The harvest of cabbage is about two weeks out in New York State. "That's pretty much normal, maybe a tad later than we'd like," says Eric Hansen of Hansen Farms, adding that its plantings are up about five percent to service existing customers.
In fact, the grower-shipper is still planting following a difficult spring. "We had one of the worst springs we've ever had. It never warmed up, and there was wet weather too. It acted like March and April in May and June," says Hansen. "We will get everything planted, but it's been a rough schedule."
© Hansen Farms
Those challenging planting conditions for cabbage mean there could be some gaps in supply ahead.
This crop will be coming on just as states on this side of the country are also in production. Michigan is early this year with its reportedly strong crop, and other states such as North Carolina and New Jersey are also harvesting cabbage.
Predicting supply windows
So, where is that leaving pricing? "Part of our volume is contract pricing–maybe 40-50 percent is at a set price and the rest is variable," says Hansen, adding that today's markets are more challenging to predict and set pricing for. "If you go back 10-15 years, July was when you could get some good markets, and it just seemed like that was fairly consistent. That's changed. Now it's hard to predict because different regions come in now in July, or you get a market in August or even October-November. In the past, that was rarely a time that would happen."
© Hansen Farms
Looking ahead, more recently, conditions have been hot and dry in New York state, which are also challenging for the crop, which is harvested fresh until mid-November. After, product is moved into controlled storage for Hansen Farms, which this year has also added building projects, including a new packing line, to help with production efficiency.
For more information:
Eric Hansen
Hansen Farms
Tel: +1 585-526-5260
[email protected]
http://hansenfarms.com
