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Late summer heat disrupts organic veg transitionLate summer heat disrupts organic veg transition

High temperatures in the Southwest create challenges—and some opportunities—for seasonal organic vegetable crops. Read more in this week's organic produce crop report.

Tim Linden, Freelance writer

October 16, 2024

4 Min Read
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With high temperatures gripping the Southwest throughout September and into October, the annual transition of commercial organic vegetable production from the California coastal regions to the desert regions could face significant challenges.

“The last several weeks we have seen a lot of heat in the desert,” said Darrell Beyer of Bluebird Mountain Organics, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, noting that quality and quantity on the early end of the winter deal appear to be adversely affected. “November and December are going to be challenging,” he said. “I’m not sure how much production we are going to get. It should be an interesting transition.”

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Weeks before transition stabilizes

Beyer said that a challenging supply situation should lead to strong markets, which will be a welcome relief for organic vegetable suppliers. For the past month, he reported there have been decent supplies on many items, but a lack of demand because of the rain and hurricanes affecting the Southeast and East Coast.

Beyer said the transition has already begun from the Salinas Valley, as he is currently sourcing organic broccoli, collards and kale from the Oxnard region in Southern California. “We’re just not seeing a lot of demand,” he said, explaining that organic green onions are in short supply, but lack of demand has not resulted in a spike in the market.

Gabe Romero, a sales person for The Nunes Company, based in Salinas, California, agreed that there is some uncertainty with regard to the transition because of the heat, and it will take several more weeks to get a clear picture.

To put that in perspective, Yuma, Arizona, which straddles the Arizona, California and Mexico borders and is a major provider of both organic and conventional winter vegetables, recently completed its annual monsoon season, registering very low rainfall and record high temperatures. The monsoon season officially runs from June 15 to Sept. 30. This year, the average daily temperature was 95.1 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest monsoon season on record. In the last 30 years, there have been four seasons when the temperature ranged from 93.9 to 94.6, but this is the first season ever to top 95 degrees. And with only 0.1 inches of rain, it was the seventh driest monsoon season in the last century and a half.

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Wait-and-see approach for organic vegetables

Romero said the transition should typically shift to the desert in early to mid-November, depending on the crop. He is taking a wait-and-see approach and said there should be a tightening of the market and rising prices as grower-shippers deplete their supplies in Coastal California. 

But the veteran salesman is not predicting sky high prices. He noted organic iceberg lettuce is currently in short supply and that situation would most likely continue until the desert gets in full production. The FOB market on organic iceberg is approaching $20. While Romero expects that to strengthen, he doesn’t believe it will go crazy. “We’re not going to see anything like a $50 market,” he predicted.

The Nunes Company has a robust summer organic program in Yerington, Nevada, which Romero revealed was finishing up when he spoke to OPN on Oct. 14. Nunes is currently sourcing its organic crops from Salinas and the San Joaquin Valley as it awaits the transition.

He noted that organic broccoli and cauliflower should experience fairly strong markets until the transition is complete, with only light supplies coming from Mendota, California, to fill the gap until mid-November.

On the plus side for organic vegetables, Romero said romaine, romaine hearts and celery are currently in good supply and could offer promotional opportunities for the retailer looking for a feature item.

Overall, Romero observed that the transition on the organic vegetable side from summer to winter production is typically a bit more challenging than conventional crops because there are not robust local deals to fill the gap. Though the back-to-back hurricanes dealt a devastating blow to vegetables growers in Florida, there are still growing regions up the Eastern Seaboard producing volume of the hardier crops, with the vast majority of that acreage producing conventional supplies.

Read more about:

Crop report

About the Author

Tim Linden

Freelance writer

Tim Linden is a journalist specializing in the ag space with a special emphasis on fresh produce. He also has written stories on a plethora of topics for other special interest publications including city magazines, the culinary arts and a wide variety of business publications. He and his wife live in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoy all it has to offer, including great food and wine, miles of hiking trails and easy access to overseas travel. They have three adult children who also live in Northern California.

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