Into its fourth decade as a producer of quality onions from the Treasure Valley, Fiesta Farms Inc. understands Mother Nature’s mood swings. Cooler-than-normal temperatures and wet conditions characterized much of the current growing season. Looking forward, Vice President Marc Bybee put it this way: “We need a long, dry fall to get the crop put away well. Without it, we could have serious quality problems later on. We are longing for a ‘normal’ year to happen again someday.”

Central Produce Distributors, headquartered in Payette, ID, entered its second week packing onions in early September. “We’re a little behind,” General Manager Ray Burzota told The Produce News on Sept. 8.

He said that conditions were cool during the spring, but onions bounced back in July and August when temperatures began to climb.

The company works with 10 growers in the Treasure Valley that produce the Vaquero, Pandero and Granero onion varieties.

Cool weather earlier in the year is expected to affect onion sizing during the first half of the current season for Ontario Produce.

On Sept. 8, Sales Manager Bob Komoto provided some insights about the coming season. “The weather in the spring was wet and prevented a normal planting time,” he stated. “After the crop was planted, it remained cool in April and May. Temperatures remained below normal until July. If we get a good, warm and dry fall, the rest of the harvest could be closer to normal.”

Washington’s apple producers are ready to move apples into a lean, clean pipeline as the 2011-12 season ramps up. “As of this morning, we have [fewer] than three million boxes [of old-crop apples] left,” Charles Pomianek, director of the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association, told The Produce News Aug. 29. “We’re out of fruit in the state of Washington right now.”

Dan R. Costa Inc., which is located near Manteca, CA, specializes in pumpkins, mini-pumpkins, gourds and other ornamental produce items for fall décor. Complementing that product line, the company also is now offering a fresh-cut sweet corn product and a line of fresh-cut hard-shell or winter squash in some innovative consumer pack styles.

Colorado health authorities on Sept. 9 warned people at-risk of listeriosis to avoid eating cantaloupe as preliminary test results link cantaloupe as the likely cause of a Listeria outbreak.

Federal and state health officials are investigating a Listeria outbreak that involves nine confirmed cases in Colorado -- one of which that has proved fatal -- and two yet-to-be-confirmed cases in Texas and Nebraska, said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.