WASHINGTON -- With the fight for the farm bill in full swing and the presidential election heating up, attendees of the United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference heard an insider perspective during the Sept. 12-14 conference. "There is tremendous pressure to complete the farm bill this year," said National Journal reporter Jerry Hagstrom, who was one of three reporters invited to the "Meet the Press" session at the conference. If President Bush vetoes the bill, it would have severe ramifications for farm-state Republicans running for re-election, he said. Members

Bakersfield, CA-based Grimmway Farms has refreshed the look of its packaging while at the same time bringing uniformity to its conventional line of carrots. The packages are starting to hit store shelves now, and Grimmway will feature the entire line at the Produce Marketing Association's International Convention & Exposition to be held Oct. 12-15 in Houston. The complete redesign of the "Grimmway" brand of carrots marks the first time the company has undertaken such a step in a long time, said Phil Gruszka, the company's vice president of marketing. "Our retail partners will have a more

SYSCO Corp. has unveiled an innovative program to extend real-time food safety data to the non-"SYSCO" branded produce the company offers. SYSCO's self-imposed requirement, which has always been in place for "SYSCO" and "FreshPoint" branded products, should reassure customers that they are purchasing products only from growers and shippers that have implemented stringent food-safety and traceability processes. Richard J. Schnieders, chairman and chief executive officer of SYSCO, said in a statement, "The safety of the products we distribute is paramount to SYSCO, our FreshPoint specialty

Derek Burt has assumed the account responsibilities as Monterey Mushrooms' Dallas sales manager. In this capacity, he will be working with the firm's Madisonville, TX, production facility. Mr. Burt comes to the Texas branch after a successful period as the sales merchandiser of Monterey Mushrooms' Princeton, IL, farm, where he worked with key accounts such as Hy-Vee, Jewel, Schnucks, Lunds and Byerlys. He was actively involved with the Park City Group and several category management projects. Mr. Burt's sales territory for Monterey will include Dallas, west Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and

WASHINGTON -- Marketing orders are not the way to regulate food safety, according to a staffer for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), who is expected to introduce his food-safety bill for the produce industry later this month. Adela Ramos, a senior staff member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee, was one of the congressional aides who spoke on food- safety issues at the Sept. 13 Washington Public Policy Conference sponsored by the United Fresh Produce Association. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Harkin does not want marketing orders to take the place of food safety regulation

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns did not have good news to share about the prospects of attaching a guest worker reform bill to the 2007 farm bill or when Congress would next find the political fortitude to revisit the issue. Kicking off the United Fresh Produce Association's annual Washington Public Policy Conference on Sept. 13, Secretary Johanns commented on plans to add AgJOBs to the Senate version of the farm bill as a measure to relieve the worsening labor crisis. "I think that's very hard to do, just to be very honest with you. It would be especially difficult if it