This is the time of year we begin to see freeze in the desert.  While Yuma valley areas don’t necessarily see freezing temps, areas such as Coachella and Dome Valley are seeing frost damage as temperatures go below freezing for multiple hours a night.  Nothing good comes out of these desert freezes.  Damage is seen first in items such as iceberg and leaf lettuce, causing blister, peel, discoloration, etc. Broccoli and cauliflower, although more hearty begin to show discoloration as well.  Growth comes to a standstill, adding to the problems.  All of these factors put together result in a spike in market prices as growth and harvest come to  standstill. Shippers wait for opportunities like this to push their prices upward.  As you can see, nothing good comes from freezing temperatures. Trucks are still a little disorganized from the holidays and were scarce early this week, but things should be getting back to normal by later this week with rates settling back down.  Long range weather shows steady cold temperatures for the next 10 days in designated areas.

LETTUCE — the freeze in the desert this past week is definitely effecting quality of head lettuce. While most shippers are doing a pretty good job of trimming of the effected leaves, which are mostly the outer leaves, it is important to know that there ARE some problems, and that EVERYONE has them, so you need to let your customers know that. The market, which has been on the floor the past few weeks, is poised to go up.

BROCCOLI–we are expecting this market to go up,  especially on crowns. Right now, there is about a $2-3.00/box spread. We anticipate the overall market to go up, starting this weekend. Quality seems to be holding up, even with the freeze.

CAULIFLOWER–this is another market in the verge of going up. It doesn’t take much for the cauliflower market to go up, a change in temperatures either way is usually enough to do it. The cold snap in the desert will do it this time.

LEAF ITEMS–currently, markets holding steady, but prices look to get stronger. We expect some product to be lost with the freeze, especially romaine, which is more susceptible to cold. Blister on the back of the outer leaves, and some fringe burn on the top are the signs of damage. Romaine hearts are not as bad, as the workers trim several leaves off. Side note, escarole is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find this week.

CELERY–no change in the market. Oxnard still dealing with wet, muddy product in fields, and some slow harvesting issues because of that. The desert has now started in a light way, and will gradually pick volume in the coming weeks.

STRAWBERRIES–light supplies and high prices on west coast fruit. With no rain expected in Oxnard for the next 10 days, there should be supplies available by the end of this week, or first of next week. Right now, there are light supplies available out of Yuma, which are Mexican fruit. Driscoll continues to pro rate 75%, and higher.

Ed Brem