Retail report

I walked into HyVee tonight and I saw a giant display of Stemilt red delicious at 99 cents per pound. I've noted that Stemilt can fill up the apple category, with diverse varieties featured and plenty of Stemilt signage. Meanwhile, the USDA's National Fruit and Vegetable Report was released again today. It showed pears accounted for 20% of retail fruit ads and asparagus comprised about 13% of all vegetable ads.

Here is the summary of what the USDA found this week:

Advertised Prices for Fruits & Vegetables at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets 10/26 to 11/01
Pears top overall activity. Vegetables featured more prominently.
This week retailers placed emphasis upon the upcoming Halloween celebration. Retailers were actively promoting party items for the holiday including baked goods, candy, costumes, and other non-produce items. Seasonal items in the produce department being featured included: apple cider, caramel/candy apples, persimmons, pomegranates, pumpkins,
and a variety of hard squash. Retailers continue to highlight Thanksgiving dinner incentive programs. Vegetables were a bigger competitor for ad space despite fruits continuing to be featured heavily. The top featured items among all commodities were: pears, asparagus, apples, avocados, and tomatoes on the vine. As the California marketing season winds down, red and green seedless grapes continue to see a decline in activity. Features on strawberries declined drastically. Asparagus activity jumped considerably this week, launching it into the top five promoted commodities. Fruit ads continue to be the focus of many retailers. Several varieties of domestic apples and pears were featured throughout the country corresponding to a spike in seasonal supply. As there is a seasonal influence in the market at this time, a few year round items such as strawberries were featured less. Vegetable ads were featured more prominently this week. Notable increases were seen on round green beans, onions, and green bell peppers. There were many organic vegetable ads noted and included: cauliflower, celery, broccoli by the pound, and sweet potatoes.

Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance reaction

On Senate consideration of the farm bill, from the SCFBA:

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA), a national coalition of more than 120 specialty crop organizations representing 350 individual specialty crops, has issued the following statement in connection with the passage of the Farm Bill by the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee:"Today's action in the Senate Agriculture Committee is an important step forward in recognizing the importance of specialty crops in national farm policy. We appreciate the bipartisan support for our priorities that helped shape the bill passed by the committee, and look forward to continuing to work together with Congressional allies to address specialty crop needs as the bill is considered on the Senate floor and in conference. This legislation makes a strong commitment in improving nutrition and obesity among children by expanding the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program to 5,000 schools and 4.5 million children. The Senate Farm Bill acknowledged other key priorities such as providing trade assistance and market promotion tools to open new and expand existing international markets, investing in research to improve the quality, taste and nutrition of fruits and vegetables and support for state specialty crop competitiveness projects that target the specific needs of local specialty crop producers. In addition, today's action coupled with the Senate Finance Committee will foster significant improvements in efforts by USDA to combat invasive pest and diseases. Over the last two years, specialty crop producers have been advocating for a Farm Bill that is more balanced and equitable for our producers. The Farm bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee reflects that goal. We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Chambliss, Senators Stabenow, Conrad, Casey, and Crapo, in particular, for their leadership on behalf of the nation's specialty crop producers."
Priorities of Specialty Crop Producers
Expansion of the USDA Fruit & Vegetable Snack Program to all 50 states. The program and others involving healthy foods and community projects help develop life-long health through consumption of fruits and vegetables
Greater investment in research to improve the taste and quality of foods
Expansion of the "State Specialty Crop Competitiveness" projects to all 50 states based on its proven track record of delivering results for specific local needs
Enhanced critical trade assistance and market promotion tools that will grow international markets for specialty crops
Investment in prevention and mitigation protocols to combat invasive pest and diseases, which cost the economy millions of dollars per year

Avocado coverage

The Packer's John Chadwell wrote this coverage about the avocado outlook in California. John writes:

Despite reports of up to a third of California’s avocado acreage damaged by fires, the industry would still have plenty of fruit to supply the needs for the Super Bowl in February and Cinco de Mayo, according to the California Avocado Commission, Irvine.“Everything north of Los Angeles has not burned,” Guy Whitney, director of industry affairs for Irvine-based California Avocado Commission, said Oct. 24. “And the bulk of our new acreage over the last five years has been in that area. So we have a lot of acreage that in the next one to two years will come into full production and will put us right back where we were, even if we lose a third of acreage that’s in San Diego County.”


