Posts Tagged “New England”
Potato haulers should find the quality of Maine’s potato crop this year to be the best in a number of years. Last year, growers were plagued with too much water and a disease known as blight.
The Maine potato harvest was recently completed, which is always a race against finishing before the first hard freeze, which damage spuds remaining in the ground. The majority of the state’s spuds are shipped throughout New England, the northeast and as far south as the mid-Atlantic states.
55,000 acres of Maine potatoes were harvested this year. This is small in comparison the nation’s biggest shipper. Idaho has increased its acreage by 25,000 every year for the past several years. This year, the state is reporting 345,000 acres. In 2011, it planted 320,000, and in 2010 it had 295,000 acres.
Idaho has increased in just two years the equivalent of the entire state of Maine’s production.
By comparison, Wisconsin has 63,000 acres, Colorado and Maine are at 55,000, Minnesota 51,000, Michigan at 46,000, Oregon has 41,000, and New York 17,000 acres.
Added together, these states tally 332,000 acres, 13,000 less than Idaho alone produces.
Most of Maine’s potatoes are grown and shipped from Aroostock County, the state’s largest county. It is the northern most county in the state and has a population of 71,482 as of 2011. In the Native American language it means “beautiful language” and is aptly nicknamed The Crown of Maine, in part because of its location.
The potato is northern Maine’s primary agricultural product and in the 1940s Maine’s potato production was tops in the nation. By 1994 however, Maine had fallen to the eighth ranked potato producer and the seventh in the number of acres devoted to potato cultivation in the United States.
The number of acres of farm land devoted to potatoes has decreased in recent years because of rotational crops, conservation and fewer farmers. However, in the year 2000, Maine grew 63,000 acres of potatoes and nearly 90 percent of that was in Aroostook County.
Fall is definately settling in across the USA and autumn produce loads also are increasing.
The biggest indication the new season is gearing up is in the Northwest with shipments of apples from Washington’s Yakima and Wenachee Valleys. Last week the state’s apple volume exceeded 2,200 truckload equivalents and the amount will continue increasing in the weeks ahead. Demand for apples around the country is strong in big part due to Michigan losing most of its crop due to weather, plus significant losses in New York state.
In California, the heaviest volume for produce shipments continues with table grapes from the San Joaquin Valley, averaging about 1,600 truckloads per week. Salinas Valley lettuce is providing the next most available loads averaging about around 1,200 truckloads each week. There also are good loading opportunities with Watsonville area strawberries and with tomatoes from the Central San Joaquin Valley. The valley also is shipping stone fruit, but it is now in a seasonal decline.
In the upper mid-west, central Wisconsin about 400 truckloads of potatoes a week, but this will be increasing. In the same area, fresh cranberry shipments are small compared to potatoes, but still significant and will be increasing, particularly by the end of October as Thanksgiving shipments get underway.
In New England, there are light amounts of apples being shipped. Massachusetts cranberry shipments from the Cape Cod area also have started, and will increase in a similar fashion to those in Wisconsin.
On New York’s Long Island, about 60 truckloads of potatoes are being shipped weekly from the eastern end of the island.
Looking at North Carolina, the nation’s largest sweet potato shipper, there are about 65,000 acres of the product. Normal volume is expected. Some of the old crop is still being loaded. However, the new sweet potato crop will soon provide most of the shipments. A average amount of about 15 million cartons of sweet potatoes should be shipped from North Carolina over the next 10 or 11 months.
Washington apples – grossing about $4400 to Chicago.
Salinas Valley vegetables and berries – about $7100 to New York City.
Wisconsin potatoes – about $1000 to Chicago.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1500 Atlanta.
Looking across the USA, there will be a lot of loading opportunities for apples, 
particularly in the west, although fewer than a several months ago before weather factors hit some orchards.
In the East, there actually should be a few more loads available for the 2012-13 season from both Pennsylvania and Virginia. No word on the New England states, but volume from there is relatively light even in good years.
New York state, particularly the central and western shipping areas took a significant hit from freezing weather earlier in the year. The Hudson Valley apparently escaped pretty much unscathed. Overall, New York state apple shipments will be down around 50 percent, estimated to be about 590 million pounds. Before the freeze, the state was looking at about 1.2 billion pounds of apples.
Poor ole Michigan took the biggest hit from freezing temperatures this year. At one time is was looking to ship 985 million pounds. Apple tonnage now is forecast at only 105 million pounds.
Washington state, which on any given year shipments about as many apples as the rest of the other states combined, also lost tonnage a few weeks ago from hail storms. However, it was on course to have record shipments. Even though that will not now happen, it still will be loading as much fruit on average, as it has over the past five seasons.
Washington’s Yakima and Wenatchee Valley apples – grossing about $5300 to New York City and Hunts Point.
There are four percent more apples remaining in storages around 
the United States to be shipped, compared to this time a year ago. The vast majority of those apples will be shipped out of Washington state, although significant amounts will be loaded between now and late summer from Michigan and upstate New York.
The Yakima and Wenatchee Valleys in Washington are shipping about 2,500 truckload equivalents of apples weekly. By comparison, the Western region of Michigan is moving around 175 truckloads per week. New York state is averaging over 200 truckloads of apple shipments weekly, but keep in mind those numbers include loadings spread out from Eastern New York’s Hudson Valley to areas in the Central and Western portions of the state.
Light shipments are available from New England and the Applachian states.
Michigan apples are grossing – about $1000 to Chicago.
New York Hudson Valley – about $2400 to Atlanta.
Washington state – about $5800 to New York City.