Ernie Dosio, owner of Pacific Agrilands and an agriculture leader based in California, was killed April 17 during a hunting trip to Gabon. He was 75. 

Mr. Dosio’s Modesto, CA-based vineyard comprises more than 12,000 acres. The company also specializes in harvesting and farm-management services. 

A Lodi, CA, resident, Mr. Dosio was a conservationist with humanitarian efforts tied to his safari expeditions. He was also well known for his charitable support, especially for agricultural groups and children’s organizations. 

Windset Farms is bringing fresh innovation to this year’s Canadian Produce Marketing Association Convention and Trade Show in Toronto, April 28–30, showcasing its latest greenhouse-grown product introductions and continued focus on delivering high-flavor, premium produce with peak color, quality and consistency.

Warmer March weather in California’s fig orchards has given way to more average temperatures in April, but it’s likely fig harvest will be a bit earlier than normal.

Erik Herman, who packs and sells California figs grown by his family’s farming operation, Specialty Crop Co., said it’s likely the first variety off the trees, Black Mission, will probably be harvesting in late May instead of early June. That crop, known as the breba crop, is fruit that set on last year’s growth wood.

As North Carolina sweet potato growers prepare fields with seed beds, they are facing an extremely dry spring, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture declaring 82 of the state’s counties as natural disaster areas in mid-April.

At Vick Family Farms, based in Wilson, NC, sweet potato seed beds are under drip irrigation, but with more than 10,000 acres of various crops, irrigating every field is impossible.

“Our water sources are down considerably and we desperately need rain,” said Charlotte Vick, partner/sales and marketing manager at Vick Family Farms.

MANHEIM, PA – Four Seasons Produce, a wholesaler based in Ephrata, PA, that is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026, hosted its fourth annual Fresh Fest Independent Retailer Trade Show & Conference on April 21 at The Junction Center, here. In all, more than 400 attendees gathered in this rural area of the Keystone State to network and promote their items to independent retailers and natural food store leaders.