Up until this weekend, there has been a plentiful supply of cabbage from Florida–one grower says too much even. "It's got the price depressed though the cold temperatures this weekend might change that a bit," says Hank Scott of Long and Scott Farms, noting that while his crop in Lake County may be impacted, fields north of there may be affected too.
While good growing conditions have helped bring on this level of supply this year, while the grower has cut back on its acreage, the industry in Florida in general and in Georgia keeps adding acreage–the latter pushing its window of availability into Florida's.
However, there have been two cold snaps in recent weeks in Florida that put the industry on watch for the crop. "They didn't affect us though because there was wind and it didn't stay below freezing long enough for a frost to do any damage," Scott says. That said, in preparation for this past weekend's weather, the grower added extra irrigation by bringing up water levels in its ditches as high as it can. "That keeps the ground warmer by a few degrees and it won't get quite as cold. That's about all we can do. We hope that the wind stays up to keep frost away. Frost won't kill cabbage but it discolors it by adding a bit of purple color to the top, which people don't like."
© Long & Scott
State of cabbage demand
As for demand, it's been on the softer side for cabbage, unless a price drop incentivizes greater demand. "Demand is not as good as it would be in a normal year. It's gotten better this week because we had those cold snaps and I believe cabbage north of us is kind of running out," he says, noting there is a freight advantage in his region over south Florida.
If the crop is impacted by the weekend's temperatures, pricing may strengthen on Florida cabbage. "We need to get that price back up," Scott says. "There's an industry-wide feeling amongst buyers that they shouldn't have to pay much for cabbage which isn't fair to the growers. Cabbage used to be an inexpensive crop that was simple to grow but it's not like that anymore. Break-even pricing is around $8.50-$9 and anytime it goes below that, with all the input prices going up, it's hard to make money."
For Long & Scott, its Florida cabbage season generally finishes about April 10th–other shippers go longer. After that, the grower-shipper switches to its pickling cucumber crop.
For more information:
Hank Scott
Long & Scott Farms
[email protected]
www.longandscottfarms.com
