Documentation

Scope
Marketing Years
Sources
Updates
Units of Measure
Price Data
Import and Export Data

Scope

This data set contains statistics on fruit, melons, and tree nuts, including commodity-specific data on fresh and processed-product markets (canned, frozen, dried, juice, and other). The commodities covered include major fresh-market and processing fruit and tree nuts.

Fruit

  • Apples
  • Apricots
  • Avocados
  • Bananas
  • Blackberries
  • Boysenberries
  • Cherries
  • Cranberries
  • Dates
  • Figs
  • Grapefruit
  • Grapes
  • Limes
  • Loganberries
  • Mangoes
  • Nectarines
  • Olives
  • Oranges
  • Papayas
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Pineapples
  • Plums and Prunes
  • Raspberries
  • Strawberries

Melons

  • Cantaloupe
  • Honeydew
  • Miscellaneous melons
  • Watermelon

Tree Nuts

  • Almonds
  • Hazelnuts
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Pecans
  • Pistachios
  • Walnuts

Included are data previously published in Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook and in the annual Fruit and Tree Nuts Yearbook. Descriptive information on these commodities is available in the Background section of the Fruit and Tree Nuts Topic.

Marketing Years

Marketing years often begin in one year and end in the next-for example, 2010/11 refers to the marketing year beginning in 2010 and ending in 2011. Beginning and ending months differ by crop and in some cases, by product segment within a commodity.  The national-level marketing years used by ERS are:

  • Fresh market fruits and melons: January 1-December 31, except for
    • limes, April 1-March 31
    • grapes, May 1-April 30
    • pears, July 1-June 30
    • apples, figs, and lemons; August 1-July 31
    • dates and grapefruit, September 1-August 31
    • kiwifruit, mandarins, and tangerines; October 1-September 30
    • oranges, November 1-October 31  
  • Frozen fruits and melons: January 1-December 31
  • Dried fruits: January 1-December 31, except for
    • Apricots, July1-June 30
    • apples, grapes, olives, and prunes; August 1-July 31
  • Fruit juices:
    • apple juice, grape juice, lime juice, and prune juice, August 1-July 31 
    • pear juice, July 1-June 30
    • orange juice, October 1-September 30
    • grapefruit juice, December 1-November 30
    • blueberry, cherry, cranberry, pineapple, and raspberry juice, January 1-December 31
  • Prepared and preserved fruits: January 1-December 31, except for
    • apples, apricots, figs, grapes, olives, plums; August 1-July 31
    • cherries, nectarines, peaches; June 1-May 31
    • pears, July 1-June 30
    • dates and grapefruit, September 1-August 31
    • mandarins, October 1-September 30
    • oranges, November 1-October 31
  • Tree nuts:
    • hazelnuts and macadamia nuts, July 1-June 30
    • almonds, August 1-July 31
    • pistachios and walnuts, September 1-August 31
    • pecans, October 1-September 30

Information on State-level marketing years and marketing seasons can be found in USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service's Agricultural Prices.

Sources

This data product currently contains:

  • Trade (import and export) data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau.
  • Retail prices and consumer and producer price indexes from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Coming in the future will be data from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, and Farm Service Agency, data calculated by ERS, and others.Updates

Trade and price data are updated monthly. With some exceptions (e.g. monthly fresh shipments and cold storage stocks), most other data to be added in the future will be updated annually.

Updates

Fruit and Tree Nut outlook tables are updated quarterly. Fruit and Tree Nut Yearbook tables are updated annually. Data by Category and Data by Commodity are updated as data are available throughout the year. For example, trade and price data are updated monthly.

Units of Measure

Several units of measure are used in this data product.

  • Average retail prices from Bureau of Labor Statistics are in dollars per pound unless otherwise indicated.
  • Import and export data are reported in metric units (e.g., metric tons or liters) by the U.S. Census Bureau and are converted to domestic (English) units by ERS (e.g., 1,000 pounds or 1,000 gallons).

Price Data

The price data currently available in this data set are from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and include national-level Producer Price Indexes (commodity data), Consumer Price Indexes (all urban consumers), and retail average prices for selected fruit and tree nuts. Information on data coverage and methodologies are available from BLS at:

Import and Export Data

The trade tables in this data set are based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division. The import series used is imports for consumption, which excludes items imported into free trade zones or bonded warehouses until they are released for use. The export series used excluded items bound for re-export.

Census data utilize a complex set of product categories based on a coding system established by the World Customs Organization, called the International Harmonized Commodity Coding and Classification System, or simply Harmonized System (HS). Each country has the option of supplementing the international 6-digit HS codes with greater detail to meet its own needs. The United States adopted a 10-digit code system and began using it for U.S. trade on January 1, 1989. Exports codes, known as Schedule B in the United States, are administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. Import codes, known as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), are administered by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

For more information on U.S. trade data, see: