One more foreign country is joining the ranks of those who contribute to the summer citrus demand in North America.

On July 10, the Federal Register; The Daily Journal of the United States Government published an article titled Importation of Fresh Citrus Fruit From Uruguay, Including Citrus: A Rule by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

“We are very excited that mushrooms are being touted as such an important super-food today,” Fred Recchiuti, general manager of Basciani Foods, also known as Basciani Mushroom Farms, in Avondale, PA, said. “Chef Richard Blais was recently featured on ‘The View’ [ABC]. In his segment he introduced the ‘blendability’ of mushrooms, and he prepared a 50 percent beef and 50 percent mushroom burger, naming it the Earth and Turf Burger.”

Blais, Recchiuti added, also prepared a mushroom mayonnaise and mushroom mustard, ala the Mushroom Council’s wap it or Top It” campaign.

The clock is ticking as producers seek alternative methods to prevent fire blight from decimating organic pear and apple orchards. Use of oxytetracycline, one of the major agents to control the disease, will not be permitted as of October 2014.

The Chilean Avocado Importers Association expects a volume increase of 30 to 35 percent over last year, with the main season for Chilean avocados extending from September through March, according to a written statement from the association to The Produce News. “Promotable volumes will be available throughout the fall and winter months, with marketing programs put in place to support retail sales,” the statement said.

Jerry Wagner, director of sales and marketing at Farmer's Best International LLC in Nogales, AZ, retired Friday, Aug. 9, on his 56th birthday, after 27 seasons with the company and a produce career that goes back to his school days.

"I started working for my dad, who was a broker, after school while I was in high school," Wagner told The Produce News. He continued working for his father's company, Wagner Distributing, while in college.

The fall varieties are where the California table grape industry has seen the most growth recently, including this year, and the same is true for Stevco as a company.

Based in Los Angeles with offices in Bakersfield and Coachella, Stevco is a vertical operation, producing all of its own fruit through its subsidiary farming company, Lucich Farms.