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CHIQUITA TO EXPAND US BANANA OFFERINGS

NEW YORK - Chiquita Brands International Inc. has plans to begin consumer testing of several different kinds of bananas in the US market within the next year.
 
The company has not yet decided on what specific banana varieties it plans to test, but has had success selling Highland bananas in Japan, according to a company spokesman.
 
Highland bananas, which are grown in the Philippines, are sweeter and creamier than the Cavendish bananas US consumers are most familiar with, he said, adding that though the new variety costs more than traditional bananas, US pricing on the newer banana varieties would depend on how consumers react to the products.

In 2002, the company operated 115 banana farms in six divisions in Latin America - in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama - and one farm in the Ivory Coast of Africa. Those owned farms produced approximately one half of our bananas.
 
CENTRAL VALLEY BRACES FOR NEW ENVIRO RULES

SACRAMENTO - Farmers and dairy operators in California's San Joaquin Valley are now complying with state agricultural air pollution standards.
 
An estimated 1,350 farms and dairies - long ignored while other industries faced crackdowns - now face regulation on smog-forming emissions by the eight-county San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
 
Thousands more along a 270-mile corridor also must begin controlling dust and other small particles, the District said.
 
Air pollution officials consider farms and dairies responsible for 26% of the region's smog-producing emissions and 51% of the dust and particulates that have given the San Joaquin Valley the nation's highest asthma rate.
 
The decision to change the hands-off policy came in the 2003 state legislative session. The law requires farmers to observe the Federal Clean Air Act.
 
Under the regulations, farms and dairies that produce more than 12.5 tons annually of the gases that contribute to smog must now apply for local air quality permits, pay hundreds of dollars in annual fees and begin accounting for the air pollution produced by their farms and dairies.
 
The biggest culprits, say air pollution officials, are thousands of diesel-powered irrigation pumps. The air district's new program includes financial incentives for farmers to retrofit the engines or replace them with electric-powered units.
 
Another pollution source is ammonia produced by hundreds of dairy operations that have moved into the valley in recent years, helping California surpass Wisconsin as the country's leading dairy state.
 
Dairy operators sued the air district in May hoping to remain exempt until 2006. But they lost a recent bid in Fresno County Superior Court to temporarily delay the requirement while they prepare for a September trial. That ruling prompted an avalanche of last-minute signups for the air permits.
 
Michael Marsh, chief executive officer of Western United Dairymen, said the group advised dairy operators to sign up, but said, "we're very confident" an eventual court ruling will overturn the requirement. Marsh estimates the rules could cost a large dairy farmer up to $5 million.

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