Federal ministers of health, agriculture and agri-food, environment and climate change have announced a pause on proposed increases to Maximum Residue Limits.

This truck load of freshly cut celery is destined for a food processing plant near Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. Holland Marsh grower Tim Horlings says that the eight-hour haul from Newmarket Ontario to the U.S. is the last stage of six months of tender care from seedling to soup.

The Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation has announced that new directors were elected to the board at its annual general meeting held virtually from June 2-4, 2021. Representation is broad from Canada, the United States, Mexico and Chile.

The Pest Management Centre will be holding the 2022 Priority Setting Workshop in a virtual format. 

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association names Ontario Senator Rob Black as 2021 Produce Champion for his efforts bringing industry issues to the forefront on Parliament Hill.

Retail Navigator columnist Peter Chapman explains there’s more to growing and packing produce. To maximize the opportunity, understand your customers and find the right shelf.

Amanda Dooney, farm manager for Suncrest Orchards, shares the challenges of a pandemic year and how she’s making life better for Jamaican temporary foreign workers thinning apples near Simcoe, Ontario. She’s promised new bunkhouse quarters in time for harvest 2021.

So far, horticulture has been spared the outbreaks that plagued the sector in the earlier days of this pandemic. Columnist Bill George is happy for a pause to concentrate on his grape vineyards before contemplating what comes next.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that Mexican raspberries are not a trade threat to the Washington state processed raspberry market. Neither is Canada’s small raspberry sector, concentrated near Abbotsford, British Columbia. The final report contains a chapter of insightful statistical analysis of fresh and frozen markets in Canada.

Dalbir Benipal is the new chair of the BC Blueberry Council, representing 600 growers in the province. He’s the first Indo-Canadian to be elected to the role.