IMMOKALEE, FL -- Larry Lipman, chief executive officer of the Lipman Family of Companies, made his retirement official with a Jan. 5 announcement to his staff. In early December Mr. Lipman acknowledged his pending retirement plans but did not share exact details regarding the expected timeline for his departure or plans for a CEO search.

Mature ferns in central Florida that were scheduled for harvest for Valentine's Day suffered losses due to a prolonged bout of freezing weather in early January, but at least some growers got away with losses of only 20-30 percent, according to David Register, vice president and director of operations for FernTrust.

Florida farmers have weathered the worst of nine consecutive sub-freezing nights, but losses are starting to pile up with one more record-shattering forecast for Jan. 11-12 to get through before temperatures are projected to finally climb above freezing for the rest of the week.

As the Red River Valley red potato industry rolled toward 2010, prices were down dramatically from the pervious year's strong market.

In light of a crop volume that was down 15 percent from 2008-09, there was a sense of frustration on the part of the Red River Valley industry. The feeling was that no matter how well the crop was managed, there was downward market pressure from a huge overabundance of russet potatoes coming from other areas.

The Southeast Produce Council announced Jan. 5 that Peter F. Pero III of Pero Family Farms will receive its 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award this March.

Mr. Pero will be honored during the council's annual retail and foodservice conference and exposition, scheduled for March 4-6 in Tampa, FL. The award will be presented Saturday, March 6, at the keynote luncheon.

The year 2009 has been "a historic year in the garlic industry" with a demand-exceeds-supply situation that has pushed prices for both domestic and imported product to higher levels than anyone has seen in a long time, according to Jim Provost, president of I Love Produce, a grower, importer and marketer of fresh garlic, ginger and specialty produce based in West Grove, PA.