McCormick & Milne on track for 2013
McCormick & Milne on track for 2013
While noting his company is on track to provide its customers with spuds throughout the 2013-14 shipping season, John McCormick, principal in McCormick & Milne in Monte Vista, CO, said changes in the industry are taking their toll in the region.
The longtime broker-shipper-distributor said in late August that the quality of San Luis Valley potatoes was looking good, with size and yields down from 2012. He expected the company’s shipping volume to hit mid-December, and he said M&M’s sales remain primarily to retail and foodservice/process.
“Most go to retail, and with ongoing consolidation we see fewer retail buyers,” McCormick said. “Process this year looks good. It doesn’t change much year to year. Most goes to salad processers for foodservice, and a lot of the product goes to franchises, delis and supermarkets.”
Regarding the changes in the San Luis Valley, where acreage has declined significantly in the past decade due largely to water issues and sheds have sold or united due partially to potato prices and the cost of production, McCormick said government regulations have also been a factor.
“Regulations have made it extremely difficult in this industry,” he said. “People who are designing the rules and regulations, I would venture to say, have no experience in agriculture. We now have to have a dedicated employee for food safety, and older growers are just getting out because it’s become too much of a struggle. I think it would be OK if it were a fair system, but produce from other countries is not scrutinized nearly to the extent ours is.”
He continued, “We’re now at a point where all this is mandated, and the only thing that will turn the system around is if we don’t have food to eat.”
When asked what he sees five years in the future, McCormick said with a laugh, “I see beaches. If things don’t change, that’s where I’ll be.”
