A comparison of water resources and availability in two of Colorado’s geographic regions reads like a Tale of Two Basins.

Dave Nettles, division engineer for Div. 1 of the state engineer’s office in Greeley, CO, said prospects in 2014 have greatly improved in the South Platte River Basin. The basin services agricultural producers located within or near the state’s most populous metropolitan area, the Front Range. Last year was turbulent for the region’s fresh producers, who saw their ability to irrigate severely curtailed.

The Organic Trade Association appointed Laura Batcha as its new chief executive officer and executive director -- the fourth person to hold the position in the association's 29-year history. The announcement was made in a Jan. 7 press release.

Batcha replaces Christine Bushway in the position.

Mixed blessings may arrive in odd packaging.

When a series of devastating freezes struck Michigan’s early blooming apple crop in April 2012, the state’s tiny potential apples turned black and died.

Damage done, the good part of this story began its flow.

The Michigan apple industry has been on a positive roll for years. The Great Lakes State is located just a day-long truck delivery from many major Eastern markets.

While he doesn’t want to discourage the purchase of other varieties, Don Armock, president and partner in Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc., based in Sparta, MI, admitted that his personal favorite apple variety is Jonagold. “It’s the favorite of people in our packing plant too. I think that says a lot,” he said. The 2013 Jonagold crop in Michigan had an especially good flavor, he added.

The United Vegetable Growers Cooperative recently announced the hiring of its first full-time chief executive officer, Eric Schwartz.

Schwartz is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience in fresh, processed and frozen vegetables and fruit, and frozen meals. He also brings a depth of experience in branded and private label products in both domestic and international settings.

The 2013-14 shipping season out of the West Mexico states of Sonora and Sinaloa started slower than normal, and with lighter-than-usual volume, but weekly volumes are expected to return to normal by mid-January, according to Gonzalo Avila, chief executive officer of Malena Produce.

The Produce News spoke with Avila in late-December following his return from a tour of the production areas in Mexico, mainly in southern Sonora and the Culiacan area of Sinaloa.