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Native American
Indians grew their crops in the same fertile flood plain where
our lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower are grown today. |
LETTUCE, BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER (Monday, Dec. 27):
First, it was too much heat. Now, it’s too much cold. Growers
started taking a hard look at the first fields in Yuma, Arizona.
They didn’t like what they saw. Yuma had about 140 days of
100+ degrees. Some of those triple digit temperatures hit right
during the first of the planting for winter lettuce. Some growers
chose to withhold planting all together, and wait for cooler days.
That put many growers about 2 weeks behind in planting. Those who
went ahead and planted began their season with very low yields per
acre. If an acre normally produces 800 cartons of lettuce, these
growers are getting maybe 400 cartons, and much of that lettuce
was pretty puffy and light in weight. Those light weights meant
processors had to buy more to fill their bags. That increased processor
demand magnified the supply problems, and kept iceberg lettuce in
a very volatile position. And remember, generally when prices are
high, quality is low. Now, it’s cold in the desert. Mother
Nature is once again turning a cold shoulder to farmers in the desert
of California and Arizona, the place where most of our broccoli,
cauliflower, carrots, celery, iceberg and leaf lettuce are coming
from. Cold, freezing temperatures do more to disrupt produce supplies,
quality and pricing than any other weather or marketing condition.
Yuma, Arizona produces about 90% of the nation's lettuce, broccoli
and cauliflower this time of year. The city of Yuma sits on a mesa
surrounded by the Yuma and the Gila rivers. Native American Indians,
dating back to the 1500s grew their crops in this rich, fertile
flood plain of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Yuma is Arizona's warmest
winter city and the sunniest year round place in the US, with an
annual average of 4,133 hours of sunshine. Normally, this time of
year, when crops are growing, average daytime temperatures will
get into the upper-70s to mid-80s, while the nights will reach down
to just around 45 - 50 degrees. Cool nights and warm days. Perfect
for growing lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower. But that's not what
farmers have been dealing with recently. Daytime temperatures are
reaching barely to 60 degrees, while night temperatures are dipping
to near freezing levels. The cold will slow growth. In fact, usually
below 65 degrees, plants nearly stop growing. Some Cauliflower heads
haven't sized up in almost a week. Another element affecting supplies
is harvest hours. With normal temperatures, growers are able to
harvest about 9-10 hours a day. Because of frost in the fields,
they can't get workers in until around 10 - 11 am. They are losing
about 3 hours of harvest time every day. You can’t pick row
crop vegetables that have frost on them. The outer layer cell structure
is expanded because of the freezing temperatures. That cell expansion
thins the cell wall. So if a picker puts his or her hand on the
head of lettuce to pick it, the hand will burst those outer cell
structures. This will cause that area to deteriorate and slime.
Bottom line is that on top of slow growth, growers are short about
1/3 of the product every day. That adds up quickly to supply gaps
and much higher prices, which is what we have on most row crops,
especially the lettuces, broccoli and cauliflower. We expect this
supply disruption right into January. Once warm weather hits again,
we could see several fields come into production all at once, which
could mean much better pricing as well. More than any other weather
condition, freezing temperatures cause more damage to crops in the
United States. Deep freezes can be bad to crops, orchards and vineyards,
but not all cold is bad. At times, Mother Nature turned a cold shoulder
to growers in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, where much
of the winter citrus and vegetables are grown, sending some of the
coldest temperatures in a decade, damaging citrus and vegetable.
Recent cold temperatures in California will actually
have a positive affect on crops. Most of the frosty temperatures
have been in the San Joaquin Valley, and will help many crops from
Asparagus to Nuts, Grapes to Stonefruit. These are crops that need
"chilling hours" or "chilling units." Kind of
like a battery storing energy for later use. In mild winters, when
chilling hours are minimal, fruit trees like cherries and peaches,
just don't have the energy to put out a lot of foliage and blossoms,
which will impact supplies later that summer. Deciduous fruits and
nuts stop growing in late summer or fall, drop their leaves, and
are dormant during the winter, then resume growth in the spring.
