POTATOES
Demand for Idaho russets is fair, and the market
continues to drop in response to what seems like endless supplies. Early crop
potatoes’ sizing has been good and yields have been strong. Quality has been
very good with no reports of immaturity in the potatoes. Growers will start
moving their crops into storage this week, giving them another option for their
crop.
Elsewhere,
the rest of the country’s russet potato markets have hit the bottom and are
trading accordingly, looking for increased movement. The market is showing
signs of life as we approach fall. As supplies decrease in Minn. and
Wis., growers will start to focus on storage red potatoes; therefore, high
quality supplies will be limited. A two-tiered market may be forming out of the
Midwest as customers request better quality.
All
indications show that red potatoes from N.D. and Wis. will have average
“storage yields” going into October. Overall, market outlook is more positive
than recent weeks.
Wisconsin
has good red potato demand; however, supplies will continue to be tight for the
remainder of the month. Minnesota’s Long Prairie area will be done
shipping by the end of the month. Big Lake, Minn. has a two-tiered market based
on quality and has good demand for higher quality. The majority of N.D.
operations will begin packing red potatoes next week. Colorado growers
began harvesting this week, while Idaho growers are expected to begin harvest
around September 24. Washington has good demand and good quality.
Stockton, Calif. still has red potatoes available, but most supplies are
staying on the west coast.
ICEBERG LETTUCE
Light demand and better than expected supplies have combined
to bring down lettuce market. Size and weight are improving in all growing
areas. Time to start thinking about plans for Huron, the move will take place
around the third week of October.
ROMAINE & LEAF
Good supplies, with fair demand have caused an downward
adjustment in the leaf market. Good supplies are being reported as of now. The
move for leaf lettuce happens at the same time as iceberg, around the third
week of October.
ONIONS
The yellow onion may have finally
leveled off after steady declines over the last several months. Looks like
prices might remain steady for the time being.
Quality and availability is very good out of the northwest, although
transportation can sometimes be a challenge.
Wisconsin is also underway this week and the crops’ quality is
good. Red onion prices have declined
significantly, especially on jumbos. The
only variety that seems to be somewhat short on supply is jumbo white onions,
although pricing hasn’t changed much at this point.
TOMATOES
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Rain has fallen on all of the growing regions causing a
decrease in the supply of tomatoes.
However, demand nationwide has also been down causing the market to not
be as high as it otherwise would be.
The larger tomatoes are tight in the east while the smaller tomatoes are
more plentiful. Once again, California,
which has experienced unprecedented heat, is the market maker for rounds. Grape tomatoes continue tight both in the
east and the west. The roma supply
continues to be tight with most volume coming from Mexico.
Fruit
STRAWBERRIES
Salinas/ Watsonville
ranches still producing good supplies with a range of quality in the market.
Santa Maria has decent production now;
expect a $2/cs. premium over the rest of the market.
RASPBERRIES
The market is tight and pro rating is taking place by all
suppliers. This looks to be one of the last
peaks of the domestic season before things start to slow down before the
Mexican season will start. Mexico looks to be on track to start large imports
on rasp the first week of October.
BLACKBERRIES
Mexican
6 oz. product has started to hit McAllen for the season. California has
decent supplies, but no enough to keep up with current demand and pro rating is
happening on a daily basis in the industry.
BLUEBERRIES
Michigan is done harvesting for the season and all fruit
coming out of that region has been stored in CA. British
Columbia/Oregon/Washington still producing some fruit. They seem to have a
couple more weeks of production until Argentina imports increase. First
Argentina imports have arrived in Miami….great quality fruit.
GRAPES
The market on the red grapes is steady to higher in
California still with light demand. Quality is excellent. Greens are tightening
up a bit as several shippers’ transition out of Thompson and Princess into
Autumn King and Pristine. The market is higher. Black Seedless and Red globe
both have good supplies.
STONE FRUIT
Shippers
are finishing up early this season on all fruit. Peaches and Nectarines are for
the most part done for the season other than some large Peaches still
available. Plums look to remain available for the next couple of weeks. All
stone fruit that is still available will be very large. California pomegranates
have started with good supplies. Persimmons have started early in a light way.
APPLES
Washington Red Delicious availability is improving but the
fruit remains large. There is some fancy grade fruit available mostly in the 88
and larger sizes. Golden Delicious is peaking on 88-113 and the Washington
extra grade. Golden availability is improving but still lower than we
would like. Granny-Smith numbers are also growing and the fruit is heavy
to the Premium grade and sizes 80-100. California is still packing Granny-Smith
and they are peaking on 100 and smaller. Washington Galas are producing more of
the Washington extra-fancy grade in sizes 88-113. California Gala is nearly
gone. Washington & California have some Fuji and a few Braeburns available.
New York is now packing Mac, Jonamac, and Gala and the size profile is mixed.
They will start packing Empires and Honeycrisp next week.
PEARS
California is still packing Bartlett & Bosc pears and
they are both now peaking on 90‟s and larger. The Washington
Bartlett has stabilized. The fruit remains mostly large but all sizes are
available. Washington also has D Anjou’s and Bosc.
