Posts Tagged “onion shipments”
More Trucks are Needed for Onion and Potato Shipments.
Storage onion shipments remain sluggish and shippers continue to have difficulty attracting enough trucks.
About 500 to 600 fewer loads had shipped out of the Treasure Valley season-to-date. There are adequate supplies in storage, and it should stay that way until shipments end in April. Treasure Valley includes all the lowland areas from Vale, OR on the west to Boise, ID on the east. Historically, the valley had been known as the Lower Snake River Valley or the Boise River Valley.
Port slowdowns in the Pacific Northwest are one reason for the slower movement. Washington state onions that normally would have been exported have had to fight Treasure Valley product for a share of the domestic market. Also lack of trucks have been giving shippers headaches this season. Trucks have been tight, and with an uptick in the economy, trains have been busier hauling coal, oil and other products. Some shippers are bemoaning rail service in the area, which isn’t as good as it used to be.
Idaho/Oregon onions – grossing anywhere from $3400 to $4400 to Chicago depending on truck availability.
Red River Valley Potato Shipments
Despite transportation challenges, Red River Valley shippers shipped about nine percent more potatoes than they did in the first half of last season. Shipments the second half of the season will likely also exceed last year. Storage issues plagued last year’s crop, especially late in the season. This year’s storage crop appears to be in very good shape.
It is not uncommon for potato shippers waiting up to four days to obtain a truck.
Grand Forks, ND red potatoes – grossing about $3900 to Atlanta.
HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY – WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE!!!
Florida grapefruit shipments have went from practically nothing to good volume almost over night entering the month of November….Additionally, there’s an over abundance of onions, both domestically and from Peru.
Overall, Florida citrus hauls are ranging from grapefruit, to tangerines and oranges This citrus is said to have good maturities and good eating quality, and that should translate into fewer claims for produce haulers.
Central Florida citrus – grossing about $2500 to New York City.
Onion Shipments
There are big onion volumes from Peru and the Western United States, which is expected to continue at least through the end of the year.
Through October, 2,100 loads of Peruvian onions had been shipped by boat to the United States, up from 1,800 loads last year during this same period. Additionally it is reported about 1,000 loads were in sheds or on the water in early November, up from 600 last year. Ample loading opportunities of Peruvian sweets from American ports are seen through mid-February.
On the domestic front for onion shipments an oversupply appears to be the case, ranging everywhere from Colorado to Utah, Washington and other West Coast states. Overall, volumes are up both from Peru and in the Western United States this fall. With retail sales off about 15 percent industry-wide as of early November, the main problem for onion haulers will be finding a load because shippers may not have a place to deliver them.
Idaho and Malhuer County Oregon onions – grossing about $3650 to Dallas.
Washington’s Columbia Basin potatoes and onions – grossing about $6000 to Philadelphia.
While most upstate New York state vegetable shipments are getting underway as much as two weeks late this year due to weather factors, things are finally starting to pick up.
First of all, vegetables are grown and shipped from a number of different areas of the state. Here are just a few cities and towns located near some of the larger vegetable operations: Marion, Florida, Goshen, Holley, King Ferry, Pine Island, Marion and Stanley.
Mid July Starts
Just getting underway are items ranging from green beans to cucumbers, and cabbage. Just a note, there will be some slow starts. For example green bean shipments are expected to be off 20 percent until about about the first of August, with normal volume coming on by the middle of August. Cabbage is one of New York’s bigger items, but shipments will be down as much as 50 percent unil mid August, when normal volume should arrive.
Late July Starts
Vegetable loadings should start by late July or early August with sweet corn, which will continue until early October. Other similar starting dates apply to squash and red round tomatoes. Labor Day Starts
Both potato shipments and onion shipments should be starting in early September around Labor Day.
New York state continues to be one of the leading shippers of fresh produce, consistently ranking in the top ten among states.
When produce haulers think of loading storage onions, the Northwest often comes to mind first, since it leads the nation in volume in this category.
The new season for Northwest onions is upon us and shipments are expected to be about normal.
Oregon was the nation’s second-largest producer of storage onions in 2012. The Beaver State shipped 24 percent of national supplies. Storage onions ranked 10th on the state’s Top 40 Commodities list for 2012.
Malheur County onions are part of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion growing region and represent significant volume for the state. A total of 10,600 acres of onions were harvested in Malheur County. About 8,700 acres were harvested for the fresh market, of which around 5,133 thousand hundredweight (cwt) were produced.
