Posts Tagged “North Carolina sweet potato shipments”
N
orth Carolina sweet potato shipments all of a sudden are not looking nearly as good this season, while fall vegetables soon will transition from Georgia to Florida.
While North Carolina may have dodged the proverbial weather bullet that clobbered South Carolina, the Tar Heel state still got hit pretty good. From a produce trucking standpoint, the biggest change will be with opportunities for hauling North Carolina sweet potatoes. The state’s leading produce item had fields hit with rains for two weeks. Then they have to wait for fields to dry to continue harvesting. Meanwhile, farmers are fighting the clock when the first hard freeze will end diggings. Bottom line – No specifics yet, but undoubtedly there’s going to be substantial losses in North Carolina sweet potato shipments for the 2015-16 season. This means reduced yields and quality problems….There’s currently a mixture of the old and new crop being shipped, averaging only about 200 truck loads per week. We’ll provide more info as it becomes available.
Eastern North Carolina sweet potato shipments – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
Georgia Vegetable Shipments
Blessed with sandy soil in much of Georgia, it helps absorb excessive rains that occurred recently with Hurricane Joaquin. Items such as cucumbers and squash are being shipped in light volume, but will be declining as we approach November. There are a number of Florida vegetable shipments that will start increasing with Georgia’s decline. Still, we’re talking pick ups in terms of pallets, not truck loads.
The sweet potato harvest in the South started in August and shipments are expected to be pretty steady this season. However, it will probably be October before the old crop is finished being shipped.
In 2014 about 115,000 acres of sweet potatoes were harvested in the Southern states – primarily from North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Total volume is expected to be slightly higher this year.
North Carolina Sweet Potato Shipments
North Carolina, which grows and ships more sweet potatoes by far than any other state, could see a boost of 2,000 planted acres this season — up to 75,000 acres. Harvest got underway the last half of August. However, the old crop is still being shipped and probably won’t be finished up until late September or early October. The new crop has to be (or at least should be for better quality) cured before shipping.
Louisiana growers could see a 20 percent increase in acreage this season. In 2014 the state had 8,800 harvested acres.
Arkansas had 4,000 harvested acres in 2014. Most of it is grown and shipped by Matthews Ridgeview Farms, Wynne, Ark.
In 2014, Alabama had 2,000 harvested acres and had started their harvest in early August.
Eastern North Carolina sweet potatoes – grossing about $2250 to Atlanta, $3000 to Boston.
Relating to produce shipments originating on the East Coast this time of year, Florida deservedly is receiving the most attention as vegetable volume is rapidly increasing. However, this is more of a report on other Eastern areas that are shipping.
If you want more info on Florida vegetable shipments, there have been a few recent posts that go into more detail, plus an update is coming this Wednesday, April 1st – and this is not an April fool’s joke!
New York Produce Shipments
The state’s biggest volume is with storage onions, most of it coming out of Orange County. averaging about 125 truck loads per week…..The next biggest mover is with apples coming out of the Hudson and Champlain Valleys, as well Central and Western areas of the state. New York is a leading cabbage shipper, but volume is now in a seasonal decline.
Hudson Valley apples – grossing about $3100 to Orlando.
Maine Potato Shipments
Aroostrook County in northern Maine is shipping about 150 truck loads of potatoes weekly.
Maine potatoes – grossing about $1400 to Boston.
Appalachian Apple Shipments
Volume is light, but apples are being loaded in the district comprised of portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
North Carolina Sweet Potato Shipments
With Easter closing in on April 5th, sweet potato shipments from the Eastern areas of the state are increasing, now surpassing 300 truck loads per week.
NC sweet potatoes – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
South Carolina Vegetable Shipments
There certainly are not any truck loads here, but the Lexington area has very light volume with greens and green onions.
Georgia Vegetable Shipments
From Southern Georgia there are light shipments of broccoli, carrots and greens.
Here’s a round up of major active potato and sweet potato shipping areas around the U.S.
