Following a challenging Florida winter, in late March Northampton Growers Produce Sales Inc. was celebrating the coming crops that looked to be in great condition.

Calvert Cullen, president of the Cheriton, VA-based company, told The Produce News that he was very happy to have great crops coming on and even happier to leave the past few months to history.

“Florida had so much rain in December that we lost the majority of our crops,” he said. “Try as we did to nurse some plants, it was basically an unsuccessful attempt. A lot of the old time farmers in the state have said that their crops suffered more than if they had been hit with a total freeze. Heavy and continuous rains hurt the plants and leave them vulnerable to disease. It’s one of Mother Nature’s worst affects.”Northampton partners Steve McCready, comptroller, and Calvert Cullen, president.

Weather in just about every growing region of the Americas was topsy-turvy this winter, with most people placing the blame on the El Niño Southern Oscillation weather system. Cullen pointed out that regardless of the cause, it affected just about every growing region.

“The result, of course, was that commodity shortages drove the markets sky-high,” he said. “Even now near the end of March we’re looking at pepper markets from $36 to $38 a box, compared to $14 to $16 in a normal season.”

A week earlier green beans were selling for $30 to $35 a box, compared to $12 to $14 when the weather is normal. But on March 30, the day before he spoke to The Produce News, the price dropped quickly and radically back down to $12.

Cullen explained that normally Mexico is smiling when Florida has a bad winter of weather, “But they got hit just as hard this year,” he said. “Everything was in short supply and prices have been very high until now.

“We’re happy to project a normal start to our April crop out of Plant City, which will begin on April 11,” Cullen went on to say. “We’re certainly looking forward to the coming few weeks. The plants now look beautiful across the board.”

The company’s cabbage crop is always the first out of the gate, and Northampton Growers planned to start its Georgia program on about April 15.

“Our Florida cabbage crop really suffered,” said Cullen. “We’ve been out of supplies for about four months, and we can’t remember when it’s been so bad for so long.”

Things are turning around and by mid-April crop volumes and prices are expected to be back to normal levels.

“But we’re not resting on our laurels,” Cullen added. “There have been a lot of bad storms sweeping across the Southeast and we’re watching them one after another. So far our spring crops have been spared.”

Northampton Growers does a major job with its full line of commodity crops in all of its growing regions. It follows the seasons from south, central and north Florida, to Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and then on to Michigan. The company then reverses its growing program and moves back toward the South for year-round supplies.

Cullen’s partner in Northampton Growers is Steve McCready, who also serves as the company’s comptroller.

Northampton Growers’ new crop of peppers, cucumbers and squashes were on schedule to start around April 11 in Florida, with volumes quickly increasing.    

“We can’t wait to get started here in Plant City and then in Georgia,” added Cullen. “We’re looking forward to recouping with good volumes and great quality crops.”