Logistics

Firefighters battle blaze at F&S Produce plant in New Jersey

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:40:56 GMT

Management and employees at Vineland, N.J.-based F&S Produce Co. Inc. are recovering today from a fire on Tuesday at the west end of its Rosenhayn processing plant in South New Jersey.

It’s unclear at this time how the fire started, but no employees were injured during the incident, according to The Daily Journal .

“We are currently in the process of assessing damages and recovery,” Lori Maddalena, F&S chief financial officer, told The Packer Wednesday.

“Our primary concern was the safety our employees. Our evacuation protocols that we have in place enabled us to safely evacuate all of our employees from the plant without injury,” according to a company statement released at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters were continuing to battle the blaze until at least three hours after it broke out shortly after noon.

“We are grateful for their efforts during this devastating event,” according to the statement. “In the coming days, our management team will be assessing the damages and working to place our employees in alternate positions at one of our other plants. We would like to thank our community for their outpouring of concern and support at this time.”

The company has three plants: a retail production plant and main office in Vineland, an industrial fresh production plant at 913 Bridgeton Ave. in Rosenhayn and an industrial frozen production plant on 730 Lebanon Road also in Rosenhayn, according to its website.

This fire was possibly in the frozen production plant.

The company’s 125,000 square feet of facilities process more than 100 million pounds of fresh-cut produce annually for retail, food service and industrial customers, according to the website.

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Fri, 23 Sep 2022 20:01:41 GMT

Fair Oaks milk trucks no longer use diesel

The 60 tanker loads of milk that leave Fair Oaks Farms daily in northwest Indiana no longer stop at filling stations to fuel up on $4 diesel.

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Instead, these specially-fitted tractor semis head to dairy manufacturing plants in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee powered by natural gas produced through special processing in the heart of the cluster of dairies that milk 30,000 cows.

Fair Oaks Farms has been producing methane and powering gensets to produce electricity for about a decade. But about 40% of the gas was burned off because it was laden with carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Now, through simple (but expensive) scrubbing technology, natural gas is being produced.

It’s pure enough to power engines to deliver the milk that leave the dairies each day and save 12 million diesel-fueled road miles each year. The semis are currently run by 9-liter engines, which limits the topography they can climb. New, 12-liter engines coming in August will allow the trucks to climb mountains and deliver milk anywhere in the country, says Mike McClosey, co-owner of Fair Oaks.

The dream is to eventually have natural gas fueling stations that will allow the trucks to run to the southeastern U.S. And in a partnership with Dairy Farmers of America, plans are in place to build a similar network in the Southwest.

Initially, the fueling stations will tap into conventional natural gas pipelines. Eventually, large dairies in these areas might produce their own on-site natural gas to contribute to the fuel supply.

Trusteed IRAs: why they are popular, who should consider them, what benefits they offer

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 20:01:45 GMT

Q: I’ve heard a lot about trusteed IRAs. How do they differ from traditional IRAs?

A: Simply put, trusteed IRAs offer potential tax benefits of traditional or Roth IRAs with the protection and control of a trust. They provide tax advantages that stretch into the future and offer the ability to control how, when and in what amounts assets are distributed. Trusteed IRAs have become more popular given some of the inherent limits of traditional IRAs and the growing prevalence of self-directed retirement accounts combined with the decline of pension plans. They also are more cost-effective than setting up a trust and are generally more compliant with tax laws.

Q: Who should consider a trusteed IRA?

A: There are several reasons why someone should consider a trusteed IRA, the most consequential of which is if an owner has an interest in controlling assets and realizing tax benefits beyond their lifetime. This can mean an owner is concerned with the financial discipline or sophistication of heirs.

Other reasons include if an owner remarries and wants to provide for a current spouse as well as children from a previous relationship and/or is concerned about IRA management in the event of incapacitation.

Q: I’m in the middle of estate planning. How can a trusteed IRA help with the process?

A: They can help process if only to preserve the potential tax-advantaged accumulation of IRA benefits to pass on to heirs. Under traditional or custodial IRAs, a beneficiary is required to withdraw at least the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) each year. However, a beneficiary may withdraw additional amounts, for any reason, at any time—and incur possible fees or tax penalties.

Additionally, owners can restrict payouts to a beneficiary to the RMD, enabling it to operate as a spendthrift trust. At the owner’s death, the trusteed IRA would be automatically split into separate accounts for individual beneficiaries, with distribution terms defined for each account.

Another benefit is that estate plans don’t need to be rewritten or updated; trusteed IRAs can be added independent of an estate plan to protect IRA assets which legally pass outside of wills.

Q: Is a trusteed IRA better suited to farmers or owners of farm assets?

A: Not expressly, but a trusteed IRA can play an important role in legacy planning and preservation of farm assets over multiple generations. Given the growing generation gap among farming families, trusteed IRAs could be a way help preserve farm family values over generations from beyond the grave. Moreover, as farm economics continues to change, farmers may find value in the highly customizable nature of trusteed IRAs. In the event of a divorce in the family, for example, assets can be made to not leave the family’s bloodlines.

Q: Are there any downsides to trusteed IRAs?

A: Given that a trusteed IRA requires a corporate trustee, it’s harder to change ownership and family members cannot be named as trustees. Not all financial institutions offer trusteed IRAs so they may not be widely available to interested clients. Additionally, while they offer greater customization and more control, trusteed IRAs carry some limits. To have the highest level of customization and control, a trust would need to be created.

Please send questions, comments or requests to address a topic or issue to Rees Mason at rees.mason@ml.com.