Posts Tagged “Mississippi”
Shipments of some Thanksgiving produce favorites could be light this year.
For example , in the Glades/Lake Okeechobee region of Florida the was excessive rains during plantings from mid-September to mid-October. This may significantly reduce loads of green beans for the holidays, perhaps has much as 50 percent. Also be on the look out for wind damage to some vegetable items such as green beans, due to winds from Hurricane Sandy.
Other growing regions in south Florida will likely face similar reduced shipments.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potato sales have increased to the point where normal times of the years, sales are close to those around the holidays.
Mississippi sweet potato shipments are expected to be lighter for Thanksgiving because of weather factors.
Cranberries
In Massachusetts and Wisconsin cranberries loads may down 10 percent. These two states account for the vast majority of fresh cranberry shipments. Make sure companies paying for the freight are aware the berries are smaller than normal this season.
This is the time of year when shipments of Florida grapefruit gets underway, as 
well as the new crop of sweet potatoes from various states coast-to-coast. It also means shipments of avocados will soon be shipping from California to arrivals of ports of entry from Mexico, as well as at various ocean ports receiving avocados from Chile.
Florida Grapefruit Loads
There was a shortage of California fruit and those shipments the first half of September ended about two weeks earlier than usual. Florida citrus shippers are beginning their new season shipping grapefruit right on schedule. Growers in the Indian River region began harvesting the last week of September. Loading opportunities for Florida grapefruit should start volume in early to mid-October.
Avocado Shipments
Plenty of avocado shipments should be available as California supplies wind down and Mexican and Chilean shipments increase.
California loads will be available longer than usual this fall, and big volumes from Mexico will be crossing the border in the coming weeks. By mid-October, California should be mostly finished for the season.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato shipments in the USA may be down slightly this season, which extends through next summer.
As we previously reported, Louisiana and Mississippi were onlyslightly affected by Hurricane Isaac in late August….North Carolina and California are the largest shippers of sweet potatoes.
In 2011, there were 133,600 acres of sweet potatoes planted, while this year an estimated 131,400 acres planted.
Late summer and early fall launches sweet potato shipments from several 
states. Before I go any further, sweet potatoes are not among the leaders when it comes to good produce rates. But neither are other basic “hardware” items such as potatoes and onions. There’s a reason berries and vegetable trucking rates are better; they are more perishable.
North Carolina is the leading shipper of sweet potatoes in the USA. The Tar Heel state has slashed acreage by 5,000 acres this season after a disaterous overproduction a year ago. The old crop has been finally clean up and you will now be loading sweet potatoes from the new crop, which means a fresher product with which receivers should be more pleased. Happy receivers result in fewer claims and rejections of loads. One other point. Receivers don’t care for green sweet potatoes. They prefer product that has been cured. Most sweet potatoes loads should be cured entering October.
Mississippi and Louisiana have been irrigating dry sweet potato fields, at least until Hurrican Issac arrived.
Louisana sweet potatoes apparently dodged the budget from Issac. Farms in southwest and central Louisiana received about an inch of rain from Isaac, and farms in northeast Louisiana between 4 and 4 1/2 inches. Harvest may be delayed up to week to allow fields to dry out.
No word on yet on how Mississippi sweet potatoe shipments may have been affected.
Truckers wanting to find a load in the mid-west for delivery to the West Coast 
in order to take advantage of attractive eastbound produce rates are finding it difficult. Even when a load is obtained, the westbound freight rates are horribly low.
Obtaining produce loads in the Central USA somewhere between the Canadian and Mexican borders isn’t necessarily easy, but here’s some of the best opportunities.
Watermelons may not be your favorite items for hauling, particularly if you’re stuck alongside some field waiting for enough product to be harvested to fill your trailer. Additionally unloading charges are something you have to be keenly aware of, because they can be pretty darn steep, especially if the melons are loaded in bulk, and not in bins placed on pallets.
Watermelons shipments are occuring everywhere from South Texas, to Western Oklahoma, the bootheel of Southeastern Missouri, and from Southwest Indiana and Southeastern Illinois.
Mississippi is still shipping sweet potatoes, although loadings out of Louisiana are pretty done for the season.
In Michigan, blueberry shipments are gearing up, joining a number of vegetables which are already available.
Missouri watermelons are grossing – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Mississippi sweet potatoes, about $1200 to Atlanta.
Texas watermelons, about $1400 to Oklahoma City.
As the seasonal light to moderate winter produce loadings continue, California 
remains your best bet. There’s items ranging from strawberries to avocados in Southern California. In the desert, mixed vegetables ranging from lettuce to cauliflower, broccoli and celery are being shipped. One cautionary note: Excessive supplies of vegetables have led to a glut in the market due in part because of a mild West Coast winter. If any weather event on the East Coast that ma occur, compounds the problem as receivers don’t want trucks stuck in snow, ice etc. with a load of perishable produce.
In the Gulf Coast area, there is Texas cabbage coming out of the Winter Garden District just south of San Antonio. Further south in the Lower Rio Grande Valley there is citrus and mixed veggies, plus crossings of numerous items from Mexico….In nearby Louisiana and Mississippi, sweet potatoes continue to be shipped….In the east, there are sweet potatoes loading from North Carolina. On some days there’s been a shortage of trucks in NC, but this may be in part due to sweet potatoes not being known to get a very good freight rate.
Light to moderate apple shipments are coming from the Applachian District of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Apples are being shipped from New York’s Hudson Valley, as well as central and western parts of the state….The new crop of red potatoes from South Florida are now being shipped.
California desert vegetables – grossing about $5400 to New York City.
Mississippi sweet potatos – $1700 to Detroit.
South Texas and Mexico produce – $2100 to Atlanta.
Central New York apples – $1600 to Baltimore.
Oranges, potatoes and sweet potatoes are among the larger volume produce items shipped during the bleak, cold winter months. In a 
recession (or is it a depression?) that has been going on for at least three years, big crops of potatoes mean good movement (loading opportunities) as cash strapped consumers look for something less expensive to eat.
Idaho easily leads the nation in potato shipments. Rails haul a lot of them, but there are only so many rail cars and tracks, so big rigs are still hauling the marjority of the product. Idaho potato shipments are expected to be up 6%, while the nation as a whole is up 7%…..As for sweet potatoes, eastern North Carolina has the most shipments, with loadings also available from California, Louisiana and Mississippi. Total loads are forecast to be up 13% over a year ago.
As for oranges, Florida expects to ship 147 million boxes compared to 58 million boxes for California. Florida is up some from the previous season, while California is down slightly. Florida’s forecast could eventually be reduced some if a recent freeze damages some of the citrus.
California sweet potatoes – grossing about $4800 to Atlanta.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – $2200 to Detroit.
Florida citrus – $2000 to Baltimore.
Idaho potatoes – $3400 to Dallas.