"Movement is just so-so," Paul Dolan said of the Red River Valley potato deal on Nov. 16. “It's not as brisk as we hoped it would be for Thanksgiving.”

Speaking from his Grand Forks, ND, office, where he is manager of Associated Potato Growers Inc., Mr. Dolan indicated, “Markets are holding but the demand is so-so. And the truck situation is really tight. It hasn’t been this bad in five years for trucks, so transportation is causing some of the lack of movement, as well.”

Over the past decade Bland Farms LLC has expanded from its Glennville, GA, headquarters to locations throughout the world, adding new sweet onion- growing areas to its network as it has become one of the nation's larger purveyors of Vidalia onions and one of the larger in the onion category.

This year, that product line has been expanded with the addition of the EverMild, a sweet onion from the Pacific Northwest. Bland partnered with River Point Farms in Hermiston, OR, to add the newly developed onion to its lineup.

A late-running Idaho Russet Burbank potato harvest created a series of events making this potato shipping season "a little strange," according to David Haun, president of Haun Potato Co., based in Shawnee Mission, KS.

Sweet Onion Trading Co., headquartered in Melbourne, FL, markets a variety of domestically grown and imported sweet onions throughout the year. "We are active in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Vidalia, California, Nevada and Washington," President Barry Rogers told The Produce News Nov. 14.

He went on to say that difficult weather during the growing season affected all regions with the exception of California during 2010. “All of the issues had to do with too much rain,” he stated. Conditions have affected sizing and per- acre yield.

L&M Cos. Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, NC, and with branch offices in 12 other locations around the country, is a vertically integrated supplier of an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, functioning variously as grower, packer, shipper, marketer, broker, distributor, importer and exporter.

Potatoes and onions constitute one of the company's four core commodity categories — the others being apples, pears and cherries; limes, mangos and Texas-grown produce; and a wide array of vegetables.

Idaho potatoes may be the core product for Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC in Idaho Falls, ID, both currently and historically, but the company is a strong year-round supplier of both potatoes and onions from many producing areas, and of sweet potatoes as well.

"We have potatoes and onions all across the country," said Kevin Stanger, senior vice president of sales and marketing and a partner in the company.

With regard to potatoes, “we have a good strong base throughout all the major potato producing states.”