Pinto Bros. Inc. occupies units G-7 through G-9 in the blue-banner section of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, and was among the original companies to take occupancy in the market when it opened nearly four years ago.

Todd Penza, sales representative for the company, told The Produce News that the company received its first Primus GFS audit in January 2014, and its commitment to maintaining it continues to stand strong.

Nimitz, the new non-fumigant nematicide with simplified application and worker-safety features, is going into use for the first time this spring as growers in the Carolinas plant cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, squash and tomatoes. The liquid product that kills roundworm pests was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for those produce crops last fall.

Limehouse Produce in Charleston, SC, and Clemson University created a partnership about three years ago that has resulted in nine small farms located in Charleston County becoming certified as Good Agricultural Practices firms at little or no expense to the farms. The partnership was formed to address obstacles facing local farms seeking GAP certification in view of increasingly stringent food safety requirements.

It was invented hundreds of years ago by the Chinese, but American researchers are trying to copy the idea in hopes it will work here. The idea is that putting paper bags over young peaches as they develop protects them from insects, disease, abrasion, etc. The test began this spring, when researchers at Clemson University in Clemson, SC, placed bags on immature, thumb-size peaches about four weeks after the trees bloomed.

WEST COLUMBIA, SC — Greens tell the story of the Clayton Rawl Farms. The Rawl family began growing leafy greens and green onions on Calks Ferry Road in Lexington County, SC, in 1948. They sold almost all of their produce at the nearby South Carolina Farmers Market here. Clayton Rawl grew up working with his family on the farm. His sons, Spanky and Chris, did the same. In 1982, the trio formed Clayton Rawl Farms, today one of the larger leafy green growers in the Southeast.

W.P. Rawl & Sons Inc. in Pelion, SC, will host Katie’s Krops Camp, a total-immersion growing experience July 8-11 for young Katie’s Krops growers from across the country. Once a year, over the summer, about 15 young growers with a parent or chaperone are invited to travel to South Carolina and the farm of W.P. Rawl, camp sponsor. W.P. Rawl is a family-owned and operated farm that specializes in leafy greens and other seasonal vegetables.