Shane Watt, director of sweet potatoes for Wada Farms Marketing Group in Idaho Falls, ID, and Mac Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Category Partners LLC, a retail-service marketing arm owned by Wada Farms, are working together to help retailers understand the strong sweet potato trends and to assist them in expanding their lines to take advantage of the great opportunities that the product offers today.

Wayne Garber, a partner in Garber Farms in Iota, LA, told The Produce News that the consumer is going to like this year’s crop.

“We’re 60-percent harvested as of today,” he said Sept. 27. “We had a dry and hot growing season, so we had to irrigate almost continually since planting. Fortunately, moisture in September from Hurricane Lee gave us some relief. It was an expensive crop due to all the irrigation, but it worked. The crop quality is excellent this year, and volumes are average to above average.”

There are big things happening this year at Nash Produce. The 2011-12 sweet potato crop in North Carolina is off to an extraordinary start. Acreage is up, yields are increased and Nash Produce is seeing great volume and quality for this year's crop.

Staying ahead of the curve and continuing its proactive stance, Nash Produce has added numerous new resources to better fulfill its commitment to quality and customer service.

Despite a triple whammy of drought, high temperatures and a freeze last February that will no doubt lead to a slight decrease in the overall crop, Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX, expects to have plenty of high-quality fruit coming out of its groves this season.

The Edinburg Citrus Association in Edinburg, TX, is growing again, planting new grapefruit and orange acreage and adding to its staff as it makes ready to celebrate its 80th anniversary this season.

The new acreage adds to the several thousand the association already tends, but the new groves will not bear literal fruit for three-to-five years. The new staff, however, will start yielding dividends right away.

Elias Hernandez recently came aboard as grove care manager, after being part of the staff at the Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center.

Marion Tabard, director of marketing for Turbana Corp. in Coral Gables, FL, said that banana growers in Colombia’s Turbo region are recovering from the effects of flooding earlier this year and moving into a period of exceptional banana production.