This relationship between plant and environment is important
to the survival of the plant. As winter approaches, the already
developed buds go dormant in response to both shorter days and cooler
temperatures. This dormancy (actually called "endodormancy")
or sleeping stage protects these buds from oncoming cold weather.
Once buds have entered dormancy, they will be tolerant to temperatures
much below freezing and will not grow in response to mid-winter
warm spells. These buds remain dormant until they have accumulated
sufficient chilling units. When enough chilling accumulates, the
buds are ready to grow in response to warm temperatures. As long
as there have been enough chilling hours, the flower and leaf buds
develop normally. Chilling temperatures above freezing terminate
dormancy. If the buds do not receive sufficient chilling temperatures
during winter to completely release dormancy, trees will develop
one or more of the physiological symptoms associated with insufficient
chilling: 1) delayed foliation, 2) reduced fruit set and increased
buttoning and, 3) reduced fruit quality. Chilling hours are defined
as that period of time between 32º F and 45º F. Plants
are assigned a certain chilling requirement based on the amount
of cold needed to cause 50 percent of the buds to break and flower
in the spring. Most blueberries have a chilling requirement of 400-600
hours. Stonefruit chilling requirements are based on a criteria
for variety selection and range from a low of 400 to a high of 1250
hours. Every peach needs about 35 leaves to produce enough food
for the peach. The more chilling hours, the more leaves on a peach
tree. The more leaves, the more peaches. Asparagus grows from a
"crown root." This root also needs chilling hours so that
it is ready for the Spring's production of Asparagus spears. The
longer the chilling hours, the more energy is stored up for later
growth. And that leads to better crops of Asparagus, peaches, plums,
nectarines, cherries, apricots, apples, pears, nuts and grapes.
Bring on the cold. Just not too cold.
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| Tomato fields in
Florida are finally back to normal. |
TOMATOES (Tuesday, Dec. 28): After about three
months of record high tomato prices, dancing between $4 and $5 per
pound in some parts of the country. It all started with the hurricanes
in Florida, in August and September. From Hurricane Charley to Jeanne,
those storms delayed farmers in Florida from planting their fall
and winter crops of tomatoes. Florida is the #1 producer of fresh
tomatoes in the United States, and from November to around Mother’s
Day, Florida supplies about 50% of the nation’s supply of
fresh tomatoes. Because crops were delayed by about 6 weeks, most
Florida growers didn’t really begin good harvest until the
second week of December. With Florida getting back to normal, we
are finally starting to see prices and quality where they should
be for this time of year. Mexico’s major growing regions of
Los Mochis and Culiacan, along the west coast of Mexico, are also
into their full winter harvest. November supplies from Mexico were
curtailed because of rains and cold that swept through the region,
cutting yields and quality. The tomato problems affected just about
every tomato category. Cherry Tomatoes, Grape tomatoes, Romas, mature
greens and vine-ripened tomatoes. It seems the Cherry and Grape
Tomato plants are the first to really come on line with normal supplies.
The larger slicing tomatoes aren’t too far behind. Just in
the past two weeks, supplies from Florida have doubled. Growers
are also telling me that quality is excellent. In mid-November,
when Florida fields should have been in full production, tomato
volumes were running only about 30% of normal. By early December,
supplies were up to 80% of normal in Florida. Today, harvest is
back to normal.
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| Because of the overhead
trellising of grapevines in Chile, the clusters just dangle,
making it easier for harvest. |
| |
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| Chile, in the Southern Hemisphere, has
a fruit season opposite of U.S. growers. |
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| The Copiapo Valley
is in Northern Chile. The fruit season in the U.S. begins
in the south and moves north. In Chile, it’s just the
opposite, beginning in the north and moving south |
| |
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Vineyards in the
Copiapo Valley are located near the Andes Mtns. |
GRAPES (Wednesday, Dec. 29): Chile
supplies most of our winter supply of table grapes, with South Africa
also supplying some, mainly to the East Coast. Just south of Santiago,
Chile, vineyards are in full production as harvesters glean the
vines of the sweet, juicy grapes. Vineyards in Chile are actually
trellased high, about 6 – 7 feet high. This allows the pickers
to simply walk under the canopy of trellased grapes and clip off
the dangling bunches of grapes. This means far less banging around
of the grapes, and of course that means less handling damage. Many
California growers are now adopting this over the head trellasing
of the vineyards. The old style vines were very cumbersom for pickers.
