Posts Tagged “Florida produce shipments”
We’re rapidly approaching the prime shipping season for Florida spring vegetables.
Growing conditions have mostly been favorable and if anything crops tend to be maturing a little earlier than normal. Peak shipments will occur during April and May.
Overall, Florida should have normal volume this spring. Shipments are increasing on items from Southern Florida ranging from bell peppers to cucumbers, squash, sweet corn, beans, cabbage and eggplant. Shipments of red potatoes continue.
Brisk movement entering April will be pushed even more since Easter is early this year – April 5th….Cabbage shipments had been heavy leading up to St. Patrick’s Day (yesterday), but good volumes will continue.
An exception to normal supplies are Florida tomatoes. Cold February weather has reduced supplies and shipments of tomatoes, but are now starting to rebound and will be back to normal by late March.
Citrus shipments continue to be good and volume is steady from week to week from Central and Southern areas.
Florida blueberry shipments are just getting underway from Central Florida, with good volume by early April. South Florida watermelon loads should become available by the end of March.
Strawberry shipments from the Plant City area continue in good volume, but shipments will soon decline with the season ending in early April.
South Florida produce shipments – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
April will be here before we know it, and this means increasing volumes for Florida produce shipments.
Southern Specialties announced the company has started shipping Florida grown blueberries. This year’s blueberry crop will include Farthing, Flicker, Chickadee and Meadowlark varieties. Florida blueberries, Southern Selects blackberries and premium Adelita variety raspberries are distributed from the company’s Pompano Beach, FL distribution facility.
“ This year’s Florida blueberry crop has nice bloom and great flavor,” said Alex Henderson, Key Account Manager for the company.
Southern Selects Florida blueberries will be available until the end of April when the company transitions its program to Georgia and the Carolinas. Southern Specialties ships blueberries year round.
Southern Specialties is a grower, importer, processor and shipper of a variety of specialty products grown in Central America, South America, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The company distributes from its Pompano Beach, Florida headquarters, and facilities in McAllen, Texas and Los Angeles, California.
Sweet Corn Shipments
Florida sweet corn shipments have been relatively light during the winter months, but loadings will be picking up significant as we enter April. The sweet corn harvest shifts from Homestead to the Belle Glade region about March 16-23. However, peak spring shipments probably won’t hit until around the middle of April. Heaviest volume should be from about April 11th to May 5th.
We will also be having updates soon on a variety of mixed Florida vegetables that will have similar shipping schedules as corn.
Florida produce – grossing about $3000 to New York City.
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.
Hang in there, spring may be a little closer than you think, although the official beginning of the season is March 20th. This is good news if you are looking to haul Florida vegetables.
Florida Produce Shipments
Winter vegetable harvests and loadings had been delayed because of the cold dating back to November. However, a warmer December is expected to result in some south Florida vegetable shipments occurring earlier than normal.
As a result, spring vegetable loadings in South Florida which normally get underway in early March could very well start in late February. South Florida produce volume has been lower than normal for several weeks now for items ranging from bell peppers to chili peppers, squash and eggplant. Florida never is that good for produce haulers this time of the year, and loading opportunities have been compounded by horrendous winter weather in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Consumers get out less to grocery shop, which reduces demand for vegetables.
South Florida red potato shipments have recently started.
Plant City, FL area strawberry growers are picking everything in sight as they wrap up their pre-Valentine Day’s shipments.
South Florida vegetables – grossing about $3200 to Boston.
Central Florida strawberries, vegetables – grossing about $2300 Chicago.
Here are some of the better loading opportunities occurring in the Eastern United States, although volume from most areas is modest at best.
Florida produce shipments and truck rates tend to get a little funky during the holidays as there is a rush to deliver product for Christmas, then reorder between Christmas and New Year’s. Rates tend to fluctuate more than normal during this time.