Sweet Potato Shipments
Louisiana sweet potato shipments are expected to continue through June. The fresh crop is larger this year due to an increase in acreage and higher yields. Nearby Mississippi has a similar situation. Both states are loading anywhere from 375 to 500 truck loads weekly….In California, a little less volume is coming out of the Atwater/Livingston district….However, as usual, Eastern North Carolina continues to be the big player, averaging more volume than the other three states combined.
Louisiana sweet potatoes – grossing about $1800 to Chicago.
Eastern North Carolina sweet potatoes – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
Potato Shipments
Idaho is to potatoes what North Carolina is to sweet potatoes. Idaho is averaging around 1,750 truck load equivalents a week, although rail plays a larger role than with most commodities and shipping areas….Colorado potato shipments rank second at about 750 truck loads a week, with all of it being by truck….Central Wisconsin potato shipments come in third with volume…. Surprisingly, Nebraska is loading about 200 truck loads weekly, although volume is divided between two shipping areas — Imperial in the southwestern part of the state, and O’Neill in the northeastern region.
Western Michigan potato shipments, as well as spuds originating out of Presque Isle, Me are providing light, but steady volume.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $5800 to Orlando.
San Luis Valley, CO potatoes – grossing about $2900 to Atlanta.
After two consecutive years of lower-than-normal sweet potato shipments, North Carolina appears to back on track this season.
Weather factors cut into acreage and ultimately shipments, but the Tarheel state is forecast to have 66,000 acres for the 2014-15 season. Of these total plantings, it is predicted 65,000 of those acres will be harvested, equal to almost half of the nation’s crop.
For the 2013-14 season there were only 54,000 acres of sweet potatoes planted.
The short crop last year resulted in some growers halting shipments in late August after running out of supplies of stored sweet potatoes, before they could harvest and cure their 2014-15 crop. Curing takes five to 10 days, and then they are stored at 55-60 degrees for up to a year.
On September 14 about 27 percent of the sweet potato crop in North Carolina had been harvested. Plantings hit a high for the 2011-12 season in the United States with 134,000 acres planted. Of that total 65,000 acres were in the Tarheel state.
Acreage planted dropped for the 2012-13 season to 130,500 acres nationwide, with 63,000 acres planted in North Carolina.
Among the major sweet potato shipping areas in North Carolina, are such rural towns as Chabourn, Faison, Sims, Snow Hill and Wilson.
North Carolina sweet potato shipments – grossing about $2250 to Miami.
Mississippi sweet potato shipments – grossing about $1100 to Atlanta.
Louisiana sweet potato shipments – grossing about $1900 to Chicago.
Here’s a look a several East Coast produce shipping areas that have already started, or will be getting under way soon, ranging from Michigan to North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Maine.
Michigan
Michigan is the nation’s number one shipper of blueberries and should ship over 100 million pounds of fresh and frozen “blues” this season. Peak loadings will begin heading into August.
North Carolina
Shipments of the old crop (2012-13) of sweet potatoes in North Carolina is winding down. For the new season, it appears there will be a significant reduction in North Carolina sweet potato shipments. It’s looking like the new harvest may extend into October instead of instead of a month or more. Initial projections see truck loadings will be down 10 percent this coming season.
North Carolina is the nation’s top shipper of sweet potatoes and production this season is expected to fall from about 62,000 to 57,000 acres.
North Carolina watermelon shipments are underway and are paying truckers as much as 25 percent on freight than sweet potatoes, which the latter is historically are one of the cheaper produce items to haul.
New York
Excessive rains and recent triple digit heat may cut Orange County, New York’s onion shipments by 10 percent this coming season. Limited harvest is underway. These storage onions are typically shipped to East Coast markets through April.
New Jersey
New Jersey has bee shipping peaches for about two weeks and loadings are now in good volume, with peak shipments hitting any time now. New Jersey peach shipments will run through the end of September.
Maine
Greenhouse tomato shipper Backyard Farms of Madison, WI, which grows 27 million pounds of tomatoes a year is ripping outits entire crop of half a million tomato plants in an effort to eradicate an infestation of white flies.
The decision to replant its entire crop means the firm’s tomatoes, marketed as Backyard Beauties at supermarkets such as Hannaford and Shaw’s, will not be available for hauling until late October.