Tropical storm Alberto brought heavy rainfall from Mexico to Texas last week. Some areas of Texas saw almost 10 inches of rain, and Mexico’s East Coast saw 6 inches.
A new system is on forecaster’s radars but will have a much smaller geographic footprint than Alberto. Still, the system has the potential to bring a few inches of much-needed rain to growers in Eastern Mexico and Texas.
A massive heat dome stretching from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic is heating up produce markets. Dew points push “feels-like” temperatures into the triple digits, reducing yields of heat-sensitive crops and creating challenging work conditions for harvesting crews.
ProduceIQ Index: $1.26/pound, up +14.6 percent over prior week
(Week #25, ending June 21st)
Blue Book has teamed with ProduceIQ BB #:368175 to bring the ProduceIQ Index to its readers. The index provides a produce industry price benchmark using 40 top commodities to provide data for decision making.
Up another +13 percent over the previous week. Week #25 Hass Avocado prices soar to new heights as suppliers struggle to find product due to poor yields from growers in Mexico and Peru and the suspension of Mexican imports from Michoacán. Michoacán produces 73 percent of all of the avocados in Mexico and has historically held the monopoly on exports to the U.S.
Mexican authorities are working with USDA officials to resolve the issue promptly. However, if they cannot come to an agreement, markets will continue to escalate in response to scarce supply. Attempting to punish Mexican growers by restricting supply can have the opposite effect—for example, an economic windfall. If the unripe fruit is held longer while the supply shortage causes a spike in price, growers can capitalize on high prices to profit.
Hass avocado 48ct prices spike to $66, and it is difficult to get quoted during this uncertainty.
Asparagus prices are up +33 percent over the previous week due to high heat in growing regions in Mexico and Peru, resulting in low yields. Jumbo sizes are particularly tight, and supply is not forecasted to improve until after the Fourth of July holiday pull.
Asparagus prices, $32, near record levels but not surpassing last year (2023).
At $42, broccoli prices solidly grasp a ten-year high for the second consecutive week. Inclement weather in broccoli growing regions from California to Mexico is causing quality issues and reducing yields. As a result, market prices jumped +43 percent over the previous week. Supply is forecasted to remain limited for at least the next two weeks.
Broccoli prices surpass $38, breaking records for this time of year.
As forecasted, squash markets plummet after weeks of elevated prices and tight supplies. Summer is bringing more local players online and providing much-needed relief to zucchini and yellow squash markets. Average prices are still well above average for week #25 but are expected to normalize over the next few weeks as more regional growers enter the market.
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ProduceIQ Index
The ProduceIQ Index is the fresh produce industry’s only shipping point price index. It represents the industry-wide price per pound at the location of packing for domestic produce and at the port of U.S. entry for imported produce.
ProduceIQ uses 40 top commodities to represent the industry. The Index weights each commodity dynamically, by season, as a function of the weekly 5-year rolling average Sales. Sales are calculated using the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service for movement and price data. The Index serves as a fair benchmark for industry price performance.
