With early-season shipments of California avocados underway and volume expected to increase in February and March, the California Avocado Commission expects broad availability from April through September and plans for a marketing campaign to support the fruit nationwide. "The heavy rainstorms in California in January were welcomed by most growers because the moisture enhances fruit sizing," Tom Bellamore, president of the commission, said in a Feb. 16 press release. "The forecast for this season's crop is in excess of 470 million pounds with exceptional quality, which means national

One thousand, two hundred and three. That is the number of disputes resolved in the past 10 years by the Fruit & Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corp. The Ottawa-based organization, which was incorporated Oct. 7, 1999, and officially opened its doors for business Feb. 1, 2000, has grown from about 250 members at its onset to nearly 1,300, and those members -- and the produce industry in general -- have reaped the rewards that the DRC has provided over the past decade. The DRC's vision, according to its web site, is for "fair and ethical trade in fresh produce in North America," while its mission

The president of Syngenta Seed Vegetables began a dialogue with the retail community earlier this month in an effort to combine what he called "food science" with "consumer science" to build fruit and vegetable varieties that better fit the needs of the ultimate buyer. For far too long, seed companies have geared their breeding efforts toward solving the needs of growers rather than producing characteristics that consumers want, Syngenta's Dan Burdett said, adding that this has resulted in varieties with increased yield and other production improvements from the producer's viewpoint, but the

In 1999, U.S. consumption of grapefruit reached an all-time high. A decade later, totals stand at half that glorious peak. One-third of growers have abandoned production in the past 10 years, and some even question the future of white grapefruit as a viable commodity. What happened? The Florida citrus industry would love a simple answer to that question. While grapefruit sales overall have plummeted - 80 percent of Americans never touch the stuff. The bottom has literally dropped out of the market for white grapefruit. In 1988-89, Florida growers produced 23 million boxes of colored grapefruit

The California Tree Fruit Agreement in Reedley, CA, has selected Gary Van Sickle as its next president following the departure of Sherrie Mierau in December. The appointment was announced in a Feb. 17 press release. Mr. Van Sickle has been employed by CTFA in various capacities for 34 years, serving as field director, research director and regulatory compliance director, and most recently as assistant manager. His appointment to the top spot was made by the Peach Commodity Committee "on behalf of the joint committees of growers and shippers of California peaches, plums and nectarines,"

"If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?" -- Vince Lombardi It's no secret that I'm a New York Yankees fan. My family, friends and industry associates have accepted my passionate madness every baseball season as a devout supporter of the team. Obviously, 2009 was a winning year, but it wasn't easy as I struggled through many close games. I was totally exhausted from tossing my wife's couch pillows at the TV screen. In the end, the Yankees came out the winners. Thank goodness it was finally over. Besides, I ran out of pillows. In all sectors of life there are