Cold, wet in part of U.S. but still marketable melon volumes

Some Texas melon growers may have reduced volume due to the record-breaking cold weather, but many are expected to catch up.

“For those guys that had to replant, it looks like they were able to get plants back in the ground still early enough though,” said Mark Arney, executive director and CEO of the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
Harvest could be 8 to 10 days later than normal, in early May, for some Texas growers.

And Autryville, N.C.-based Jackson Farming Co. had wet weather in January that maintained a trend from 2020, but the North Carolina melon crop should transplant on time anyway, said Matt Solana, vice president of operations and supply chain. “In 2020, Mother Nature was tough on our part of eastern North Carolina in terms of rain and plenty of it, which makes for a tough go with melons,” Solana said. “We are hoping the weather pattern gives us less rain during the 2021 season, and if so, yields should be good as well as sizing on the varieties we are planting.”

North Carolina should start shipping cantaloupes mid-June, and watermelons and honeydews at the start of July, which are the typical start times. Immokalee, Fla., the first to have domestic watermelons each year, should ramp up shipping by mid-April to marketable volumes, Arney said. Texas follows, and southern California’s El Centro and Coachella Valley, moving north each month, as does the East Coast. Cold weather in central California slowed some of the crop but there’s still time to catch up, Arney said.

Some bad weather in Mexico has lowered volumes of watermelon and increased f.o.b. rates. Los Angeles-based Pacific Trellis Fruit/Dulcinea Farms is expecting a later start in Hermosillo, Mexico, due to a colder than usual growing season. 

“We are getting ready to start with our big volume programs in Hermosillo and then will continue straight into Yuma, Ariz., with our complete line of PureHearts, Tuscans, Sugar Daddy, SunnyGold, Kiss melons and organics,” said Corrie Hutchens of Pacific Trellis. “Based on our crop plan, we are confident in the supply outlook for the summer season.” Like others, Pacific Trellis is facing higher labor and material costs. Freight continues to be a challenge and water costs are up in the San Joaquin Valley, she said.
 

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