MARKET REPORT - APRIL 27TH, 2016

Here are a few things you should know in the produce worldFor those of you who found the time to read my Earth Day Save the Bees rant, funnily enough the following was announced on Saturday Morning by sumofus.org,  who have been collecting petitions and funds to do the lobbying work on behalf of the world’s pollinators.“France just became the first country in the world to move toward a full ban on neonicotonoids (or “neonics”).  This couldn't have come at a more important time. More than 300,000 honey bee colonies have died off in France every year since neonics were introduced in the 1990-- and France's honey production just reached an all-time low. After 190,000 SumOfUs members joined the public outcry and pushed France's Minister of Ecology to come out in support of a neonics ban, France's parliament opposed the Minister for Agriculture -- and with just hours to spare voted for a biodiversity law that includes a total ban on neonics, starting September 2018.  It's clear that our work is helping. Public opposition to neonics is growing by the day. There are moratoriums on neonics in the EU, a ban in the U.S. State of Maryland, and two of Canada's largest provinces are phasing out neonics --one of which was just upheld in spite of a court appeal. We're reaching a tipping point where these products will be too toxic to touch.And one of the USA's largest lawn and garden chemical companies is the first to tip. Scotts Miracle-Gro just announced it is turning completely away from bee-harming pesticides.”***********************************************************************************Here are a few things you should know in the produce world:…..and in no particular order.Potatoes:  Supply is moving quickly to new crop US potatoes.  Most sheds across Canada have finished shipping organics, so what is in stock and in the pipeline is what’s left.  We’ve got really strong supply on yellows and Russets, but sold through our reds that we were hoarding pretty fast.  So watch your retails as supply shifts to the States and prices go up $20 a case or so.Onions:  Same story, (and you were notified twice) on reds – Washington sheds are done on organic reds, and our stock is disappearing quickly – so we will be moving over the next week to a range that’s going to include very expensive Imperial Valley new crop.Greens:  Don’t be shocked – there are BC greens available.  Historically the start dates have been June 20, but with warmer coastal springs the last couple of years, growers have been able to take a risk on very early plantings and have started to harvest.  Right now we’re expecting small shipments of lettuce from 2EE, who are growing early crops in hoop houses, followed by chard, and then open field lettuces starting in a couple of weeks – this will be several weeks earlier than we have ever seen.  But, the caveat is that supply is going to be small – certainly not enough for all of you, but expect volumes to build slowly over the next few weeks, and selection to increase on other early-starters like Mustards, Arugula and Cilantro.  This is all assuming that the weather continues to be warm and wet and not slide back to normal cold temperatures.