Now that the weather in the desert growing regions have started to warm up, and product is coming on more rapidly, shippers are REALLY out there looking for business on just about all commodities. Prices are “negotiable” with items such as lettuce, leaf, romaine, broccoli, and cauliflower. Unfortunately, the weather on the East coast remains, for the most part, cold and wet. This makes for slow business, and makes us all look forward to Spring. On top of that, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, and we have 6 more weeks of Winter. How can one little ground hog have SO much power?
Long range weather in the desert growing areas show continue gradual warming days and warming nights.
Trucks are plentiful, and rates are flat. With the slow business across the country, it is no wonder.

LETTUCE–slow demand on palletized and wrap, and prices are just about on the bottom floor. We don’t see much of a change here until demand picks up, so, for now, this is a good item to promote. Quality is mostly good, although size is mostly medium and weights aren’t overly heavy.

BROCCOLI–slow demand and weak market. Here is another item that would be good to advertise, either bunch 14s, 18s, or crowns. Supplies in Santa Maria, Oxnard, or the desert.

CAULIFLOWER–like broccoli, little demand, and prices are low. However, once shippers start to catch up on their fields, they will push their prices. This could happen by this time next week. Again, now is a good time to promote.

LEAF ITEMS–no change on red, green, romaine, and boston. Demand is only fair on all leaf items, and prices are flat. Supplies mostly coming out of the desert, although there are some supplies in Oxnard and Santa Maria areas.

CELERY–this is one item that is hanging in there, for the most part. We are seeing as much as a $10 SPREAD in price, depending upon the the shipper and area. The “preferred” labels, Dole and T&A are commanding these higher prices, and are getting them! You try to tell them what the REAL market is, and they don’t care.

STRAWBERRIES–not much change here. Supplies continue to be fairly light in the Oxnard area, which is normal. We aren’t SUPPOSED to have berries in California in January. We are suppose to have rain! But, rainfall has been very light, to this point, although, we are forecasted for some later this week. For now, though, quality is very nice with the Oxnard, and most Southern California berries.

ASPARAGUS–supplies continue to pick up in the desert, and shippers are looking for business. We anticipate asparagus to be a very interesting item as time goes on this Winter and Spring. With the economy being so bad, asparagus is sure to be low on the shopping list with most consumers.

Now that the weather has started to settle down in the desert growing regions, with gradual warming days and less chance of freezing nights, the markets are following right along, and starting to settle down. Supplies on most commodities are increasing and that is the reason for the declining markets. Put that together with the fact that there is NO business out there, and, there you go.

Long range weather shows temperatures climbing in the desert growing areas, with highs closing in on 80 degrees. The real key are the nighttime temperatures. Two weeks ago, they were in the mid-30s, and now we see for the next 10 days only in the mid-40s to low 50s.
Trucks are plentiful to all areas of the country, and as  the fuel costs seem to be bottoming out, the rates are also bottoming out.

LETTUCE–not much action out there, and the market is coming down. Last week at this time we were paying close to $20 fob, and today, we are about 1/2 of that. The quality of much of the lettuce is only fair. Lots of puffy, lighter weight, irregular head size. Along with that, there are still some effects of the freeze, with some epidermal peel and blister. Most of this is on the outside wrapper leaves, but it IS there.

BROCCOLI–market drifting down. We are starting to see more crowns available, and the wide range in the market that we saw last week, is shrinking. Most of the supplies are in the desert areas, but there is product available in Santa Maria and Oxnard, as well.

CAULIFLOWER–demand has come to a screeching halt. Shippers pushed their markets way too high last week and killed the demand. Nothing new. They do this all the time, and get the same results. Right now, they can’t sell the product, and there are some great deals out there, if you can put together last minute deals.

LEAF ITEMS–no change. Even when the head lettuce market was doing its thing last week, the markets on red, green, and boston didn’t do much. Romaine was a bit active, mainly due to quality issues cutting into supplies. This week, we don’t see any of the leaf items doing much and should stay steady.

