Strong high pressure swept across northern CA into the Great Basin on Thu and Fri producing a dry and hot offshore flow event for the Central Coast. Max temps warm to the 80s to low 90s Fri, then 90s across the board on Sat and Sun while very low humidity levels allow morning lows to dip into the mid-upper 30s in the colder inland valleys, mostly 40s to low 50s elsewhere. Wind protected valleys touch freezing this weekend. On Mon, wind shift northwesterly resulting in a sharp cooling of afternoon highs. Expect low-mid 80s inland by Mon, low-mid 70s along the shores.
MAX TEMPS: Watsonville-Salinas: Mid 70s Thu, warming to low-mid 90s by Sat, returning to mid-70s by Mon. Santa Maria: Mid 70s Thu, warming to low 90s by Sat, cooling to low 70s by Mon. King City-Paso Robles: Mid 70s to 80s Thu, warming to low-mid 90s Sat/Sun, cooling to low 80s by Mon. Inland small valleys north : Low 80s Thu, warming to mid-upper 90s Sat/Sun, cooling to upper 80s Mon.
OUTLOOK: Max temps continue to cool Tue under moderate onshore winds thenpossible Thunderstorm along the coast on Wed followed by near normal thru Fri, Oct 9-11 under a dry, offshore regime.
Transportation rates dipped slightly this past week . Overall supply seems to be strong especially for singles. Increased regulations will continue to put pressure on drivers logs and likely delay even the fastest trucks moving forward. Teams will be in high demand. Plan ahead for best value and service.
LETTUCE – Improved quality was short lived as lower yields and heavy contracted volume have rebounded the market to higher levels. Quality concerns with Mildew, Fringe burn and seeders continue. With only a couple weeks in the Coastal production area the market will have little pressure to ease until the new growing areas in theCentral Valley start up in a couple weeks
LEAF LETTUCE- Romaine production continues to be sufficient
but with the elevated iceberg market the Romaine market is poised to react especially with the eastern homegrown production starting to wind down . Continued defects range from fringe and tipburn along with mildew and seeders although there is still some nice quality available. Green and Red leaf supplies have increased but with a wide range inquality as well.
ASPARAGUS- Production continues to increase from Coastal Mexico and Peru. The market should continue to ease as supplies increase.
CARROTS- Carrot production has been steady but with slightly smaller sizing. Jumbos have been in short supply but have shown improvement.
BROCCOLI- Salinas and Santa Maria production continues with light to moderate supplies . The market has been extremely tight with cooler nightime temps and shorter days. Increased production from Mexico and slightly warmer days should help supplies but heavily contracted and reduced acreage has kept the market on a record pace.Brown bead and hollow stem are still a concern but quality seems to be improving. The crown market has been unusually active with strong demand from export and processors.
CAULIFLOWER- Lighter production due to a preceding overly heavy production period combined with an active broccoli market led to a rise in the Cauliflower market. Supplies should even out and the market should stabilize
by the end of the week . Quality has been mostly good with some light cream coloring.
CELERY- The market has been steady with improved sizing and yields.
Lower freight rates and slowing production fromMichiganwill put pressure on the market to go higher especially heading into the Thanksgiving contract proposal period.
BELL PEPPERS- Production in the California Central Valley andCoastalValleys continue to produce excellent quality.
Demand has held steady as well as the market
with Greens . Red and Yellows have started with better volume and the market has eased slightly but still remains active with many local growing areas in theMidwestand East still having issues.
STRAWBERRIES- Production is starting to slow down
fromSalinas/ Watsonvilleafter a strong Summer season. Fall crop acreage fromSanta Maria is starting to increase andOxnardis still a few weeks away from seeing any additional volume. There is a wide range in quality with many berries being shipped close to market.If forecast precipitation comes in on Wednesday look for additional product to be diverted to freezer . The market will continue to be strong for good fruit but will continue to ease for softer fruit. Raspberry amp; Blackberry supplies have slowed and the market has tightened .
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Tim Tomasello
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