AVOCADOS
Mexico Flora Loca crop this year
is producing good volume. The Flora Loca will have lower maturity than the old
crop and will take longer to ripen. California volume is good and size curve
has evened out with more 60‟s and 70‟s coming in
to the packing house.
ORANGES
Valencia Oranges – Harvesting out of District 1 (San Joaquin
Valley) combined with District 2 (California coast). Size structure in
district 1 is peaking on 88, 72, 56 and smaller fruit (113 & 138) is
primarily coming out of District 2, peaking on 113, 138, and 88. Due to
availability on small fruit, prices are continuing to climb! Fancy to choice
ratio is still good at 70/30. Crop is still on track to finish mid to
late October.
GRAPEFRUIT
Florida has started in a light way and Texas may start first
or second week in October.
LEMONS
Harvesting out of District 2 (California Coast) and District
3. Size structure for the D-2 growing region is 140, 115, 165.
Fancy to choice is 70/30 but scarring and oil spotting are showing up on the
choice grade more frequently. Bigger fruit 115s and larger seem to be
tightening up in domestic supply. We still have Mexican lemons flooding
the market bringing down prices on 140s and smaller and should continue as
Mexico ramps up in volume through Dec. District 3 has begun harvesting
and we should be expecting good supply out of the desert by the first week of
October. Size structure out of D-3 is 140, 165, push on 115s and
200s.
LIMES
Supplies are good on all sizes. Past rains in the growing
area is and causing some quality issues.
CANTALOUPES
Supplies remain
extremely limited. What limited supplies there are, the size of fruit in the
ground now is very large. They are peaking on 9 and Jumbo 9. In addition the
new varietal will have more of a green cast than they have had. The Westside
deal started early and looks to finish early this year. The desert is set to
start in 2-3 weeks.
HONEYDEWS
Product remains extremely limited and looks to finish up
very quickly. We may see a gap between Westside and desert deals. The desert
should start at the beginning of next month.
WATERMELON
Market is steady to trending up. Continued demand exceeds on
s/less watermelon. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic. Arizona has
wrapped up and most production is coming from central California with New
Mexico having started production.
BANANAS
Supplies are steady and demand continues to remain strong,
this market is unchanged.
PINEAPPLES
Production is good. Markets will start to tighten around
December
Vegetables & Value Added Produce
CUCUMBERS
Western Markets: The market will likely remain strong with Mexican
cucumbers crossing through San Diego and McAllen being very active.
The Market continues to be strongly supported by West coast and TX demand.
Eastern Markets:
Cucumber volume picking back up in the Midwest and on the East
Coast.
Georgia and South Carolina are into production and quality is good.
EGGPLANT
Western Markets: The
Stockton and Fresno areas in California continue to see steady production. larger size fruit is expected to be in light
supply.
Eastern
Markets: Georgia is harvesting. Quality out of new fields is
excellent.
BELL PEPPERS
Western Markets: The western market has firmed up out
all areas. The green
bell market is trending upward.
Anticipate supplies to be light on larger fruit due to growers sizing
down on current fields. The Central San
Joaquin Valley growers are in a harvest gap.
Available supplies are coming out of the Oxnard and Gilroy/Hollister,
California area. The quality is good to excellent.
Eastern Markets: The pepper
market is steady. Michigan is slowly winding down for the season. In between rain showers, North Carolina
continues to harvest this week. Georgia
growers will begin picking pepper over the next few weeks, however quality has
yet to be seen.
SQUASH
Western Markets: Volume is
light across the board. California’s
Central Coast will continue to pick fall acreage through the end of
September. Fresno has begun in a limited
way with anticipated good numbers starting shortly and stretching into October.
Eastern Markets: Eastern squash production has picked
up and is now also coming out of Georgia.
No quality issues to report. Zucchini seem to be somewhat tighter this
week. We look for better volume next
week.
BROCCOLI /
CAULIFLOWER
The market is strong as the exports pull domestic
supplies. This situation is anticipated
to remain throughout the week. However,
California supplies are consistent and the quality remains good. Broccoli and cauliflower are available for
shipping out of Salinas and Santa Maria.
The market is adjusting down on cauliflower as the supplies improve.
CARROTS
Carrots availability out of California is good, good sizing
as well.
CELERY
Salinas and Santa Maria, California are the primary
shipping locations. The supply is steady out of both areas. The quality is
good, with leafy tops and very occasional light color. Sizes are peaking on 24s and 30s, with
moderate demand. Prices and demand are anticipated to decrease as the week
progresses.
Michigan is expected to finish production in about two
weeks. There are some reports of
defects, such as bowing, thin ribs, light color etc…
GREEN ONIONS
The market here is extremely active. Jumbo’s are in tight supply. The market
on Jumbo’s is around 24-26, along with pencils. No quality defects are
being seen. Anticipate this market to steady out and remain competitive
for the next couple of weeks.
ASPARAGUS
The market and supplies are
anticipated to remain steady. Volume has
shortened a bit out of Mexico due to rains. South Baja California continues
with good quality, and decent production.
Some promotional volume is on hand for the next few months.
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