GLENNVILLE, GA -- Raymond D. Bland, a founder of Bland Farms and one of the early sweet onion farmers in this famed onion production region, died Feb. 19. He was 81. "He had been disabled for about four years - bedridden," said Delbert Bland, his only son with whom he founded Bland Farms LLC in 1982. Born in 1927, Raymond Bland grew up and remained in the Vidalia onion- producing area of south Georgia all his life. "People around here don't migrate around too much," said Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of Bland Farms. Mr. Bland was one of the early pioneers of the

CHARLESTON, SC -- Two of the larger firms in the watermelon industry - Borders Melon Co. Inc. and Melon 1 Inc. - are now utilizing YottaMark Inc.'s HarvestMark solution for traceability. Redwood City, CA-based YottaMark made the announcements during the National Watermelon Convention, held here Feb. 18-22 at the Francis Marion Hotel. According to a press release by YottaMark, Hargill, TX-based Borders Melon Co. "is the largest grower and distributor of watermelons in North America, providing a year-round supply from farms in Texas and Mexico, while Brooklyn, NY-based Melon 1 ships over 5,000

SALINAS, CA -- Industry veteran Ken Silveira has joined Kingsville, ON-based Mastronardi Produce Ltd. as president of its new division, Mastronardi West. Mastronardi Produce is opening a 20,000-square-foot warehouse here, with additional office space connected to it. The company will begin shipping product out of Salinas by April 1, Mr. Silveira told The Produce News Feb. 24. The Salinas office will carve out a U.S. region designated as west of Denver, with distribution in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington as its primary focus, Mr. Silveira said. "[Mastronardi Produce] wanted to come

PARLIER, CA -- Official estimates for the 2009 California peach, nectarine and plum crops will not be made until April after fruit has actually set on the trees. But the California Tree Fruit Agreement, at its winter committee and board meetings held here Feb. 19 approved budgetary assessments based on a tentative and somewhat "conservative" preliminary estimate of a combined total of 50 million boxes of fruit for the season. Several factors could make the actual packout either higher or lower than 50 million boxes, possibly to a significant degree. But after considerable discussion, board

CHARLESTON, SC -- Although uncertainty about the economy may have kept attendance down slightly at this year's National Watermelon Association convention, that didn't stop the approximately 400 members of the trade who turned out for the event, now in its 95th year. The event was Feb. 18-22 at the Francis Marion Hotel, here. The economy was a concern for some, but Bob Morrissey, the association's executive director, was upbeat about the industry during his state of the NWA address, given Feb. 21 during the celebration breakfast and general session. Mr. Morrissey said, "2008 had many

WASHINGTON - After holding the regulations up for one last review, the Obama administration gave final clearance for the mandatory country-of- origin labeling rules to go into effect March 16. "I strongly support country-of-origin labeling - it's a critical step toward providing consumers with additional information about the origin of their food," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Feb. 20 statement. "The Department of Agriculture will be closely reviewing industry compliance with the rule and will evaluate the practicality of the suggestions for voluntary action in my letter." On