Washington — News that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO struck an agreement on principles for a guest worker visa program sound encouraging, but it's far from clear what this means for the overhaul of the agricultural worker visa program.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO agreed on how many visas should be offered and how much those workers should be paid, according to a report from the Associated Press. The proposal would allow 20,000 visas for low-skilled workers that would gradually grow to 200,000.

Lisa McNeece, vice president of foodservice and industrial sales at Grimmway Enterprises Inc., will be the guest speaker at the United Fresh Produce Association's annual Reception Honoring Women in Produce, to be held Wednesday, May 15, at United Fresh 2013 in San Diego.

Held each year in conjunction with the United Fresh convention and expo, the Reception Honoring Women in Produce recognizes the contributions of all women working in the produce industry, and selects one individual to share their personal experience of service.

“We’re moving a lot more offshore products, especially items like hard squashes, from Honduras,” said Lou Pizzo, president of Lou Pizzo LLC, in Pompano Beach, FL. “The demand for hard squashes is maintaining through the spring months. We’re still using a lot of summer squashes, such as zucchini and yellow crookneck, but there is definitely more action than there used to be on hard squashes today.”

On Wednesday, April 3, Kurt Zuhlke, president of Kurt Zuhlke & Associates Inc., in Bangor, PA, will be representing his company at the 14th annual 2013 New England Produce & Floral Council Expo, in booth number 319, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston.

“We will be introducing some new items that are under lock and key until they are launched at the show,” said Mr. Zuhlke. “And we will, of course, have our line of clamshells, liners, films, corrugated materials and other packaging options on display.”

CHRISTOPHER DYER joined The Oppenheimer Group’s Houston, TX-based sales team as a business development representative in late February.

As the spring onion crops from California, Texas and Vidalia get going over the next several weeks, they should be greeted by a strong market, which some believe could be very hot while others are tempering their enthusiasm.

Tracy Fowler, general manager of L&M Cos. Inc., which is headquartered in Raleigh, NC, but has onion operations in multiple states, said that storage supplies out of the Northwest are as low as they have been in many years and that could mean a very strong market moving forward.