Beginning in September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service will begin conducting spot residue checks at organic operations and of product on retail shelves that is labeled as organic on an ongoing basis because an audit of the National Organic Program revealed some serious violations and lack of proper oversight. The USDA's Office of the Inspector General recently audited the 20-year-old program and issued the finding, which included many recommendations to improve the process of organic certification and to tighten procedures dealing with violations. The

Calling their charitable effort "A Million Apples for Haiti," three musicians from the Yakima, WA, area have joined forces with a number of Washington apple growers to collect 10,000 boxes of donated apples to help provide housing -- and a healthy treat -- for quake victims in Haiti. Members of the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association and The Village Musicians, a band founded by three brothers, plan to work with Hope for the Hungry, a Texas-based nonprofit organization, to provide aid to Haitians displaced by the Jan. 12 earthquake. Several members of the association will donate the

A freak accident recently claimed the lives of two farming and water rights advocates in Colorado. Fifty-six-year-old Ray Wright, board president of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, and 53-year-old Doug Shriver, chairman of the Rio Grande Water Users Association, suffocated after snow slid off the roof of a cabin owned by Mr. Wright and buried them. Both men were well-respected farmers in Colorado's San Luis Valley and were known for their efforts to oppose a move in the 1990s to divert water from a valley ranch to service growing suburbs in the Denver area. They continued to

Of the more than 130 companies listed as creditors in the Dubois & Son bankruptcy filing, the majority will be unlikely to collect on debts owed to them. Court documents filed by the company's attorney, Robert Furr of Boca Raton, FL, said that after exempt property is excluded and administrative costs are paid, there would be few, if any, remaining funds for distribution to unsecured creditors. Dubois & Son, based in Boynton Beach, FL, was an agriculture leader in the state for 75 years and was one of the nation's larger pepper growers in the 1980s. Last year, revenues were just over $14

BRONX, NY -- Boosting publicity for the Hunts Point Terminal Market, here, is among the responsibilities of Myra Gordon. There are a number of noteworthy publicity projects underway, thanks to Ms. Gordon, who is the executive administrative director for the New York Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative. In a meeting with The Produce News in her office March 11, Ms. Gordon noted that she is working with a reporter for New York's Daily News on a story about women in the Hunts Point produce business. The story involves a number of women who are part of family businesses. "When I first worked

The former chief executive officer of Customized Brokers, a Miami-based Customs brokerage, announced March 18 that Patricia Compres, its founder and former chief executive officer, has ended her 20-year tenure at the company. The split was effective March 12. Ms. Compres founded Customized Brokers in 1989 and over the last two decades developed the company into a well-respected organization, facilitating the importation of billions of dollars worth of produce from around the world, according to a March 18 press release. In March 2009, the company was acquired by Crowley Holdings Inc., which