June 26, 2009

Sponsored by:

Pack-Right LLC

Arkansas Tomatoes

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices for tomatoes from eastern Arkansas:

Vine-ripes: Two-layer cartons, 4-by-4s, 4-by-5s and 5-by-5s, mostly $18.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, June 24.

The Shipping Scene

Heavy rains that pummeled the Arkansas tomato crop this spring likely will mean less volume from the state this year than last, but grower-shippers say quality is good, and it should get even better as the season progresses.

Nogales, Ariz.-based Pack-Right LLC, which operates out of Hermitage, Ark., during the summer, began picking tomatoes on schedule June 10, and sales manager Brooks Lisenbey said shipments should continue through July.

By adding varieties that can withstand warm summer weather, the company is able to ship longer every year, Lisenbey said.

Some tomatoes this week still were suffering the effects of the inclement springtime weather, but quality was improving rapidly.

"It's been wet and cold," Lisenbey said, noting that rain fell seven consecutive days in early May. Eventually, though, warmer weather prevailed and helped the plants catch up.

This week, Lisenbey said quality was good, and even the larger bloom scar some fruit experienced was a trait many consumers found appealing because it gave the fruit a homegrown look.

"It's nothing that would cause the tomato to go bad," he said. "It's just that it's not a perfectly shaped tomato."

Lisenbey expected fruit that was affected by the rain to be out of the pipeline by next week.

Sizing is expected to peak on 4-by-4s compared to 4-by-5s last season. Lisenbey, who has logged 37 years in the produce business, explained that when plants have fewer flowers than usual, the fruit usually grows larger and fewer pieces are required to fill a box.

Pack-Right ships round, roma and grape tomatoes. The grape variety seems to be replacing the cherry tomato because of its superior flavor characteristics, he said.

So far, prices have been strong, but Lisenbey expected prices to fall as volume picks up. He estimates that Arkansas produces 2% to 3% of the nation's tomatoes during June and July.

The rain during the early part of the growing season fell on vines rather than on the fruit, so quality should not be affected, said Michael Hensley, owner of Harrod & Hensley Tomato Co. in Hermitage.

"I do expect some effects from the rain," he said. "I don't expect our peak volume to be what it is during normal years."

He estimated that volume could be off as much as 30% statewide.

The company, which ships round and roma tomatoes, started harvesting the second week of June and, by last week, had worked up to what will be its normal production level for this year.

Although some of the company's early fruit was smaller than usual, sizing is back to normal, which generally is larger than what is available from other shipping points, he said.

So far, prices and demand have been good, he said. "We've got good product, good prices, (but) just limited availability."

Despite "a cold, wet spring," Randy Clanton, owner of Randy Clanton Farms in Hermitage, said he was experiencing few problems with this year's crop so far.

"The crop overall looks good," he said. "The foliage is holding well."

The company should have round, roma and grape tomatoes through most of July, but Clanton said the roma and grape tomatoes seem to have handled the weather better than the round ones.

"I don't see as much bloom drop on those as there is on the rounds," he said. "It seems like they may have pollinated somewhat better."

The company once again will offer a vine-ripe variety called the defender that has proved popular among customers and has good shelf life.

"It's a very appealing fruit," he said.

Clanton Farms will continue its strategic alliance with the C.H. Robinson Co., which will handle some marketing and transportation for the company, Clanton 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.)

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