The 2009 Idaho potato crop may not have been the largest on record, due to acreage reductions, but it did the highest yield per acre on record, and that "resulted in a very large crop ... significantly larger than we anticipated," according to Frank Mir, president of the Idaho Potato Commission in Eagle, ID.

Other potato-producing areas in the United States also had large 2009 crops, which made moving the Idaho crop all the more challenging.

Del Monte Fresh Produce announced Sept. 14 that it has entered into an agreement with Vistar Corp., a division of Performance Food Group, to distribute its new line of fresh fruit and vegetable vending line products across the country.

You wouldn't have known it by the record high temperatures and dry conditions this summer, but New Jersey is a temperate state, weather-wise.

As such, it’s just a fact of nature’s cycle that New Jersey’s fresh produce season will come to a close in late November and gear up again in March, with the first field-grown produce usually available by May.

Two new web sites, a recipe contest and a new direction in the two-wheeler giveaway program at the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association highlight the group's upcoming promotional plans.

Tim Feit, director of promotions and consumer education for the Antigo, WI- based group, reviewed these and other promotions Aug. 31 with The Produce News.

Brianna Shales believes in putting her best foot forward. The 25-year-old communications specialist at Stemilt Growers Inc. keeps her running shoes laced up, skillfully negotiating her way through any obstacle course she confronts. "I just love being busy," she told The Produce News.