Market Report - July 3rd 2015

RIDICULOUSLY RESILIENT RIDGE

As the RRR (Ridiculously Resilient Ridge) of high pressure continues to deflect Pacific Storms away from BC, the impacts on agriculture are starting to really show.  This dome of high pressure is the same one that has lingered off the coast of California for 30 months, and there is no end in sight.  The National Weather Service Prediction Office in the U.S., who like many other organizations around the world run “climate models” – (thousands of computer simulations) that are then coalesced with Canadian and European government agency models, has released more future predictions.  Hate to break it to you, but every model, month by month, through their entire period ending June 2016 shows SW BC with above or much above normal temperatures and lower or much lower precipitation.   Much of southern BC is now in the rather bland sounding Stage 3 drought conditions.  That is similar to the moderate to severe rating scale in California.Eastern Washington has been the hardest hit by this record heatwave, with a very short season expected for all stone-fruit.  Early, middle and late season varieties have all gone into stress-mode and are ripening prematurely.  On top of that, four packing plants in Wenatchee have suffered some damage, including one entire packing plant, caused by a forest fire that ignited on the city limits.Southern Okanagan and Similkameen growers are seeing the same scenario, with cherries set to wrap up by July 20, and a couple of weeks later for producers in areas closer to Vernon.  For vegetables, supply is abundant – most ground-crops are loving this weather, although for growers the battle is on to chase irrigation pipes and lines constantly, and battle heat-loving weeds.Of course, the entire fruit category is strong, and considering the weather that is a very good thing!  Expect melon pricing to leap somewhat – most of the Mexican crop comes from Sonora – inland due south of Arizona, and out to the coast.  Huge thunderstorms have drenched that area for many days and water-logged fruit in the fields, with many growers now out of the watermelon deal for the year.  We are moving quickly to more expensive California fruit from Jeff Mettler in Bakersfield, whose melons we have been selling for many, many years.  Oranges continue in very short supply, when California should usually be drowning in Valencias.  Mexican producers continue to supply good volumes and quality at very reasonable pricing.  Lemons continue to be in short supply and at very high price points, but continue to sell just fine.    Pineapple supply will be a rough-go for a while – vast areas of Costa Rica are flooded out after 9 months of nearly continuous rain.  The berry market is booming with huge production locally, once again early, mid and late crops of blueberries are catching up to each other.  Unfortunately the season will end several weeks earlier than normal as well.  Strawberries are now past the production peak in Watsonville but the weather continues to be in the “perfect” range for production.Great veg selection, with new local listings appearing weekly.  Expect lettuce specials with very fast growth, and also expect tighter markets on spinach which has a tough time in this heat.  Even Ray at Ralph’s Greenhouses, who consistently ships the most beautiful spinach has walked away from his newer fields that aren’t quite ready because of heat stress and called it for the year – we were lucky to get part of his last harvests for this week.  Part of the problem here is seed supply as well, and we’ll talk about seed varieties in an upcoming Friday Produce Information sheet so you can share the pain with growers who often can’t access their favorite varieties that are more predictable.  Coastal California is just the perfect place to grow spinach, where it is usually a lot cooler this time of year than up here.  There is an old quote, attributed to Mark Twain, although no one has ever proven he said it, that goes something like, “The coldest winter I’ve ever spent was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” And the growing areas to the south, from Moss Landing to Salinas are traditionally cool – perfect for lettuce and spinach.Finally cauliflower and celery are starting to fall into a traditional price range after being on the spendy side since just after Christmas.The rest of the veg selection is fabulous, with lots of great grilling options – fennel, zucchini, sweet Walla Walla onions all come to mind.   Try out the new Heirloom Tomato mix from Origino …. And Stay cool!