WASHINGTON -- Two growers told stories of labor shortages in the fields and orchards at a Jan. 10 press conference that marked the beginning of the agricultural worker debate in the new Democrat-controlled Congress.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) reintroduced the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits & Security Act Jan. 10. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Howard Berman (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA) introduced the House companion bill the same day.

With no smoking gun, Taco Bell supplier Ready Pac Produce Inc. finds itself in an awkward position.

"We're trying to put the feathers back in the pillow that [the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] and [the Food & Drug Administration] pulled out," said Steve Dickstein, marketing vice president for Ready Pac. "We're as dumbfounded as anybody."

Year-to-date shipments of California Navel oranges were running ahead of last season as of Jan. 2, even though the estimated 2006-07 crop is smaller than last year's bumper crop, according to Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA.

The 2005-06 California Navel orange crop came in heavier than expected at a whopping 91 million cartons. This season, as the Navel harvest got under way last fall, the California Agricultural Statistics Service estimated the 2006-07 crop to be about 27 percent lighter than that, or about 66 million cartons.

PHILADELPHIA -- Seald Sweet International LLC in Vero Beach, FL, began selling Brazilian grapes in December, which is a new venture for the traditionally citrus-focused operation.

"Seald Sweet," of course, is among the older and more established Florida citrus brands. It did not seem to be a huge leap in the last decade when Seald Sweet moved to marketing citrus from other countries and other states. Such progress was greatly bolstered two years ago when Uni-Veg Group in Sint- Katelijne-Waver, Belgium, became the majority owner of Seald Sweet.

Twin Garden Sales Inc. is expecting its first shipment of lemons from Turkey the second week in January, and if all goes as planned, additional lemons will be available on a consistent basis through the spring.

The first shipment of 2,000 boxes was expected to arrive Monday, Jan. 8, at Port Elizabeth, NJ, Jack Lambke of the Harvard, IL-based company told The Produce News Wednesday, Jan. 3. The lemons will then be trucked from Port Elizabeth to Procacci Bros. Sales Corp. in Philadelphia, where they will be stored until they are ready for delivery.

DENVILLE, NJ -- Every company likes its employees to add depth to the organization as it strives to better serve its customers. In the case of Johnson Associated Fruit Co. Inc., that depth has been supplied most recently by Gregg Johnson and Kevin Johnson, the two sons of company President Bob Johnson.

The produce brokerage company, founded by Bob Johnson in 1992 and headquartered here, buys f.o.b. from all over the country. Its customers are primarily wholesalers and small retailers in the Northeast.