CELERY–this market is FINALLY coming down. Bear in mind that this time last week, the market for large size celery was getting close to $30 fob. Today, we are already seeing quotes as much as $10 LESS than that. This is mainly on the smaller size 36s and 30s. 24s and 18s are still a bit stronger, but are coming down, as well. We don’t have a true grasp on the celery market, and how low it will go. It usually goes lower than it should, and then firm back up.

STRAWBERRIES–we had a pretty good shot of rain over the weekend in the berry country, but that didn’t seem to effect the market. Florida is pumping out some pretty good numbers and taking care of most of the East coast needs. California isn’t usually a factor in January OR February, anyway. Still, we have some excellent quality out here.

ASPARAGUS–desert shippers starting to pack the 28/1# cartons. This is always a sign that supplies are increasing, and they are. Good time to start looking for ads.

Even though we have been loading much of the Winter vegetables in the desert areas of Coachella Valley, Imperial Valley, and Yuma areas for the past month, we were missing 2 items from a full arsenal, and those were strawberries and celery. We are now getting both of those items crossing from Mexico, giving us a full plate of product available to load in those areas. That certainly helps with loading of trucks, allowing us to get better freight rates and getting the trucks out in a more timely manner.
The weather for the next 10 days in the desert areas show gradual warming and NO freeze. As we get deeper into January, the threat of freeze becomes less and less. So far, as we have reported, there have been a few days that we have experienced freeze and basically very little effects on product, with a few touches of epidermal peel, blister, and discoloration. This Winter, compared to most Winters in the past have been relatively MINOR. The weather for the next 10 days for Oxnard and Santa Maria shows rain and threats of rain forecasted.
Plenty of trucks, and rates are negotiable, although trucker balk at rates that are offered too low.

LETTUCE–market hanging tough. The fob has been hovering around $20, and looks to hang in most of this week. We reported several weeks ago that the lettuce market could be active the whole month of January, and it looks like it could go that way. However, warmer weather is coming in the desert ,and that should help bring on supplies. Still, most shippers say that they are 2-3 weeks AHEAD of harvesting schedule, so that may offset any additional supplies expected as the weather warms. Quality-wise, we are seeing more “puffy” heads, irregular head size,and lighter weights.

BROCCOLI–overall strong market. There ARE shippers that are flexing a bit with their prices, so we may see a pretty good range in prices this week on both bunch and crowns. This is an item you may want to shop around for the best deal. Quality is pretty good overall, with little discoloration.

CAULIFLOWER–we knew this was coming. The shippers pushed this market to the roof last week and now retails are set high, and there is very little business. The market has already dropped $3-5.00/box compared to last week at this time, and we are expecting more. It is important to buy light and not get caught with too much high priced product. We are also buying with market protection.

LEAF ITEMS–not much change. Still a wide range in price in red, green, and romaine. This is another one you might want to shop around.

CELERY–oh, to have a 1/2 acre of celery in your back yard. This market keeps hanging in tough at $23-25.00 FOB. But, now that the desert has kicked in, supplies should pick up and we could possibly see the market start to drift downward.

STRAWBERRIES–Florida has caught some cold weather, which is resulting in more action out West. Looking ahead the next 10 days, we see rain coming in to the berry country of Oxnard and Santa Maria. That is bound to create problems with supply shortages and quality. Stay tuned.

The cold weather in the desert growing areas have really put the clamps on growing and harvesting time. The past 2 weeks have been very cold at night and in the morning, allowing farm workers to only get 4-5 hours per day to harvest. Plus, the vegetables just won’t grow with this cold weather. As a result, markets continue to be active on just about all the major vegetable items. Lettuce broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and romaine are all pushed to the breaking point. And that is exactly what will happen as these prices continue. Retails will be changed and business will slow. The good news is that temperatures are slowly warming up.
Trucks  are still plentiful, but rates seem to have bottomed out for now. Fuel costs have bottomed out, as well, so this may be the “low” for trucks for this Winter.
Long range weather in the desert growing regions show gradual warming temperatures, plus not as cold at night. This is certainly good news, so the epidermal peel and other effects from freeze damage should be minimal.

