Supplies of Easter staples could be more scarce than usual this year, grower-shippers and industry officials said.
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Pamela Riemenschneider |
Strawberry volumes and quality could hinge on what Mother Nature has in store for the weeks leading up to Easter, which falls on April 4 this year, said David Cook, sales manager for Deardorff Family Farms, Oxnard, Calif.
“If it quits raining, we’ll have adequate supplies,” Cook said March 3.
That’s easier said than done, the way the winter’s gone so far, Cook said.
“Every time we get a week of decent weather, it rains again over the weekend and we have to start all over again,” he said.
Supplies will be there, Cook said, and early March prices would likely drop as the holiday approaches. What condition they’ll be in is the question.
“People may not like what they get, but one way or another, there will be more volume, unless we get a Biblical rain,” he said.
On March 2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of $18-20 for flats of 12 1-pint baskets of medium and large California strawberries, up from $13.90-14.90 last year at the same time.
Asparagus
Asparagus will likely come from three regions — California, Mexico and Peru — for Easter pull, said James Paul, salesman for Greg Paul Produce, Stockton, Calif., and Altar Produce LLC, Calexico, Calif.
But markets should still be strong, he said.
“Volumes out of Mexico are not where they were expected to be in this timeframe,” Paul said. “They haven’t had the super-warm push there.”
On top of that, California volumes are down from last year, Paul said.
The cool weather in Mexico and the rainy weather in California have been good for quality, he said.
On March 2, the USDA reported prices of $22.75-24.75 for 28-pound pyramid cartons and crates of large green bunched asparagus from Mexico, down from $30.75 last year at the same time.
Sweet potatoes
Despite a 6.5% boost in U.S. sweet potato volumes in the 2009 growing season, inventories are lower in the first months of 2010, said Charles Walker, executive secretary of the Columbia, S.C.-based U.S. Sweet Potato Council.
“The increase in the rate of shipments of the 2009 crop is much greater than the increase in 2009 production,” Walker said.
That’s because sweet potato consumption continues to soar, Walker said. A trend established between 2003 and 2008, when consumption rose 34%, from 3.8 to 5.1 pounds per person, has continued in 2009 and 2010, he said.
Also putting a dent in supplies are severe crop losses in two major producing states, Louisiana and Mississippi, due to excessive rains last fall, Walker said. Louisiana’s crop was 27% smaller than usual, Mississippi’s 58% smaller.
On March 2, the USDA reported prices of $15-16 for 40-pound cartons of U.S. No. 1 orange sweet potatoes from North Carolina, comparable to last year at the same time.