As North Carolina sweet potato growers prepare fields with seed beds, they are facing an extremely dry spring, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture declaring 82 of the state’s counties as natural disaster areas in mid-April.

At Vick Family Farms, based in Wilson, NC, sweet potato seed beds are under drip irrigation, but with more than 10,000 acres of various crops, irrigating every field is impossible.

“Our water sources are down considerably and we desperately need rain,” said Charlotte Vick, partner/sales and marketing manager at Vick Family Farms.

MANHEIM, PA – Four Seasons Produce, a wholesaler based in Ephrata, PA, that is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026, hosted its fourth annual Fresh Fest Independent Retailer Trade Show & Conference on April 21 at The Junction Center, here. In all, more than 400 attendees gathered in this rural area of the Keystone State to network and promote their items to independent retailers and natural food store leaders.

Kurt Zuhlke & Associates will once again bring its proven packaging solutions to the Canadian Produce Marketing Association show, where the Easton, PA-based company will exhibit at booth No. 1427.

A longtime participant at the event, the company views CPMA as an important opportunity to connect with customers across Canada and the northern United States, while reinforcing relationships that have been built over decades.

Canada has long been part of Driscoll’s story. For decades, Canadian consumers have reached for Driscoll’s berries making the brand a familiar presence in produce aisles from coast-to-coast. What has changed is not Driscoll’s presence in Canada, but now a deliberate and focused strategy to deepen trust with consumers, customers and growers and to scale with purpose.

EPHRATA, PA — Four Seasons Produce, a full-line wholesaler that specializes in supplying organic and conventional produce to independent retailers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, kicked off it’s fourth annual Fresh Fest Independent Retailer Trade Show & Conference on April 20 with an opening reception at Elizabeth Farm in Lititz, PA. The reception, which followed a tour of the company’s facilities that was held earlier in the afternoon, provided a festive setting for attendees to network ahead of the expo the following day.

This week wasn’t without its own set of challenges. With processors now fully operating in Salinas, the region was immediately met with rain across key Central Coast growing areas including Salinas Valley, Santa Maria and Oxnard. Growers packed ahead of the weather to help cover orders, but wet fields and muddy conditions slowed harvest activity and will likely create lingering quality concerns in the days ahead.