Posts Tagged “prune shipments”
Shipping increases are seen this season for almonds, pistachios and prunes, while declines are forecast for pecans and walnuts.
Almond Shipments
2019 California almond crop shipments are initially predicted to be 2.5 billion pounds, with volume to be 9.6 percent above the 2.28 billion pounds of the previous year, according to the USDA.
Bearing acreage for 2019 is forecast at a record high of nearly 1,2 million acres. Forecasted yield is 2,140 pounds per acre, 2.4 percent higher than the 2018 yield of 2,090 pounds per acre.
Blue Diamond Growers of Sacramento, CA, which specializes in almonds, expressed optimism over the new shipping season as the harvest wraps up this month.
Pistachio volume hit about 986.7 million pounds for the 2018-19 marketing year, which was up 64.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the USDA.
The Wonderful Co of Los Angeles expects this new season to be a normal off-year with California volume down 200 to 250 millions pound from the past year. The company’s pistachio harvest runs from September to August each year.
The year ending August 3st was a record on-year crop, with good quality.
Pecan Shipments
U.S. pecan volume from October 2018 to September 2019 was about 221.2 million pounds, on a utilized in-shell basis, down 27 percent from the previous year, on overall reduced bearing acreage and lower yields.
Production is down across all 8 reported pecan-producing states, with the biggest losses in big producers, Georgia and Texas. Hurricane Michael in October 2018 affected Georgia production.
In other states, pecan production declines were down due to “off-year” production in an alternate-bearing cycle.
Walnut Shipments
The 2019 walnut crop is estimated at 630,000 tons — down 6.8 percent from 2018’s crop of 676,000 tons.
Walnut bearing acreage continued to trend upward, with 15,000 new acres coming into production this year, for a total of 365,000 bearing acres.
Prune Shipments
The 2019 California prune crop is forecast at 110,000 tons, up 38 percent from the previous 80,000 tons forecast in 2018. California ships 99 percent of U.S. prunes. Prune plums are harvested in August, but prunes are available year-round.
Date Shipments
Atlas Produce and Distribution of Bakersfield, CA reports the date crop in California endured a “cooler-than-normal” spring and summer, but this is not expected to affect volume. Harvest was completed this month and the company packs and ships the year around.
Californa prune shipments are expected soar by nearly 100 percent this season. Meanwhile, a significant expansion involving two produce companies is taking place in North Carolina.
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service believes the 2017 California prune harvest will total 105,000 tons, a 99 percent increase over 2016’s 52,851-ton crop.
This year, the industry is returning to a more normal size harvest. Harvest concluded about a month ago. Weather in recent years has created challenges for prune growers, but growers say the trees are rebounding this year. California is the world’s largest producer of prunes, accounting for 40 percent of the world’s supply and nearly of all the supply in the U.S.
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Here’s shipping updates for California relating to Coachella Valley grapes, Imperial Valley onions and prunes from the San Joaquin Valley.
Grape Shipments
In the desert of the Coachella Valley, table grape shipments are a big deal for about six weeks every year. The late timing of Memorial Day (May 30) will mean added loading opportunities for produce haulers due to demand leading up to this holiday. Though Coachella grapes are a bit earlier this year, it still will be around May 10th before good volume occurs. That means the weeks of May 16th and 23rd there will be heavy shipments.
For the Coachella Valley, the months of July, August and September, daytime temperatures can easily top 110 degrees and approach 120, making this region inhospitable to field-grown crops. But other times of the year grapes, watermelon, sweet corn, Bell peppers and grapefruit are just a few of the crops that are shipped, especially in the spring and fall. The Coachella Valley is located about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles and only a few miles from Palm Springs.
Changing weather patterns for the last few years have meant an April start for grapes, which some are calling the effects of global warming and others are saying is merely a few-year anomaly from normal patterns. For whatever reasons, this year saw grapes being harvested in April once again, as they were in 2014 and 2015.
Imperial Valley Onion Shipments
Onion shipments are now in full swing in the Imperial Valley of southern California. These shipments from the desert occur during April and May, after which the season is continued in Fresno from June until September.
Prune Shipments
Storms hit Northern California in March damaging this year’s prune crop. The result of potential damages may result in prune shipments being reduced this season by 75 percent.
Prune loadings have declined in recent years while struggling to compete with the high prices commanded by walnut and almond crops. Growers have ripped out prune orchards to plant nut crops, causing the amount of prune acreage in California to shrink from 67,000 acres in 2005 to 44,000 acres in 2015.
Southern California fruits and vegetables – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.