The peak volumes of the Northwest's record cherry crop may have passed, but cherry season at Stemilt Growers is far from over thanks to Kyle Mathison's high-elevation orchard operation called Amigos.

With a name that is Spanish for "friends," the Amigos ranch sits between 3,000 and 3,500 feet above sea level, not too far from the Mathison family's original homestead on Stemilt Hill. The high altitude combined with late- ripening cherry varieties extends Stemilt's cherry harvest into late August.

August is the month during which 48 states are producing tomatoes, according to David Cook, sales manager of Deardorff Family Farms in Oxnard, CA. Hence, commercial production from California and Baja California, Mexico, is designed to drop off a bit during the time that local production and home-grown deals around the United States proliferate.

"Late next week, supplies will get a little heavier," Mr. Cook said Aug. 7.

As many as 25 growers have already been certified under the commodity- specific Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices program, according to Laura Phelps, president of the American Mushroom Institute, which is based in Washington, DC.

Ms. Phelps met with The Produce News Aug. 4 in the AMI's Avondale, PA, satellite office to discuss MGAP and other industry topics.

Meijer, the Michigan-based supermarket chain widely credited with inventing the supercenter concept almost 50 years ago, has expanded the locally grown produce program that it launched 75 years ago.

The company was founded in Greenville, MI, in 1934 by Dutch immigrant Hendrik Meijer. His son, Frederik Meijer, was chairman of the board for many years, and now the privately owned company is run by the founder's grandsons, Hank and Doug Meijer.

Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of the Pear Bureau Northwest in Milwaukie, OR, said that the industry is preparing to market one of its better crops during 2009-10.

"We are expecting a large crop ranking in the top three," he told The Produce News in late July. "It will be a balanced manifest. I think we're going to see a big crop with a beautiful finish."

CORVALLIS, OR -- Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, an association of potato farmers along the Oregon-California border, has been awarded exclusive rights to grow and market a new purple fingerling developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and three Northwest universities.