Thanks to favorable peach growing weather, New Jersey is projecting an excellent crop of yellow peaches, white peaches and nectarines.

New Jersey's crop enjoyed a winter with near perfect chill hours and a very favorable spring with just the right amount of rain. In anticipation of a full crop, growers did heavy thinning to increase size. Fruit quality appears to be outstanding.

ROTTERDAM, NY -- Imagine a 110-story building and an 18-story building lying on their sides perpendicular to each other. This might give some idea of the sheer size of the new produce freight consolidation facility that Railex LLC, a division of ADS Management, is building here.

"We have witnessed tremendous growth in our marketplace in the past three to five years," said Pete Piazza, president of Piazza Produce in Indianapolis. "The city has grown by leaps and bounds, and restaurants are opening at a proportionate rate."

NEWARK, DE -- The Produce Marketing Association announced July 17 its 2006-07 Foodservice Board of Directors during the PMA Foodservice Conference & Exposition, July 14-16, in Monterey, CA.

Foodservice board Chairman Mikel Weber, vice president of Eastern operations for Golden Corral Corp. in Raleigh, NC, is supported by 16 directors. Board members are:

-- Mark Austin, vice president of Hardie's Fruit & Vegetable Co. LP in Dallas.

-- Leonard Batti, vice president of production and processing for NewStar Fresh Foods in Salinas, CA.

At the request of its Canadian members, the Organic Trade Association is expanding its efforts in Canada by establishing an OTA Canada division.

"This fulfills a long-term goal of OTA to create a stronger presence in Canada," Caren Wilcox, OTA's executive director, said in a statement.

Ms. Wilcox noted that the association has always had members from Canada on its board and, in fact, was founded in part by Canadians. This move comes as Canada is preparing to issue its federal organic standards, which will require much attention from OTA.

After years of negotiations, Canadian produce groups announced that an agreement has been reached to modernize the country's destination inspection service and ultimately produce a system that will guarantee timely and accurate inspections.

The agreement calls for a restructuring of the destination inspection service of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and collection and allocation of resources to make the program sustainable.