him into North Dakota.
The Wisconsinite may be away from home as much as five days, but normally he is away from home closer to two days at a time.
Dale drives a 2013 Kenworth powered by a 435 h.p. Cummins diesel, and 10-speed Eaton transmission. He pulls a 53-foot Utility trailer with Thermo King SB-230 reefer unit.
He likes trucking because if you are an owner operator, you are your own boss, and even if you are a driver the freedom is still “sort of like being your own boss.”
“There is a demand for good drivers,” Dale says. But it is a demanding job dealing with all the traffic, etc. But it’s a good profession to be in, if you are dedicated. It’s makes it a lot easier if you like what your are doing.”
Dale has dealt with demanding work most of his life, and what could be more demanding than a professional Navy SEAL?
— Bill Martin
Fruits and vegetables are very extremely good for us. However, it’s not always easy for people to get access to fresh produce, though, especially if they live in “food deserts” (places where fresh food is hard to find).
States with more farmers markets; acceptance of food assistance programs at the aforementioned farmers markets; and other retailers (like supermarkets and corner stores) that have lots of produce are likely to have residents that eat more fruits and vegetables daily.
The West Coast generally eats the most produce every day; the East Coast eats a lot too. However, the Midwest and the South lag behind. A Center for Disease Control report certain regions lack access to fruits and vegetables.
A number of states with the highest consumption of fruits and vegetables have more environmental supports. For example, adults in Oregon and California eat more vegetables than adults in other states. They also are among the highest in fruit consumption. Oregon and California are also above the national score on access to a healthier food retailer, farmers market density, and farmers market acceptance of nutrition assistance program benefits.
The CDC report doesn’t define what a serving of fruit or vegetables looks like. although that has been over the years by various organization. It doesn’t take too much of imagination to figure out a serving. For example, a “normal” serving would be a slice a watermelon, not the whole 20 lab melon. Just use a little common sense.
Avocado-lovers can look forward to the arrival of an enormous variety, five times bigger than the norm as it is now hitting supermarket shelves now.
The rare “Avozilla” – thought to be the world’s largest avocado – comes from just four trees grown by one of the world’s biggest suppliers of avocados in South Africa.
But British fans of the fruit will be able to enjoy it as it goes on sale at supermarket giant Tesco now.
The fruit is double the length and five times the weight of the standard variety – on average it is seven-and-a-half inches long and weighs nearly 3lb.
Tesco salad buyer Emma Bonny said: “The Avozilla has a fantastic taste with a rich, juicy, buttery texture, and creamy flavour.
“The ripe fruit is an attractive vivid green colour – different from the darker-coloured smaller variety – and its thick skin can actually be used as a serving bowl for guacamole.
“Avocados are full of nutrients and vitamins, and by stocking these big varieties, we’re making it easier than ever before for our customers to eat healthily.
“We believe the Avozilla will appeal to shoppers who are looking for value for money, but especially large families.”
Avocados have grown from a niche food to an everyday shopping basket favourite, she said, adding: “Avocados are one of our fastest-growing areas in produce, with a staggering 30% growth so far this year
Press Association
Here’s a round up on tomato shipments from Southern California, Baja, as well as the Wisconsin potato loading outlook, and finally peaches from Colorado’s Western Slope.
There has been light to modern shipments of roma, round, grape and cherry tomatoes from the San Diego/Oceanside area of California since June, with peak loadings expected be from mid-October through November. A similar situation holds true for the nearby Baja pennisula in Mexico. Quality is reported good and shippers are having no problem finding customer to ship tomatoes since demand is excellent, in part due to poor weather and tomato growing conditions on the East Coast.
Wisconsin Potato Shipments
Wisconsin potatoes for the 2013-14 season should have higher quality than a year ago when there was a high percentage of culls, and grade-out, which increases the chances of claims for a produce hauler.
Wisconsin potato observers are predicting a high-volume of shipments this season, with most of the volume being with russets….The Badger state’s red potato loadings have been in good volume since mid-August. Russets have been moving in good volume since late August.
Colorado Peaches
Colorado peach shipments will be in far smaller volumes this season due to spring freezes in and around Palisade, CO. Peach shipments in Colorado run from about mid-July through September. Loading are expected to be down to as much as 30 to 40 percent of normal in the Palisade area, making it the smallest peach crop since 1991.
High temperatures brought on most California produce shipments early and in good volumes this summer. Now, folks are wondering if heavy early loadings will make for lighter than usual loading opportunities in the fall.
As an example, grape shipments are mostly after Labor Day. If the estimated 106.9 million boxes is realized, it will exceed last year’s shipments by more than 6 million boxes.
The month of August has seen record shipments for grapes from California, posting week-ending totals of over 4 million boxes three weeks in a row! The crop is being shipped at what could be a record-setting pace at more than 28 million boxes of California table grapes through August 23rd. The 2013 year-to-date total is 3 percent ahead of last year, which saw a record-high season total volume.
Citrus
Growers and shippers are expecting larger fruit size, but only slightly smaller California citrus shipments than last year when the new navel orange crop takes over for valencias, which are expected to end in October. The navel orange industry packed 90 million 40-pound cartons for 2012-13.
