A national coalition of 64 organizations representing specialty crop producers sent a letter to Congressional leadership this week on safety protocols within the industry during COVID-19. They want Congress to know the steps agricultural employers are taking to protect their workers.
“Farmers and ranchers across the country moved quickly to implement new employee safety protocols early in the crisis,” says National Council of Agricultural Employers President Michael Marsh. “While America was being placed on lockdown, agricultural employers were already at work trying to figure out how to best protect their employees and the public.”
The letter details the collaboration between the agriculture industry, public health experts, and regulatory officials to develop the best safety practices in the field and packing. As future rounds of COVID-19 pandemic legislation is debated, the coalition is asking congressional leaders to acknowledge the widespread employee protection protocols that are already in place, as well as provide additional support to help agricultural employers continue to meet the needs of their employees.
The Western Growers Association, a member of the coalition, is asking Congress to “extend current relief efforts for agriculture, and to include additional funding for personal protective equipment and other measures to offset the costs of maintaining an essential workforce during COVID-19.”
(From the NationalAssociation of Farm Broadcasters)
Paul Allen’s point of emphasis has been clear recently: Support the American farmer. He believes the message has been received loud and clear.
“We’re thinking all of the local and national attention we’ve gotten about us destroying our crops has brought the American public to the forefront to supporting the American farmer. I really believe that,” said Allen, president of R.C. Hatton Farms in Belle Glade, Florida and chairman of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association. “The American people have heard everything that’s been on the national media all about Mexico. They’ve stopped buying Mexican produce. They’re buying American produce. It’s a big part of it.”
He thinks that is a reason watermelons are in short supply and there could be a major shortage by Memorial Day weekend. It also could be attributed to strong demand for tomatoes with prices improving.
“It’s everything. It’s sweet corn, watermelons; people are buying. It’s not that we’re short. People are buying and supporting us,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of product being moved. And in a lot of cases restaurants are starting to open back up. People are starting to get out. It’s a big part of it.
“Thankfully, it looks like the American people are going to have their say in it. They’ve heard our cry because there’s been a hard run on national media, local media about this whole thing.”
Tough Start to Season
Unfortunately, it was not always this way this season. In a previous interview in early April, Allen said he left about 2 million pounds of green beans in the field and about 5 million pounds of cabbage. All because of the coronavirus pandemic that shut restaurants down and closed off a major supply chain to foodservice industries.
“We had a devastating March and April for all crops. When the country was shut down, it was the worst we’ve ever seen it,” Allen said. “When the pandemic hit, there was a buying frenzy for a week to 10 days. Then everybody went lockdown. When we farm, we plant, cultivate, grow, harvest and ship every day for it to be consumed every day. When (the pandemic) hit us, we were the sacrificial lamb.”
Allen believes more financial aid could still be provided by the federal government.
“The biggest thing right now is the government allocated per crop a cap of $125,000, which is nothing. We’re really working trying to get the USDA to see and understand the massive hit that Florida is taken and raise the direct payment caps,” Allen said. “What is fair is not always equal.
“It costs 10 times to grow vegetable crops what it does regular commodity crops.”
Figure 1. Roots of blue lupin (left) and sunn hemp (right) are infected with Meloidgyne arenaria root-knot nematode and stained with acid fuchsin. Nematode galls and egg masses are visible on blue lupin, indicating its susceptibility to the nematode. In contrast, sunn hemp-infected roots are gall-free with a few egg masses, suggesting that it is a poor host for M. arenaria.
By Abolfazl Hajihassani and Josiah Marquez
Multiple cover crops are excellent candidates for vegetable growing systems in the southern United States due to their ability to fix nitrogen, build and maintain soil organic matter, and suppress soilborne pathogens, nematodes and weeds. In addition, cover crops can be a valuable strategy for improving microbial diversity and soil health when properly implemented.
There is plenty of evidence in scientific literature to support positive effects of certain cover crops in management of plant-parasitic nematodes. The key to success is understanding the factors that drive variation. Though suppressive cover crops will not eliminate nematodes from soil, they may reduce their population densities enough to allow proper production of susceptible vegetable crops in infested fields.
In Georgia, multiple root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are widely dispersed in the southern part of the state where they cause severe yield losses particularly in cucurbits, eggplant, tomato and pepper. During a survey in 2018 for nematodes in commercial vegetable-growing regions in southern Georgia, root-knot nematodes were found in approximately 67 percent of fields.
In the Southeast, chemical control is the most predominant approach for managing Meloidogyne spp. in intensive cultivation systems of vegetables.
However, certain summer cover crops, including sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor x S. sudanense) and velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens) have been implicated in reducing population densities of root-knot nematodes in soil. In Georgia, despite long growing seasons, the practice of growing two to three crops on the same piece of land often leaves a narrow window for the use of cover crops.
COVER CROP CULTIVAR CONSIDERATIONS
Many summer cover crops are susceptible to nematodes, resulting in an undesired population increase in soil during the growth of crops. To avoid this, cover crop species or cultivars that are poor hosts (resistant) to nematodes should be recognized.
In an attempt to find alternatives for control of root-knot nematodes in vegetable production systems, a series of greenhouse experiments was conducted in 2019 at the University of Georgia Tifton campus. The goal was to identify cover crop species/cultivars with potential to prevent the reproduction of M. javanica, M. incognita and M. arenaria. The cover crop susceptibility/resistance was characterized by evaluating root galling and egg-mass index.
Results exhibited that different cover crops respond differently to infection by root-knot nematodes. For example, certain nematode-infected cover crops produce both galls and egg masses on roots, whereas others may only induce either galls or egg masses (Figure 1). M. javanica, M. incognita and M. arenaria aggressively reproduced on blue lupine (Lupinus perennis), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). These plants were highly susceptible to these nematode species.
Cover crops that were highly resistant across all three Meloidogyne species include velvetbean, marigold (Tagetes sp.) and sesame (Sesamum indicum). Resistance to parasitic nematodes is characterized as the ability of a plant species to prevent root-knot nematode development or reproduction.
The reproduction of these nematode species on sorghum-sudangrass and sunn hemp varied from susceptible (good host) to highly resistant (nonhost) plants. For example, an unspecified cultivar of sunn hemp was susceptible to M. arenaria and resistant to both M. javanica and M. incognita.
KEY POINTS
In summary, proper selection of a cover crop plays a key role in control of root-knot nematodes. It is important to note that a cover crop species may not provide resistance to all species of root-knot nematodes. In addition, all cultivars of the same cover crop may not create equal levels of nematode control.
Figure 2. University of Georgia researchers are studying the effects of sunn hemp and tillage practices on soilborne diseases, nematodes and weeds. Sunn hemp is harvested and chopped followed by tilling the residue into the soil.
Special attention to the presence of other plant-parasitic nematodes in soil is also necessary when planting a cover crop. Past research has suggested that Meloidogyne-resistant cover crops may support the reproduction of other nematode types in the soil. If vegetable growers think they are having issues with nematodes, soil samples can be analyzed at nematode diagnostic services to determine the types/species of nematodes and their population density for proper selection and management of cover crops to meet goals.
Other key factors to get the optimal benefits of cover crops are planting time, seeding rates and termination (mowing) times. Currently, field research (Figure 2) is being conducted in southern Georgia to determine the effect of spring and summer planting of sunn hemp for optimal biomass production and its influence on nematodes, weeds and soilborne diseases. The goal is to examine the effects of cover crops alone or in combination with tillage practice or chemical control approaches for effective management of plant-parasitic nematodes.
Written By Chris Gunter, N.C. State Extension Vegetable Production Specialist
Weather predictions for this weekend include clear skies with minimal or calm winds, which are conducive to cold temperatures and could lead to freeze or frost conditions in North Carolina.
On Sunday morning, May 10, low temperatures are predicted to drop into the 30s with some temperatures possibly below freezing in low lying rural areas. Record low temperatures for May 10 are in the lower 30s at the Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham locations, and 39 ºF at Fayetteville. Not only are daily low-temperature records threatened, but the latest spring freeze on record is May 10 for Raleigh (31 ºF) and May 8 for Greensboro (32 ºF).
