New Jersey crops behind schedule

    By: Phil Gregory

    New Jersey, along with most of the Northeast, endured one of the wettest months of June ever. All that wet and cool weather has New Jersey farmers concerned about their production and their profits this summer.

    By: Phil Gregory
    philgregorynews@gmail.com

    New Jersey, along with most of the Northeast, endured one of the wettest months of June ever. South Jersey weather stations reported measurable rain on up to 22 days of the 30 day month. All that wet and cool weather has New Jersey farmers concerned about their production and their profits this summer.

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    [audio: 090717pgcrops.mp3]

    The New Jersey Farm Bureau says crops for many farmers in the Garden State are behind schedule. Anthony DiMeo owns a fruit and vegetable farm in Hammonton. He says all that rain in June hampered bees from pollinating blueberries and reduced the amount of the crop. And he says below normal temperatures recently also did not help.

    Dimeo: The cool nights is really keeping the blueberries from ripening so the workers are sitting around for weeks at a time waiting for the berries to ripen.

    New Jersey’s blueberry season is now winding down and DiMeo is also concerned about his tomato and eggplant crops which he says are ripening later than usual. Produce available from other states should be enough to meet consumer demand.

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