As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prompt more questions than answers, those in the produce industry are uncertain what the upcoming months will bring. Because of the uncertainty, most of those working in Georgia are trying to do business as usual as it prepares for this year’s Georgia harvest.
“The big issue is going to be demand, and what side of the fence does the demand come from,” said Jimmy Carter, sales manager at Parker Farms. “Does it come from shifting all the retail or the food service sector, as the virus starts to lessen up and are people going to go back to restaurants?”
He added that some of the food service guys have started to offer boxed produce for people to pick up, but it doesn’t take the place overall of the whole entire segment being down on demand a little bit. So, from a grower’s standpoint, it is concerning.
“From a crop and a production standpoint, everything in south Georgia and probably most of southern South Carolina has already been planted and is up and growing,” Carter said. “The weather conditions have been good, the crops look good. There’s nothing that’s happened over the last couple of months that’s hurt the crops in any way.”
That’s why most of the Georgia growers have gone status quo and will see what happens in the next few weeks.
“When it comes to high-time harvest, if things have not gotten any better, I would imagine that some of the growers would begin to look at financially whether it’s feasible or not to harvest a crop,” Carter said. “Or demand may pick back up and there might not be enough product to fill all of the orders that exist.”
Two items he does expect to perform well are sweet corn and squash, both of which are showing great signs of a rich crop in 2020.
“Volume is pretty steady and quality is usually exceptionally good,” Carter said. “I think some of the best corn that comes out during the entire year is from south Georgia.”
Eric Bolesta, sales manager for Grower Network LLC, headquartered in Lake Park, GA, agreed that growing conditions in Georgia are looking strong.
“Barring any significant weather events, particularly heavy rains for an extended amount of time, there aren’t a lot of things that can hurt them from this point forward,” he said.
In addition to bell peppers, other key crops in Georgia for the Grower Network include cucumbers, squash, and eggplant, and Bolesta is especially excited about its Besties brand of sweet satsuma mandarins.
Will McGehee, one of the partners in the Fort Valley, GA-based company Genuine Georgia Peaches, said there’s been an adequate chill this season and expects the peach crop to be solid.
“We are super excited by what we’ve seen,” he said. “We had a good crop last year and it’s really invigorating to put a good crop back to back. We are doing some things differently horticulturally to get by that frequent threat of frost, and there’s a lot of optimism in 2020 for Georgia peach growers.”
John Shuman, president and chief executive officer of the Reidsville, GA-based Shuman Farms, said on April 16, the company started packing and shipping RealSweet Vidalia onions for the 2020 season and is looking forward to seeing the product on store shelves across the country.
“Due to record rainfall and a warm winter, there has been a lot of stress on this year’s crop,” Shuman said.
“As an industry, we will see lower yields per acre compared to the past three to four years as well as a smaller size profile,” he continued. “However, we still have a marketable crop; the quality is sound and we’re looking forward to the season.”
Jimmy Myrick, vice president of Pompano Beach, FL-based Edward L. Myrick Produce, noted what the company plans for Georgia will depend on how long the coronavirus crisis continues.
“As far as crops go, we’ve had very good weather so I think it’s going to be a really good season,” Myrick said. “Farmers up there need a good season going forward.”
