The Prince Edward Island potato crop got off to an early start this year, according to Greg Donald, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board in Charlottetown, PEI. Planting was completed 10-14 days earlier than normal.

MAUI, HI — Continuing a family tradition of service to the association that spans more than five decades, Tom Deardorff, president of Deardorff Family Farms in Oxnard, CA, was elected chairman of the board of the Western Growers Association Nov. 15 at its 85th annual convention, held Nov. 14-17 at the Grand Wailea, here.

WASHINGTON — Food safety legislation jumped through a key hurdle Nov. 17 when the Senate voted to begin debating the once-stalled bill, but the fresh produce industry is still nervous about an amendment that could jeopardize its support for the bill.

By a 74-25 vote, the Senate approved a cloture measure allowing the body to debate the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510), a bill that passed a Senate committee nearly a year ago and the House in July 2009.

In a boomerang deal befitting its Australian roots, Brambles Ltd., the parent company of Orlando, FL-based CHEP Equipment Pooling Systems, announced the planned acquisition of Netherlands-based IFCO Systems NV, a leading provider of reusable plastic containers in 23 countries and pallet management services in the United States, after letting that company go in 2006.

After years of negotiations, the Maitland, FL-based Florida Tomato Growers Exchange reached an agreement Nov. 16 with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers that will pay the state's tomato harvesters an additional penny per pound of product picked.

The agreement also establishes a cooperative complaint resolution system, a participatory health and safety program and worker-to-worker education programs.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate invoked cloture Nov. 17 to move forward with debate on S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

During the debate on the bill, the Senate will consider a provision in the bill that would exempt certain segments of the food industry, including food facilities and farm operations, from requirements for basic food safety standards.

Robert Guenther, United Fresh Produce Association's senior vice president of public policy, issued the following statement on the bill: