Farm bill, water quality standards among issues in CPAC focus
Along with the rest of the produce industry, the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee was awaiting a final farm bill from Congress later in January, and CPAC Executive Director Jim Ehrlich said a number of items in the bill are of particular interest.
Index Fresh adds to its field staff team
Index Fresh, a grower-owned packing, marketing and shipping company located in Bloomington, CA, has added Bailey DiIoia to its field staff. He will be working with Gary Nichols to serve California's Ventura County growers.
Organic pioneer bumped into career selling produce
It was the mid-1970s, and like many other young transplanted Midwesterners, the 20-something Earl Herrick was simply enjoying life in San Francisco. He grew up in Ohio but moved west to try something different.
Riveridge Produce teaches Millenials how to bake an apple pie
Once upon a time in American culture, nothing was easier than making apple pie.
But somewhere between the creation of the Internet and Tweeting, the simple art was lost.
Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc., hasn’t given up on the “Millennials” or Generation Y, which involves people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
Stable transportation rates predicted through spring
The typical heavy Christmas pull for fruits and vegetables combined with the weather issues and reluctance of some drivers to hit the road over the holidays caused freight rates to spike a bit through December. And while there was some lingering effect with $7,000 cross country rates still being quoted in early January, industry experts were expecting adequate supplies and a small drop in rates during the late winter/early spring period.
Foxy and Mother Nature's Farm expanding quinoa sales
One can't pick up a food magazine or watch a cable food show without seeing the wonders of quinoa explored. Often it is paired with vegetables and now a clamshell pack of quinoa is available in some retail produce departments.
Kroger and Harris Teeter deal gets early approval from FTC
The Kroger Co. and Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. announced that the Federal Trade Commission granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 with respect to the pending merger transaction between the two companies.
The early termination of the HSR waiting period satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the pending merger, which remains subject to other customary closing conditions. Both companies expect the transaction to be completed before the end of January.
Colorado water situation is a Tale of Two Basins
A comparison of water resources and availability in two of Colorado’s geographic regions reads like a Tale of Two Basins.
Dave Nettles, division engineer for Div. 1 of the state engineer’s office in Greeley, CO, said prospects in 2014 have greatly improved in the South Platte River Basin. The basin services agricultural producers located within or near the state’s most populous metropolitan area, the Front Range. Last year was turbulent for the region’s fresh producers, who saw their ability to irrigate severely curtailed.
Organic Trade Association appoints Laura Batcha new CEO and executive director
The Organic Trade Association appointed Laura Batcha as its new chief executive officer and executive director -- the fourth person to hold the position in the association's 29-year history. The announcement was made in a Jan. 7 press release.
Batcha replaces Christine Bushway in the position.
Michigan’s gained time applied to future of Jack Brown and others
Mixed blessings may arrive in odd packaging.
When a series of devastating freezes struck Michigan’s early blooming apple crop in April 2012, the state’s tiny potential apples turned black and died.
Damage done, the good part of this story began its flow.
The Michigan apple industry has been on a positive roll for years. The Great Lakes State is located just a day-long truck delivery from many major Eastern markets.