Produce Transportation Best Practices Released The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) has released best practice guidelines for the transportation of produce. The document integrates multiple existing transportation guidelines into one best practices document that can be used throughout North America to provide guidance for seamless product movement and to ensure the ongoing vitality of the carrier sector. The guidelines were reviewed and endorsed by the Blue Book and the Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) to ensure compliance with industry trading guidelines for North America. The 25-member NAPTWG represents fresh produce transportation stakeholders from associations and industry groups across North

Southeast Growers Await High-Quality Peach Crop Click HERE for the full article.

The Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) was enacted at the request of the fruit and vegetable industry to promote fair trade in the industry.  PACA protects businesses dealing in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables by establishing and enforcing a code of fair business practices and helping companies resolve business disputes.  Patrick Romero, the webinar speaker, will detail how PACA helps companies resolve business disputes and protects the fruit and vegetable industry and ultimately, your business.  This webinar will be conducted in Spanish. Romero is the Regional Director in the Western Regional PACA office in Tucson, Arizona. He has been

BLAND, DOWDY HONORED AT VIDALIA ONION INDUSTRY BANQUET Tattnall County farmer Delbert Bland was named Grower of the Year and the late Delwin Dowdy was inducted into the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame at the 2011 Vidalia Onion industry banquet, held in February. Bland, of Bland Farms LLC in Glennville, began growing onions with his father Raymond D. Bland in 1982 on five acres. They co-founded Bland Farms, which has grown to over 1,700 acres. With 92 employees, Bland Farms is the largest grower, packer, and shipper of Vidalia onions and has the largest controlled-environment storage capacity in the sweet

Crops & Markets By Doug Ohlemeier Published on 03/03/2011 11:16AM Trying to better familiarize buyers with their berries, Georgia’s blueberry industry is introducing a new logo. The Georgia Blueberry Commission released the logo for use by packers. Commission chairman Joe Cornelius, president of J&B Blueberry Farms Inc., Manor, Ga., said he recently talked with a Chicago distributor-handler who was surprised to learn blueberries come from Georgia, as the buyer purchases his berries from Naturipe Farms LLC co-owner MBG Marketing, Grand Junction, Mich., which markets Cornelius’ berries. With Georgia becoming the No. 3 blueberry growing state, Cornelius said the industry hopes