Georgia vegetable growers expected a bad crop year. Many farmers planted early and had plants freeze in the field, forcing them to replant.

Then just as the weather seemed to cooperate, a heat wave moved into the South, speeding up plants' growth. Instead of spreading out the harvest, it's all coming to market at about the same time.

"We're trying to market all the acreage in a compressed marketing season," said Bill Mizelle, an economist with the University of Georgia Extension Service. "This has led to a drop in many prices."

Squash and zucchini growers are hardest-hit, with prices just over half their late-spring levels. "The less than $4 (per bushel) they're getting hardly covers harvesting costs," Mizelle said.

Other affected crops include cabbage and cucumbers, both with prices about three-fourths of normal.

Not since 1992 have vegetable prices been this low. Between those lows, prices set record highs. In 1994, for instance, a three-quarter-bushel box of yellow straightneck squash sold for nearly $15.

Low wholesale prices usually get passed on to retail markets, meaning savings for shoppers.

Farmers who planted early did so to get a jump on the marketing season. That's normal, Mizelle said. Early in the harvest, prices are usually higher.

"When there is a relatively small amount of anything on the market, prices go up," he said. It's part of the law of supply and demand. With a stable demand, a low supply drives up prices. If the supply is high, prices drop.

So during an average year, prices start high and then drop as the harvest continues. Early this season, though, very little produce came on the market. That kept prices fairly high, but only for a short time.

Mizelle said prices depend entirely on weather and timing. If Georgia vegetables come in early, they overlap with Florida produce. If they come in late, they overlap with vegetables from the Carolinas. Both can drive prices down.

The year has started badly for vegetable farmers. And it isn't likely to get much better.

"Unless the weather changes significantly, this compressed marketing season will keep prices low," Mizelle said. "I'm sorry to say it, but 1996 is shaping up as a less- than-exciting year for Georgia vegetable growers."