May 29, 2009

North Carolina Vegetables

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on selected vegetables from North Carolina and Florida:

Sweet potatoes: From eastern North Carolina, orange type, 40-pound cartons, U.S. No. 1, mostly $15-15.50.

Yellow straightneck squash: From eastern North Carolina, ½ and 5/9 bushel cartons, small, $12-12.50; medium, $10-10.50.

Bell peppers: From Florida, green, 1 1/9 bushel cartons, jumbo, mostly $16.35-16.85; large, $10.35-12.85.

Cucumbers: Pickle variety, from Florida, 1 1/9 bushel carton, 200s-300s, mostly $26.85.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, May 27.

The Shipping Scene

Pickling cucumbers, squash, eggplant and peppers are some of the vegetables on the verge of harvest in North Carolina, and grower-shippers say that quality should be exceptional this season, thanks to good growing conditions.

Pickling cucumbers should start harvesting within a week at B&B Produce Inc., Benson, said president Bob Bassetti.

The area had good weather and just the right amount of rain to produce some good-sized pickles, Bassetti said.

Nighttime weather has been on the cool side, so the cucumbers haven't grown as quickly as Bassetti would like, but he admitted that growers typically are eager for an early crop, and this year's harvest should be on schedule.

Yellow and green squash also should start in about a week. Sizing should be just what buyers want.

"We don't want squash too big," he said.

B&B ships sweet potatoes year-round, he said, and, thanks to controlled-atmosphere storage, they don't lose their nutritional value.

"It's one of the best vegetables you can eat," he said.

Bassetti said he is hopeful that prices will be strong enough to cover his expenses.

"The cost of everything has gone up," he said, but prices can't always reflect that.

Nash Produce LLC in Nashville, N.C., will start shipping cucumbers June 10, said Thomas Joyner, president.

"Quantity and quality look good," he said, thanks to "reasonably good weather."

Cool weather a few weeks ago may have backed up the harvest a couple of days, but now, "Things look great," he said.

Joyner won't know for sure what sizing will be on the cucumbers until the harvest gets under way, but he said, "We anticipate good supplies of all sizes."

He expects cucumber acreage for Nash Produce and for North Carolina in general to be up slightly this year.

North Carolina regularly vies with Florida for the second-largest volume of pickling cucumbers, he said. Michigan ranks No. 1.

Nash Produce also will continue to ship sweet potatoes. "Supplies are good, the product is holding up well in storage," Joyner said. The current sweet potato crop should last until the new crop comes on in September.

Southern Produce Distributors Inc. in Faison started harvesting cabbage last week, a week to 10 days later than expected, said president Stewart Precythe.

He attributed the delay to cool nights during April and early May.

Quality is excellent, he said.

The company started harvesting good-quality gray and yellow squash early this week.

"Quality is always good on North Carolina squash, unless we have adverse weather," he said.

Cucumbers will be ready for harvest June 10, he said, and he expects good sizes.

Cool conditions have given way to warmer weather and "ideal growing conditions."

Peppers and eggplant also look good and should be ready for harvest as soon as June 15, he said.

The company also has sweet potatoes year-round.

Prices out of North Carolina may depend on how prices end up out of Georgia and Florida, Precythe said. If volume is down in those states, North Carolina could start out with relatively strong prices.

In the end, though, it's the retail price that will determine how strong movement will be, he said.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

Resources