They had to bend over a lot more, slowing the picking process. They
had to hunt through the vines to find the clusters. As they moved
vines out of the way, this caused some bruising to some clusters
of grapes. The Chilean trellased method does away with those problems.
It is certainly more costly per acre to trellase the grape vines
this way, but in the long run, it is far better. Right now, several
boats a week are landing on the East Coast and the West Coast. About
60% of the cargo space of these vessels, are loaded with grapes.
When the Chilean fruit export really began about 30 years ago, it
took about 21 days from harvest to the port of import here in the
United States. Today, with the speed of these vessels, they can
make the ocean trip from the port of export in Chile, Valparaiso,
to the United States from between 7 – 10 days. That means
fresher grapes. Peak of the season is around February, with the
best quality and the best pricing. Chile, the land of llamas. David
Selkirk survived a shipwreck and lived for several years on a desert
island off the coast of Chile. Daniel Defoe heard of this story
and inspired by it, wrote the classic novel, “Robinson Crusoe.”
This country is like none other. Melting glaciers from the Andes
send icy rivers to the desert floor below, where they carve deep
valleys fortified by the nutrient-rich runoff. It’s a phenomenon
unique to Chile, and the fertile Copiapo Valley is one of the finest
examples. This valley is the first of Chile’s growing regions
to harvest and export fresh grapes each season. The region is divided
into to sections: the Upper Valley, located closer to the Andes,
and the Lower Valley, closer to the coast. Overall, the climate
of the Copiapo Valley is much like California’s Coachella
Valley, receiving very little rain during the brief winter, but
the average temperature difference between the Upper and Lower Valleys
results in harvest dates that are roughly 20 days apart. It is here
where growers are harvesting some very sweet Perlette and Red Flame
Seedless Grapes. There may be some “old crop” California
grapes still in the markets. You will notice that the berry size
is large, but the stems are quite brown and dried out. Actually,
to have California grapes in December is quite a testimony of the
technology and ability of the California farmer. Let’s get
back to Chile, the 2,700-mile long country, the long, thin country
on the Pacific Coast of South America. At its widest point, Chile
is no more than 110 miles wide. There are over 2,000 volcanoes in
Chile, of which 50 are still active. Chile’s agricultural
region is like an island, isolated. Take a close look at Chile in
your World Atlas. In the north is Atacama, the driest, most arid
desert on the face of the planet. To the east, the backbone of South
America, the towering Andes Mountains. To the west, the Pacific
Ocean. In the south, Antarctica. These four natural geographical
barriers help prevent pesty insects and plant diseases from reaching
orchards and vineyards. In the past 16 years, Chile has increased
exports of fresh fruit to North America by 700%. This year, Chile
expects to export about one billion pounds of fruit to North America,
with about 2/3 of that being grapes. These early grapes are from
the Copiapo Valley, just south of the Atacama Desert, and because
of their great growing season so far, sugar content is much higher
than normal. Many Perlette and Red Flame Seedless grapes are testing
between 16 – 19% sugar, which is normal levels for middle
of the season grapes.
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Michoacan grows more
Avocados than any other place in the world. |
AVOCADOS (Thursday, Dec. 30): The United States
Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection
Service recently announced that beginning January 31, 2005, fresh
Hass avocadoes from approved locations in Michoacan, Mexico will
be allowed to be imported into 47 states on a year-round basis.
California, Florida and Hawaii will remain off limits to fresh Mexican
avocados for at least another two years. After a 90-year ban, it
is expected that in 2007, Mexican Hass avocados will be allowed
in all 50 states. In 1914, all Mexican Avocados were halted from
being imported because of concerns with the Avocado seed weevil.
