Salyer American Fresh Foods' U.S. customers will soon take receipt of their fresh produce on lightweight, durable, hygienic, all-plastic pallets embedded with radio frequency identification tags.

The switch from wood pallets marks a significant technological advancement in Salyer's domestic distribution systems while supporting efforts for environmental sustainability.

Al Murray, New Jersey's assistant secretary of agriculture, was named acting secretary of agriculture as of Jan. 1.

Charles M. Kuperus, who had served for seven years as the state's secretary of agriculture, had submitted his resignation Oct. 24 to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine; that resignation became effective Dec. 31.

WASHINGTON -- Don't expect federal enforcement of undocumented workers in the agriculture industry to come to a screeching halt with the new Obama administration, but other changes are likely, according to industry experts who identified key priorities for this year's Congress.

Issues ranging from to immigration reform, nutrition policy changes to new food-safety legislation will be top issues for the produce industry as a new Congress and a new administration take center stage later this month.

Kathy Maynard Wilson, who has 24 years of experience in produce sales and marketing and who has spent the last four years at Ito Packing in Reedley, CA, has joined the sales team at Scattaglia Growers & Shippers LLC, doing business as SGS, a grape and stone fruit marketing organization based in Traver, CA.

Ms. Wilson is "a real complement to the SGS team," said Dave Parker, director of marketing. "Her experience is going to be good for us, and she will fit in really well with this experienced sales team at SGS."

SunnyRidge Farm Inc. has successfully received the first shipment of raspberries from its company-owned farms in Jalisco, Mexico, which was sold to one of its top retailer customers.

The Ottawa-based Dispute Resolution Corp. issued an alert to its members the last week of December stating that its staff has "received an increased number of reports of fraudulent activity involving cross-border transactions."

DRC President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Whitney said that these fraudulent firms appear to be well organized and can put up a very good front that can fool some people. He said these companies are operating "outside of the confines of DRC membership," but in other ways they appear to be legitimate.