With 7,200 acres in the ground for the 2023 season, the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas has the potential for harvesting its largest onion crop in a decade.

At least that’s the view of Dante Galeazzi, president of the Texas International Produce Association and manager of the South Texas Onion Committee. The committee is responsible for managing Federal Marketing Onion 959, which collects assessments from Texas onion producers to enforce quality standards, fund research and conduct marketing programs.

The onion marketing situation seems to be lining up well for the start of the Texas spring onion deal as some of the competitive production areas are close to clearing out their supplies, leaving a supply void to be filled by Rio Grande Valley production.

Though Paul J. DiMare Sr. started his produce career at the family’s wholesale operation in Boston, he made his biggest mark in the Florida tomato industry, earning the nickname Mr. Tomato along the way.

Born of necessity because of a Listeria outbreak in the apple industry, a Canadian-based company has developed and is offering a 30-second innovative waterless technology to kill up to 99.99 percent of pathogens on virtually any fruit or vegetable.

Mark DeFrancesco, founder and president of 4M Fruit Distributors in Chelsea, MA, died on Friday, Feb. 17, of undetermined causes at the age of 71. 

In 1948, two generations of the Wilcox family established Floyd Wilcox & Sons in the little town of Thornton, ID. Seventy-five years later, the fourth generation of family members has moved into leadership positions with the same fire in the belly to grow, pack, sell and ship the best potatoes they can in whatever packs align with the demands of their customers and consumers.