Tropical Storm Claudette, although it did not make landfall as a hurricane, managed to bring the first taste of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season with rainfall stretching up most of the East coast.
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida all experienced tropical storm-force winds, tornadoes, or flash flooding. South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia experienced rainfall in the days afterwards as the remnants of the storm made its way up the coastline. For some already saturated fields in Mississippi and Louisiana, this additional moisture may put an end to growers’ plans for the season. Other growers in Florida and Georgia had to curtail harvests of tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, bell peppers and other commodities until fields are dry enough to access. The produce industry has been on the edge financially and facing challenges from lack of supplies and high freight rates that have impacted profitability, so any additional losses due to weather will be hard. A tight labor situation persists nationwide, with the impacts seen widely in the retail and service sectors, as well as in farm labor.
Peruvian asparagus movement is expected to increase due to upcoming holiday retail promotional ads, with shipments expected to peak over the next few days, although the latest reports from shippers say the current vessel is delayed once again. Prices are higher on the spot market. Demand for large and standard sizes is moderate but others are in short supply due to limited domestic supplies. Asparagus crossings from Mexico are expected to increase by next week with current supplies light. Prices represent very few spot market sales as most product is covering contract sales.
Some rain in the forecast for the growing region should help plant growth. Movement from Michigan is expected to decrease seasonally. The remaining supplies are in too few hands to establish a market.
Movement of avocadoes from Mexico crossing through Texas is expected to remain about the same, with trading on large sizes slow, 84s very active, and others fairly slow. Prices were mixed to generally unchanged with light demand for large sizes and good demand on smaller fruit. Peru imports arriving through the ports of Miami, Philadelphia, and New York movement is expected to increase seasonally, with trading moderate.