Ag Alert. April 13, 2022

Lilies Continued from Page 1

Miller noted that even so, the timing of bulb shipments doesn’t change—all the work isdone inthegreenhousesafterward. “What changes is forcing temperatures in the greenhouses that canpush the crop along quicker with higher temperature, or push the crop along slower with lower temperatures,”Miller said. All told, Miller said, what did go to the greenhouses is likely to find a home for the holiday. “I believe the demand has been good, and the product will sell out of the green- houses,”Miller said. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

Easter lilies such as this take upward of three years to grow in the field before bulbs are transferred to greenhouses.

areafraidtooverstock their stores—aswith Christmas trees, Easter lilies lose theirmar- ket value the day after the holiday—and that younger generations are not as reli- giously observant as their elders. “This Easter, there basically is not a big increase in the orders for product from greenhouses tothestores, eventhough last year the stores cleaned out of their prod- uct very well,” Miller said. “They sold the productwell but didnot placemuch in the way of additional orders for plants for this coming Easter.” The lower demand from greenhous- es, he added, has led to an oversupply of bulbs,manyofwhichnever got thechance to bloomas a result. “When you either dump or plow down crop that’s unsalable, that’s expensive,” Miller said. Allan Nishita, a Sacramento flower wholesaler, said“peoplearewanting them now” after COVID-19 shelter-in-place or- ders wiped out the 2020 season. “In 2020, we had Easter lilies pre- booked with our supplier, and there was no business” with everything closed, Nishita said. “We didn’t knowwhat to ex- pect for ’21, sowe just duplicatedwhat we purchased in ’20, and pretty much sold out. This year,weprobablyhad to increase the purchases 20% to 25% fromwhat we bought in ’21.” Agooddeal of the demand

many bulbs we’re going to sell.” Easter lily blooming needs to be timed for the holiday, and this one is a movable feast. The first full moon after the vernal equinox determines the date, with Easter being the first Sunday after that moon.

is fromchurches, he noted. This year’s lilies have been a long time coming, as is usual for the crop that can only be grown in far northwestern California and southwesternOregon. “Theproductiontimetogrowabulbthat was harvestedandpackagedand shipped last October is roughly three-plus years,” saidMiller, who’s also president of theDel NorteCountyFarmBureau. “Thepipeline, even though there was terrible disruption in consumption two years ago, was full. There has been a significant surplus of bulbs that have not been shipped the last couple of years.” Firm orders for bulbs won’t be in until late September and early October, right before harvest, Miller said. “We have no ability right now to do anything other than the best cultural practices from now till harvest,” Miller said. “We’ll know at harvest, or maybe at the latest early December, for sure how

CDFA cuts byproducts tax for livestock feed products

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has reduced the tax on human-food byproducts eligible to be di- verted to livestock feed. The changes, announced lastmonth, re- ducehowmuchcommercial feedlicensees havetopaytodivert foodbyproductstolive- stock feed. The amount of tax due is based ontotal tonnageofhuman-foodbyproducts reportedduring the licenseperiod. Thereducedtaxrateisnowsetat5centsa ton, down from10 cents, as recommended

bythestateFeedInspectionAdvisoryBoard. There is no tax for the first 1,000 tons. All tonnage reported after 1,000 tons is 5 cents a ton. Tobeeligible for the reduced tax rate, a firmmust report tonnage of eligible hu- man-foodbyproducts diverted to livestock feed andmust not furthermanufacture or process the diverted byproducts beyond what is stated in the ingredient definition. F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , g o t o www . c d f a . c a . g o v / i s / f f l d r s / SAFE_HumanFoodWasteDiversion.html.

Always Call BeforeYou Dig.

Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending April 8, 2022 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 114-117 135-138 137-138 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 101.06 100.46 97.81 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 170-250 193-250 191-250 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 11.25 No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 78.20 93.50 95.22 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 7.25 9.11 9.28-9.78 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 220 (P) 320 (F/G) No Quote Region 2, Sacramento Valley 260 (S) No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 270-300 (S) No Quote 365-370 (G/P) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote 385-440 (S) 420-440 (S) Region 5, Southern California 259 (P) 18.95-19.95 (bale) No Quote Region 6, Southeast Interior 205-225 (P/S) 330-365 (P/S) 345-390 (P/S) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

One easy call gets your utility lines marked and helps protect you from injury and expense. Safe Digging Is No Accident: Always Call 811 Before You Dig Visit call811.com for more information.

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

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11.40 (No. 1) No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. 7.70 (No. 1)

20 Ag Alert April 13, 2022