This week and most of next week’s shipment’s is “tweener” period. In between Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas period, which could be sort of like a lull in the storm Normally, it means the markets settle down for a bit, then start firming back up. It’s hard to say what is going to happen this year. Most of the markets have been on such a roll that they are bound to come crashing down. Still, supplies of head lettuce, romaine, green leaf, and red leaf are so light, that they may come down slightly, and then firm right back up. Also, the weather this time of year will contribute heavily to what the markets will do.
Long range weather in the desert growing regions show mild days and cool nights for this week, then getting colder and forecasts for rain next week.
Trucks are a bit scarce out here today, as they try to get loaded out East to come West. There should be plenty of rigs by this weekend. Rates have slowed down after the Thanksgiving push, and should continue to drop this week.

LETTUCE–supplies are so light in the desert that $30.00 FOB’s are the norm. Weights are only 35-38# for wrap 24s, as shippers push their fields to take advantage of these high prices. It may not be a bad idea to start thinking about 30 size lettuce. The 24s are so small that they look like 30s anyway.

BROCCOLI–this market is starting to come down. Not so much in the desert, because of all the truck traffic, but Salinas, Santa Maria, and San Joaquin are your best bets for cheaper broccoli because of the lack of loads and commodities in those areas. There is about a $3-4.00 spread in price.

CAULIFLOWER–like broccoli, there is a very wide range in price, depending upon where you can load. Not many ads out there, and retails are set pretty high, so we see this market continuing to be unsettled this week.

LEAF ITEMS–romaine is FINALLY starting to crack. Naturally, when the market for an item gets up to $45-50.00 fob, it can only do one thing, and that is CRASH. We are already seeing as much as a $10.00 range, depending upon where you load. The desert is where the higher priced product is, because that is where the traffic is. As we have mentioned many times, when a market gets up too high and starts to back off, watch out. You don’t want to be caught on the way down. Red and green leaf are still short and high priced, although we should start to see those start coming down, too.

CELERY–after Thanksgiving, the market usually starts to drop, and this year is no different. In fact we are already seeing prices as much as $5-7.00/box less than last week at this time, especially on the smaller size 36s and 48s. Actually, 24s and 30s are a bit lower, but are  hanging in there.

STRAWBERRIES–Florida has started, and now California is taking a back seat for supplies. Driscoll has dropped their price on 8/1#, but are still about $6-8.00/box more than the general market. With rain forecasted for early next week, that may/should finish off the Salinas/Watsonville season.