LETTUCE–all the reports we are getting from the shippers is that they are WAY ahead of schedule with their fields. As a result of that, they expect LIGHT supplies of lettuce the entire month of January, and into early February. So, even though the lettuce market is high, we aren’t sure if prices will come down any time soon. Quality is okay for the most part, although expect to see epidermal peel and blister mostly on the outer wrapper leaves.

BROCCOLI–light supplies, especially on crowns. The market on bunch 14s, 18s, and crowns continue very active, but we could see easing by the end of this week. With retail prices set high, business should slow down and prices could come off.

CAULIFLOWER–VERY active market here. Light supplies and empty pipelines will keep this market strong. Still, we don’t encourage you to buy heavy. Once the market starts to come off, it won’t be 50 cents or a dollar at a time! You don’t want to be stuck with high priced cauliflower.

LEAF ITEMS–quite a wide range in prices on red, green, and romaine. In fact, there is as much as a $4-5.00 SPREAD depending upon the area and label on any one of these items. We are seeing epidermal peel and blister on the back sides of leaf, especially romaine. Fortunately, the freeze hasn’t gone too deep, so it is mostly on the outer leaves and the workers are doing a pretty good job of trimming the problem leaves off.

CELERY–prices keep going up. Shippers keep testing the waters every day to see when the buyers say “THA’TS ENOUGH!” There is quite a price spread between the larger size 24s and 30s, and the smaller size 36s. So, if you can switch sizes, and we recommend that if you can, that would give you more stalks/carton to sell. And, truthfully, when the markets get as strong as they are right now, there isn’t much of a difference between a 30 and 36 size. Shippers are also adding $1.50-2.00/box to transfer product from Oxnard to the desert areas to load with the mixers, so that makes thing even MORE expensive.

STRAWBERRIES–just when prices finally started to ease off in California and Mexico, cold, wet weather in Florida is looming. We’ll see how the next 2-3 days shake out, but demand is already picking up out West for our fruit. Quality ranges from excellent to outstanding. Hard, big, full color is what we are seeing.

We are finally seeing the cold temperatures in the desert growing areas that we DREAD every year. Normally we see these temperatures in December, where we sweat out the entire month. As we get in to the middle to the end of January, those “treats” become less likely. But, this is early January, and there here. Cold temperatures today and for the next few days are forecasted and will cause problems. Already today, we are seeing lettuce ice until 11 am, which means the workers can’t even get in to the fields until then. That shortens the work day, growing time, and shortens the supplies. As a result, “false markets” are created. Shippers can ask for more money if they don’t have the supplies. And they are.
Long range weather shows after the next few cold days in the growing regions of Coachella Valley, Imperial Valley, and Yuma, there will be gradual warming, and no rain in sight.
Trucks more plentiful than the past 2 holiday weeks, and rates are drifting back down, after these past 2 weeks of run ups.

LETTUCE–short supplies caused by the cold spell in the desert. Shippers are pushing the markets upward because of this, and will continue to do so. We are watching the quality, because there will probably be some blister and epidermal peel mainly on the outside wrapper leaves. We don’t know how “deep” the effects will be.

BROCCOLI–cold temps slowing down the supply chain and pushing the markets, especially on crowns. We don’t anticipate the broccoli market going up too high, but up $2-4.00 over last week could happen. Cold weather causing some purple cast.

CAULIFLOWER–basically supplies have come to a standstill because of the cold weather. Demand isn’t necessarily active, but with little product available, the shippers don’t need good demand to push their prices.

LEAF ITEMS–again, cold weather slowing production and growth. Prices aren’t going crazy, like other items, but enough to get red and green leaf off the floor. Watch romaine. Cold weather can really effect things there. Romaine is VERY susceptible to blister and peel, and we are watching for that.

CELERY–shippers keep pushing the market, and buyers keep buying. It has got to stop sometime, but we have seen over the recent years the market getting to $30 fob, and staying there.

