On Tuesday, Dec. 31, just prior to Bill De Blasio being sworn in as the new mayor of New York City, the New York City Economic Development Corp., then still under the leadership of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, announced that the city has renewed the Hunts Point Terminal Market lease for an additional seven years.

The lease renewal news comes on the heels of years of negotiation attempts between Hunts Point and the city, which owns the property. Those negotiations were at times antagonistic and disagreeable.

TRENTON, NJ — The New Jersey Agricultural Convention & Trade Show will take place Feb. 4-6, 2014, at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, New Jersey Blueberry Association, Garden State Winegrowers Association and Rutgers University's New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station are coordinating the annual gathering that includes educational and informational opportunities and an impressive trade show.

Business is brisk for Borton & Sons Inc., headquartered in Yakima, WA. “Apple movement to date has been good,” said Eric Borton, vice president of international sales and marketing. “We have felt some effects from such a large crop across the rest of the United States, but have been pleased with the movement so far. We have been progressing nicely through our early storage rooms and are well on track in terms of our sell through goals for our 2013 crop.”

“In terms of our crop, we look extremely good this year,” Lee Peters, vice president of sales and marketing for Fowler Brothers, Inc., in Wolcott, NY, told The Produce News in mid-December. “We plant more trees and have more production every year. This year our supplies are in good shape and we expect to be shipping into mid-summer. That’s also when we’ll be starting with our new crop for both apples and cider.”

The Chilean Citrus industry, via the Chilean Citrus Committee and Fruits from Chile, wants to provide as much useful information to its U.S. customers about the numerous steps in the supply chain — from growers to exporters to importers and finally to retailers — to keep everyone abreast of the volumes being shipped during any given season and forecasts for that overall season. One way the organizations do that is through videos posted on YouTube and on its "Fruits from Chile" website.

For the 31st consecutive holiday season, Red River Valley potato shippers cooperated with Haun Potato Co., located in Shawnee Mission, KS, to contribute a truckload of potatoes to metropolitan Kansas City’s poor via The Salvation Army.

On Dec. 11, company owner David Haun and his father, Dick (Spud) Haun, received the delivery at a Salvation Army facility in Kansas City, MO.