WEATHER

Yuma, AZ — The recent stretch of overnight freezing temperatures continued through Dec. 8. Daytime highs were expected to range in the low to mid-60s Dec. 9 through Dec. 13 with overnight lows in the mid- to upper 30s. Rain was not a threat into mid-December.

Oxnard, CA — Daytime temperatures were forecast to range in the mid-60s through Dec. 13 with overnight lows in the low to mid-40s. Rain was not a threat into mid-December.

Tony Haile

TONY HAILE’s first day with New Era Produce LLC in Estero, FL, was Nov. 1.

While some areas of Prince Edward Island, Canada, suffered considerable potato shortages due to weather conditions this year, others fared well. The quality of the harvested spuds, however, is good. Linkletter Farms in Summerside, PEI, is among those firms seeing considerable losses to their crops.

Mark MacEwen, a partner-owner of Linkletter Farms, told The Produce News that the company’s crop is 15-25 percent down.

Jerry Wright, who was one of the individuals instrumental in the founding of the United Potato Growers of Idaho, a Capper-Volstead cooperative, and shortly thereafter the United Potato Growers of America with affiliate organizations in several states, and who served as chief executive officer of UPGA from 2005 to 2006, has now returned to head that organization again as its president and CEO.