Georgia farmers got a hefty dose of rain during the first part of March. Terry Kelley, a representative from the University of Georgia Extension Services, said that the wet weather has affected summer crops throughout the state.

Raymond (Mickey) Cohen, founder of Cohen Produce Marketing, headquartered in Aspers, PA, died April 20 after a long illness. He was 87.

Aptos, CA-based Newman's Own Organics Fresh Produce is expanding its line to include potatoes.

The Newman's Own Organics potato line will include organic Russet potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons, as well as organic red potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons.

The five-pound potato bags will resemble all of the fresh produce packaging with the photo of an American Gothic "Pa" Newman and daughter Nell, along with the USDA's organic seal.

"It looks as though, all things considered, we are likely to end up with a normal harvest in total," Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the California Fresh Apricot Council, said with regard to the 2005 California apricot crop.

Earlier in the season, it had appeared that the harvest would yield a "greater-than-normal volume of apricots this year. But the crop potential "has been slowly chipped away because of principally weather-related issues, he said May 6.

SALINAS, CA - Mann Packing Co., based here, and Livingston, CA-based Consolidated Farms are teaming up to form California Fresh Farms LLC, a joint venture that will take fresh-cut sweet potatoes to the nation's restaurants and supermarkets.

SALINAS, CA -- Much has happened to Rory Cornell in the year since he graduated from California Polytechnic Institute with a degree in agribusiness marketing -- most of it good.

Upon graduation last June, Mr. Cornell landed a job at Coastal Berry Co. in Watsonville, CA, as a "cooler liaison." But Dole acquired Coastal and Mr. Cornell was laid off in November.

Welcome to the unpredictable world of agriculture.