Market Report - July 24th, 2015
RAIN IN THE LOWER MAINLAND
Yay! Rain in the Lower Mainland – not a big deal normally, but after getting only 10% or less of our normal soggy Vancouver spring, it was very welcome to wake up to. If nothing else our dusty cars are getting washed. Temperatures have returned to ‘normal’ across the Interior regions, as have the Prairies, except Calgary of course, where, as Calgarians know, there is no normal, and quite a few dimpled cars and broken windshields are evidence of golf ball hail and even a tornado over the last couple of days. We won’t bother you with another dismal climate and crop report after Wednesday’s doom and gloom. Other than the challenges and losses those are accounting for, what growers are finding fascinating is how crops are acting so weirdly this year.
The info sheet we sent out last Friday talked about succession plantings for fruit and vegetables, and this year, all bets are off. The last three varieties of cherries are Lapin, then Skeena then Sweetheart, usually a week apart for harvest times. This year Skeena’s are way ahead of Lapins instead. June Blood plums, normally ready in August, 2 weeks after Gold Shiro are harvested, are now shipping earlier than Shiros. Early dessert apples came on 2 weeks early, but the next varieties (Earligold and Sunrise) didn’t follow right after like they usually do. While there are small amounts of BC tomatoes available, and cherry tomatoes are on schedule, if not early, there are fields and fields of, well, Field tomatoes that are staying stubbornly green in the Similkameen and Okanagan. This story is repeating itself on many other crops as well, which is really keeping growers on their toes.The most massive change we have seen is in the citrus world. Oranges that normally flower this time of year and produce fruit for that crazy time in January when the citrus listings are huge are already in production, 5 months early, or 7 months late – take your pick. Growers are as shocked as we are – and what a great treat to have Minneola, Honey and Gold Nuggets while we look at a dismal Valencia season in California.The apple market will change slowly over the next couple of weeks as Earligold and Sunrise start packing and shipping in earnest towards the end of the week, taking sales pressure off the S. American varieties, although sales of Gala, Fuji, Pink and Braeburn will still stay strong for some time until our local production of those hard crunchy apples starts in September. We have excellent pricing on Braeburns for the next few weeks. Avocados are hard, shiny bright green – just the way the first harvests of the new crop always are. Banana supply is good. The entire fruit selection is pretty awesome actually, although there are some weather blips in the berry market. Rains generated by remnant Pacific hurricane Dolores have fallen as far north as Fresno and across the strawberry growing areas in Salinas and Watsonville. Rain in Southern California this time of year is rare at the best of times. San Diego got a whopping whole inch of rain last week – which is really a sprinkle for us, but it’s what they would normally receive as total rainfall for 13 full months of July’s rain all added together.So strawberry production has been affected and prices will probably adjust up for the next 10 days – of course the ferocious plunge in the Canadian dollar is not helping that situation. Local blueberries won’t be harvested again likely until Tuesday after today’s rains and more rain predicted over the weekend. We stocked up big time on Thursday so we won’t see an interruption on supply. Local apricot supply is disappearing quickly, while peaches start to ramp up. We’re into Redhaven varieties now, but the big cling-free volumes start next week with the first harvests of Glohaven – it’s a great crop and expect to see fabulous sales and competitive pricing.There aren’t any hiccups in local greens supply – now that the weather has calmed down to seasonal levels, and with enough growers in the marketplace we aren’t expecting any shorts on lettuce, kale, chard, cilantro etc.All those green tomatoes will start to ripen and supply will increase. Local field peppers aren’t ready yet except for greens but there is a plethora of eggplant, and no shortage of zucchini or cukes. Potato volumes are growing quickly with a great harvest in Pemberton in the works – especially on creamy white Cascades.