SWEDESBORO, NJ — Sun Valley Orchards, here, kicked off its 2015 New Jersey spring vegetable deal with a strong volume of good-quality asparagus. The crop started about a week later than normal due to very cold weather over the winter and early spring, but “we’ve had some heat the last few weeks, which brought the asparagus on pretty quickly,” Joe Marino told The Produce News Wednesday, May 13. “The asparagus has been pretty good so far.”

Joe Marino of Sun Valley Orchards with fresh Jersey asparagus in mid-May. Sun Valley Orchards is well known for its peaches, peppers, cucumbers, green squash, eggplant and pickles, but the company made the decision a few years ago to plant asparagus. “This is our fourth year of asparagus production,” said Marino, one of the owners of the company. “The crop is coming into its prime.”

Both quality and volume have been good this season, said Marino. He expects his company to handle about double the volume it did last year, “then we should stay pretty consistent over the next few years,” he said. He expects this year’s crop to run “probably to about mid-June.”

After that, the company should get into its traditional vegetable crops. “The typical summer crops should see a pretty normal start time,” he said. “They’re all started in greenhouses every year, so they don’t really get affected by a cold spring.”

On the personnel front, Alexis Fair joined Sun Valley Orchards in March to take over the company’s food-safety program, which had been run by Marino’s sister-in-law, Christie Marino. Fair, who is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business, will be taking over some payroll and traceability responsibilities, too.

Marino also raised the subject of labor, and how it affects many agricultural businesses across the Garden State, including his own.

“Labor is an ongoing problem,” he declared. “There’s a lack of skilled farmworkers for the fresh produce industry. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to fulfill their labor needs. In the next five to 10 years, this industry is going to have some problems. Something’s going to give, because it’s not a good environment.”

The produce industry is especially vulnerable to a shortage of skilled workers to harvest the crops, he maintained.

“The produce industry is unique. It’s extremely labor intensive. Demand right now exceeds supply. And machines won’t be able to replace hand labor,” he stated. “The days of cheap produce are going to go away. Farmers are facing wage increases, and we can’t pass them on. This stuff doesn’t just show up on the back of a truck.”