NEWS FROM THE FARM

The impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton are still being felt across the entire Southeast. The supply of fresh produce from South Georgia and Florida will be extremely volatile, and tomatoes are among the impacted crops. Some growers are reporting total losses, some are projecting to salvage less than 30% of their crops, and some will replant. The next 6 to 8 weeks will be challenging, with high pricing and limited availability.

High temps in California over the past few weeks have created a very bad transition period for many commodities, with tender leaf and baby kale being severely affected. Much of the remaining product coming out of the fields around Salinas has been rejected at field level before packing because of quality issues. The good news is that growers will start Monday in Yuma, AZ, and we should start to see supply return. But it will take time to fill the pipeline.

The Jimmy Nardello pepper harvest is just starting in Immokalee, FL, and we’re hearing that it will be hit or miss for a while. Back-to-back hurricanes really took a toll on the crops, so farmers are having to evaluate day to day if quality is adequate to harvest.

The transition is creating short supplies and escalating markets. Broccoli is very tight and will be prorated. While the heat negatively affected the broccoli market, the cold weather will now slow growth and make the market even worse. Growers are doing their best, but you can expect broccoli to be an issue through November. The weather in Yuma has been very hot, so some of the earlier crops there could be affected, too.

Overall avocado volumes from Mexico will be strong through mid February (good to go for Game Day). The size curve will continue to favor 60s and smaller into December. As the Aventajada crop continues to mature, it will size up, and by late December, a more “normal” size curve peaking at 48s is expected to return.

Just in time for our menu planning, we’ve put together a Specialty Produce Planning Guide! Based on arrival dates from previous years and ETA’s from our farm partners, these are our best predictions for our arrivals.