VINELAND, NJ — The winter of 2013-14 was long, cold and harsh in most parts of the eastern United States, including the state of New Jersey. As a result, many produce items have been starting later than normal in the Garden State. This was well illustrated at the Vineland Produce Auction, which opened on Tuesday, May 7, the “latest opening ever in anyone’s memory,” according to the auction’s Carol DeFoor.

“It was a tough winter,” noted DeFoor, who has been with the auction since April 2011. “Everything is late this year, and everyone was looking forward to starting the year.” As the season was getting underway, the auction was seeing items such as asparagus, cilantro, kale, mint, Boston lettuce, spinach and radish in early May.

Linda Hendricks, Carol DeFoor, Debbie Forcinito, Jean Leibow and Christine Cotto of the Vineland Produce Auction on opening day, May 7. Asked to describe the previous season, DeFoor replied, “Last year was very good. Prices were higher” as there was less product, due primarily to weather issues. “We had a lot of rain and hail in 2013,” she told The Produce News. So with that reduction in volume, she noted, “it was our second highest year” in terms of sales dollars.

The Vineland Produce Auction, which was formed in the 1930s and is located on 30 acres, does routine maintenance over the winter every year to keep the facility running smoothly and efficiently. Over the winter of 2013-14, in addition to that routine maintenance, the projector which had been used to display prices during the sale of lots during the auction was taken out, and a new 70-inch flat screen monitor was installed in the auction arena “to make viewing easier,” said DeFoor. Another flat screen monitor was installed in the adjacent farmers’ lounge.

The auction also upgraded the computer software “to increase efficiency,” she said. Fred Koops, software engineer for OES Inc., based in London, ON, was in charge of installing that software upgrade. Koops has been working with the auction for about 12 years — or since the installation of the electronic clock system, said DeFoor, who quipped, “And he’s who we call in an emergency.”

In addition, the auction completed a “major upgrade to the hydrocoolers,” she said, encompassing both the physical and the cooling structures. The auction also maintains two vacuum coolers, and DeFoor said that the auction was expecting to take delivery on a third vacuum cooler by the end of May.