Laura Phelps, president of the American Mushroom Institute in Washington, DC, said that for the third consecutive year, mushroom sales have exceeded $1 billion in value, with sales totaling 896 million pounds, according to the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service mushroom survey. Pennsylvania accounted for 62 percent of the total volume of sales and second-ranked California contributed 13 percent.

Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, WA, and Lantao of Shanghai, China, have teamed up to be the first marketers of Washington-grown Starkrimson pears in China under the new protocol between the United States and China announced earlier this year.

Just like its name implies, Starkrimson pears have a crimson red color that brightens as its ripens. It has a juicy texture and sweet flavor with a floral essence.

Continuing in its direct-to-consumer marketing campaign, the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee will again dovetail with the U.S. Potato Board’s promotional efforts.

Linda Weyers, assistant director of CPAC, said, “Our goal is to educate consumers on the fact potatoes are very nutritious and also non-fattening, and we will be coordinating our message with the USPB’s ‘Hungry Girl’ campaign starting this fall.”

Attendance and sponsorships soared by more than 20 percent over recent years at the 70th annual Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association convention, Sept. 22-25 at the Amelia Island (FL) Ritz-Carlton. State and industry leaders gathered to discuss topics like labor, pending healthcare reform, new varieties coming from the University of Florida research pipeline and the overall state of the industry.

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AMELIA ISLAND, FL — With the Florida citrus market decimated by HLB, also known as citrus greening disease, to the tune of more than $4.5 billion in crops and some 8,300 jobs lost, a new private-public partnership announced at the 70th annual Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association convention at the Ritz-Carlton resort, here, will provide a significant boost for research.

When the Idaho Potato Commission first unveiled its plans for a Big Idaho Potato Truck that would tour across the country, the industry could have scarcely imagined how successful the truck and its crew would be at garnering media attention as well as attracting crowds wherever it went.