Specialty Crops Market News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Market News service tracks prices at more market levels and for more products than ever before. As part of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Market News provides information at many market levels including shipping point, wholesale, retail, farmers’ markets, and auctions; and for product categories such as organic, non-GMO, and grass fed.

Nevertheless, the “universe” of supply is still the data that Market News users value as much or more than anything else. Specialty Crops Market News reports on the market prices for 411 commodities, but volume of movement is often the most closely watched.

What makes the supply data reported by AMS Specialty Crops Market News so important? First, major traders will tell you that if they have an accurate sense of supply in the marketplace, they can make their own pricing decisions more easily; second, around 50 percent of U.S. consumption is imported, so tracking imports from around 72 countries provides an important window on available supply; and third, USDA Market News is the only source for this type of information.

No other organization has access to the range of data from industry participants or other government agencies on domestic shipments and import volumes that Market News makes public every day.

Since its earliest days, Specialty Crops Market News has provided a wide array of movement data, domestic shipments, and imports to the public. This data includes shipments of major specialty crop commodities from the most significant production areas, and import volumes or border crossings for fresh produce and ornamental crops from 72 countries through all major U.S. ports, airports, and border crossings.

Movement from domestic shippers is tracked by type—rail, truck, or air; most U.S. railroads have provided shipment data to Market News since its creation in 1915.

Market News collects import data from a variety of official sources, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) portal, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), privately owned shipping companies, and others. Market News began tracking entry port data for Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico for the first time in April 2016.

Market News gathers most of its information, including domestic shipments, directly from the industry at the point of production for shipping point markets. Other government agencies, such as APHIS and CBP are the sources for most import data, while the U.S. Department of Commerce is the source for certain Canadian imports. Much of this data is captured and released daily, and is watched closely by the industry—both domestic and international.

Some commodities, such as Idaho potatoes and onions, Oregon onions, and Washington apples, are under federal marketing orders; in such cases, state inspection services are the source for pack out information. Market News also pulls daily and weekly import information for fresh fruits and vegetables, ornamental crops, and frozen berries from Mexico out of the APHIS database as reported by both APHIS and CBP.