“The wind from Hurricane Irene wasn’t as bad as we feared, but the rain took a toll on our crops,” Jerry Mongelluzzo, president of Mike & Matt’s Produce Co. LLC, in Vineland, NJ, told The Produce News on Aug. 31. “In some places it was as much as 20 inches, but most areas here got between 10 and 12 inches.”

The company harvested as much eggplant, squash and peppers as possible, knowing that these crops do not like a lot of water. Luckily, it was able to ship these dry products.

HAMMONTON, NJ — The summer deal has been “a little bit of a struggle because of the weather,” said Bob De Lash of Frank Donio Inc. But “availability has been good, quality has been OK” due in part to the rainy summer, and “pricing has been very good.”

Nick Giordano, vice president of The Fresh Wave LLC, in Vineland, NJ, told The Produce News that the company’s import and fall-green programs are the big deals for the company.

“Lettuces are our primary category,” said Mr. Giordano. “We focus on certain growers who pack to our specifications. The results are phenomenal for us. In past years we had to work hard to sell fall greens, but today they come looking for us in the fall.”

The company is also leading the New Jersey-grown sweet potato deal, and is a year-round supplier of the commodity.

A good summer deal is giving way to a promising fall deal, according to Ryan Flaim.

“The season overall has been very strong,” said Mr. Flaim, a fourth-generation member of the family-run business based in Vineland, NJ. “We saw good movement and the markets were good overall.”

For the fall deal, he said that the company is looking forward to good quality and strong pricing everything, with lettuce and greens being among the key early items of the fall season, which extends through Thanksgiving.

Weather has been a wild card for Washington’s apple growers. But Chuck Sinks, president of Sage Fruit Co. in Yakima, WA, said the company will market an increased fruit volume this season.

“We had a cool, wet spring in Washington,” Mr. Sinks said Aug. 25. “Harvest is going to be 10 to 14 days later this year as a result of the cool spring weather. As far as growing conditions for the production season, we have not started apple harvest yet. But conditions have been favorable the last couple months.”