Florida Agriculture & Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced Sept. 1 that eradication has been declared in the Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak in Palm Beach County. Regulations have been lifted, and fruit movement is no longer prohibited. Eradication is achieved when three life cycles of the Medfly (approximately 60 days) have passed without finding another wild Medfly. "We are extremely relieved that the Medfly outbreak in southern Palm Beach County has been eradicated — and done so in short order," Mr. Bronson said in a Sept. 1 press release. “This is one of the fastest

Delta, BC-based Houweling's Hot House Group has appointed Brian Beggs chief marketing officer and Craig Laker director of sales and marketing. Both men will join the organization effective Sept. 7. Mr. Beggs joined Houweling’s after serving as president of BC Hot House Foods Inc., where he led the greenhouse marketing company’s overall business operations. He brings to Houweling’s extensive senior-management experience in multiple industries that spans over 40 years. He will focus on business development, marketing and strategic planning, and he will be based at Houweling’s facility in Oxnard

Industry veteran David Hicks has joined Brooks, OR-based Curry & Co. to help the firm continue its onion business growth domestically and internationally. Mr. Hicks, a New Mexico State University graduate, has worked for more than two decades in a number of different roles with grower-shipper-packers. Most recently, he was part of a team that helped design a new baby carrot packing facility on the East Coast, and he also assisted in recruiting growers for the new facility. Food safety, traceback and sustainability are additional areas in which Mr. Hicks has experience. Not only has he helped

What a difference a week makes. On Aug. 25, the cranberry industry expected supplies for the 2010 fresh cranberry crop to be in line with last year's harvest. However, after an Aug. 31 meeting of the Cranberry Marketing Committee in Wisconsin, those numbers have been revised, and supplies are expected to drop 20 percent from last year’s figures, which were approximately 333,000 barrels according to a July report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. David Farrimond, executive director of the Cranberry Marketing Committee, told The Produce News

Todd Staples became commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture in a landslide 2006 election. Previously, he had been a member of both houses of the Texas Legislature. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1995 and joined the Senate in 2000. Commissioner Staples' focus since 2006 has been placed squarely on Texas agriculture, present and future, with goals like creating jobs in rural parts of the state, increasing profit margins for producers via technology and value- added processing, and furthering the promotion of Texas-produced products around the world

California's Panama-Buena Vista Unified School District announced that it is partnering with local growers Sun World International and Pandol Bros. to pilot a salad bar program at its Stonecreek Junior High. A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to commence the program, which aims to improve nutrition and increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables among students through creative salad bar offerings at lunchtime. With overweight and obesity rates among children on the rise since the 1980s, improved school nutrition has been a major focus of educators and industry alike, especially