Meanwhile, Washington state ranked 11th nationally for all onion shipments in 2012.
Washington ranked second nationally for summer onion shipments, providing the nation with 23.1 percent of its supplies. In 2012, Washington producers harvested 3,100 acres of summer non-storage onions with production set at 1,147 cwt.
During the same crop year, producers harvested 23,500 acres of summer storage onions with production set at 13,865 cwt.
Onions are grossing about $3500 to Chicago.
California desert produce shipments are early this year with everything from grapes to vegetables.
Grape loadings from the Coachella Valley got underway with very light volume about a week ago, which is about two weeks earlier than normal. This will probaby result in the season ending around July 1st, instead of mid July. Coachella typically ships about 6 million boxes of grapes each year. Likewise, the Arvin district (Bakersfield area) also is early this year and is expected to get underway in the last week of June, instead of around the Fourth of July.
Vegetable Shipments
Some shippers see this as a banner year for desert vegetables.
In the Coachella Valley, early starts are occuring with vegetables. Decent supplies are already underway. Peak desert vegetable shipments should hit around Memorial Day, with good volume still happening for the Fourth of July, with items ranging from sweet white, yellow and multi-colored corn to watermelons and peppers. Pepper loading should continue through June, with corn and melons finishing up after Memorial Day.
Imperial Valley Onion Shipments
Anticipating start dates for harvest in truckload volumes range from April 21 to May 1, although some early harvesting had already begun as of the second week of April.
The Imperial Valley, one of California’s major onion growing districts and the earliest to harvest, is located at the southern tip of California, about 130 miles inland from San Diego.
The total acreage planted with onions in the Imperial Valley in 2012, the most recent year for which final data are available, was around 8,500 acres. Roughly half of the production grown is for the fresh or fresh-cut market and a similar amount for processing.
Blueberry Shipments
Initial shipments of California blueberries got underway a couple of weeks ago from the Central San Joaquin Valley.
The state ranks 5th in shipments with about 54 million pounds, which is similar to a year ago. Loadings should peak in mid-May and continue through mid-June.
San Joaquin Valley carrots, blueberries and other produce – grossing about $7600 to New York City.
Overall loading opportunities should be up this season for Michigan apples, while the nation’s biggest storage onion region will have fewer onion shipments.
Apple Shipments
The Michigan apple industry set new shipping records for two consecutive weeks in October, loading 414,702 boxes of apples the week of October 12th.
During the week of October 5th, the Michigan shipped 411,973 boxes of apples. That record was broken the following week with 414,702 boxes. In October 2011, the industry set a shipment record of 378,933 the second week in October.
With 9.2 million total apple trees in commercial production on 36,500 acres, Michigan is the third-largest producer of apples in the U.S., and distributes apples to 26 states and 18 countries.
Onion Shipments
Onion shipments will likely be less from Idaho and eastern Oregon (Malhuer County) this year due to disease and weather-related factors. The region that produces about 25 percent of the nation’s storage onions.
Idaho and eastern Oregon farmers harvested 19,100 acres in 2012, down 1,400 acres from the previous year. Shipments this season are estimated to be similar to a year ago.
Idaho-eastern Oregon onions – grossing about $3500 to Chicago.
Michigan apples – about $3600 to Atlanta.
Today, we’ll take a look at some loading opportunities starting in South Texas before extending up to Colorado and then over to Idaho and Oregon.
South Texas Produce Loads
The Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas is becoming more important every year for produce haulers. It’s not so much the area is growing more fruits and vegetables, as it is farming operations in Mexico, many with investments by people north of the border, who are expanding operations. Much of that produce is being shipped into the US for distribution throughout the states and Canada.
Everything from Mexican grown carrots to lemons, plum tomatoes, other vegetables and tropical fruits are crossing the border at McAllen is greater volume. In the Texas valley itself, shippers are gearing up for shipments of grapefruit and oranges, that will start in the next few weeks.
Colorado Produce Shipments
The San Luis Valley is easily providing the biggest volume and loading opportunties, averaging about 500 truck loads of potatoes per week. In the north and northeastern part of the state, the volume is much lower, but potatoes and onions are providing at least some partial loads.
San Luis Valley potatoes – grossing about $2200 to Houston.
Onion Shipments
The potato harvest in Idaho continues, but there are still about 1,600 truck load equivalents of spuds being shipped each week, although a higher percent is going by rail than in most other produce shipping points around the country….In Malhuer County, Oregon and eastern Idaho, about 750 truck loads of onions from storage are being shipped.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $3100 to Chicago.
