Texas season starts on a high note for area handlers
Texas season starts on a high note for area handlers
With favorable weather conditions and fairly strong markets, Texas shippers are heading into a heavy shipping period in a pretty good mood. Interviews with shippers of onions, melons and tropicals revealed a lot of optimism.
John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association in Mission, TX, said that it appears to be the beginning of a pretty good season for Texas growers and shippers. While the heavy Texas melon and onion seasons are just getting underway, the reality is that the season has been going for quite some time with pretty good results.
In recent years, sourcing from Mexico and South America has become a regular part of the Texas deal. Texas shippers are offering melons and onions well before Texas-grown crops are ready. Most shippers strive for a seamless transition, and this year that appears to be happening. It also means that by the time Texas is producing its crops, the tone of the season has already been set - and this year it is good.
The Mexican onion deal was slow to get started and never did get into full throttle because of weather issues. Consequently, the market remained throughout the spring and is still fairly strong. The melon deal has also been good. Tropicals, including mangos, pineapples and even avocados, have offered many Texas shippers some more products to sell and another way to add to the bottom line. The advent of the National Mango Promotion Board, which is just beginning to promote the consumption of mangos in the United States, has also brought optimism to that deal. Mangos have long been called the most popular fruit in the world. If the board is able to significantly increase U.S. consumption, Texas is sure to benefit as the top crossing point for the fruit.
Another high note for Texas shippers was the just-completed citrus season. The crop was down in volume, but the prices were good all year. And the increased volume of sterile fruit flies released every week did a tremendous job in cutting down the Mexican fruit fly population.
Mr. McClung told The Produce News April 12 that fruit fly number 36 was found the previous day. "I don't know the average number of fruit flies that have been found the last few years, but it has to be two or three times that number."
There has been a new protocol involving quarantining a one- mile radius around each fly find, but Mr. McClung said that the increased release of sterile fruit flies definitely deserves the credit. "We aren't quite at the 500-flies-per- acre-per-week level that has been recommended, but we're getting close. Clearly, that's made the difference."
The release of sterile fruit flies disrupts the mating cycle of potent flies by making it mathematically difficult for two potent flies to meet and create offspring. One down note for the area was the lack of progress on immigration reform. Like most of the rest of the produce industry, Texas wants and needs a guest worker program and a path to legal status for undocumented workers already in the country. The Rio Grande Valley, however, was not prone to the massive immigrant-rights rallies that have popped up throughout the nation. It would be much like preaching to the choir, as 85 percent of the residents in the valley are Hispanic, and for the most part, support immigration reform.
John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association in Mission, TX, said that it appears to be the beginning of a pretty good season for Texas growers and shippers. While the heavy Texas melon and onion seasons are just getting underway, the reality is that the season has been going for quite some time with pretty good results.
In recent years, sourcing from Mexico and South America has become a regular part of the Texas deal. Texas shippers are offering melons and onions well before Texas-grown crops are ready. Most shippers strive for a seamless transition, and this year that appears to be happening. It also means that by the time Texas is producing its crops, the tone of the season has already been set - and this year it is good.
The Mexican onion deal was slow to get started and never did get into full throttle because of weather issues. Consequently, the market remained throughout the spring and is still fairly strong. The melon deal has also been good. Tropicals, including mangos, pineapples and even avocados, have offered many Texas shippers some more products to sell and another way to add to the bottom line. The advent of the National Mango Promotion Board, which is just beginning to promote the consumption of mangos in the United States, has also brought optimism to that deal. Mangos have long been called the most popular fruit in the world. If the board is able to significantly increase U.S. consumption, Texas is sure to benefit as the top crossing point for the fruit.
Another high note for Texas shippers was the just-completed citrus season. The crop was down in volume, but the prices were good all year. And the increased volume of sterile fruit flies released every week did a tremendous job in cutting down the Mexican fruit fly population.
Mr. McClung told The Produce News April 12 that fruit fly number 36 was found the previous day. "I don't know the average number of fruit flies that have been found the last few years, but it has to be two or three times that number."
There has been a new protocol involving quarantining a one- mile radius around each fly find, but Mr. McClung said that the increased release of sterile fruit flies definitely deserves the credit. "We aren't quite at the 500-flies-per- acre-per-week level that has been recommended, but we're getting close. Clearly, that's made the difference."
The release of sterile fruit flies disrupts the mating cycle of potent flies by making it mathematically difficult for two potent flies to meet and create offspring. One down note for the area was the lack of progress on immigration reform. Like most of the rest of the produce industry, Texas wants and needs a guest worker program and a path to legal status for undocumented workers already in the country. The Rio Grande Valley, however, was not prone to the massive immigrant-rights rallies that have popped up throughout the nation. It would be much like preaching to the choir, as 85 percent of the residents in the valley are Hispanic, and for the most part, support immigration reform.
