Many different factors affected the supply and demand of trucks in the fresh produce business this year, but overall the rates remained fairly strong in the face of rising costs.

Speaking with The Produce News Thursday, Aug. 19, Cary Crum, president of Sierra Agricultural Transportation Inc. in Visalia, CA, said that the rate structure from California to the Northeast was in the $6,500 to $8,500 range. "I don't see any real changes in the next 30 to 60 days," he said. “Maybe when we get into October there will be less demand, but I’m not sure.”

When a company has been involved in farming for more than 150 years, it's safe to say that the decades of experience bring expertise and passion that can be matched by few others.

Such is the case at Smith’s Farm, a Presque Isle, ME-based broccoli and potato grower-shipper that traces its farming roots back to 1859. With the fifth and sixth generations of the Smith family now running the business, Smith’s Farm brings an ideal mix of time-tested experience and forward- thinking enthusiasm to producing its crops.

Dennis James, director of marketing for the Pear Bureau Northwest in Milwaukie, OR, said that retailers who have implemented ripe programs for pears have seen sales volume increase by as much as 25 percent.

"Ripe programs are a logical way to give your customers the fruit they want to eat," he told The Produce News Aug. 18. “In the last year, retailers and shippers are more fully embracing the ripe program.”

NEWARK, DE -- Johnna Hepner, Produce Marketing Association's director of food Safety and technology, joined other fresh produce industry representatives to conduct an educational field tour Aug. 21 for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in California's Salinas Valley.

She participated in the tour as part of the association's efforts to better educate government officials about the produce industry and its particular food safety challenges, which have included recent field tours for other government officials.

Joe Sbrocchi, a veteran of the Canadian produce industry who has held high- profile retail positions during his career, has joined Mastronardi Produce as vice president of sales and marketing.

Mr. Sbrocchi, who officially joined the Leamington, ON, greenhouse produce marketer seven weeks ago, assumed the duties of Chris Veillon, the previous director of marketing, who recently left the company. Mr. Sbrocchi's duties reach beyond marketing, as he also serves as vice president of sales.

Estimates released by the Pear Bureau Northwest Aug. 6 indicated that the overall pear crop from the Pacific Northwest is expected to be down approximately 11 percent for the 2010-11 season. In all, a total of 17,926,920 standard boxes of conventional and organic pears are expected to be produced during the crop year.