Main Concern for Georgia’s Specialty Crop Producers: Increasing Imports

Jim Rogers Exports/Imports, Georgia, Specialty Crops

By Clint Thompson High input costs. Supply availability. Weather unpredictability. All are challenges that Georgia’s specialty crop producers are facing this year. But the main concern remains market pricing, or lack thereof. Growers are still being haunted by imports and their impact on producers being able to make a profit, said Chris Butts, executive vice president of the Georgia Fruit …

Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Lingering Impact on Farmers

Jim Rogers Agri-business, Exports/Imports, Trade

By Clint Thompson The longer the conflict in the Ukraine lingers the added impact it will have on input costs farmers are forced to pay, mainly for fertilizer. Veronica Nigh, economist with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), discusses the situation. “I think what this last year and the last couple of months in particular have pointed out, these are globally …

close up photo of blueberries

Florida Blueberry Grower: We’re Getting Squeezed

Jim Rogers Berries, Exports/Imports, Florida

By Clint Thompson Florida blueberry producers continue to feel the sting of increased imports from Mexico. What should have been a profitable year for those growers who had a crop this season was anything but. It was due to Mexican blueberries stealing the marketing window away from Florida blueberry growers, believes Florida farmer Ryan Atwood. “Considering as little of volume …

sliced watermelon on gray surface

Not So Sweet Prices: January Freeze Event Impacting Watermelon Market

Jim Rogers Agri-business, Exports/Imports, Watermelon

By Clint Thompson The freeze event in late January is having an impact on the watermelon market more than three months later. What were ‘outrageously’ high prices just a few weeks ago have dropped substantially since. It is mostly due to an abundance of supply overwhelming demand. Carr Hussey, a watermelon farmer in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, calls it a …

Florida Tomato Leader: We’re Just Trying to Hang on Here

Jim Rogers Exports/Imports, Florida, Tomatoes

By Clint Thompson On the surface, an oversupply of Florida tomatoes helped lead to suppressed prices for the industry. However, one industry leader stresses that supply still pales in comparison to previous seasons. “Look at what’s happened to our industry over the last one to two decades. An industry gets beaten down over a couple of decades and you have …

close up shot of watermelons

Watermelon 2021: Domestic Production Down, Imports Up

Jim Rogers Exports/Imports, Florida, Watermelon

Domestic watermelon production was down in 2021, though imports from other countries like Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras rose. Domestic production totaled 3.37 billion pounds last year, a decrease of 2% from 2020. This was mostly attributed to a 7% decrease in Georgia production because of a cooler spring and 35% decrease in Texas due to Winter Storm Uri. Florida’s watermelon …

Avocado Exports to U.S. Resume

Jim Rogers Avocado, Exports/Imports, USDA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced last Friday that avocado exports from Mexico to the United States (U.S.) have resumed.   APHIS, working closely with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico’s Regional Security Officer, Mexico’s national plant protection organization (SENASICA), and the Association of Avocado Producers and Packers Exporters of Mexico …

Agricultural Exports Shattered Records in 2021

Jim Rogers Agri-business, Exports/Imports, USDA

WASHINGTON – American agricultural export levels reached its highest annual export levels ever recorded in 2021, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced on Tuesday. The final 2021 trade data published by the Department of Commerce showed that exports of U.S. farm and food products to the world totaled $177 billion, topping the 2020 total by 18% and eclipsing the previous …