STRAWBERRIES–better supplies in Florida putting California to a more stable situation. Good quality out here. Hard, sweet fruit that will hold up.

ASPARAGUS–all the shippers are talking about better supplies LATE in the week. For now though, things are VERY tight due to the cold weather slowing growth and production to a crawl.

Even though Winter doesn’t officially start until Dec. 21st,  it is DEFINITELY here. Currently, rain and cold temperatures are covering the state of California, and in to Arizona. With these situations come their potentially massive share of problems. Slow growth, slow harvesting, trouble getting in and out of the fields with trucks, quality issues, with wet product, muddy product and cartons, mechanical damage in the form of broken midribs and discolored product resulting from the broken product. As you can see, LOTS of problems occur when the weather is not favorable. And probably most importantly, the shippers take advantage of this by raising their markets at will, with their “prices subject to change” policy.
Long range weather shows off and on chances of rain throughout California and Arizona for the next 10 days, and COLD temperatures at night. We will be watching for freezing conditions and will report any, if and when it happens.
As we head in to the last week for Christmas business, there are plenty of trucks available. Next week will be interesting, with truckers trying to get home for the holidays.

LETTUCE–rainin  the the lettuce country causing slow growth, slow production, and unsettled market conditions. We expect shippers to try to bump the market, although after Wednesday there won’t be much business, especially to East coast receivers, so we aren’t sure how the market will play out this week.

BROCCOLI–a bit stronger here, with wet conditions making harvesting a difficult task. With slower production, supplies are lighter, and shippers are pushing the market on bunch 14s, 18s, and crowns. Again, we aren’t sure how much prices will rise, but we don’t expect much of a run. There IS still quite a bit of broccoli from Salinas to Yuma.

CAULIFLOWER–as we reported last week, the market has spiked up considerably over last week’s prices. In fact, they are nearly double from this time last week. Cold weather slowing growth and production is the main reason for the bump in prices. Retail prices will be changed tomorrow with most retailers, so the market “should” stall out after that.

LEAF ITEMS–slightly stronger with green leaf and romaine, steady on red and boston. But, again, just how much higher the market goes up depends heavily upon how cold it gets in the desert, and how much rain they get. Still up in the air at this time.

CELERY–Good action for Christmas, and heavy rains in the Oxnard area, where most of the supplies are coming from now, have allowed the shippers to raise their prices $4-5.00/box over this time last week. Wet fields can REALLY hamper harvest and production in celery fields. Sometimes they have to send BIG bulldozers out into the fields to get the trailers loaded with celery out. This can be a  REAL time consuming and cumbersome process.

STRAWBERRIES–VERY few berries around! Everyone is waiting for Florida to pick up their volume. The weather looks favorable there for the next 10 days, so that should really help. As for now, though, with the rain in California and Mexico, there are hardly ANY berries available.

Everyone is now in the process of loading their Thanksgiving needs, but NO one is sure just how business will be. Feelings range from “uneasy optimism” to “downright depression”. One thing is for sure, and that is ALL other sectors of our economy, from cars to computers, from department stores to toys are not feeling too good about their upcoming holiday business. For now, though, Thanksgiving is on every produce person’s mind, and most are going ahead with “guarded pessimism”.
Trucks, as expected, are as tight as they have been since the Summer peak, and truckers are pushing for higher rates. $300-500 more than the latest market rates to the East coast. Expect trucks to be snug for most of this week, then the faucet shuts off.
Long range weather shows NO rain in Central and Southern California, which is fine for loading for the holiday business. After that, we NEED the precipitation.

LETTUCE–Huron has about another week or so, then we move to the desert. Actually, some shippers have already started there, but for loading purposes, we are trying to stay in Huron until more items are available. Quality in the desert is a bit rough anyway, right now. Just starting out, it usually is.

BROCCOLI–demand is just so-so right now. This is unusual for the Thanksgiving push. Shippers are normally sold out going in to this busiest time of the season, and demand is only fair. This is definitely a negative sign. Supplies still coming out of Salinas, Santa Maria, Oxnard, and the San Joaquin Valley.

