"Hurricane Katrina has really thrown our growers a curve ball this year," said Wendy Brannen, executive director of the Vidalia Onion Committee in Vidalia, GA. "Labor has gone south to help the Katrina relief effort, which left us short of labor for planting this year."

On Jan. 30, she said, "Some of Vidalia's major growers have expressed concerns throughout the planting season that there was a labor crunch."

"We are just coming off our Ecuadorian fruit," and the Peruvian product has begun to arrive, making for "a very smooth transition from Ecuador to Peru compared to last year," Jesus (Chuy) Loza, a principal at Freska International LLC in Ventura, CA, told The Produce News Jan. 21.

Charles (Buzzy) Blyer has been appointed sales manager for Bon Campo, Bon Campo Trattoria and Winterglow consumer packaged goods for Merex Corp., which has operations in Miami, Yonkers, NY, and Phoenix.

Mr. Blyer will work out of the New York area, calling on retail accounts, offering year-round programs, launching the new "Trattoria" brand, and coordinating in-store promotions that feature Bon Campo's three-star chef, Mathieu Frey.

A produce seller using electronic data interchange when invoicing for product may not be protecting its PACA Trust rights because of a potentially inherent flaw in that system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued an advance notice of a proposed rule-making in response to these concerns raised by Western Growers Association and other industry members.

The International Federation for Produce Coding is incorporating in England in the first quarter of 2006. The organization will become an independent entity, and "if all goes as planned," it will "probably" become the International Federation for Produce Standards, according to the group's secretary-general, Alicia Calhoun.

Ms. Calhoun serves in that capacity from her post as director of industry technology and standards for the Produce Marketing Association in Newark, DE.

Salinas-based Ag Against Hunger, a clearinghouse for surplus crops grown in the Salinas Valley and the Pajaro Valley, distributed more than 11.9 million pounds of fresh produce to families in need in 2005. Food banks in California's Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties distributed much of this produce.

Ag Against Hunger President Joe Pezzini, who also works for Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms, said that Ag Against Hunger is the "local agricultural industry's way of fighting hunger in our community."