SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ -- During difficult economic conditions, such as those that exist today, start-up companies are anything but the norm. But for three produce veterans, the time was right to join forces and form their own firm.

Principals at both The Cranberry Network LLC and Habelman Bros. Co. have high hopes for this season's fresh cranberry crop in Wisconsin.

"Cranberries are still in their early stage of sizing, but indications are that with sustained warm temperatures, and barring any extreme weather events, we anticipate that Wisconsin's fresh cranberry season will meet our full expectations with respect to quality and quantity," Bob Wilson, managing member of The Cranberry Network, based in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, said in an Aug. 18 press release.

A new company has been formed by a group of New York apple growers to grow, pack, market and sell new advanced apple selections developed by the apple breeding program at Cornell University.

NYAG LLC was formed in March and has recently submitted a business plan to Cornell, whose apple breeding program is led by Susan Brown at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.

The peak volumes of the Northwest's record cherry crop may have passed, but cherry season at Stemilt Growers is far from over thanks to Kyle Mathison's high-elevation orchard operation called Amigos.

With a name that is Spanish for "friends," the Amigos ranch sits between 3,000 and 3,500 feet above sea level, not too far from the Mathison family's original homestead on Stemilt Hill. The high altitude combined with late- ripening cherry varieties extends Stemilt's cherry harvest into late August.

August is the month during which 48 states are producing tomatoes, according to David Cook, sales manager of Deardorff Family Farms in Oxnard, CA. Hence, commercial production from California and Baja California, Mexico, is designed to drop off a bit during the time that local production and home-grown deals around the United States proliferate.

"Late next week, supplies will get a little heavier," Mr. Cook said Aug. 7.

As many as 25 growers have already been certified under the commodity- specific Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices program, according to Laura Phelps, president of the American Mushroom Institute, which is based in Washington, DC.

Ms. Phelps met with The Produce News Aug. 4 in the AMI's Avondale, PA, satellite office to discuss MGAP and other industry topics.