HMC News – January 2025
As we ease into the imported table grape season, there is a bit of trepidation paired with hopefulness for the remainder of the Peruvian season. The total volume shipped to the US from Peru is now close to even with last year. The previous year was much earlier with a majority of the Peruvian volume arriving in November -December, in contrast to this year where a majority of the fruit landed the end of December and early January. Chilean and Peruvian vessels have been delayed by record sized waves on the Pacific Coast. The East coast strike is still uncertain, but the possibility of a strike is already having an effect on shipments. All trans-shipment points in Columbia and Panama have been delayed hedging against a mid-strike arrival.
There are a lot of winter activities taking place at HMC Farms. We are in the heart of pruning in our vineyards and expect to finish around mid-February. We are also roping our traditional trees and tying our high-density trees. Wrapping rope around traditional trees maintains the shape and takes stress off of the limbs when they are heavy with fruit. Tying is done to high density trees to encourage vertical growth and to attach the tree more firmly to the trellis system. Tree planting has begun as well. We plant in the middle of winter, so the trees have a chance to adjust to their new surroundings and warm up naturally as the season progresses.
The cold temperatures and dry forecast continue as we enter another week without any rain. While it is still the middle of winter we are beginning to think about Spring as we are seeing buds swelling and even some blossoms in our earliest tree fruit blocks. Pictured below is Spring Princess in one of our traditional orchards, historically it is one of the first peaches we harvest each season. We have three months of worry while we watch the weather carefully, and hope for the best.
Several members of our farming and marketing team visited our HMC Chile office and vineyards in the Southern hemisphere this month. Chile has seen excellent weather conditions leading to a slightly earlier harvest on what appears to be a bumper crop. The current crop estimate is for 67 million boxes, while many on the ground in Chile say that, barring any unforeseen weather incidents, the crop will surpass 70 million boxes. After the unsteady supplies and delays in the early Peruvian fruit the HMC team was excited to report that both the quality and crop size out of Chile looks very promising from now until the end of the Chilean growing season.
