Increasing costs of production are affecting the entire produce industry today, but one issue that is causing a huge upset that may intensify tremendously is the cost and tenuousness supplies of fuel and trucking regulations that have most growers, shippers and even end users on the nervous edge of their seats.

As old and new apple crop seasons dovetail each other, insights from the orchard show a bright future for New York's industry. "Last year, we had an excellent crop, a full crop, one of the largest crops in history," said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY. "Pricing was OK. Quality and packouts were good. We're still selling last year's crop."

Dave Gleason, chief horticulturalist for Domex Superfresh Growers, provides and update on this year's cherry crop in one of its lower Yakima Valley orchards. Harvest is progressing nicely this year, and color is developing due to warm weather with cool nights. The flavor is excellent and the crop loads are ideal for great fruit.

Safeway has launched a new line of chopped salads. The "Safeway Farms" kits are available in five varieties, each containing greens, toppings and dressing.

"We work closely with our growers to make sure every ingredient is always fresh and delicious and grown with the highest standards," the company states on its website.

The Asian Sesame salad kit contains Napa cabbage, carrots, celery, green onions, cilantro, garlic ginger wonton strips and peanuts and tangy sesame ginger dressing.

“We own and operate greenhouses in Texas and Delta, British Columbia,” said Douglas Kling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for

Village Farms LP, headquartered in Heathrow, FL. “In addition we have strong high tech greenhouse partners in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and in Canada.”

Continuing with its calculated growth track, Mucci Farms Ltd. plans to break ground on its newest state-of-the-art facility on American soil this fall. “We are deep into negotiations which will be a U.S. build,” said Joe Spano, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. “We have acquired the land and hope the next build will wave the American flag.”