Strong summer underway for Michigan fruits and vegetables

Things may have gotten off to a slow start in some areas, but it appears business will be booming during late summer and fall for Michigan produce suppliers.

Chilly weather slowed the start of the season for most growers, said David Cook, who handles logistics and sales for Rice Lake Farms Packing LLC, Grant, Mich.

“I think we’re probably two or three weeks later than normal as far as harvesting,” he said.

The company started harvesting turnips, rutabagas and red beets in late July.

Rice Lake Farms won’t be growing squash this season but will have watermelon radishes again this year and planned to start gold beets and candy beets in early August, he said.

Jumbo carrots should start in early September, and the company expected to sell quite a bit of celery root starting in September, as well.

Cool temperatures in April into May were not conducive to growing, Cook said.

“Now, we’re getting some good weather,” he said in late July, which included 2 or 3 inches of much-needed rain.

Hudsonville, Mich.-based Superior Sales handles “a full line of anything you can get out of Michigan except for onions and potatoes,” said President Randy Vande Guchte.

That includes dry vegetables, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, green peppers and specialty chili peppers, such as jalapenos, serranos and poblanos.

Superior Sales shipped asparagus during the spring and was shipping corn, cabbage, celery, and red and green leaf lettuce this summer.

Business is similar to last year, but might be down a bit because of the cancellation of government produce box programs, Vande Guchte said. The company ships out of a warehouse in Benton Harbor, Mich.

The season won’t come without its challenges. “Transportation continues to be a real issue in the produce industry,” Cook said.

Trucks are available now, but pricing has risen 40% over last year, in part because of a doubling of the price of diesel.

“I think (the rising fuel cost) is the driving force of slowing down the economy,” Cook said.

Fertilizer is more than twice as expensive as it used to be, and the company is paying much more for its poly bags and cardboard cartons.

“The cost of cardboard goes up another 25 cents every time we call to get a quote,” he said.

The company used to ship 12 1-pound bags of parsnips in a carton, but now packs them in poly bags.

“We’re not going to do cartons anymore,” Cook said. “I can’t sell an item where I might get a return of $14 or $15, and freight costs me $3, and now the box costs me $2.” Rice Lake also has had to back off certain items.

In a typical year, the company would buy several truckloads of red beets out of Texas in the spring, when its own supplies were exhausted, Cook said.

This season, the firm probably bought about 20% of what it normally would buy.

Cook blamed high freight rates and the fact that, “in the U.S., we allow Canada to dump their product into our markets at way below our cost, and nobody in government cares.”

All costs are higher for growers, Vande Guchte said. “Everything is up,” he said, and growers can’t simply raise their prices. “It’s a free market situation, so the market finds itself. Growers tell me that, for input costs for things like fertilizer, fuel, packaging and labor, they’re seeing a 15% to 20% increase to produce and pack the same items they did last year.”

Higher costs for trucking, running tractors, irrigation, containers and bags are largely the result of higher petroleum costs, he said. And they can affect fresh product sales.

“Consumers might pick up a can of corn instead of an ear of corn because it’s probably cheaper,” Vande Guchte said. 

He’s not sure why, but so far this year, trucks have been easier to find, and they cost a little bit less than last year. But he doesn’t expect the price relief to last long.

“I fully expect prices to jump back up as we approach Labor Day,” Vande Guchte said. “That’s typically when we see higher truck rates.”

He expects Superior Sales to stay busy during the late summer.

“We’ll be in the heat of it right around Labor Day,” he said. “For 30 days, we’ve got every item we sell with the exception of asparagus.”

Although there’s a lot of talk in the media about sustainability, Michigan suppliers say their customers aren’t pressing that issue when they buy fresh produce.

“We don’t get a lot of pressure in that regard,” Cook said.

However, Rice Lake Farms is aware of the need to be sustainable and has implemented practices such as using recycled or recyclable materials, he said, noting that wholesalers and distributors seem more interested in food safety issues than sustainability.  

Superior Sales tries to use bags or boxes made from recycled material, Vande Guchte said.

The company also uses dry boxes when possible.

“Some items are wet, and we have to use a wax box for items like celery or corn,” he said. But even those often can be recycled now.

Superior Sales also was preparing to flip the switch on a solar panel program in August.