Tomato shipments in Florida’s Homestead region should kick off in January, but overall Florida volume will likely fall off as Mexican tomato shipments ramp up. Many Florida tomato growers simply don’t grow as heavily for winter as they do for fall and spring. Shipments in the Ruskin/Palmetto growing region of Florida pretty much finished last week, with Immokalee taking over the lion’s share of the Sunshine State’s tomato volume.
Florida strawberry shipments were slow to pick up thanks to cool weather, but that began changing last week. Volume should hit, good, normal levels in early January.
Central and South Florida produce – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
Sweet Potato Shipments
Domestic shipments in the USA for sweet potatoes has risen by 40 percent since 2008, with exports rising exponentially during the same period. North Carolina is the leading state in sweet potato shipments.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – grossing about $3000 to Chicago.
New York Produce Shipments
Apple shipments are originating out of Western and Central New York, as well as the Champlain Valley, but the biggest volume is from the Hudson Valley. Cabbage loadings continue from Central and western areas, while most onion shipments are coming out of Orange County.
Hudson Valley apples – grossing about $2000 to Atlanta.
You will find light to moderate shipments of produce from these states in the Eastern time zone: Michigan, New York, the Appalachian states, and Florida.
Michigan Produce Shipments
Michigan is shipping primarily apples in moderate volume, with lesser amounts of potatoes and onions. The state is averaging about 250 truck loads of apples per week. Potato and onion loadings are averaging only about 40 percent the volume of apples. The majority of the shipments are from Western Michigan.
Michigan apples – grossing about $4100 to San Antonio. Onions and potatoes grossing about 20 percent less.
New York Produce Shipments
New York apple shipments are averaging about 275 truck loads weekly, but are spread out from points ranging from the Hudson Valley to the Champlain Valley, as well as central and western New York. The Empire state is loading around 150 truck loads of storage onions per week. Orange County has the most shipments. There is limited volume coming from Long Island.
New York apples – grossing about $4100 to Miami.
Appalachian Apple Shipments
There is light volume with apples coming out of portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Florida Produce Shipments
Florida strawberries shipments began in mid-November in a light way with much greater volume becoming available next week (December 8-12). Shipments typically run through March. There are about 11,000 acres of strawberries, with the vast majority of it grown within 25-30 miles of Plant City, FL. (For more on Florida produce shipments, see our December 1st report).
Florida strawberries -grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Florida produce shipments
Florida isn’t exactly a hot bed for produce haulers this time of the year, but when you get right down to it, neither is Nogales, the Arizona and California deserts, or many other places. But here’s what’s happening in Florida, or will be occurring in the weeks and months ahead.
Grapefruit shipments provide some of the best loading opportunities. It started in October and will continue through April, although January through March provides the biggest volume. Florida typically ships 18 to 20 million boxes of grapefruit each season. Pink grapefruit comprises about 70 percent of the shipments, and Florida remains the world’s largest shipper of commercial grapefruit.
Winter veggies provide light to moderate loading opportunities out of Florida this time of the year. The state ranks second nationally in bell pepper shipments, which kicked off last October and should be available through June, Florida is number one in both sweet corn and snap bean shipments., which started in November and should continue through May. Typically April and May are the top two months for Florida veggies loadings.
Tomato shipments are just coming into decent volume and will be available through the spring. Loadings are originating from the Palmetto-Ruskin area, as well as Immokalee. There also is light volume with cherry and grape tomatoes from Central Florida.
Strawberry shipments from the Plant City area provide some of the best Florida hauling opportunities during the winter. Light volume is under way and good volume will be available in the next week or two. Shipments will continue into the middle of March.
Florida blueberry shipments have seen dramatic increases in recent years, but won’t be available until March, continuing through May….Likewise, watermelon shipments will start in mid-March and continue to early June. In fact, Florida is the only state shipping watermelons during much of this time period.
Central and South Florida vegetables and tomatoes – grossing about $2700 to New York City.
Here’s a checker board summarizing potential loading opportunities (or lack thereof) from areas ranging from the Southeast to the Northeast — and the Northwest.
