REEDLEY, CA -- It came as a surprise to the staff of the Reedley, CA-based California Tree Fruit Agreement, which had recommended a budget for the 2006 marketing season based on a steady-as-she-goes 20-cents-per-carton assessment on California peaches, nectarines and plums. But since the lighter crop volume would have necessitated a cutback in certain promotional programs if the assessment level were unchanged, the peach and nectarine committees both voted to increase their assessment by one penny, to 21 cents a carton, in order to be able to fully fund the planned programs. The assessment

Christopher Ranch LLC has announced that it has earned a 95 percent of "Excellent" rating for its HACCP program from Primus Labs in Santa Maria, CA, in April and a 97 percent "Excellent" rating from Sillkier Inc. of Homewood, IL, in May for its processed garlic production. "Food safety is of paramount importance, and we work continuously to improve and maintain high standards of quality and sanitation in our growing, processing and packing facilities," Christopher Ranch said in a statement. "Besides our comprehensive HACCP program, Christopher Ranch employs an extensive Good Manufacturing

Officials at Mann Packing Co. in Salinas, CA, have retained Bruce Gilkerson to serve as the company's sales manger for the central region of the United States. Mr. Gilkerson replaces Mark Plantan, who Mann promoted to vice president of retail sales on April 11. Mr. Gilkerson is a 20-year veteran of the produce industry. He seems to have come full circle, having helped Mann launch its fresh-cut vegetable line in the early 1990s as a food broker for PMP/Calkins (a food broker covering the Chicago market). Mr. Gilkerson was with PMP for 10 years before leaving the firm to become vice president of

As a result of finding six fruit flies within a three-mile radius, agricultural officials have established a quarantine zone in California's Fresno County that will adversely affect at least 500 acres of fresh figs. "The bad news is that it impacts 5 percent of our crop," said Richard Matoian, manager of the California Fig Advisory Board. "The good news is that it is only 5 percent." Speaking with The Produce News Tuesday, May 23, Mr. Matoian said that state and federal agricultural officials were going to take a few more days before officially confirming the quarantine boundaries, but the

While damage to Washington's cherry crop is expected to be minimal, predictions are that the state's apple crop did not fare so well following a violent rain and hail storm which pounded the Prescott, WA, area May 20. Broetje Orchards appears to have been the epicenter of the storm, and officials at the firm are saying that as much as 50 percent of the company's apples may have sustained damage. According to an account in the Tri-City Herald, Broetje Orchards Grower Manager Joe Shelton said that fruit was "bruised, split in half and knocked off the trees." Proprietor Ralph Broetje clearly has

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