News and Stories

Markon First Crop (MFC) Premium Green Leaf, Iceberg, and Romaine are not available in the Huron, California growing region. A limited supply of Markon Best Available will become available within the next few days.

The Arizona/California desert season is winding down. A limited number of growers have started packing green leaf, iceberg, and romaine this week in Huron, but most will extend the Yuma, Arizona and Imperial Valley seasons slightly longer and transition directly to the Salinas Valley by late March/early April.

Preliminary inspections are revealing good overall quality in Huron lettuce items so far, but case weights are below MFC specifications or inconsistent at this time. Insect pressure can be a common industrywide concern during the spring transition window. Currently, insect counts are low, but they have been known to spike rapidly as the season progresses. Markon recommends that operators thoroughly rinse field-packed commodity lettuce items throughout the transition period that lasts until mid- to late April.

Hail damage, caused by a passing storm two weeks ago, is also being found in some lots, but more inspections are needed to determine if the damage will be isolated to certain areas.

Markon inspectors are reviewing fields daily in all key transitional growing regions and working with suppliers to select the best available lots. More updates will be forwarded to the membership as needed throughout this critical period.

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.

Erika Sanchez

Quality Assurance

markon.com

©2015 Markon Cooperative, Inc. All rights reserved.