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Lettuce
Leaf Lettuce: The leaf market is more active with all
growers. A few growers have had issues on
romaine to where certain fields were passed on
due to quality. Yields are less and romaine
looks to get active throughout the week.
Romaine and romaine hearts are showing
fringe burn lightly. Most growers are having
this issue. Green and red leaf has been clean,
but pricing is getting stronger. The market is higher. Lettuce: The lettuce market is stronger. Huron
production will start with a few suppliers in 2-3
weeks and Yuma will continue through the
month of March with most growers. There
have been some issues of pink ribbing,
discoloration, and mechanical damage seen
upon arrival. This again is related to the past
rains in the desert region. Growers have
started to pass on fields due to quality. Yields
are lighter. The market is higher.
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Strawberries
Strawberries: California Strawberry growing
areas received 2 to 3 inches of rain over the
weekend. The forecast is for a chance of rain
on Tuesday then again a better chance of rain
on the weekend. Growers are currently
stripping and monitoring these fields with
minimal volume being harvested. Quality will be
problematic with white shoulder, bruise, pin rot,
mold and water damage likely to be prevalent.
Market is higher. Florida had to run water over
to weekend due to very cold temps in the
growing area. Heavy rain is in the forecast for
Tuesday. Market is active with limited supply.
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Broccoli
This market is stronger on bunched product
and crowns are very light in supplies. Most
growers are starting this week with enough
crowns for contract and little to sell on the
open. Growers will be light throughout the
week. The quality continues to be good,
coming out of Santa Maria, Yuma, and Scottsdale. Product is available in Gilroy for
these commodities. The market is higher.
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Tomatoes
Eastern: Demand continues to exceed
supply. Florida continues to be a non-factor in
the tomato supply chain. There has been
significant crop loss from the early freeze and
supplies out of Florida will be down and won’t
rebound probably until spring. It
is looking like the Florida crop may get back
into production around late March possibly
April. The market is higer. Western: Demand continues to exceed
supply. Supplies out of both Nogales and San
Diego are drastically diminished due to recent
past rain in the Mexican growing areas and a
strong Mexican market. Growers are still trying
to get supplies and the pipe line filled again, but it is slow going. Slowly maturing fruit due to the
weather is holding growers back. We could see
an upswing in production in 2 weeks weather
permitting. The market is higher.
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Berries
Blueberries: Supplies are good with a weak
but steady market on both Coast. Quality is
improving. Look for this market to get very
active in the next 10 days due to the
earthquake in Chile. Quality is
being reported as good. Market is firm but
steady. Raspberries: Supplies are still limited with
Driscoll being the main supplier. Quality is
being reported as good. Market is firm but
steady. Blackberries: Blackberry supplies are very
limited with fair quality and firm market. The
main area where Blackberries are coming from
now is Mexico. Over the last few weeks they
have been receiving lots of rain. This is the
main factor on the quality and supplies. The market is higher.
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Summer & Zucchini Squash
Western Squash: Mexico production is steady with demand
holding strong. Production still looks to improve
over the next couple of weeks. The market is steady.
Eastern Squash: Most Florida shippers are bringing squash in
out of the West just to try to cover orders.
Yellow squash continues to be extremely hard
to come by and poor in quality. Strong winds
throughout South and Central Florida will result
in quality issues with their domestic supplies for
a few more weeks. The market is steady.
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Grapes
The grape market was already struggling with
short supply of red and green seedless grapes.
The devastating earthquake that hit Chile this
last weekend has most shippers scrambling
and not taking any new orders until they have
figured out what they have and what is on the
water. We will have better information towards
the end of the week as to the effect of the
earthquake and the impact on the grape
market/availability. Black seedless now are
also in short supply and the only thing that
seems to have any availability are the seeded
red globes. The market will definitely go up on
what product is available. The market is higher.
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Peppers
Western Green Bells and Colored Bells: Bell peppers continue to get tighter and will continue so for the near future. Bell pepper
supplies from Mexico look to improve as we
move into March. East coast demand remains
the driving force on the market. The spring crop
for eastern bells looks to start in April. The market is higher.
Eastern Bells: Almost all of Florida’s pepper supplies are
currently coming out of Mexico. Long stretches
of below average temps, rains and wind have
all but depleted local supplies. As Florida
begins to get back into pepper by the end of
the week and the prices rise in Nogales, we will
see the Florida market begin to gradually ease
up. Quality has improved from poor to fair. The market is steady.
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Cucumbers
Western Cucumber: Mainland Mexico production continues with fair
to lighter supplies. Some growers are gaping or
will be gapping as they transition between old
and new fields over the next 2 to 3 weeks. The market is higher.
Eastern Cucumbers: The off shore supplies will continue to steadily come
in. A rising market in Nogales will keep the
market strong. Quality is fair. The market is higher.
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Melons
Cantaloupe: Honduran and Guatemalan
product are both now coming into the US.
Unfortunately Guatemala has started out very slow.
Honduras had a small gap last week which has
made for light supplies this week. Next week
look for better supplies to be coming in from
both areas. Florida product is coming into both
Pompano and Manatee. There is product on
the West Coast out of the LA area and some
fruit coming into New Jersey as well. The market is higher.
Honeydew: Offshore fruit is still arriving into
Florida, California and New Jersey with volume
supplies still mainly in 5’s and 6’s. Product
quality is good. Nogales is getting Mexican
fruit in with good availability and quality. The market is higher.
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Asparagus
This asparagus market is steady. Supplies are
lighter on jumbo sizing from Mexico and
California. Peruvian product is still available on
the East and West Coast. The Quality of Mexican product continues to be
good. California production can be loaded in
Salinas and Yuma. The market is steady.
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Stone Fruit
Growers are looking to move on Chilean stone
fruit they have since they currently
have little else to sell. Peaches, Nectarines,
Red and Black plums are all available with
good quality. The market is steady.
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Carrots
California carrots are coming out of Bakersfield
for the next week or two weeks with good
supplies. Yield and quality are good and there
should not be any gaps for the next couple of
months. The market is steady.
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