Nunhems, a major global producer of vegetable seeds, has opened a new service center in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, according to Clark Huffman, director of marketing and sales for Nunhems USA.

"Our objective is to be able to provide our customers with services that are more responsive than ever and to take advantage of Leon's strategic central Mexico location and interior port and transportation capabilities as an excellent hub for distribution to the rest of the country," Mr. Huffman said in a statement.

Early strawberry volume from Southern California districts as of late January was running significantly ahead of a year ago when a series of rainstorms caused problems with the crop.

As far as specialty produce items are concerned, Vidalia onions are about as special as it gets. But pull them from the ground a couple of months early and the item climbs the specialty scale even more. Retailers and consumers alike attest to this by buying up every Baby Vidalia that becomes available to them.

Delbert Bland, president of Bland Farms in Vidalia, GA, a grower of the prized onion named after its growing region, said that many growers do not like to pull the golf-ball sized immature onions from the ground.

The relaxation of U.S. Department of Agriculture cold treatment requirements will bring more Argentine pears to the U.S. West Coast this season.

For the first time in several years, the Vancouver, BC- based Oppenheimer Group will receive its Argentine pears not only into East Coast ports, but also into the ports of Los Angeles and Seattle.

WASHINGTON -- Fruit and vegetable growers demanded more attention in the next farm bill and an urgent fix to the broken guest worker program at two congressional hearings earlier this month.

"I feel that specialty crops were basically left out in the cold in the previous bill," David Godwin, a North Carolina sweet potato and fruit producer, said at a Feb. 6 hearing in North Carolina. "Specialty crops account for approximately one-half of the total farmgate value in this country; however, only a very small portion of the federal resources was allocated to our needs."