In coffee cultivation and processing, "crop" refers to the year in which the coffee was harvested, processed, and shipped. It is marked on coffee bags as "Cosecha" in Spanish. While it is important to consider freshness, the crop year may not always be the most important factor when buying green coffee. The coffee industry standard is that the crop year on the bag indicates the year it was grown, picked, milled, shipped, and arrived at market, which can be a lengthy process. This means that a coffee sold in December 2008 could be labeled as '07/'08 since the '08/'09 crop may not arrive until March or April of 2009. However, some in the trade may not always pay attention to the issue of freshness. With the use of vacuum packing, the shelf life of coffee has been extended, allowing for greater freshness.