Georgia Blueberry Shipments
Georgia blueberries are entering their peak shipping period from the Alma and Baxley areas that will continue through the Fourth of July. The season will end soon after the holiday.
Georgia blueberry and mixed vegetables – grossing about $3100 to New York City. Vidalia onions from storage – about $3900 to New York City.
Florida Produce Shipments
Not much happening for produce haulers in Florida this time of the year. However, avocado shipments get underway in late June, with decent volume coming in July. About 1.1 million bushels are expected to be shipped this season, similar to the volume of a year ago.
Western Berry Shipments
Strawberry shipments out of Watsonville, CA and blueberry volumes the Pacific Northwest should be good leading up to the Fourth of July.
Watsonville strawberries and Salinas mixed vegetables – grosssing about $8300 to New York City; often higher towards the end of the week.
Northwest Apricot, Cherry Shipments
Apricot shipments get underway in light volume this week, with much better volume next week from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys of Washington. Apricot volume is predicted to be up 9 percent over last season. Cherry shipments have started. Although no record loadings are predicted, it is still one of the biggest crops on record.
New York Produce Shipments
Late start due to weather will probably limit New York state sweet corn loadings.
Watermelon Shipments
Watermelon shipments in many areas, particiularly on the East Coast are late, and loading opportunities will be down from normal prior to Independence Day.
North Florida watermelons – grossing about $3700 to New York City.
Another large volume of Mexican grape shipments are crossing the border into Nogales, AZ. We’ll also take a look at some produce shipments out of the Southeastern US.
Observers are stating this is the earliest start on record for the grape shipments originating out of Sonora Mexico. Loadings will probably be down more than 10 percent, due to weather issues, but there will still be a lot of grapes for hauling.
The forecast predicts about 1.77 million fewer 19-pound boxes to ship out of the region in 2014. A year ago Mexico had nearly 16 million boxes of grapes. The estimate for this season is about 14.2 million boxes.
Georgia Watermelon Shipments
Southern Georgia watermelons have had excessive rains and wind, delaying plantings and in some cases has resulted in replantings. If the weather improves there should be fair to good shipments taking place in time for the Fourth of July holidays. Shipments of everything from green beans to sweet corn and peppers will also be a little later getting started this sprinand summer….Vidalia onion movement continues to increase, although this will not be one of the larger crops….Georgia blueberry shipments also are be late this year, but are now underway, although in light volume. Georgia “blues” should be in good volume through the Fourth of July.
Florida Produce Shipments
Florida blueberry shipments have totalled only about 25 percent of the volume compared to this time a year ago. Instead of shipments ending in May, loadings should be available into early June.
Meanwhile Florida is in peak volume with a number of mixed vegetables, which should continue well into May.
Florida blueberries, vegetables and watermelons – grossing about $4000 to New York City.
South Georgia mixed vegetables – grossing about $3000 to Boston.
Mexican grapes, tropical fruit and watermelons – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.
Florida vegetable shipments should experince significant increases entering April, with peak spring shipments occurring from about April 15th to the second week of May. Good growing conditions should mean heavier volume loadings earlier this year than last year with items ranging from sweet corn to bell peppers and cumbers, along with tomatoes, watermelons and other items.
20 years ago, there were virtually no Florida blueberry shipments. It was mostly U-pick farms and berries grown for local markets. This year, up to 25 million pounds of Florida blueberries could be shipped, putting the state in the ranks of other leading shippers such as North Carolina, Georgia, California and Oregon.
Michigan and New Jersey still lead in domestic blueberry volume with more than 50 million pounds each,
Florida shipped 21.5 million pounds of blueberries in 2013, up 14 percent over 2012.
Blueberry loadings in Florida have started with the past couple of weeks in Southern and Central Florida growing areas. You can expect North Florida blueberry shipments to start in mid-April. The crop is in good condition and Braswell expects volumes to peak during the second and third weeks of April, just ahead of the Georgia deal coming on at the end of that month.
South Florida produce shipments – grossing about $3300 to New York City.