An attorney familiar with PACA law believes that a recent decision by a New York court allows preferential payments of PACA Trust creditors and should cause sellers to file suit early and often when the potential for a bad debt arises.

However, several other attorneys, who are also experts in PACA law, disagree with the significance of the recent decision and believe there has been no change in case law, and buyers and sellers need to do nothing differently.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Colombia has enjoyed strong economic growth under the administration of President Alvaro Uribe. But the leader of this country, with a population of 40 million, is concerned that the U.S. Congress has been slow to approve a bilateral free-trade agreement with Colombia, which is regarded as one of the United States' closer allies in Latin America.

The Produce News met with President Uribe May 11 at Palacio de Nari?o, a grand building in downtown Bogota that is the president's residence and is akin to The White House in Washington.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reintroduced her AgJOBS bill May 14 to fix the broken H-2A seasonal worker program and help struggling agricultural employers retain a stable, legal workforce to produce the nation's food supply.

"The central issue here is not immigration. It is about protecting and preserving the American economy," Sen. Feinstein said in a May 14 press statement.

A group of 20 small- and medium-sized greenhouse owners in the Leamington, ON, area has banded together to collectively market its products.

CAMARILLO, CA -- A new state-of-the-art, technologically advanced greenhouse facility, which is being touted as the future of sustainable agriculture, was unveiled May 14 by Houweling Nurseries, here.

FRESNO, CA -- The harvest of the 2009 California fresh fig crop was already underway when The Produce News talked to Karla Stockli, chief executive officer of the California Fig Advisory Board and the California Fresh fig Growers Association, here, on Friday, May 15.

The association expects fresh fig shipments for the state to total between 9.5 million and 10.5 million pounds for 2009, similar to or perhaps slightly below last year's shipments of 10.4 million pounds.