In case you, like me, were hiking in the mountains without cell service… Over the weekend, President Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, Ecuadorian officials found $224 million worth of cocaine in a banana shipment destined for Germany, and record-breaking heat in the West spurred the growth of wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
Despite the headline-grabbing nature of our big news weekend, the headline most affecting produce markets is the heat wave holding a fierce grip over the West. From Calgary, Canada, to Reno, NV, temperatures are running 10-20 degrees higher than average.
The prolonged heat is causing growers to fight aggressively against pest and disease growth, especially among more heat-sensitive crops such as lettuce and leaf, cilantro, and parsley.
Relief is in sight for Western growers towards the end of the week. The heat dome is forecast to migrate East into the Midwest. However, relief comes with a caveat. The break from the heat will bring strong winds that will stimulate wildfires and improve air quality in affected areas.
The Eastern U.S. has a wet week ahead. At least two inches is forecasted in most Eastern/Southeastern states, possibly three to five inches in parts of the Carolinas.
ProduceIQ Index: $1.13/pound, down -10.3 percentover prior week
Week #29, ending July 19th
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.
Round green-type beans are up significantly over the previous week. USDA prices were not reported in week #28 due to the early end of production in Georgia. At $31, average prices are at a ten-year high. New York and other Northeast growers have started lightly, but volume will likely not pick up for another three weeks.
Plum-type tomato prices continue to rise in the face of low volume from growers in the East and West. After a glimmer of hope for plum-type tomatoes last week for buyers, prices are on the rise again. Up +6 percent over the previous week to $23, average plum-type tomatoes are at a ten-year high. This week, heavy rain in the East will likely impede volume growth.
Cherry markets are prime for promotion. Large decreases in cherries drive the overall decline in the ProduceIQ index in week #29. At $30, average cherry prices are at a ten-year low. Supply is forecasted to peak sometime in the next two weeks; however, growers foresee stronger-than-average volume through August.
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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.
