From the time he was 14, Kevin Stennes knew he wanted to make his living working on the family farm. So did his younger brother Mark  well, younger by nine minutes that is.

Like many identical twins, the 23-year-old brothers have many things in common besides looks, including the same hobbies and even the same careers.

Dole banana containers made the television networks' national broadcasts in the days following Hurricane Katrina, as cameramen panned piles of rubble in Gulfport, MS. There, amid the crushed chaos of Gulfport, the familiar red logo could be seen on containers that were twisted and washed into huge piles of debris.

"I don't know of anybody not getting a fuel surcharge," said David Lund of Allen Lund Co. Inc. in Los Angeles, putting a definite emphasis on the word not.

It might be listed as a surcharge or it is in the rate they quote but they are getting it, he added. More and more, our carriers are demanding a fuel surcharge as a separate line item.

And even with the surcharge, Mr. Lund said that trucks are tight and many drivers arent willing to haul product because they are not making any money.

Between battling citrus canker for the past decade, overcoming the damage and destruction caused by a four-hurricane disaster in 2004, and numerous other problems that have plagued Florida's citrus industry in recent years, the state is now faced with the threat and fear of an outbreak of Liberibacter asiaticus, commonly known as citrus greening, a bacterial disease that kills citrus trees.

It is said that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and such is the case for HydroSerre Mirabel Inc. of Mirabel, QC. Though the company has seen several changes during 2005, its mission of producing the highest-quality hydroponic Boston lettuce, specialty lettuce such as mache, cress and arugula, and fresh herbs continues unabated, just as it has since it was founded in 1987.

In my role as vice president of public policy at the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, I am frequently asked this question. The answer is, get involved, beginning with the Washington Public Policy Conference.

Efforts to shape national legislation and federal regulations are a never-ending job for any major industry, as tomorrow's challenges quickly replace yesterdays successes.