Mexican fruit had been allowed into 31 Northeastern and north-central
states between October 15 and April 15. For decades, no fresh Hass
Avocado from Mexico was allowed into the United States because of
phytosanitary concerns. That’s a big word…for bugs.
Beginning in 1997, the USDA began allowing Hass avocados from approved
areas in Mexico to be distributed only in certain cooler-climate
states, and only during the cooler months of the year. Last year,
the U.S. imported 42,600 metric tons of fresh Mexican Hass Avocados.
This year, importers expect to import at least twice that amount.
Michoacan is the largest growing region of Hass Avocados in the
world today. Because of the unique growing conditions in Michoacan,
growers are able to harvest two crops of fruit a year. The Super
Bowl will be next weekend, so expect to see a lot of Hass Avocado
ads, with plenty of fruit, great quality and super prices.
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During winter and spring months,
Mexico supplies a lot of our melons. |
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|
Summer Cantaloupe coming in from
Mexico, Central America
and the Caribbean.
|
CANTALOUPE, HONEYDEW (Friday, Dec. 31): Ouch. If
you want to have Cantaloupe and Honeydew melons for your New Year’s
Eve parties, expect to fork out some cash. Plenty of it. We have been
seeing a pretty big supply gap so far this year with Cantaloupe. In
Northern Mexico, in Hermosillo, most fields there were hurt with rains.
Arizona is basically finished; northern Mexico is finished as well,
leaving quite a gap in supplies until off-shore supplies start up
in better supplies in early January. The early harvest from Guatemala
has been hampered by rain and an early infestation of white fly, which
affects the leaf of the plant, which in turn greatly affects the melon.
We are hoping for better supplies from the first harvest in Honduras,
which is going on right now. We have also seen limited supplies of
Honeydew from Mexico throughout the winter months. Depending on weather
conditions, quality of these melons will be up and down; we’re
actually seeing more melons coming in from off-shore regions because
ships need to be filled since there are fewer cantaloupes. Importers
fill those ships with honeydew, which is why we have had some recent
increased supplies. With domestic melons finished, we are relying
on more imported fruit. Most melons during November and into late
December are grown in Hermosillo, Sonora, in northern Mexico.
I've been to this growing region, investigating the quality of growing,
water and food safety. In the La Costa Valley, about an hour northeast
of Hermosillo, the capital city of Sonora, melon fields are just ending
their harvest for this season. Less than 50 years ago, this entire
valley was nothing more than a desert, with mesquite bushes and cactus
as the only vegetation. Irrigation literally transformed this desert
into an oasis for melons. Today in the La Costa Valley, over two-thirds
of the growers use drip irrigation, technology and equipment from
Israel and California. Unlike some misperception about foreign-grown
produce, the water for irrigation is drawn from deep wells, about
600 feet deep, tapping into subterranean rivers flowing from the Sierra
Madre mountain range, just east of the La Costa Valley. The water
is then filtered, first by nature, then by high-tech, computer-analyzed
systems. The drip irrigation tubes are then placed, not above the
ground, but generally about 4 - 6" under the soil. This method
puts water close to the root system of the plant, not on the surface
where it can drain off or evaporate. Growers here also use colored
plastics to line the rows of melons. In cooler regions of the valley,
clear plastic is used. Condensation forms underneath the plastic.
As the sun's rays shine through the clear plastic, each water droplet
acts like a magnifying glass, warming the soil and the root system.
Warmer soil and roots means faster growth and a healthier plant, and
this produces better sugar content in the fruit as well. In the Hermosillo
region, there are about 16,000 acres of vegetables and melons. Most
of the melons are shipped to the U.S. through late December. That's
when supplies from the Caribbean should start up. These are known
as "off-shore" melons. The main countries in this region
are Costa Rica and Honduras. Between Thanksgiving and Mothers Day,
these two countries will supply about 60% of the U.S. supply of melons.
Five years ago, Hurricane Mitch wiped out a lot of supplies.
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