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National and state agricultural leaders joined Republican members of Congress on July 11 to call on Congress to pass bipartisan workforce solutions to address the farm labor shortage.

Higher labor costs are squeezing fruit and vegetable growers and forcing them to respond by automating, borrowing foreign labor or moving production out of the U.S.

Lake Park, Ga.-based Generation Farms is building on a recently expanded line of colored sweet onions, said Lauren Dees, sales and marketing manager.

Keystone Fruit Marketing Inc., has upgraded its onion facility in Walla Walla, Wash., and is working to develop its line of Walla Walla red sweet onions, said Dan Borer, general manager.

L&M Cos. Inc. now has onions year-round, said Derek Ennis, the Raleigh, N.C.-based grower-shipper’s sales director for potatoes and onions.

Collinsville, Ill.-based packaging manufacturer Sev-Rend Corp. is seeing increased focus on recyclable packaging, said Jeff Watkin, marketing director.

Pepper lovers have something to look forward to for the next several months as grower-shippers report plentiful supplies of good-quality product.

California’s strawberry crop seemed to be gradually returning to normal volume this spring after a rainy winter that delayed picking early in the season.

The domestic blueberry season was kicking off in mid-April with harvesting already underway in Georgia, said Victoria De Bruin, marketing manager for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

Any way you measure it, attendees and exhibitors said the April 25-27 2019 Viva Fresh show was a success.