July 24, 2009

Sponsored by:

Flavor Pic Tomato Co. Inc.

Alabama Tomatoes

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was not quoting shipping point prices for Alabama tomatoes. Following are prices of Alabama tomatoes on the Atlanta terminal market:

Vine-ripe: 25-pound cartons, place pack, jumbo, $15.50; large and extra-large, $14.50.

Cherry: Flats of 12 1-pint baskets, $9.

Grape: Flats of 12 1-pint baskets, $15.

Roma: 25-pound cartons, loose, large and extra-large, $14.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, July 22.

The Shipping Scene

Current Alabama tomato crops kicked off a week to 10 days behind schedule because of rain and cool weather, but volume is catching up, and so is quality, growers say.

Flavor Pic Tomato Co. Inc., a Birmingham, Ala.-based grower-repacker, started picking in southern Alabama in mid-June and in the Chandler Mountain area in early July. Volume out of both areas was running up to 10 days behind.

"We didn't start shipping volume from the Chandler Mountain deal until about July 10," said president Shane Stevenson. "Normally we have volume the Fourth."

April rain prompted some delays. "It didn't hurt the tomatoes, it just slowed them down," Stevenson said.

This week, conditions were "beautiful," and the forecast was for continued good weather. If the weather stays nice, Stevenson said, "We should have a really bright crop this year."

Quality was excellent, and though sizing started out a bit on the small side, the tomatoes now are fine sizewise, he said.

The market is average, Stevenson said. "It's not real cheap, but it's not real great, either."

The Alabama crop likely will be available until the middle of October, but since Flavor Pic both repacks and grows product, the firm offers tomatoes year-round.

Flavor Pic now is growing round, roma, grape and cherry tomatoes in Alabama, but the company can procure yellow tomatoes, heirlooms, cluster and hydroponically grown greenhouse tomatoes from other growing areas, Stevenson said.

Although quality is extremely good, yields were off a bit this season because of rain in the Steele area earlier in the year, said Jeffery Smith of S&S Farms. Prices have been "fairly good so far."

S&S usually starts picking June 25 but didn't get started until just after the Fourth of July this year. Rain fell during 20 days in May, he said, and flowers don't make tomatoes when it's raining.

Volume was down on the company's first field because of the rain, and size was off somewhat as a result of hot weather that materialized when the fruit was trying to size up. But as the company moved to its second field, sizing was increasing.

S&S should have about the same volume as last year, but acreage statewide might be down slightly because some growers may have cut back as a result of increasing costs, Smith said.

The company grows round, roma and grape tomatoes.

Jimmy Durbin Farms in Clanton picked its first tomatoes in central Alabama June 15, two weeks ahead of schedule, said manager Tim Minor.

"We hit a window where we could bypass the cold and wet weather," he said. "We jumped in, got aggressive and got our first planting in."

Since that time, the quality has been good, but on some farms, the first and second plantings have been pushed a little farther apart than usual.

"Normally, they overlap each other," he said, and that generally remains the case this season.

The farm probably lost a little volume on its first bloom set because of the rain, "But we're still going to be O.K." Minor said. "The quality has been excellent."

The second planting at Jimmy Durbin Farms may be pushed back a bit, but not by much, he said. Picking should start within a week.

"The quality has really been good," he said, on the company's round, roma and grape tomatoes.

In fact, on a scale of 1-to-10, he said he would rate this season's tomatoes a 9. He also rated volume as outstanding and said any size drops seem to be dissipating.

"These new plantings that are coming in are starting to show the normal size," 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