As cold temperatures are threatening, agents and specialists are getting calls from concerned vegetable growers worried about potential damage on their crops. A frost occurs when temperatures dip to 32 ºF and water starts to freeze on low lying surfaces. If water within the plant cell or between the plant cells freeze, this can result in damage to plant tissue. The following vegetable crops can be grouped according to their cold tolerance based on their physiology. It is important to remember that cold damage results from the actual temperature and the duration of that temperature.
We usually think of frost as occurring at temperatures from 31-33 ºF and this will result in damage or killing the foliage of warm-season plants like beans, corn, cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, southern peas, peppers, potatoes, sweet corn, sweetpotatoes, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon.
When temperatures dip below 26-31 ºF, this is a hard frost or freeze. There are cool-season crops that will tolerate a temperature dip to these temperatures for a limited period of time. These include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, English peas, lettuce, mustard, onion, radishes, and turnips. They will likely show foliage damage due to the cold and this may result in a yield reduction later in the season, but the plant will survive.
In the event that the temperature drops below 26 ºF during a hard freeze for a longer period of time, there are some vegetables that will survive these temperatures. Cold season crops like Brussels sprouts, beets, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach should survive.
Charlotte Glen wrote a great article about seeds and seedlings surviving cold temperatures. We encourage you to check it out here:
Protecting from these cold temperatures can be a little more difficult to answer. Growers who have solid set irrigation in place and have experience with frost protection using overhead water applications, may be planning to use this method. This requires large volumes of water and continuous applications throughout the cold event. For most vegetable growers however, overhead solid set sprinkler irrigation is less common than drip irrigation or travelling guns and pivot irrigation systems.
Usually maintaining good soil moisture prior to the event can be helpful, as the water in the soil retains heat longer and releases it slowly during the cold event. For this reason, it is also recommended not to cultivate just prior to a frost or freeze, so that as much water can be retained in the soil as possible. The cultivation can damage plant roots and increase stress on the plants. In addition, cultivation opens additional spaces in the soil, allowing cool air to penetrate deeper into the soil profile.
Other methods for frost protection include using row covers, which come in various lengths and thicknesses depending upon the level of protection needed. Growers can also use waxed paper cups, to cover the transplants in the field, during an overnight cold period. These are labor-intensive methods, but may be an option if areas are small enough and the farm has sufficient labor to put on and remove the covers as temperatures warm back up. If coverings are used, it is important to monitor temperatures under the covers. Be prepared to remove the covers before temperatures under the cover rise too high and result in heat stress.
University of Florida post-harvest plant physiologist Jeff Brecht cautions consumers about putting some fruit and vegetables in their refrigerators. Quality commodities like tomatoes, melons, avocados and peaches are chilling sensitive. Consumers need to be wary that too much cooling can affect the quality of certain produce.
“I hear complaints about all of those where people say, ‘They’re tasteless. They’re not like I remember in the garden when I grew up. They don’t have flavor.’ What it really is, those are all chilling sensitive, and they’ve been exposed to low temperatures for too long. They stop producing the aroma,” Brecht said. “The aroma is a super important component of flavor. That’s what it really is when you hear people complain about tasteless tomatoes is because they’ve been chilled. It’s a big problem that we have.”
Clearing Up a Misunderstanding
Brecht said there is a misunderstanding on the part of consumers about how best to handle different fruits and vegetables when they have them in their possession. Many of the vegetables can be injured by exposure to temperatures that are too low. Sensitivity is especially a concern for immature produce.
“You can keep them too long in your refrigerator because you’ll actually start to compromise the quality,” Brecht said. “Even though I preach cooling, cooling, lower the temperature to maintain the quality, there’s a whole lot of fruits where you can’t go too far with that. That limits what you can do to keep them in good shape after harvest. You can’t cool them right down to 32 degrees or something like that, which you can do with a strawberry.”
He also encourages consumers to buy local as much as possible. They’re not only providing much-needed business for producers amid tough financial times, they’re also getting fresher fruit.
“Consumers are getting even better quality that way because they’re going to pick it up at the farm, take it home and probably eat it within a day or two. I would encourage people to patronize the direct sales farming operation to whatever extent they can,” Brecht said.
David Riley/UGA: Picture shows cowpea curculio and its damage.