Kiwifruit
Another example of early shipments is with kiwifruit out of the San Joaquin Valley. Kiwi shipments will get underway in mid-October.
Salinas Valley Broccoli
If you are loading Salinas Valley broccoli, there’s been a small amount of hollow core and other quality issues related to the rapid growth of broccoli plants. Again, watch for quality issues if you are planning to haul broccoli. Shipments of broccoli and other vegetables from Salinas will begin declining in volume during September, before switching to the Yuma and Imperial Valley around Thanksgiving.
Salinas Valley vegetables and berries – grossing about $7300 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley grapes, stone fruit and vegetables, about $5000 to Chicago.
The region is in the midst of what could be the second-hottest summer on record, and yellow iris virus is thriving in isolated areas, but onion shippers in Idaho and eastern Oregon report the 2013 crop overall should be very similar to 2012’s in both quantity and quality.
Just watch watching is being put in the truck.
The onion harvest started in mid August and should hit full swing around September 9th.
Some reports of “limited” quality problems with the crop have surfaced. Folks that’s like admitting your kid is ugly. Again, just watch your loading. It may be okay, but use caution. The big red flag is the region is experiencing big time heat. Onions hate too much heat.
On schedule
The Idaho-eastern Oregon onion shipments typically follows those in New Mexico and California, and looks to be on schedule.
There are about 21,000 acres of onions in the region, which traditionally produces about 1 billion pounds annually. The Treasure Valley area is the largest single producing region in the country, accounting about 25 percent of the onions shipped the USA.
Yellow virus threatens crop
Growers in the Malheur region are reporting the yellow iris virus is hitting hard in some isolated spots. However, it’s too early to tell how severe losses could be, but no doubt there will be some losses. The virus is carried by thrips, a nasty looking little insect.
Idaho/Oregon onions grossing – about $3400 to Chicago.
Never let it be said that America has not changed over the past several decades. If Harry Truman were alive today he would find a very different country than the one he led at the close of WWII.
Harry was a no nonsense person and is famous for the sign on his desk that read, “The Buck Stops Here.” Our political leadership today embraces a far different attitude. With the election of Barack Obama, often spelled “Oblama,” our nation is being lead down the road of the blame game. “It’s not my fault” is now on the desk of the commander-in-clown in the White House. Leading our nation is not a job that is to be taken lightly. The President is supposed to represent ALL Americans and not just the poor or middle class. He is the president of the rich too.
One thing about Harry Truman, he was not afraid to make the tough decisions. He was thrown into office during one of the most difficult times in world history and under very trying circumstances with the death of FDR. Harry didn’t blame everybody for the circumstances under which he found himself. He set his emotions and politics aside to be able to make hard decisions based on rational thinking.
And Harry did not allow the American people to blame others for the circumstances in which they found themselves. He lead this nation down a path of personal responsibility and accountability. As a result, the period in American history following the war was one of increasing prosperity.
Harry displayed a personal belief that we as individuals could pursue and accomplish our individual dreams and ambitions without big government handouts.
In contrast, our leadership today says that “you can’t do it by yourself.”
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.
Poor quality peaches, and poor tasting, waterlogged watermelons are a few examples of how heavy rains have affected many produce crops in the South.
The Southeast had its second-wettest January through July on record. South Carolina has had more rain at this point in the year than in almost 50 years. Some South Carolina shippers have lost up to 25 percent of their peach crops.
Georgia has seen the heaviest rains, about 40 percent more than usual at this point in the year. Peach growers in the Fort Valley, GA area got lucky and escaped most of the excessive rains, with peach shipments all but over for the season.
If you haul Georgia pecans, loadings could be seriously affected this fall and winter. Pecan scab disease affects stem, leaf and nut growth, causing reduced yields — and loading opportunities. The disease is extremely susceptible to moisture.
Further south in Georgia, around Tifton and on towards the Florida state line, there has been tremendous amounts of rain. The regions has had 55 to 62 inches since the first of the year compared to about 17 inches this time a year ago. As result, fall vegetable shipments could be off significantly.
Specifically, this could hurt loadings of bell peppers, cantaloupe, broccoli, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes.
We all know fruit is good for you — but here are some more details about the nutrients and antioxidants found in grapes.
Researchers recently conducted a study that showed people who consume grapes are more likely to have healthier, more balanced diets. The study, published in the Journal of Food Science, reviewed the consumption of grapes in their non-alcoholic forms, including fresh grapes, raisins and 100 percent grape juice.
Using data from the 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the study found that eating grapes correlates with healthier diet patterns. After reviewing the diets of 21,800 children and adults, the researchers noted that those who consumed more grapes were more likely to have an increased intake of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, fiber, calcium, and potassium, compared to those who didn’t eat as many grapes.
Researchers say that fiber, calcium and potassium are especially important as many Americans lack these nutrients in their daily diets.
A previous study done in 2013 showed that grapes could help reduce the buildup of fat and prevent cardiovascular disease, due to antioxidants called polyphenols.
More research, meanwhile, found that other antioxidants in grapes could fight hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure. Certain compounds found in grapes can also protect skin cells from UV rays, according to research conducted by a team from the University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
As a whole, people who ate grapes also had increased consumption of whole grains, nuts and vegetables; they also had a tendency to eat less “junk foods.”