Village Farms LP is a North American-based company with headquarters in Delta, BC, and in Heathrow, FL.

The company is a leading producer of high-quality greenhouse produce. It operates more than 262 acres and markets an additional 120 acres of greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers across North America.

Helen L. Aquino, marketing manager for Village Farms, told The Produce News that Vancouver is home of Village Farms International where it has greenhouses located just south in Delta.

The April CPMA Convention and Trade Show in Vancouver, BC, will mark the end of Walt Breeden’s term as chair of the Association, and he’s proud of the accomplishments of his team.

Breeden, director of Canadian sales for The Oppenheimer Group, reflected back on the highlights of his year in the spotlight as he prepares to hand the torch over to Metro’s Bernadette Hamel. “It’s been an outstanding opportunity to be CPMA chair. You don’t realize unless you travel across the country how passionate people are about the produce industry,” he noted.

WASHINGTON—Produce companies will get more time to comment on new Food Safety Modernization Act rules as the Food & Drug Administration announced Wednesday it plans to extend the deadlines for its high-risk foods document and food defense proposal.

FDA plans a 90-day extension, bringing the deadline to June 30, for the proposal that would set new responsibilities for facilities to protect against intentional adulteration or terrorism.

While many Vidalia onion growers were in favor of a recent decision by Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black to set April 21 as the first date Vidalia onions can be packed and shipped each season, Judge Cynthia D. Wright of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit of the Superior Court of Fulton County March 19 ruled in favor of a challenge to that decision from Bland Farms of Glennville, GA.

Meanwhile, Bo Herndon of Herndon Farms in Lyons, GA, a supporter or the mandatory ship date, said he was “shocked” by the judge’s ruling.

Judge Cynthia D. Wright of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit of the Superior Court of Fulton County ruled in favor of Bland Farms' challenge of the legality of the Georgia Department of Agriculture's mandatory uniform start date for the shipping of Vidalia sweet onions.

As a result of the ruling, Bland Farms and other licensed Vidalia sweet onion growers will be able to continue shipping Vidalia sweet onions on their traditional timetable.

According to some sources, the lime market hit $80 for a 40-pound carton during mid-March, and the demand-exceeds-supply situation should remain in force for at least several weeks and could last as long as several months.

“We had an $80 market this week,” Ronnie Cohen, vice president of sales for Vision Import Group LLC in River Edge, NJ, told The Produce News March 18. “I don’t think I have ever seen it go over $55 before. It got to $50 and it just kept rising, going up $5 at a time.”