By Ashley Robinson
Southerners love cowpeas, also known as southern peas or black-eyed peas. Unfortunately, so do cowpea curculios, a weevil that wreaks havoc on peas grown in the Southeast. University of Georgia (UGA) researchers are working to eliminate the pest.
History of the Pest
David Riley, professor of Entomology at UGA, has been researching cowpea curculio for the past 10 years.
At the turn of the 20th century, Southern peas covered approximately 6 million acres across the Southeast. According to Riley, they were the primary legume grown for livestock feed until World War II, when soybeans took over.
“There’s a very interesting history behind the crop,” Riley says. “One hundred years ago, cowpeas used to be a massive crop, more like cotton. They were considered an agronomic crop, grown for legume grain for animal forage and feed as well as a vegetable crop.”
After the emergence of soybeans, the cowpeas that were used for livestock production disappeared. What was left of the peas was grown for food.
When Riley began working with UGA as a vegetable entomologist in 1996, he discovered that as cowpea acreage declined, so did cowpea curculio populations. As curculio issues died down, cowpea acreage made a comeback, peaking in 2015 at about 7,600 acres, according to UGA’s 2015 Farm Gate Value Report. As acreage made a comeback, though, so did curculio populations.
Research Progress and Management Options
Unfortunately, the cowpea curculio has become tolerant to pyrethroid insecticides which was the primary means of control during the flowering stage of the crop. However, in the 10 years that Riley has studied the pest, a lot of progress has been made.
“When all of your insecticide options are gone, then you have to start thinking outside the box,” Riley said.
“The most recent, big discovery that has been made is that cowpea curculio is very similar to the boll weevil in that is diapauses,” Riley says. “Diapause is a state of hibernation. During this process, the female weevils don’t develop eggs. They put on fat to survive the winter instead. This is something tropical weevils do because they don’t have any food to survive on during the winter.”
Riley recommends growers plant their crop for a late September pod set, to avoid damage.
New World Beans
Another recent discovery is that New World beans are not as affected by the weevil.
Five years ago, Riley came across a professor in Australia who was working on another cowpea project in Africa. The professor, T.J. Higgins, noticed that the New World bean, Phaseolus vulgaris (snap bean or pinto bean), wasn’t affected by this weevil. He tracked the reason down to a gene called alpha-amylase inhibitor. Amylase is the enzyme used to digest starch. An inhibitor stops that normal enzyme from working, so it’s harder to digest.
Higgins took the alpha-amylase inhibitor gene from the New World bean and put it into the Old World bean (cowpea). His results from this genetically modified pea show reduced weevil damage.
“The New World Beans have a natural resistance to weevils. They grew up together,” Riley said. “Cowpeas aren’t from the New World, so they don’t have the natural resistance.”
Although weevil-resistant peas would be ideal, it will be difficult to get them approved as the crop isn’t expensive enough and there isn’t enough acreage to warrant a big company getting involved.
“There is a practical consequence of just knowing the biology and knowing how these crops are,” Riley says. “If you use traps in the spring to see when the weevils are coming out of their overwintering sites, those weevils are very starved. Although they would prefer a cowpea, they will go after snap beans if that is all that is available.”
Since snap beans aren’t a good reproductive host for the pest, Riley suggests that growers set up traps for their area. They can determine when the weevils are on the move out of their overwintering sites. Then growers should plant snap beans first as a trap crop. Give it a month or so and force those weevils to try to lay eggs in the snap beans. Since it’s a crop with natural resistance, most of the eggs won’t develop.
Now more than ever, buy Georgia Grown. Georgia’s agricultural industries are highlighting this message during the state’s peak season of harvesting produce. Georgia Farm Bureau, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association are promoting Georgia Grown produce at a time when the state’s farmers need them the most.
“We need folks asking their produce managers, if they go into a grocery store and there’s not Georgia Grown or American Grown produce in there, they need to ask where is it at,” said Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association. “We need for consumers to support the American farmer, to get American Grown, Georgia Grown produce. Because, as that slogan says it’s, ‘Now, more than ever.’”
The impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has devastated markets for fruit and vegetable farmers across the country. The absence of the foodservice industry for almost two months derailed producers’ bid for a productive season. Farmers in Florida have had to leave produce in the field just because of the lack of potential buyers.
Alternate Way of Doing Business
Georgia farmer Bill Brim, co-owner of Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton, Georgia said he’s lost thousands of boxes of orders due to the pandemic. But he’s found a way to sell part of his excess produce. He’s boxed up produce with different fruit and vegetables and sold directly to consumers for $20 each the last three weeks. Last week, Brim sold between 1,300 and 1,400 of boxed produce. It’s lessened the sting a bit. It also helps consumers become more aware of buying local produce.
“I think that growers are looking at alternatives. Boxing up and having a direct farm sale is not going to replace tractor trailers that are going out of the packing shed packed with produce. That’s not going to replace the need for getting produce into the produce chain,” Hall said. “Most of our growers are shipping to the north of us, into South Carolina and North Carolina, into the Midwest and Northeast. Direct sales off the farm is not 100% of the solution. But it certainly helps, when you can move 1,000, 500, 300, whatever it might be. Boxes of produce to your friends and neighbors. They are able to get it fresh. They know it’s fresh coming off land near them.”
Quick Turnaround?
While market prices are less than ideal, they could make a turnaround as businesses and restaurants begin to open back up. This could benefit Georgia farmers as they hit their peak season.
“I think it’s cautious concern to what the market is going to do. The movement on the market right now is slow,” Hall said. “If some of the restaurants and foodservice chains begin to open back up, we are just getting into our peak season, so we could see additional markets there. It’s slower than we want it to be right now, but it could pick up.”
University of Georgia photo/Creating a compost pile keeps unnecessary waste out of landfills, as landscape refuse, such as leaves, grass clippings and trimmings, accounts for up to 20% of landfill waste.
By Maria M. Lameiras for CAES News
With more time at home on many people’s hands these days, lots of yard work is being tackled, making this year’s International Compost Awareness Week, May 3 through 9, a perfect time to create a home composting system.
For the new composter, first find an ideal spot on your property to locate your composting pile or receptacle, says composting expert and Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Development Coordinator Amanda Tedrow, who represents University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s Northeast District.
“If you are just starting out, go for the pile. The ideal minimum size for a compost pile is four by four by four (4 feet wide by 4 feet long by 4 feet deep). That is the right size to reach the temperatures needed for decomposition. A smaller pile will decompose at a slower rate due to lower temperatures,” Tedrow said.
Locate the compost pile downhill and away from vegetable gardens to prevent potential runoff from the compost pile, which could transmit plant diseases to the garden.
While heat is an important element to composting, the heat is generated within the composting pile, so it is not necessary to locate a composting system in direct sun. A compost pile located in direct sun may need additional supplemental water during the heat of the summer months.
Next, it’s important to add the right mix of materials to the pile.
“The general recommendation is to do two-thirds to three-quarters browns and one-third to one-quarter greens,” she said. Brown materials — such as dried leaves, sticks and old mulch — are a source of carbon, while green materials — such as grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and egg shells — are sources of nitrogen, both important for proper composting to occur.
Avoid adding any kitchen waste that contains meat, dairy products or greasy substances, Tedrow warns.
“Vegetable peelings, fruit rinds, stalks from broccoli, things like that are all fine. Something like peach pits might take a long time to compost, but they are perfectly fine to put in,” she said.
Moisture is essential, but a compost pile should only stay “as wet as a wrung-out sponge,” Tedrow said.
“In an ideal world, a compost pile should be turned when the temperature in the center of the pile starts dropping (below the ideal temperature of 130 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit). Most people don’t have a compost thermometer, so many composters will turn their pile every week to two weeks to keep the process moving,” Tedrow said. Compost thermometers are available in stores or online starting at about $20, she added.
If wildlife is a possible concern, an enclosed composting bin may be a better option, she said.
If you have a free-form compost pile and you are having a hard time keeping compost materials together, consider using a piece of fencing or other material to make a hoop around the pile to keep it contained, Tedrow added.
While creating a compost pile can, in time, produce material usable for gardening, the best thing about a compost pile is keeping unnecessary waste out of landfills, as landscape refuse, such as leaves, grass clippings and trimmings, accounts for up to 20% of the waste being placed in landfills.
