Posts Tagged “lettuce quality”
Taking a look at Salinas Valley vegetable shipments this summer and you get a good hint at one reason why California produce have been less than stellar.
California’s coastal valleys near Santa Maria and Salinas have experienced unusually warm nights all summer long, which has resulted in some hollow hearts and other issues that basically reduced Iceberg and other varieties of lettuce volume and the weight of each head. Less tonnage per acre has resulted in a demand-exceeds-supply situation, with Iceberg lettuce prices topping $20 per carton.
The lack of lettuce quality is closer to what you normally find in late September or October. The lighter amount of lettuce shipments could continue until the end of the coastal valley deals in mid- to late October. In fact, improvements may not come until the transition to Huron in the San Joaquin Valley in the fall. However, many grower-shippers won’t be planting lettuce in Huron this fall because of the California drought.
The shortage appears to be mostly with various types of lettuce category, while supplies of broccoli, cauliflower and most of the other staple vegetable volumes are adequate.
Something else to consider is El Niño. Meteorologists studying the Pacific Ocean say the warm water patterns are surfacing from the equator to much farther north off the California coast which may mean very heavy fall and winter rains. If this weather pattern becomes a reality many low lying produce fields could become flooded, cutting into acreage and shipments.
Most are predicting that if the El Niño conditions that currently exist do bring huge amounts of rain, they will probably start in late September, with the brunt of the storms hitting from December through February. If that occurs, produce shipments could get cut short, and next season growers would have to delay planting in many fields. Enough speculation. We’ll have to wait and see.
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing about $4600 to Chicago; $6700 to New York City.