The supply of carrots over the next couple of months out of California is going to be a little tighter than normal. The transition from the Imperial Valley to Bakersfield, California is underway, though slightly later than normal, leaving carrot supplies decent for now.
“The weather during our planting window is going to be the biggest issue on the supply side for our Bakersfield harvest and we’re just getting into those issues now,” says Rob Giragosian with Kern RidgePR Growers, LLC. “Due to a month straight of rain, planting was delayed which will affect harvest and could create some gaps in supply. We’re very cautious with our field situation as far as how fast we’re running through our acreage and hope to navigate this harvest with minimal availability issues. It’s going to be an interesting summer.”
Rainy planting season
Much of that depends, he adds, on how growers reacted to the weather during the planting window. “The rain threw us a curve ball as we worked through this planting season. The gap in the planting is really going to come down to how fast the carrots mature, how early you’re getting into your fields, etc.” he says. While the rain affected the planting schedule, it’s also been unseasonably cool for a few months in California, particularly in the Bakersfield region, pushing back a number of commodities by a few weeks.
At the same time, demand is moderate to good for carrots with product moving consistently week to week. "Over the last couple of months, pricing has been very steady and there’ve been very few changes. A bit of a decline as other areas got started but it’s held pretty decent as far as market pricing goes,” says Giragosian.
For more information:
Rob Giragosian
Kern Ridge Growers, LLC
Tel: +1 (661) 854-3156
robg@kernridge.com
https://kernridge.com/