For more detailed information on composting, visit extension.uga.edu/publications and search for UGA Extension Circular 816, “Composting and Mulching.” For further assistance or to check for local composting week events, locate your local UGA Extension office at extension.uga.edu/county-offices.
ATLANTA, GA– To help mitigate potential losses due to the COVID-19 response, Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown program has joined with partners from Georgia Farm Bureau, University of Georgia Extension Service and Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association to promote Georgia Grown produce through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.
Georgia’s spring fruit and vegetable harvest has an estimated farm gate value of $500-$750 million, and roughly 50% of that is traditionally marketed through foodservice. However, with much of the foodservice channel closed due to the COVID-19 response, farmers could find their promising crops have no place to go.
“The supply is there. The food is there. The quality is there. We just need to make sure the demand is there as well,” says Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black. “Consumers often ask what they can do to help our Georgia farmers and the answer is simple. Expect Georgia Grown, ask for Georgia Grown and buy Georgia Grown.”
Long
A mixed media campaign will encourage consumers to Buy Georgia Grown, Now More Than Ever. The collaborative effort includes PSAs, direct to consumer purchasing platforms, recipes. and preservation tips for fresh produce, all supported by a targeted social media campaign using the hashtags #NowMoreThanEver, #BuyGeorgiaGrown.
“It is important that we support Georgia’s number one industry, agriculture,” says Georgia Farm Bureau President Gerald Long. “We are pleased to partner with Georgia Grown and the UGA Extension in helping remind consumers that our farmers feed and clothe the world by producing the finest food and fiber.”
Consumers can purchase from Georgia Grown businesses with e-commerce and home delivery capabilities by visiting www.georgiagrown.com. In collaboration with Georgia Grown, UGA Extension is using its network of county Extension offices to connect agricultural producers with consumers looking for fresh, Georgia-grown products at https://extension.uga.edu.
Johnson
“UGA Extension is excited to be able to use our statewide local network of Extension offices to help connect Georgia citizens with the farmers that provide delicious, Georgia Grown products,” says Laura Perry Johnson, Associate Dean for UGA Extension. “It is in all of our best interest to work collaboratively to keep Georgia’s top economic driver – agriculture – healthy and prosperous as we fulfill our mission to serve the state.”
Agriculture is the top industry in Georgia with production and related industries representing $76 billion in output and more than 399,000 jobs.
“This is not the first time our fruit and vegetable farmers have had to overcome challenges,” says Commissioner Black. “In the last several years they have endured historic hurricanes, late freezes and trade wars. Georgia’s agricultural sector is strong because our farmers are strong, and I feel confident that Georgia consumers are strong as well and will rise with them to meet this new challenge before us.”
A severe drought in Mobile County, Alabama and Baldwin County, Alabama is not negatively influencing fruit and vegetable production, says Joe Kemble, Alabama Extension vegetable specialist.
“Most of the veggies down there are irrigated,” Kemble said. “I don’t know anyone that doesn’t irrigate, frankly, in that area.”
Irrigation is important in that area right now. In the most recent release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, parts of both counties are classified as ‘D2’ status or a severe drought.
“Mobile and Baldwin Counties, they’re opposite each other, Mobile Bay. They are definitely well under. I think there was a trending hashtag of #mobilethedesert or #desertmobile. Guys were saying how dry it is down there,” Kemble said.
There’s cause for concern, especially considering how much produce is grown in that area. Growers cater to a lot of road-side produce stands and farmers markets in that area.
“In that area, it’s pretty diverse, production wise. Large acreage wise, sweet potatoes are still a pretty important crop in that area, and to a lesser extent, some irish potatoes as well. After that it’s tomatoes, watermelons, corn are probably the staples in that area, as well as peppers,” Kemble said. “There’s a lot of road-side stands in those areas, farmer’s markets in that area. They tend to feed a lot of product into those. They’re always looking for a diverse background of crops. But I would say the major ones are still going to be the tomatoes, watermelons and sweet corn.”
Kemble said the crops are progressing well.
“I was speaking to a regional agent down there. He was saying things are on track,” Kemble said.