Halloween, and then Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, and one big hint of those events coming are pumpkin shipments. Those loadings have actually been going on since August in some places, but now bigger volume is taking place.
A vast majority of pumpkins are shipped relatively short distances, primarily because the item is grown in virtually every one of the lower 48 states. Still, some pumpkins are shipped several hundred miles.
From upstate to New York down to the Carolinas a significant drop in pumpkin shipments are expected due to excessive rains. Much better growing conditions and the resulting volume is seen from the upper Midwestern states. New Mexico is reporting good loadings, but most destinations are to regional markets in nearby states such as Texas, Oklahoma and some to Colorado.
The five leading pumpkin shipping states are: Illinois, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
NE Colorado Onion Shipments
Northeast Colorado onion shipments are not expected to be signficantly affected from heavy rains in the state in mid September, just some harvesting delays. At least this is what Colorado onion shipper are saying. Up to eight inches of rain pounded the area over a six-day period. It is still recomended looking for possible quality problems when loading these onions coming out of storage.
Northeastern Colorado has about 2,000 to 2,500 acres of onions, which is only about 2.5 percent of total storage onions in the USA….There also are some norkotah potato shipments from this area, but no word as yet on how quality or volume may be affected.
Sweet Potato Shipments
North Carolina is the nation’s leader with sweet potato shipments. Both the Tar Heel state, as well a loadings from other leading sweet potato states are expected to be down around 20 to 25 percent, compared to the season that recently ended. Some other areas with significant sweet potato volume are California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Shipments are so light right now as farmers have just finished the old crop and are starting to harvest the new crop, that shipments of uncured, green sweet potatoes are taking place to meet demand. Just make sure your receiver is aware of this. It takes about 30 to 45 days once sweet potatoes are harvested, to be cured. Weather issues have resulted in harvests running two to four weeks late. Curing should be completed by late October.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – grossing about $2250 to New York City.
The region is in the midst of what could be the second-hottest summer on record, and yellow iris virus is thriving in isolated areas, but onion shippers in Idaho and eastern Oregon report the 2013 crop overall should be very similar to 2012’s in both quantity and quality.
Just watch watching is being put in the truck.
The onion harvest started in mid August and should hit full swing around September 9th.
Some reports of “limited” quality problems with the crop have surfaced. Folks that’s like admitting your kid is ugly. Again, just watch your loading. It may be okay, but use caution. The big red flag is the region is experiencing big time heat. Onions hate too much heat.
On schedule
The Idaho-eastern Oregon onion shipments typically follows those in New Mexico and California, and looks to be on schedule.
There are about 21,000 acres of onions in the region, which traditionally produces about 1 billion pounds annually. The Treasure Valley area is the largest single producing region in the country, accounting about 25 percent of the onions shipped the USA.
Yellow virus threatens crop
Growers in the Malheur region are reporting the yellow iris virus is hitting hard in some isolated spots. However, it’s too early to tell how severe losses could be, but no doubt there will be some losses. The virus is carried by thrips, a nasty looking little insect.
Idaho/Oregon onions grossing – about $3400 to Chicago.
Onion shipments from the Northwest will be cranking up soon and produce truckers should use caution if you plan to haul this product. Excessive heat during the growing season has adversely affected quality of at least a small portion of the crop.
Arrow in photo points to yellow spot virus. Very light shipments of of Northwest onions actually started in mid July, but for the most part loadings of any significant volume will be coming in the next few weeks.
It already has been reported some onion fields in the Pacific Northwest are showing signs of stress because of excessive heat earlier in the summer. However, farmers are still saying the overall the crop looks good.
The initial shipment of reds and yellows for the 2013 season got underway last week.
Columbia River area onions are said to have tolerated the hot weather thus far, and with the eternal optimisim only seen in farmers, they still believe there will be plenty of loads availabe, not only for fresh onions, but from storage this year.
A similar situation is seen from onion fields in the Snake River area, which are showing a little stress from near-record high temperatures. In the Treasure Valley, there are already reports of some Irish yellow spot virus, but growrs are playing it down as not being serious.
Irish Yellow Spot Virus is a damaging viral pathogen of onions. The disease can devastate an onion field by destroying the photosynthetic area of the leaves of infected plants, thus reducing the ability of the plant to develop bulb size and directly affecting yield and grade of onions at harvest. Infected onions can overwinter and harbor the disease from one season to the next and serve as a reservoir of disease the following season (see photograph).
Northwest onions grossing about $4300 to Dallas.