The news overview this summer of US crabs hinges literary on a year-on-year continual drop in prices. Not just in the US, but in Canada too, where the regulators set a minimum wharf or wholesale price of $2.20 a pound and no less than $5.9 a pound for export prices back in May, 2023. The aim is to prevent further price declines...
Florida lobster season underway
The Florida lobster season started in early August after a two-day ‘appetizer.’ By midnight July 28, snorkelers, professional divers and sport fishing lovers were already turning their crawfish catches over fire grates. This was in the aftermath of the then just-concluded Florida lobster mini-season of July 26-28 each year. Florida Keys alone attracts around 40,000 folks in the two-day period fishing opening....
Two Interesting happenings in the US Ginseng market
The American ginseng market has experienced phenomenal growth in 5 years. The annual wholesale market value of dried wild ginseng from the US stood at $27 million in 2015, while that of ginseng extracts stood at $1.3 billion in 2020. In this context, here are a few interesting happenings on this money mint of the United States. US reclassifies genuine ginseng from...
U.S. Cherries denied entry into Taiwan for at least a month
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recalled fresh American cherries by four U.S. suppliers after they failed the test for unauthorized pesticides. The move has made Taiwan enforce a temporary one-month suspension of imports of the American stone fruit. Cherries were among 20 other food imports from the U.S. that did not go past lab examination. They contained slightly more than the limit...
Prices of American sweet cherries in Vietnam in free fall
At VND250,000 per kg or $10.53, US cherries landing in Vietnam plummeted by nearly 50% to a fresh low in week 2 of August 2023, considering they cost double that price (VND500,000) in summer 2022. Customers are celebrating this boon in price by appearing in great numbers. A grocery operator in Ho Chi Minh City known as My Hanh says that the...
SAAGA: “It may take a few weeks, even months…” to ship avocados to China
On Thursday, we featured a story on the climax of an avocado export deal to China that South Africa had chased for years. In follow up, our team has picked up the first lead on this uptick development, from the South Africa Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA). According to SAAGA’s CEO Mr. Derek Donkin, South Africa will have to wait a few weeks...
Farming technology improves corn, soybean yields in Iowa
Farm technology has helped boost corn and soybean production in the drier parts of the U.S. Farmers in Iowa, a state now in its 36th month of drought, have recorded harvest gains by using technology. Jerry Seuntjens, who runs a 2200-acre farm in Kingsley, Iowa, has witnessed a significant rise in yields of soybean and corn crops. Despite the dry conditions, corn...
South Africa gains first time ticket to ship avocados to China
Following a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping to Pretoria on August 22, South Africa will start avocado exports to China. Thoko Didiza, the Minister in charge of South Africa’s agricultural docket, noted that the country has expanded its total avocado orchards to above 18,000 hectares(ha). This is an increase of 26% over the previous total area. The augmented figures in 2023, according to South African...
Amberjack recreational fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico closes
For 25 days each August, recreational fishermen in Florida and Louisiana can freely harvest greater amberjack in the Gulf of Mexico. The season is ending in two days’ time, on August 25, after the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council drew the curtain on the catch. This is per Amendment 54, a fishing regulation bill that came into force July 17, 2023. The bill...
An early spring for Australia’s stone fruit
Australia has witnessed a warmer winter than usual in 2023 and the blossoming nectarines and jackfruit trees are announcing the fact. The first sign of the southern spring is usually the bloom in magnolias. This year, the lovely flower has come up early while it is still winter. It is not only stone fruits that are shrugging of the cold season’s wilt....