GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ — A few months ago, Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corp. had a problem. As part of his Delaware River region operations, Holt runs the Gloucester Marine Terminal here. There, an ancient crane needed to come down to make way for a gleaming new $5 million mobile unit with many times the lifting capacity and much more versatility.

Demolition crews wanted a fortune — and a long timetable — for the project. Holt instead chose to turn to his best resource: his employees.

The price differential between Chinese and California garlic is expected to be greater this year than it has been recently because of a larger Chinese crop than China has seen in the past three years. The California crop, expected to be up a little in volume from last year, is expected to be of very good quality with good yields, particularly on the California Early variety, which is the first variety harvested.

Sunland-Tujunga is a community of about 50,000 people nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains but within the boundaries of the City of Los Angeles, on the edge of the San Fernando Valley. The Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club, which was founded in 1949, found itself about a dozen years later in need of a fundraising activity, so the Lions held a watermelon festival in 1961, inspired by the annual Kingsburg Watermelon Festival in Kingsburg, CA.

China has granted market access to the American pear industry, and prospects are thrilling to producers in the Pacific Northwest. “U.S. pears were granted access into China in January,” said Jeff Correa, international marketing director for the Pear Bureau Northwest. “A few containers were shipped in the 2012-13 season. The 2013-14 season will be the first full season where U.S.-grown pears will be able to enter China legally.

This season, the Pear Bureau Northwest, headquartered in Milwaukie, OR, will offer online training for produce personnel designed to boost retail sales. “The program will have several sections that will cover the basics such as pear handling, merchandising and talking points including how to tell when a pear is ripe and where they are grown; as well as nutrition and usage information,” said Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer. “It is designed to be thorough and immediately actionable, yet easy to understand and finish in a timely manner.”

Programs initiated by the Pear Bureau Northwest, headquartered in Milwaukie, OR, have been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Trade Programs — Foreign Agricultural Service as instrumental in setting export records for pear producers.

All-time records were set for volume of Oregon and Washington pear exports during the 2011-12 season as well as the value of pear exports during the 2012-13 season.