Here are some consumer press stories about the avocados and fire damage;

Wildfires torch Southern California farms, avocado crop hard hit From the AP:

Wind-driven wildfires torching Southern California have charred fruit orchards, wilted flowers and littered the ground with avocados, delivering a devastating blow to area farmers already reeling from a deep winter freeze and the long drought that followed.
The final damage for growers will not be known until they are allowed to return to their lands, but some estimate losses in the millions of dollars.
"This situation here is the worst I've seen in terms of impact on individuals, families, homes, businesses," said Charley Wolk, who has been farming in San Diego County for 35 years, and now manages hundreds of acres (hectares) of mostly avocados, citrus and flowers.


In the aftermath of fires, farmers try to salvage crops, figure out claims - assuming they have insurance From San Diego Union-Tribune:
Last year, 52 percent of California's cropland was covered by crop insurance, according to the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. Of the estimated 62,000 California acres devoted to avocados, 53 percent was insured. Crops didn't have to burn for farmers to suffer losses. Because many growers were evacuated, farms went days without crucial irrigation that can mean life or death for certain crops.

ERS Vegetable and Melon Report

Find the Oct. 25 USDA Economic Research Service report on vegetables and melons here.

Some highlights:

Fresh vegetables: Retail prices for fresh-market vegetables averaged 3 percent above a year earlier through the first 9 months of 2007. Prices for lettuce, broccoli, and other vegetables each averaged higher than during the initial 3 quarters of 2006.Assuming average weather this fall, fresh-market retail prices during October- December 2007 are expected to increase from a year earlier.

Melons: Wholesale prices for melon crops have averaged 14 percent above a year earlier during the first 9 months of 2007. Higher prices during the spring and late fall shipping seasons outweighed lower prices in late spring and summer. Melon area for harvest is expected to decline 7 percent this fall to 15,200 acres due to reduced cantaloup and honeydew area in California and Arizona. According to USDA’s Market News Service (Market News), national mid-October advertised retail prices for cantaloup averaged $2 per melon, with seedless watermelon selling for $3.99 each.

Potatoes: With moderate demand for processed products decreasing fresh table potato supply, consumer prices for all fresh-market potatoes (russet, white, and red) averaged 3 percent above a year earlier through the first 9 months of 2007. Although total potato supplies have been slightly larger, improved demand has kept processed potato prices higher, with wholesale prices for frozen potato products (largely french fries) rising 8 percent during January-September 2007. However, given continued good demand for potato products and minor change in fall potato production, retail prices for potatoes and potato products are likely to remain strong over the coming months.

Sweet potatoes: During the first 9 months of 2007, wholesale prices for U.S. freshmarket
sweet potatoes averaged 11 percent above a year earlier due to dwindling stocks and good demand. According to Market News, national mid-October advertised retail prices for sweet potatoes averaged $0.83 per pound.

Conner on the farm bill

Below is an excerpt from Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner's teleconference yesterday....
It sounds like Conner wants more subsidy reform on the Senate floor. We have also heard that the Administration is not that high on the the fruit and vegetable program, but the overwhelming Congressional support of the program should carry the day.

Let me just say that the adjusted gross income limit that has been passed by the Senate Committee with its so-called "soft cap" we don't believe at this point represents real reform, and really equates to no reform at all. In fact our economists do believe that it will have less of an impact on payments than the House version of the bill which openly continues to allow millionaires to participate in farm programs.
We hear that there will be a lively debate on the Senate floor over payment limits. We look forward to that debate. We believe that is a debate that desperately needs to occur. I will just tell you simply that the administration and I do not understand the unwillingness to take wealthy investors who are simply among the wealthiest of Americans, the top 2 percent of tax-filers in all of our country, off of direct government subsidies. We just simply can't understand that unwillingness.
Additionally, I have to note the provisions that raise loan rates and target prices for half a dozen crops. This is just simply bad policy. It paints a bull's-eye on the backs of the American farmer, causes us enormous trouble internationally. It's just simply bad farm policy. No reform at all.