According to Michael Stolp, Vice President of Northwest Farm Credit Services, a number of events are influencing the Northwest agriculture industry: “The economy and strong dollar overseas, carryover effects from drought and summer fires, El Niño, global production, ending stocks and import/export activity are all influencing the markets for Northwest products."
Yet the outlook for potatoes and apples is good: potato exports are a contrast to other commodity export slowdowns, and are up more than 4 percent from 2014, and apple prices are improving with slower shipping rates.
Although Northwest potato growers harvested more acres in 2015, production was down almost 3 percent due to lower yields. A smaller crop is matched with quality challenges associated with an unseasonably warm growing season. Notwithstanding these challenges, U.S. potato exports are up 4.3 percent, while frozen potato stocks are down 4.5 percent.
The outlook for the Northwest apple industry continues to improve, supported by lower 2015-2016 production, down 16.4 percent from the prior year. A smaller crop is attributed to smaller apple size, crop damage and fewer acres in production. Although early-season apple sales were brisk, prices are improving as the shipping pace slows. Continued strength in apple prices may be constrained by slower than normal export sales, limited by a strong dollar.
Source: minicassia.com
