Excess watermelon supply across the county has been to blame for a dismal market during the height of the Texas season. The season has almost concluded with growers disappointed at the low prices and an inability to sell their melons on the broader market. Kevin Green, of Jackson Melons in Texas, said that it was one of the worst markets he'd experienced.
"In about 1 or 2 weeks, we will just about be done for the West Texas season," Green said. "There's still some activity in the Nogales deal but that will be focusing on supply from Mexico. We had excellent growing conditions which resulted in very high yields. In August, the price was really cheap, reaching lows of $8 to $12. It was one of the worst markets we've seen. It all depended on the sizes. We saw a lot of large sizes around due to the good conditions, but that meant prices for those sizes were among the lowest. Overall, it was a pretty rough deal."
Recovery in the market as growers look to next season
After the extremely low prices in August, the market has strengthened in recent weeks and farmers were able to recover some gains as the Texas season approached its conclusion. Despite the slightly higher prices though, growers were still struggling to sell stock out of the state.
"In the latter part of September, we saw the market recover somewhat," continued Green. "Prices rose to the mid to upper $20s, with some quotes in the lower $30s. One of the causes of the very low prices was the fact that there was an abundance of watermelons nation-wide and Texas growers were unable to get much product out into the wider market."
"Once the season has completely finished in a week or two, supply will begin from Mexico until the Rio Grande season starts again at the end of April, start of May, followed by the West Texas season in July," Green said.
For more information:
Kevin Green
Jackson Melons
Tel: 903-657-2760