Avocados – “Enhanced” inspections by Texas of commercial vehicles from Mexico were recently imposed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. This action has crippled the supply chain of avocados and the ripple effects are enormous. Trucks are lined up for miles waiting to be inspected at the border and growers, harvest crews, packing houses, and trucks departing Michoacan have been disrupted during what was to be a very short week of packing during Holy Week in Mexico. Avocado operations in Mexico have nearly come to a standstill as a result.
Corn – Florida’s corn season finally cranked back up and prices are way down this week. Availability and quality has improved with the start of their new fields.
Eggs – Fears of the consequences of Avian Flu on our chicken flocks have eggs at record levels. If the Flu continues to kill birds in the manner that it has, the farmers will need those eggs to repopulate their layers, the broiler flocks as well as to cover demand for eggs to eat. So far in NC, our farmers have lost about 280,000 chickens and 90,000 turkeys to the flu in the past month or so. Supplies of eggs remain extremely tight.
Grapes – Are in abundance, but quality is hit and miss and it’s one of those times where you really get what you pay for. There are cheap, bad grapes, and there are higher priced, higher quality grapes.
Lettuce – Though weather issues haven’t improved very much for them, sluggish demand at the higher prices is forcing lower markets. Quality remains iffy, with smaller heads and light case weights for the little bit of lettuce that they’re able to bring to market.
Onions – Supplies and quality continue to improve as we move into the new crop of onions from Mexico. They’re starting the season with low quantities in storage, so we should see pricing remain steady at the higher levels until harvests increase.
Peppers – Pepper market continues to climb, and we don’t see any relief in the short term. Volume will remain short as farmers continue to battle disease, and this is following the bloom drop shortage from February. Florida and Mexican growers are struggling to fill orders and prices are going to be high until the growing areas move to Georgia at the end of May.
Strawberries – Demand is falling off as the pull for Easter has passed. Also, local strawberries are getting cranked up. Supplies and pricing are much improved this week.
Q: Why is the Easter Bunny so lucky?
A: Because he has 4 rabbit’s feet.
Q: What do you call a rabbit with 4 eyes?
A: A rabbiiiit.
