Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA, has announced that the shareholders have purchased a 49 percent interest in Henry Avocado Corp. As a result, the two companies have formed a strategic alliance. "Initially, we are going to be sharing fruit and information and talking everyday," said Steve Barnard, president and chief executive officer of Mission. "The plan right now is to continue to operate the two firms separately as they have in the past," said Phil Henry, president of Henry Avocado. "But we will be looking at how we can create efficiencies in both distribution and marketing." In separate

Valentine's Day brings lots of red heart cards, candy boxes and Cupids with quivers winging about. And in Wisconsin, it heralds a uniquely special way to say, "I love you" -- with a heart-healthy serving of the state's own potatoes. Wisconsin grows more varieties of potatoes than any other state, and it is the only state to earn national recognition for developing its own proprietary brand of identity-preserved potato, the Healthy Grown potato. Wisconsin farmers developed Healthy Grown potatoes because they realized that they - perhaps more than any other group in the state - could have a

MONTE VISTA, CO -- By an overwhelming majority of 79 percent to 21 percent, potato grower-shippers in Colorado's San Luis Valley have voted to retain their federal and state marketing orders' mandatory inspections. Results of the vote were announced by Colorado Potato Administrative Committee Chairman Tom Ford at CPAC's annual meeting Feb. 1. In making the announcement, which came at the end of the well-attended evening event, Mr. Ford said that 157 growers were registered to vote on the matter. Of those eligible, 153 cast ballots, with 121 voting to retain mandatory inspections and 32 voting

MONTE VISTA, CO -- With a 10 percent reduction in acreage in 2005, potato growers and shippers in Colorado's San Luis Valley were seeing predictable shortages in January as well as the hoped-for result of such a reduction: higher returns on their product. Planted acres were stated at 58,000, down from 63,000 in 2004, and Linda Weyers, assistant executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, said that figures in January indicated shipments that month were ahead of the same time period the previous year. Total shipments (480 hundredweight equivalents) through December were

Joe Marino realizes it is a special honor to be named New Jersey's Outstanding Young Farmer. Being given that honor at the same time as his father, Russell, is receiving a Distinguished Service to New Jersey Agriculture Award, and just months after his mother, Judi, was honored by the Gloucester County Board of Agriculture for her contributions to the industry, makes it even more special for this farmer. "If anybody's been dedicated to farming and his community, it's my dad," Joe said of his father. "So it is special to receive the awards at the same time." The men were slated to receive their

LANSDALE, PA -- Chilean exporters were moving sourcing from the early, northern Copiapo Valley to Chile's central valley as February arrived, and importers have said that the Chilean grape business was making the transition between the two areas, with late Copiapo grapes showing some discoloration. Kenny Tsunoda at All Fresh Produce Inc. in Los Angeles said Feb. 1 that this "transition is occurring as it normally does this time of year. The later Thompsons out of the northern area are seeing a little more discoloration and occasional condition problems as we finish in that district. As far as