Tudor Ranch, a third-generation family farm located in the Coachella Valley, specializes in growing, packaging and distributing fresh California table grapes. This season, the company is seeing excellent bunch counts and good vine and bunch growth across the varietals, despite cool weather slowing down the crops.

“Normally we would start harvest around May 10-12,” said Joseph Tudor, vice president of the company. “This season we expect to start closer to May 22.”

For the past six years, the National Watermelon Association has recognized promising members of the next generation in the watermelon industry at its annual convention through its Future Watermelon Farm Leaders award program.

This year, Bailey Leger of Leger & Son was among the recipients named to Class VII of the program.

“Bailey excels in everything she does because she is dedicated and diligent,” said Jordan Carter, director of marketing at Cordele, GA-based Leger & Son.

Some of the first signs of spring are Florida sweet corn, asparagus and Vidalia sweet onions in the stores. It’s time to set up some nice aggressive displays of all three items. Warm spring days will have people out doing some backyard grilling. Sweet corn, asparagus and sweet onions fit in perfectly for that.

Georgia’s farmers provide consumers with a long list of healthy and tasty fresh fruits and vegetables. The state is, of course, famous for its peaches, peanuts and Vidalia sweet onions, but its climate is ideal for growing just about any crop, and Georgia’s growers provide excellent blueberries, greens, potatoes, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on Island Fresh De Puerto Rico Inc. in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, for violating the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include barring the business and the principal operators of the business from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

Spring has sprung and California avocado season has begun in earnest. Winter and early spring rains contributed to delaying the usual start of harvesting but were excellent for California avocado tree health. As a result, the 257 million pounds of California avocados estimated for this season likely will be concentrated from late April through summer. To bolster this volume, the California Avocado Commission is engaged with marketing support at full throttle.