The Organic Trade Association is the North American membership-based trade association whose mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy. It is the leading voice for organic trade in the United States, representing over 6,500 organic businesses across 49 states.

Some substantial and much-needed rain in the Rio Grande Valley have perked up the Texas citrus crop and has made for a busy first half of the season, said Trent Bishop, vice president of sales at Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX.

“It has been a good season for us in Texas so far,” Bishop said. “We’ve had some timely rains, the quality of the fruit is really nice, the support from the retail sector has been consistent, and we’ve been able to maintain a nice market.”

Sunkist Growers is kicking off 2014 with a promotion to help consumers "peel away the pounds."

Teaming up with NBC's hit series "The Biggest Loser," Sunkist is launching a national sweepstakes offering consumers a chance to win one of two trips to The Biggest Loser Resort, an award-winning immersive weight-loss program with locations in Chicago, Ivins, UT, Malibu, CA, and Niagara, NY.

Knowing there may be some risk in looking like a spoilsport, the folks at Pink Lady America are defying tradition by asking those giving not-so-healthy gifts on Valentine’s Day to instead consider more nutritious alternatives.

A package of $20 million in research funding approved by Congress for the benefit of the U.S. citrus industry will largely be used to help find a cure for Huanglongbing — a devastating vector-carried disease now endemic in Florida — and to help develop biological controls to keep the Asian citrus psyllid, which can spread the disease, from ever reaching endemic proportions in California.

Columbia Reach Pack, part of the Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers group of grower-packers, began packing on its newly installed line in mid-January, according to Scott Marboe, marketing director for Wenatchee, WA-based Oneonta.

Columbia Reach, located in Yakima, WA, began marketing through Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers more than a decade ago, and Marboe said apples produced by the operation are sorted and packed by state-of-the-art equipment.