California melon shipments under pressure but new year brings new expectations

California melon shipments have come under pressure in recent years, with lower trending volume reported in the past five years.

However, Garrett Patricio, president of Firebaugh, Calif.-based Westside Produce, said it is hard to precisely say how production of Central Valley melons will settle out in 2021.

Even if acreage is down, yield per acre may be up, he said.

“Total production out of the California Arizona area has been down just about every year for the last five years,” he said. “Whether that trend continues, I don’t know.”

Other factors could be the productivity of local deals in Michigan, Georgia, and other states, he said.

Prices were strong for California melons supplies last year, and Patricio expects strong demand again this year.

Higher costs for transportation and pallets complicate this season’s deal, he said.

Truck rates topping $10,000 to the East Coast were common in May, considerably above the same time a year ago.

Pallet costs also are way up.

“If you’re buying new pallets, new pallets last year cost you $12 to $14; today they are $35 to $40.”

Cantaloupes

Truck shipments of California’s Central Valley cantaloupe totaled 405.1 million pounds in 2020, down 28% from 2019 and off 36% from 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, the USDA said cantaloupe shipments from California’s Imperial Valley totaled 47.5 million pounds in 2020, down 22% from 2019 and 63% lower than 2015.

Southern California cantaloupe truck shipments in 2020 totaled 8.8 million pounds, off 56% from 2019 and but up big from just 200,000 pounds in 2015.

Honeydew melon

The USDA said 2020 Central California honeydew melon shipments totaled 149 million pounds in 2020, down 19% from 2019 and off 36% from 2015.

California’s Imperial Valley honeydew truck shipments totaled 10.1 million pounds in 2020, off 36% from 2019 and down 29% from 2015.

2020 Southern California honeydew truck shipments totaled 15.3 million pounds, down 4% from 2019 but up 86% from 2015.

Watermelon

Seedless watermelon shipments from Central California totaled 366.1 million pounds in 2020, up 9% from 2019 but down 2% from 2015.

From California’s Imperial Valley, 2020 truck shipments of seedless watermelon were 23.9 million pounds, down 42% from 2019 and down 54% compared with 2015.

From the Southern California district, the USDA said 2020 truck shipments were 13.8 million pounds, up 62% from 2019 and down 55% from 2015, according to USDA.