FVGC announces Erik Nielsen will step into the newly-created role of Director of Policy, Research, and Public Affairs

Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada appoint policy lead

Expanding greenhouse sector means more home-grown veggies
Plenty of room to expand in controlled environment agriculture, but investment needed says FCC
Canada continues to rely heavily in imported fruits and vegetables, especially during its long winters but different types of controlled environment agriculture like greenhouses are expanding and changing the balance says Farm Credit Canada.

Belgian climate scientists grow the pears of the future
Belgian researchers are growing pears in a controlled environment that simulates how climate change will affect the region in 2040. Their aim is to see what global warming has in store for Europe's fruit growers.

Major U.S. peach producer files for bankruptcy to pursue sale
Setbacks have included salmonella, fires, heavy debts
New York | Reuters — Prima, a private-equity backed farmer that is the largest producer of peaches and other stone fruit in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Friday. The company, owned by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners, has about $679 million in debt, and plans to sell its […] Read more

Orange juice prices near all-time high as storm hits Florida
Crop was already expected to be small
New York | Reuters — Orange juice prices at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) rose more than three per cent on Wednesday, heading back toward an all-time high hit earlier this month, as storm Idalia slammed parts of main U.S. orange producer Florida. Contracts for frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) at ICE hit a high of […] Read more

Central Alberta fruit and vegetable producers find success in co-operative effort
By banding together in a closed co-op, Innisfail Growers members say they can be more successful individually
Reading Time: 4 minutes Market gardens and farmers markets might have a bucolic reputation but they’re a tough business. Buyers expect quality, flavour and, most importantly, variety. They’re not interested in a stand with a single product such as carrots, beets or strawberries. They want the whole produce basket. For a single grower to meet those expectations is a […] Read more

Alberta gardener grows largest pumpkin in Canadian history
“You have to do 60 to 70 pounds a day for a fairly good length of time…”
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s a lot more to growing a 2,537-pound pumpkin than you might think. Like most other forms of farming, it’s just not a case of planting a seed, walking away and hoping for a good outcome. “I could talk about pumpkins for just about as long as there is time,” said Don Crews of Lloydminster, […] Read more

Hurricane Ian to worsen bleak outlook for U.S. orange juice industry
New York | Reuters — Hurricane Ian is likely to have worsened what was already expected to be the smallest U.S. orange crop in 55 years after it blasted through a large fruit producing area when it passed through Florida this week, flooding farms and causing oranges to drop from trees. Precise information on losses […] Read more

Produce prices spike in flood-hit Pakistan as food crisis looms
Flooding wrecks crops, hampers logistics
Lahore | Reuters — Vegetable and fruit prices have soared in markets across Pakistan as devastating rains ruin crops and disrupt supplies, an early sign of how the worst floods in decades are creating food shortages at a time of financial crisis. Pakistan’s 220 million people are already facing rampant inflation, with consumer prices up […] Read more

B.C. cherries cleared for export to Korea
Canada-Korea free trade pact a step ahead on lower tariffs
Canada’s seven-year-old free trade pact with South Korea already provides for reduced tariffs on cherries from British Columbia — a commodity that’s just been approved for export to Korea for the first time starting this month. Canadian agriculture and food safety officials announced Aug. 10 that talks with Seoul on import rules and certifications had […] Read more