On May 3, Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News that Florida “got hammered” with rain during the previous couple of days.

“We were finished there, but some of our neighbors still have things in the ground,” said Mr. Cullen. “Rainfall ranged from nine to 12 inches in one day, not including what we got earlier in the week. Most growers are close to being done, but there is definitely some damage done to what was still there.”

A Weather Channel report stated that slow-moving thunderstorms drenched communities throughout the Florida peninsula during the week. Photos show crossing guards up to their knees in standing water. Miami International Airport picked up 2.33 inches of rain that Tuesday alone, setting a new daily precipitation record and smashing the monthly precipitation record for the month of April.

Things are looking a little better moving northward, but Mr. Cullen said Georgia and the Carolinas will run a little late, also due to heavy moisture.

“Things are good in Georgia,” he said. “We are harvesting cabbage and squash now. Cucumbers in Georgia will start on May 20, and peppers are scheduled to begin about May 24.

“We got off to a slow start in the Carolinas, also because of heavy rain and the risk of weather that would be too cold to plant,” continued Mr. Cullen. “We started planting green beans on April 15, when we would normally start earlier in the month. Overall I think the Carolinas will be about five days late.”

He said the late crop should not create a problem on the market as long as all other growing regions are a little late, which has been the case with Florida and Georgia crops. But if New Jersey comes in on time with its crops, growers further south might lose out a little.

“We’re all running the same crops on our seasonal schedule,” said Mr. Cullen. “We don’t know how they do it, but New Jersey has a knack of jumping in early.”

When the Carolina crops wrap up for Northampton Growers, the company moves on to Virginia, Michigan and other growing regions for the summer months. As fall approaches it starts its swing back to the Southern states.

“We will be back in the Carolinas in mid-September, and following that program we’ll move on to Georgia and then again to Florida,” said Mr. Cullen. “That’s the time of year that we are at high risk of crop loss from tropical storms and hurricanes. They can really do a number on us during our fall growing season. There have been more than a few times over the past 20 years when storms have wiped out our crop.”

Northampton Growers ships its fresh produce under the “Plantation” brand in Georgia and Virginia. In North Carolina it uses the “Mattanuskeett” label — after its namesake lake — on product from the Fairfield, NC, area. The company ships its product throughout the eastern United States, the Midwest and into Canada.

Mr. Cullen’s partner is Steve McCready, who is also the company’s comptroller. Founded in 1959, the company has evolved from a two-person operation to boasting a staff of 30 full-time in-house employees.

The company is a major producer of cabbage in several varieties. Mr. Cullen noted that he sees an increase in demand for Napa cabbage, which the company grows in Georgia.

“Asian consumers use a lot of Napa, and that’s where the demand is coming from,” said Mr. Cullen. “But it is harder to grow than regular cabbage because it can’t handle stress. We lost a full crop this spring because of the heavy rain in Georgia, causing the entire crop to go to seed. This is also the reason many growers won’t plant it, which also contributes to a strong market with high demand.”