The outcome of this industry crisis is not yet known, writes columnist Gordon Stock. “What I do know is that there continues to be a full court press to enable the travel of workers into Canada to secure a supply of fresh produce for the grocery shelves this coming season.”

A fresh produce virtual platform will replace the in-person event slated for mid-June in San Diego. United Fresh LIVE! Will debut the week of June 15, 2020.

Kam Chiu Lee, co-founder of Vancouver-based Fresh Direct Produce, has passed due to cancer.

The Produce Marketing Association, based in Newark, Delaware, convened members from 21 countries to discuss the industry’s response to COVID-19. The virtual town hall revealed that bananas, potatoes, carrots and onions are in the highest demand.

The provincial minor use coordinators are gathering input from their stakeholders about critical priorities for pathology, entomology and weed science.

Seasonal agricultural workers such as Jamaican Willy Green are crucial to the 2020 growing season. The federal government is providing exemptions to the travel ban however logistics are still to be announced.

Working with many ag leaders across the country, the Ottawa-based president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association has been stick handling myriad issues.

The U.S. embassy has suspended processing of new H-2A worker applications in Mexico City and its offices across the country. The U.S. Apple Association, one of the founders of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, is asking for a reversal of that position.

The Canadian Senate gave Royal Assent to the new United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement on March 13, 2020. It was an historic event, overshadowed by the global pandemic of COVID-19.

Collaborative. Untiring. Tenacious. These are some of the adjectives that Brian Gilroy, president, Canadian Horticultural Council used to describe four award winners at the 98thannual general meeting in Ottawa.