-February 27,2022-
$3.59 -Average rate per mile for refrigerated transport on the trucking spot market in January, up 12 cents from December and 98 cents from January 2021, according to DAT Solutions.-WSJ
The U.S. Postal Service rejected Biden administration calls to purchase more electric vans and instead finalized the purchase of 148,000 gasoline-powered delivery trucks. (Washington Post)
Imports of fresh cultivated blueberries totaled more than $1.22 billion for 2021, up 24% from the previous year. By month, U.S. fresh blueberry imports are heaviest in November (19%) and December (13%) in terms of the percentage of the U.S. annual import total value, but blueberry imports that arrive every month of the year are relatively heavy in the January through April period. Those four months account for a combined 38% of the annual import value, according to the USDA.- The Packer
Milk prices soar: The dairy markets soared to historic heights early in the week. Butter and Cheddar reached all-time highs at the Global Dairy Trade auction on Tuesday, while both skim milk powder and whole milk powder prices climbed to fresh seven-year highs. The GDT Index advanced 4.2%, its third straight increase above 4%. The milk powder markets got off to a strong start in Chicago as well. For the first time since 2014, CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) traded at $1.90 per pound. – Milk Producers Council-Feb 18
Friant water supply: The Bureau of Reclamation just announced the initial Central Valley Project water allocation for 2022, which includes a 15% allocation (120,000 acre feet) for Friant Division Class 1 contractors. Friant Division Class 2 contractors did not receive an allocation.
FWA argues that “ based on the current snowpack and reservoir conditions in and above Millerton Lake, there is ample justification for an allocation higher than 15%. Even if the remainder of the year is extremely dry, FWA estimates that approximately 240,000 acre-feet of additional unallocated water supply exists in the upper San Joaquin watershed. This estimate is in addition to the 254,000 acre-feet already allocated to the San Joaquin River Restoration Program.”
Friant says an allocation of at least 40% makes sense based on storage in the SJ watershed that stands at 46% capacity.For the Water Year precip is at 78% of average for the 5 station San Joaquin River watershed.
“Not allocating water that is clearly available will only exacerbate an unnecessary rush to pump groundwater, causing additional overdraft.”
The February 15th update to the unimpaired inflow forecast for Shasta indicates a water year unimpaired flow of
3.8 MAF at the 50% exceedance level and 3.1 MAF at the 90% exceedance level . To avoid a Shasta Critical year designation, the cumulative unimpaired water year inflow to Shasta needs to be at least 4.0 MAF this year.
US shale oil companies are not stepping up production
Sorry, cash-strapped consumers: If you thought OPEC was stingy about oil output, large U.S. shale producers aren’t here to help, either.
EOG Resources and Occidental Petroleum , both of which held investor calls on Friday, capped major shale producers’ results for this earnings season. Both companies are among the top five producers in the Permian basin, the most productive oil field in the U.S.- WSJ
The big public US shale firms are still resolutely focused on making money for shareholders rather than chasing output growth. Six of the top 10 shale producers accounting for nearly a third of output are publicly owned and assert that they will not be tempted by high prices. “Diamondback’s team and board believe that we have no reason to put growth before returns,” chief executive Travis Stice says. “Long term, we are still in that 0pc to 5pc,” Pioneer Resources chief executive Scott Sheffield says. “We are not going to change, as I said, at $100/bl oil, $150/bl oil, we are not going to change our growth rate. We think it is important to return cash back to the shareholders.”- Argus Media
Rail traffic on the mend
Here is the latest snapshot of rail traffic across the US showing improvement this last week vs the year to date numbers that are weaker.
