North Carolina, well known in the fresh produce industry for being the No. 1 producer of sweet potatoes in the United States, is also a major supplier of blueberries, white potatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons and a wide variety of summer vegetables including cucumbers, squashes, greens and other field crops. Now the state has a new marketing campaign to tout its agricultural diversity as well. "We are ranked fourth in the United States in blueberry production with 22.9 million pounds on over 4,000 acres reported in 2004," said Jeff Jennings, manager of domestic marketing programs for the North

The complete judge's finding on the New York City lawsuit, recently won by the Hunts Point wholesale fresh produce market, will not be released until late May or early June. Even when the findings are released, another part of the suit will still not be resolved until this summer. Myra Gordon, executive administrative director of the New York Hunts Point Terminal Cooperative Inc., which is the management association running the Hunts Point market, said that there were seven points in the lawsuit, which was filed early this year. The market won the first point, which was that New York City was

The Vidalia Onion Committee in Vidalia, GA, has announced an addition to its internal staff. William Braddy of Vidalia joined the office this growing season as the committee's compliance officer. Mr. Braddy worked for Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Service for 14 years as a field officer and is also self-employed as a home improvement contractor. He will spend at least three days a week traveling throughout the 20-county Vidalia growing region calling on the growers and handlers at their businesses to address any compliance questions they might have and to ensure that they are

Unless all involved parties sign off on an emergency measure to buy water from Colorado's Western Slope, a recent decision to shut down nearly 450 irrigation wells on the state's Eastern Plains could lead to catastrophic losses for some farmers and outright bankruptcy for others. A preliminary deal came to light May 12 that could offset a water engineer's May 8 decision to shut down 449 wells from Brighton to Fort Morgan northeast of Denver. Essentially, the deal would allow affected farmers to buy water from the Windy Gap Project through the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District and

Southeast Colorado watermelon grower Bill Grasmick and his wife, Lauren, are planning a weekend adventure in New York City later this summer, courtesy of Nunhems USA Inc. Mr. Grasmick's name was drawn in April in Nunhems' nationwide "Give Me Liberty" Sweepstakes, and he could not be happier. "Oh, gosh. I thought it was one of those deals where they tell you, 'You've won something,' and then you find out the rest of the story," he told The Produce News. The Nunhems sweepstakes promoted the Liberty hybrid seedless watermelon, a variety that Mr. Grasmick grows in Granada, CO. His family has been

MONTEREY, CA -- Agriculture needs to fully recognize its vital role - and be recognized - as part of the solution for food, fiber, fuel and more, California Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura told an audience assembled May 11 at the 76th annual meeting of the Salinas, CA-based Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. Mr. Kawamura said that there is "amazing technology taking place around the planet," and added that if Salinas and Monterey County could become energy-independent that it would "increase tremendously the economy in your areas." Mr. Kawamura and Grower-Shipper