CAULIFLOWER–lighter supplies throughout the industry, but demand is only fair. This will keep the market from going too crazy during this week. Again, we should be seeing more business with cauliflower right now, and we aren’t.

LEAF ITEMS–romaine and green leaf are a bit tight, red and boston steady. Supplies of romaine and green leaf are tight because of the pressure from the salad companies. Also, Salinas is starting to wind down their season, and the desert isn’t doing much right now. But, after Thanksgiving, the desert should be get going.

CELERY–we are smack in the middle of the Thanksgiving push. After Wednesday, though, the East coast will be done shipping and just the Midwest and West coast will be pulling supplies. This hasn’t been much of a Thanksgiving for celery, and this trend has continued for several years now. Anyone ever heard of Stove Top dressing?

STRAWBERRIES–Watsonville and Salinas are just about done, although with the market and with the unusually warm November we are having, supplies continue to trickle in. Oxnard and Santa Maria, as well as McAllen, Texas are where Driscoll is currently loading, and they are pro rating orders every day, as much as 50-75%. They are also raising their price daily, hoping to discourage buyers.

There are signs that business is starting to pick up. As the Eastern deals wind down, we are seeing increased interest on items such as lettuce, bunch broccoli, broccoli crowns, cauliflower, celery, and other items. It will be another 2 weeks or so before all of the Eastern deals finish, but things ARE picking up out West. Now all we need is for SUPPLIES to increase to cover the increase in business.
Long range weather shows our “Indian” Summer kicking in, with warmer days for the next 5-7 days, but night are certainly getting cooler. No rain in sight, and we probably shouldn’t get any until the first to middle of November.
Plenty of trucks, and with the continuing drop in oil prices reflecting in lower gas and diesel prices, rates are dropping. This definitely helps with delivered prices.

LETTUCE–the market has dropped of $2-3.00 from last week, but it could be short lived. As business and demand picks up for Salinas product, prices may firm back up. Retails are set pretty high, so the shippers may not want to push their prices too high. Note that we have about another week, or so,  left in Salinas, and then we will switch to Huron. In fact, some shippers say they are starting as early as this Thursday. Some shippers may not have any overlap, others say they will.  Overall, we should be able to get supplies out of either area for another 2 weeks. Quality will be “suspect” out of both areas. Either old, tired lettuce in Salinas, or small, light weight, product with defects coming out of Huron.

BROCCOLI–firm market. We are certainly starting to see customers that had previously been loading out of the East coast, switch to Salinas. This increase in demand gets the shippers fired up to push their prices.

CAULIFLOWER–as we expected, lighter supplies and increased demand have allowed Salinas shippers to raise their prices. In fact, we expect them to double their market by mid week over last week. This is all reflective of increased demand from receivers that had been buying from the East coast. Also, supplies out West are fairly light.

LEAF ITEMS–not much change here. Romaine, red, green, and boston lettuces are all about steady from last week. Unlike iceberg lettuce, we should have supplies in Salinas of ALL leaf items well into November.

CELERY–shippers inching up their prices. Demand is only fair for all celery, so we don’t see prices going up too high for another 2-3 weeks. By then, Thanksgiving business will be upon us.

STRAWBERRIES–supplies were REALLY hurt last week after the unexpected rain we had the weekend of Oct. 4-5. Most shippers were stripping their vines to get rid of the rain effected product, so we are just now getting back to normal. Still, Driscoll is, and will be, pro rating their supplies all this week. Also, they have bumped their prices up $2-4.00/box over last week. Today, for instance, they pro rated orders by 50% and more. Overall quality is still just BARELY FAIR. Its just that time of year.

