CH Robinson scores again

This Associated Press story is one of several this afternoon that celebrates CH Robinson's fourth quarter performance. The company's stock price has increased from about $39 per share in late December to $43 plus today.

C.H. Robinson said total revenue climbed to $1.64 billion from $1.58 billion in the prior year's quarter. During the quarter, C.H. Robinson said it benefited from increased prices for certain truck stop services, as well as increased volumes for its truck transportation business, the company's largest.

An outrage

You want to know how hard it is to ship fresh U.S. potatoes to South Korea? The government there has a tariff rate quota system, meaning that x amount of tons is given a "favorable" tariff rate and the over quota imports get socked at a higher rate.

In this case, the in quota potato imports with supposedly favorable treatment pay a whopping 30% tariff and over quota imported potatoes pay in excess of 300%.

The U.S. is one of a handful of exporters who serve the South Korea market, but its market share has dropped of late. Here is a report from FAS about South Korea's reluctant potato trade. The U.S. farmer could surely benefit from a free trade agreement with South Korea.

Another FAS report released in recent days talks about Israel's citrus outlook. The shortage of grapefruit from Florida is helping Israel's 28 exporters boost grapefruit sales to Japan; the U.S. gets only about 5% of Israel's citrus exports.

California's vegetable share

The USDA's Economic Research Service has published its annual report on U.S. vegetables, and California's importance in vegetable production jumps off the pages. Find the text report at this link.
The summary:

Fresh market vegetable and melon production for the 24 selected crops estimated in 2006 totaled 466 million hundredweight, down 1 percent from last year's comparable states.. Harvested area covered 1.91 million acres, down less than 1 percent from comparable states in 2005. Value of the 2006 crop is estimated at10.2 billion dollars, up 3 percent from comparable states a year ago. The three largest crops, in terms of production, are onions, head lettuce, and watermelons, which combined to account for 37 percent of the total production. Tomatoes, head lettuce, and onions claim the highest values, accounting for 34 percent of the total value when combined.For the 24 selected vegetables and melons estimated in 2006,California continues to be the leading fresh market state, accounting for 44 percent of the harvested area, 48 percent of production, and 51 percent of the value.

Dodged bullet

There is no second citrus belt freeze to worry about - yet. The weather log from Fort Pierce listed in the weather links shows a low temp of just 37 F last night.

Here is a report from Florida Citrus Mutual this morning:

As the Florida citrus-producing region faced the threat of freezing temperatures last night, much needed cloud coverage moved into the area, preventing temperatures from reaching forecasted minimums. Preliminary reports indicate there was little or no damage to citrus fruit or trees Northern citrus-producing areas - including Hernando, Marion, Orange, Lake,
Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties – received patches of frost, which may result in minimal damage to early blooms for next season’s crop. “Overall, the Florida citrus industry came through last night’s cold temperatures very well,” said Michael Sparks, Florida Citrus Mutual’s executive vice president/CEO. “We have seen no damage to this year’s fruit, and only minimal damage to early blooms.”

Hunt for new varieties

This story in the Palm Beach Post refers to hunger for new citrus varieties in Florida.

While no mention was made of the controversy over who gets first access to new citrus varieties, the article referred to interest in hybrid varieties that both provide canker resistance and great consumer appeal.

A perfect new variety would be one that's disease-resistant and consumer-friendly: seedless, tasty, easy-to-peel and not so juicy that it drips all over the place.


More than a dozen new varieties could be released in the next few years, researchers at the University of Florida and the USDA say. Some possibilities in the next couple of year: a seedless valencia orange and a seedless fallglo tangerine. The last new variety in Florida was released in 1989.