Posted on 02/11/2011 11:11:43 AM PST by Errant
Here's an announcement to its customers that I'm told came directly from Sysco Foods.
ALL OF OUR GROWERS HAVE INVOKED THE ACT OF GOD CLAUSE ON OUR CONTRACTS (Force majuere) DUE TO THE FOLLOWING RELEASE. WE WILL BE CONTACTING YOU PERSONALLY TO REVIEW HOW THIS WILL AFFECT OUR CONTRACTED ITEMS WITH YOU GOING FORWARD.
THE DEVASTATING FREEZE IN MEXICO IS WORST FREEZE IN OVER 50 YEARS...
THE EXTREME FREEZING TEMPERATURES HIT A VERY BROAD SECTION OF MAJOR GROWING REGIONS IN MEXICO, FROM HERMOSILLO IN THE NORTH ALL THE WAY SOUTH TO LOS MOCHIS AND EVEN SOUTH OF CULIACAN. THE EARLY REPORTS ARE STILL COMING IN BUT MOST ARE SHOWING LOSSES OF CROPS IN THE RANGE OF 80 TO 100%.
EVEN SHADE HOUSE PRODUCT WAS HIT BY THE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPS. IT WILL TAKE 7-10 DAYS TO HAVE A CLEARER PICTURE FROM GROWERS AND FIELD SUPERVISORS, BUT THESE GROWING REGIONS HAVEN'T HAD COLD LIKE THIS IN OVER A HALF CENTURY.
THIS TIME OF YEAR, MEXICO SUPPLIES A SIGNIFICANT PERCENT OF NORTH AMERICA'S ROW CROP VEGETABLES SUCH AS: GREEN BEANS, EGGPLANT, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, PEPPERS, ASPARAGUS, AND ROUND AND ROMA TOMATOES.
FLORIDA NORMALLY IS A MAJOR SUPPLIER FOR THESE ITEMS AS WELL BUT THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN STRUCK WITH SEVERE FREEZE DAMAGE IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY AND UP UNTIL NOW HAVE HAD TO PURCHASE PRODUCT OUT OF MEXICO TO FILL THEIR COMMITMENTS, THAT IS NO LONGER AND OPTION.
WITH THE SERIES OF WEATHER DISASTERS THAT HAS OCCURRED IN BOTH OF THESE MAJOR GROWING AREAS WE WILL EXPERIENCE IMMEDIATE VOLATILE PRICES, EXPECTED LIMITED AVAILABILITY, AND MEDIOCRE QUALITY AT BEST.
THIS WILL NOT ONLY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON SUPPLIES, BUT BECAUSE OF VERY STRONG BLOSSOM DROPS, THIS WILL ALSO IMPACT SUPPLIES 30 60 DAYS FROM NOW...
(Excerpt) Read more at iceagenow.com ...
Imagine the impact on food production if, for the next couple of decades, each winter is just a bit worse than the last one. This one already reached deep into Mexico. Now imagine a frost in early June in areas that normally don’t see one after late April.
Well it did .... somewhere. Just not in Mexico.
Thanks for the ping, Red...
Last summer when the havelinas (wild pigs) destroyed my garden, it was an irritation —
Now, it’s become, retroactively, a disaster....
Initial estimates said up to 80 percent of the crops in Mexico were damaged or destroyed by the freeze. Days later, observation experts scaled back those numbers, although that doesn’t mean the problem isn’t expected to be huge.
...
The good news is, since the freeze, growers have reported seeing positive signs in their crops.
“Each day that’s passed since then, we’re finding that there’s less and less damage. It’s not to say there isn’t any damage but we’re finding that the plants will recuperate and we will see harvests,” Jungmeyer said.
Until then, there’s no telling when the growers might be operating at full steam. It depends on how quickly the plants can recover.
http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=14013532
Oklahoma set their all-time record law this week. This is truly memorable cold and I hope it's not the beginning of a very bad trend. The world got fat on a warmer climate. Cooling is very, very bad if you examine history.
I had not even thought of that when they reported that Mexico wasn’t going to sell Texas power last week because they were getting their own cold weather.
We’re going to freeze the death the instant before we’re charred to a crisp.
It’s SCIENCE! /s
It's going to get ugly ... Kids today can't live without pizza ...
Friends in Culiacan, in the tomato harvest sent us sad reports of how hard hit the area is...and all the press talks about is Egypt.
Don't blame the poster...the original alert from SYSCO was in upper case...
LOL
Well that explains in part the crazy prices on citrus. I thought it was more FL being hit a few months back.
1 lb of ground meat, prepared with taco seasoning.
Rice
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes.
toppings such as shredded cheese, onions, hot sauce, black olives or sour cream.
(my favorite make ahead meal!)
Here's a somewhat better source: Freeze hits Mexican vegetables .
the wholesale prices lately have been spiking anyway...this is only going to make it worse...so glad I got into farming and ranching 2 years ago :)
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