South Florida is currently facing the most serious drought conditions since water tables began being recorded over 90 years ago. The low tables have resulted in the South Florida Water Management District ordering the most severe water usage restrictions on the public, including on the agriculture industry, in its history.

Workers excavating land in Corozal, Belize, in preparation for building headquarters for Homestead, FL-based Brooks Tropicals Inc. have unearthed Mayan artifacts dating back more than 1,500 years.

The discovery occurred about a month ago with workers first finding a wall of a structure. Work was halted, and the Belize Institute of Archaeology was called to the site.

Brooks Tropicals has paid for the excavation to date and will continue to fund the archaeological dig and the preservation of the artifacts, according to Mary Ostlund, director of marketing at Brooks.

WASHINGTON -- Irradiated foods may not have to carry the "irradiation" label or "radura" logo under a proposed rule that represents a shift in policy for the Food & Drug Administration.

The April 4 proposal would require irradiation labeling only for foods in which the irradiation treatment causes "a material change" in the food, such as changes in taste, smell, nutrition or functional properties. FDA cited irradiated bananas as an example of a material change because bananas may be irradiated to delay ripening and extend shelf life.

US Farms Inc., a diversified nursery and farming business based in San Diego, CA, has further diversified with its entrance into the fresh tomato market.

US Farms grows and markets various horticultural products through several subsidies. Previously, the company's primary fresh produce commodities were aloe vera and asparagus.

Three years after its planting, Sun Pacific in Los Angeles is ready to harvest and distribute the Sugraone variety table grape.

"This will be our first year having the Sugraone, and we are very excited to be able to offer it in big volume to our clients as a way to kick off their California table grape program," Tristan Kieva, Sun Pacific's vice president of marketing, said in a press release.

What started in early 2006 as an educational session on organics has become a broader privately operated trade show for Indianapolis Fruit Co. in Indianapolis.

Shane Towne, marketing and new business development coordinator for Indianapolis Fruit, said that the organic show of a year ago was a big success for the wholesale company to educate its retail customers, and in turn their consumers, about organic produce.