Specialty Crops Market News

Data & Reports Available Online
All of this movement data is available to the public online—for free. Users can customize and sort a wealth of data through the Specialty Crops Market News Portal found at: www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/fv-home. Users can tailor their Portal experience to view only the data of interest to them, or set up automated email delivery for reports and information on a recurring basis.

Standardized reports of collected information are also available through the AMS website. Users can find reports on National Rail Shipments by carload or weight, National Truck Shipments by package or weight, Weekly Shipments by 100,000-pound units or commodity, the National Shipping Point Trends, and the Daily Movement reports by 10,000-pound units or number of packages.

These reports are also archived on the Portal website dating back to calendar year 2010. Most, if not all, of this data collection is unique to Market News. For a glimpse of the Specialty Crops Movement Reports webpage (www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/fruit-and-vegetable-movement-reports), refer to the website link.

Truck Rate Report
One of the most widely viewed reports is the weekly Fruit and Vegetable Truck Rate Report. Each week, market reporters interview shippers, truck brokers, and receivers at the nation’s major shipping areas to collect pricing information. The report shows current rates for open (spot) market sales or purchase of truck services that shippers or receivers pay, per load, for shipments in truckload volume from specific growing regions to the country’s major destination cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

These published rates provide an invaluable negotiating tool for producers and handlers in establishing fair transportation costs in a seasonal and fluctuating environment for highly perishable specialty crops. These rates reflect the influence of weather, gas prices, seasonality, available supply, and other key factors that directly influence the “going rate” or market price for trucks from one week to the next.

The most recent Fruit and Vegetable Truck Rate Report can be viewed at www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvwtrk.pdf. The timeliness and reliability of this report is another way Market News helps stakeholders compete in a fast-paced, changing economic environment.

Unique Source of Data
Specialty Crops Market News is the only source for most of the movement data reported and the only provider of this information in near-real time. For example, the import data that Market News captures and makes public daily will not be available from other sources until 30 to 45 days after the end of the month. Bringing this information to the public with such a quick turnaround represents the core mission of the Market News group to provide unbiased, timely, and reliable information.

Financial institutions and the USDA’s other data agencies, including the Economic Research Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and National Agricultural Statistics Service, regularly create projections and outlooks based on Market News data and rely on the steady stream of information it provides. Without it, these agencies would have no choice but to depend on unofficial and potentially costly outside data sources for vital information.