Stemilt Growers is taking Rainier cherries to an even higher level with a new, state-of-the-art optical sizer and in-line cluster cutter. The new equipment allows Stemilt to size large-sized Rainiers with precision in order to deliver a premium pack to the marketplace.

According to Stemilt’s marketing director, Roger Pepperl, optical sizing has been used on apples for many years, but is especially beneficial to Rainiers, a delicate cherry variety that must be handled gently at every step in the packing process.

Stemilt founder Tom Mathison was honored posthumously by the Washington Agriculture & Forestry Education Foundation, more commonly known as Ag Forestry, with the 2011 Stu Bledsoe Leadership Award.

Stu Bledsoe was a well-known agriculture leader and served as the executive director of the Washington Forest Protection Association from 1978 to 1988.

Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak, one of the larger produce companies on California’s Central Coast, has launched a new web site to reflect its “Seed to Sale” philosophy of marketing its product.

In 1925, Walter P. Rawl and his wife, Ernestine Price Rawl, started selling farm-canned fresh peaches and vegetables to local markets. That was the beginning of Walter P. Rawl & Sons Inc., now a major provider of fresh and value-added produce headquartered in Pelion, SC.

With a red-hot market for peppers, Boone, NC-based Sy Katz Produce Inc. is well-positioned for a spicy spring and summer, with a focus on bell and variety peppers grown on its North Carolina farms.

The pepper program at Sy Katz has grown steadily in recent years, including a 30 percent jump last season, according to President Owen Margolis.

“It is pretty much business as usual for us,” said Bobby Creel, director of business development. “There’s a lot more interest in locally grown and people wanting locally grown in the Carolinas.”