In late May the crush for transportation to fill Memorial Day orders was at a fever pitch. That proved to be a harbinger of things to come as June and July saw a very tight transportation situation.

In fact, recently Chuck Thomas of Thomas Produce Sales in Nogales, AZ, told The Produce News, “In May and June, I saw some rates I’d never seen before. Trucks were getting from $8,500 to $8,800 to go to the East Coast from Nogales. I heard of some $10,000 rates from Salinas to Boston and New England. It was unbelievable.”

Mark W. Seetin, director of regulatory and industry affairs for the U.S. Apple Association, headquartered in Vienna, VA, said the association was still gathering apple crop projections, but he noted that the association releases the U.S. apple projections at the 2013 Apple Crop Outlook & Marketing Conference, being held Aug. 22-23 at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago.

Peter Forrence, vice president of Forrence Orchards in Peru, NY, told The Produce News on Aug. 6, that there were no foreseeable glitches in the company’s current crop of apples.

“We were among the more fortunate in New York last year in that we didn’t suffer crop damage,” Forrence said.

“Overall, the state was down by about 50 percent. Our crop this year may be just slightly smaller than last year’s, but everything is in place for a good harvest, storage and enough high-quality apples to get us through to next summer.”

“This year we replaced the entire engine room that runs our full operation,” Lee Peters, vice president of sales and marketing for Fowler Farms in Wolcott, NY, told The Produce News on Aug. 12. “This was a major investment by the Fowler family. But it provides us with better controls, monitors and probes. We are very excited about the apples we’ll be bringing out of storage next spring and summer because this new technology will ensure that we’ll have the best quality fruit available anywhere.”

Mucci Farms, a leading greenhouse grower based in Kingsville, ON, announced the hiring of a new business development manager and a new satellite location in San Antonio, TX.

The Southeast Produce Council will be announcing those selected for the 2014 STEP-UPP class during the president’s dinner dance at its fall conference, scheduled for Sept. 26-28 in Myrtle Beach, SC. This program is available for retail and foodservice members of the Southeast Produce Council.