With most North Carolina farms growing diverse crops, it's hard to pinpoint a solid start date for the harvest of North Carolina sweet potatoes, according to Steven Ceccarelli, the owner of Farm Fresh Produce Inc., based in Faison, NC.

Ceccarelli said Sept. 5 that about 10-20 percent of the sweet potato harvest was complete. But many growers also harvest tobacco, and from a farm management and labor point of view, tobacco harvest would precede sweet potatoes. Farmers of peanuts or other crops would have still other harvest schedules.

The weather has been kind, providing Wisconsin potato growers with a very good summer production season. The earliest harvest started well in mid-August. Weather permitting, the growers expect a very good fall harvest.  

“It’s been a great growing season. It’s gone real well,” said Mike Carter, chief executive officer of Bushmans’ Inc., in Rosholt, WI.

Maglio & Co., based in Glendale, WI, announced the addition of Robert Wilkinson as regional sales manager.

Wilkinson has over 15 years of experience in the produce industry. In his new position at Maglio & Co., Wilkinson will help to build customer bases and provide training to strengthen the sales team.

VINELAND, NJ — Summer 2014 in southern New Jersey saw ideal growing conditions and fairly steady pricing, according to Tom Consalo, vice president of The Freshwave LLC, who is now hoping that the state’s fall produce deal will show this same kind of consistency.

Ideal growing conditions this summer resulted in one of the better seasons in memory for Ryan Flaim of Flaim Farms/R&R Flaim Next Generation Produce, and that has the company optimistic for a strong fall season.

“Across the board we had very high quality on our summer crops,” said Flaim. “The growing conditions this summer were outstanding. We had perfect temperatures and not too much rain, which kept volumes in check. As a result, we enjoyed very steady markets and good prices.”

The Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference returns to Savannah, GA, Jan. 8-11, 2015.  In 2014, the event hosted more than 3,000 produce industry members.