For anyone who makes a living growing fruits and vegetables, the whims of Mother Nature are an all-too-familiar part of the deal. Up and down the East Coast, growers have seen the timing of their deals thrown off this spring, with Florida and Georgia trying to recover from record freezes and states in the mid-Atlantic region having endured drenching rains that pushed back planting schedules. In New Jersey, growers experienced their share of trepidation as record rainfall in late March that gave way to record-high temperatures the first week of April, raising speculation that the start of the

Summer 2010 is shaping up to be an especially busy season for the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, with events and activities to include co- hosting the National Potato Council's summer meeting in June. At the CPAC booth in the Colorado Proud aisle of WestEx, a foodservice show sponsored by Sysco and the Colorado Association and held on May 11 at Denver's Merchandise Mart, CPAC Executive Director Jim Ehrlich and Administrator Linda Weyers said the NPC meeting will feature U.S. Olympic figure skater Rachael Flatt, who is a spokesperson for CPAC and Colorado potatoes. Ms. Flatt is

Much of the work of the director of communications for the National Watermelon Promotion Board is "currently focused heavily on kids." Leslie Coleman said that her communications efforts from NWPB headquarters in Orlando, FL, involve projects that primarily target the youth of the United States. "We are more involved with the Agriculture in the Classroom program," which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "I am on the board of the Florida program," and the watermelon industry is also involved at the national level with the USDA program, said Ms. Coleman. In late June, she will

As of mid-May, feedback from the Pacific Northwest pointed to an outstanding, if not record-setting, cherry crop. "We're seeing a curve similar to 2007," said James Michael, promotions director for the Washington State Fruit Commission and Northwest Cherries. "Everything looks good this year." Regional producers met on May 19, and the current cherry volume for the region is 16 million 20-pound boxes for 2010. Although volume will be smaller than 2009, fruit sizing is expected to be larger. Unlike 2009, the marketing window is expected to be normal this season, allowing for smooth flow and

Two independent and significant transportation developments will be helping the distribution of South African citrus in the United States this summer. These involve new contracts between the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum and the reefer steamship line Seatrade, as well as an agreement with the rail service Railex. The Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum is the South African grower group that is the leading supplier of Southern Hemisphere citrus to the Uunited States. The Seatrade agreement will provide smaller volumes of fruit on more regularly scheduled ships than in the past. The Railex

The California Cut Flower Commission has launched a new transport project that it estimates will save 13-58 percent of the cost of shipping California flowers to buyers across the nation. A third-party logistics firm, Total Logistics Control, founded in 1902 in Holland, MI, was chosen for the project at the commission's May 13 meeting, according to Kasey Cronquist, executive director and ambassador for the commission. Its selection culminated a 20-month process of developing the plan and interviewing firms to carry it out. The plan was developed under a $95,000 federal block grant by a