Five things to know about the PMC
February 18, 2021
COVID-19 Update
All COVID protocols continue. There is currently one person in quarantine due to a sick spouse and should be back early next week. Everyone else is healthy and doing fine. Skagit County, like most counties in the state, has gone to Phase 2 COVID restrictions. New cases have been holding in single-digit numbers. Hopefully, that trend continues.
Sales
There has not been a new sales report this week. Last week showed that sales were approaching the same as this time last year and hopefully that is a trend that continues.
Harvest
Two days of harvest were lost last week due to freezing weather and snow. Fortunately, we are running a little ahead of where we usually are this time of year. There are some CD plant sales orders going out soon and there is a push to get certain things lifted and packed that are needed for them. One person on the lifting crew left last week and a person was brought in from an ag labor contractor to fill the spot. That naturally costs more but that is less of an issue than not having enough people on the crew. One advantage of using contract labor is that the contractor handles payroll and L&I.
Shipping
It was mentioned in previous updates that shipping was running behind recent years but that things were soon to pick up. Well, they have picked up and how. There are five large diverse CD plant sales orders shipping out over the upcoming week along with an array of other orders. There is a big push to get as much out as possible as quickly as can be managed. A few customers may have to wait a few days while this backlog is worked through.
Life Goes On
As mentioned above, the PMC lost two days of harvest due to freezing weather and snow. The main problem is that when it freezes the ground becomes too hard for the soil to fall from the roots, allowing the plants to be pulled apart. The plants would be damaged. It is also hard on the crew working out in that weather, particularly if everything is covered in snow. And things were covered in snow. There was 8” of snow at the peak of the event. Fortunately, most everything melted through the day on Monday and the crew was back at it on Tuesday. If it had stayed cold through the week it might have been impossible to lift everything needed for these 5 CD plant sale orders over the next week. That might be something to consider for those managing plant sales and projects, especially ones in February.
Please contact the PMC with your questions!