HAMMONTON, NJ — The unusually warm winter and early-spring weather has made for not just an extremely early start to the 2012 New Jersey spring produce season, but also for what one industry veteran is calling the earliest he’s ever seen.

On May 17, Tom Sheppard, president of Eastern Fresh Growers Inc., in Cedarville, NJ, told The Produce News that the company’s crops would be running on schedule for the remainder of the spring season.

“Squashes, cucumbers and peppers are all on their normal harvesting schedules,” said Mr. Sheppard. “We had a warm March which indicated an early movement, but the cold snap in April put us back to where we are normally. We have a big crop of cucumbers this year, but otherwise our volumes are normal.”

FresCo’s first year in business has been a positive one, Charlie DiMaggio, president of the firm located at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Market, told The Produce News. He added that the company has opened up many new programs during the year. FresCo occupies Units 258 and 259 in Row B at the market.

“We have added bananas to our lineup this year,” said Mr. DiMaggio. “We have an agreement with a company for the ripening process, so this is working out nicely.

Favorable spring weather has ushered in a strong season so far for R&R Flaim-Next Generation Produce in Vineland, NJ, according to Ryan Flaim, who said the firm is preparing for the start of its summer crops.

On May 16, Bob Von Rohr, director of customer relations for Sunny Valley International headquartered in Glassboro, NJ, told The Produce News that this year’s blueberry and peach crops are trending toward an earlier than normal start.

For more than 100 years, the Peixoto family has been farming in the Pajaro Valley on the central coast of California near Watsonville. Dick Peixoto started his farming career in eighth grade by hiring neighborhood kids to pick tomatoes on his family farm so he could market them. From that early start his business has grown tremendously.