The supply of celery from California is inconsistent. "Some fields are clean and we're getting normal production out of them while other fields have conditions caused by the weather events that occurred earlier in the winter during planting times," says Tom Deardorff, II of Deardorff Family Farms. "This has resulted in blight and some other conditions that are less than favorable for supply."
Those conditions include a combination of rain, cold, and wind, all the factors that lead to blight. "So it was pretty easy to forecast that we were going to have this type of event from that weather," he says, adding that the tools used to battle blight are only so effective.
That's even more so the case with organic celery which is seeing an even greater supply interruption given the materials used to fight blight aren't as strong.
Along with creating inconsistent supply, blight also impacts the sizing of the vegetable. "It stunts the growth and some of the approach to handling it is to go into the fields a little early before the condition gets worse," says Deardorff. "That means you're harvesting a smaller size and immature product to get something out of the field." In turn, that affects supply given it takes more units to fill a carton.
Strengthening celery pricing
As for demand, it's steady enough to cause the market price to go up given there is a lighter supply. The movement has been good on celery.
Looking ahead, it's believed that this is going to be a persistent condition until the celery season ends in Oxnard, California which will be in mid-June. Given the condition is field and location-specific, as harvesting moves around different fields, some are good and some are not. "Some fields coming up are worse than where we currently are," says Deardorff. "It's pretty normal for all shippers coming out of Oxnard and we're really the only district that has any celery right now so I think there's going to be even more pressure on pricing."
With the cooler-than-normal winter, districts such as Santa Maria and Salinas that traditionally come on after Oxnard are a little bit behind which means there could be a supply gap ahead.
For more information:
Tom Deardorff
Deardorff Family Farms
Tel: +1(805) 487-7801
https://www.deardorfffamilyfarms.com/