Even though weather across the country is still in the “Summer mode”, you can start to feel a bit of Fall in the air. If for no other reason, the days continue to get shorter, and the nights longer. There contnues to be a lot of local product on the markets and in the stores, and that should continue another 3 weeks or so, or until the first frost hits. Also, stores are ALREADY displaying Halloween merchandise! Christmas must not be far away.
Long range weather in the growing areas of California show continue mild, warm days, but cooler nights. No rain in sight.
Plenty of trucks and rates are steady. But, now with climbing fuel costs because of hurricane Ike, we might see rates climb a bit.

LETTUCE–still light supplies and strong market. Retails have changed to reflect the $25 price tag for a box of lettuce on the East coast, so we should see business slow down. We don’t anticipate shippers trying to raise their prices much this week, figuring they are happy with the current market. Then again, high prices haven’t stopped them before from trying to raise even higher.

BROCCOLI–still a lot of East coast product that is supplying much of the East, so demand for California broccoli is only fair, at best.

CAULIFLOWER–plenty of local product keeping the market out here flat. Quality is mostly good, although some of the fields are starting to show age, so we are sticking with shippers that are staying on top of their fields.

LEAF ITEMS–still a demand exceeds supply on romaine and green leaf, fair demand for red and boston. Both romaine and green are active because of the salad plants desperate for supplies. This certainly effects the carton market, which takes a back seat to salads. Not sure how much longer this will last, but certainly this week. Prices seem to have peaked out for romaine and green leaf, for the time being.

CELERY–no change here. Better supplies and deals on the larger sizes, while 36s, 48s, and hearts are still less abundant, and higher in price.

STRAWBERRIES–still strong demand and firm pricing for Driscoll label, and they continue to pro rate orders. Quality is the main culprit of this because they are throwing away 25-50% of what is out in the fields. Quality will continue to be WEAK, so move them in and out QUICKLY.

Many of the fruit and vegetable markets in California are very active and shippers are pushing prices, in spite of continued high freight costs. Cauliflower, broccoli, romaine, strawberries, and several assorted mixed items are all going up in price. At the same time, business is nothing to write home about. The relentless rains in Maine and other Eastern growing areas are certainly hurting their production, and that has a lot to do with the pressure being put on California product. Normally this time of year, growers in California plant light because of local gardens and growing deals.
Trucks are plentiful to all areas of the country, and we are seeing an “ever so slight” drop in rates. Still, rates continue to be about $1000-2000 MORE than normal for this time of year.
Long range weather forecast for Salinas growing regions for the next 10 days show dry, mild, normal temperatures for this time of year and no rain. The San Joaquin Valley fruit country also show hot, normal weather for the next 10 day.

LETTUCE–with rain in Canada and other Eastern growing areas, demand is stronger for head lettuce, and markets picking up. Not much, with only up a dollar or so, but we could see shippers try to bump for higher prices as this week goes. Overall quality is pretty decent.

BROCCOLI–even this item is picking up. Maine growing areas have been getting hammered with rain the past few weeks, and look for more all of this week. Shippers in Salinas and Santa Maria see this, and are bumping their prices today, and will probably look for more as this week goes.

CAULIFLOWER–like broccoli, stronger demand and higher prices today because of local deals getting hurt. Still, LOTS of local cauliflower and jacket flower being advertised on the East coast, so we aren’t sure if the higher prices out West will be able to sustain their momentum.

LEAF ITEMS–romaine still a demand exceeds supply situation. Supplies really got hurt the past few weeks with the heat spell. A LOT of romaine got left behind, so we are in a gap right now. Red and green leaf are in a better situation, although those markets are up, too. Not like romaine, where prices are nearly double the red and green market.

CELERY–no change. The “deals” are on the larger size 18s and 24s, with continued light supplies and stronger market on 36s and 48s. Michigan still going strong.

STRAWBERRIES–even a WORSE situation than last week! For instance, today, Driscoll is pro rating orders 75-90%! They, along with other shippers, anticipate this supply gap for another 2 weeks, or so. Demand is, of course, not like the Spring, but steady for this time of year. There is PLENTY of other fruit items to place on the shelves, but the food service and steady chain demand for berries is keeping the pressure on.  Basically, we are just trying to get our orders covered!