On the field side, May 2023

Northern vegetables

Looking at the first northern vegetable harvests as a whole, the very wet weather conditions at the start of May delayed sowing and areas for vegetables are hard to find.

As for spinach, the chopped season is over. Production of “branches” began last week. We are concerned about the areas, as only 1/3 of the expected areas have been harvested. We are waiting to see whether sowing for the late June/early July harvests will be sufficient to obtain the volumes; to date, the usual volumes are not guaranteed.

For cauliflowers, the 1st harvest looks set to be limited in terms of volume. Some have been planted, and new seedlings are available, but the weather has delayed them. The same applies to peas. We hope to make up for this delay thanks to the current conditions.

Carrot sowing is now complete. However, again because of the weather at the beginning of May, the campaign is very late (already D+15).

Southern vegetables

At the beginning of May, hail hit southern Spain. The hail damaged a number of crops, in particular broccoli, with 15% of sown plots destroyed.

In the north of Spain, the unusual weather conditions at the start of the season (lots of rain) have caused a delay in peppers, which are not coming out much.

Between lower volumes than in previous years and a fresh produce market that is squeezing volumes, prices are rising sharply.

Fruits

Hailstorms in Spain also had an impact on watermelon crops, which were destroyed.

For strawberries, campaigns are just beginning (whole, ungraded strawberries) and we will know more about volumes in at least 3 weeks’ time.

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