Eastern Fresh: Bell pepper volume down
Eastern Fresh: Bell pepper volume down
Weather glitches always have an effect on fresh field-grown produce, but it’s not always a matter of what the weather does to the plants. In some cases weather problems result in disease, which is what has happened this season at Eastern Fresh Growers Inc. in Cedarville, NJ.
Tom Sheppard, company president, told The Produce News that too much wet weather in June caused certain varieties of bell peppers to be decimated by disease.
“The wet weather caused an outbreak of Phytophthora,” explained Sheppard. “It’s the same disease — although a different strain — that caused the great potato famine in Ireland. About 50 percent of our bell pepper crop was affected.”
On the up side at Eastern Fresh Growers, the cucumber crop was planted and was looking good in both volume and quality in mid-August.
“And we just started planting Romaine and iceberg lettuce, which will be ready the end of September,” said Sheppard. “Barring any bad weather, we are expecting an overall good fall season.”
Eastern Fresh Growers has made major strides in its production and handling of locally grown asparagus in recent years.
“We have again increased our asparagus production,” noted Sheppard. “We added another 50 acres this year, bringing us up to 400 acres for the item. Just a few years ago we had only 100 acres, so this is a major jump for us.”
He explained that asparagus plants have a lifespan of 16 or 17 years, so the company is still producing on its original acreage.
“But we’re also planting new varieties with different characteristics,” Sheppard pointed out. “Rutgers University has been ahead of the curve in the development of new asparagus varieties for decades. New varieties offer benefits such as more production per acre.”
He noted that the demand for New Jersey asparagus continues to be very strong, motivating the company to install a new asparagus line for next spring’s harvest in its packinghouse that was built in 2011.
“We have enjoyed high quality, high yields and good markets with asparagus for the past several years,” said Sheppard. “Fran Hancock, a sales representative for us, is spearheading the new machinery installation, and he’s on top of every detail.”
