“There’s not a large supply of cabbage currently from the Texas area. The cabbage down here is from Mexico—there’s not really any Texas-grown available yet,” says Randy Kizzia of Root Source Produce in Edinburg, Tex.
While normally Texas has some cabbage supplies starting in November from the middle of the state, Kizzia predicts supplies will be slim until December. “There was a lot of rain during planting time here so there will be reduced supplies in November and December,” he says. “Not everybody was able to seed timely and not everybody has had good soil and field location allowing for water drainage. Those who were able to plant will have higher markets in November and December because there’s reduced competition.”
Regional wind down
What’s also impacting the market is the wrap up of other regions. “I think there’s a little less available nationally right now compared to last year,” says Kizzia. “I think the Mexican increased market pricing has been affected by some of the lack of cabbage available elsewhere in the United States. At this time of the year, Michigan is finishing and Colorado has already finished, and Georgia cabbage has been affected by recent hurricane Michael.”
Full volume of cabbage is predicted to come on in January and go into May.
In turn, that’s making for good demand for those who do have supplies. And it’s also making for strong pricing that is slightly higher than last year at this time. “Pricing has been pretty firm in these higher ranges. The last few weeks, FOB prices in California, Michigan and the Mexican has been in the $12-$14 range,” says Kizzia.
