The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will be promoting New Jersey’s agricultural products to one of its very important markets — eastern Canada — at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s 90th annual convention and trade show, scheduled for April 15-17 in Montreal.

“Traditionally, our markets look northward,” Al Murray, New Jersey’s assistant secretary of agriculture, told The Produce News Thursday, March 19.

“The Boston and New England area is our second largest market. The general area of Quebec, Ontario and eastern Canada is our third largest market for our agricultural products. Of course, the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia area is our top market. It’s our backyard.”

Al Murray, New Jersey’s assistant secretary of agriculture, with Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, at the Jersey Fresh booth at CPMA’s 2013 convention in Toronto.Among the major produce crops that New Jersey ships to Canada are early spring greens, leafy greens and its famous blueberries. In fact, “Canada has always been an important market for our New Jersey blueberry growers,” said Murray.

The relationship between New Jersey and Canada is particularly beneficial to both parties, helped in part by the complementary timing of the crops in the two regions.

“Our seasons are very compatible,” stated Murray. “We’re shipping early spring vegetables when they can still have snow on the ground. When we move into the summer items, that’s when their spring vegetable deal is ramping up.”

The strong bond between Canada and New Jersey rests on more than just timing, of course. “The New Jersey brand has been well known in Canada through years of advertising,” said Murray, alluding to the longstanding and very popular Jersey Fresh Promotional Program. In addition, “So many people in eastern Canada visit our state and vacation on the Jersey Shore, so they recognize the great farm products that are available.”

In addition, “Canada has long adopted a healthy lifestyle over the years,” Murray pointed out. “Consumer diets have included many fruits and vegetables for a long time, and that provides a wonderful marketing opportunity for our farmers to meet that demand.”

Canadian consumers can expect New Jersey growers to satisfy that demand for tasty, high-quality fresh produce items this coming season, thanks as usual to Mother Nature.

This winter certainly has been a big headache for people throughout the New England and Middle Atlantic areas. The polar plunge kept temperatures bitter cold in those areas almost from mid-January to mid-March, and Boston set a record for the most snow in that city’s history. A snowstorm on Friday, March 20 — the first day of spring — left about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow in metropolitan New York, with a little more in higher elevations of New Jersey.

But the same long, cold winter that made most consumers miserable should make New Jersey growers happy. “With all the snow and rain we’ve had this winter, we’ve had the perfect number of chill days for our blueberries and peaches,” Murray pointed out. “This kind of weather is really good for all the plants.” This winter weather “is going to translate into some really nice fruit, and I’m saying this and it’s only March 19.”

Murray will be at Booth No. 2005 at the CPMA trade show with his colleague Joe Atchison, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s coordinator of New Jersey agricultural programs. “It’s all about relationships,” concluded Murray. “We’re there to maintain existing relationships and hopefully make some new ones.”