More than 4,000 boxes of flowers aboard a Centurion MD11 cargo plane landed in Miami early May 15 and unloaded Colombia’s first products to enter the United States under the new Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia.

A Floriculture Sustainability Initiative based in the Netherlands aims to produce a tool to eliminate duplication and make it easier to compare various certification programs. The new effort will be launched during Floriade 2012, its founders announced in a news release. Floriade is a world horticulture expo held every 10 years in the Netherlands. This show’s venue is in Venlo, Netherlands. It opened in April and will run through Oct. 7.

Locally grown isn’t just for fruits and vegetables anymore. Flower growers are also reaching out to retailers and consumers in their area. Buyers can now locate local specialty flower farms with a new online search directory launched March 26 by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers in Oberlin, OH. The association announced the new online search service in a news release.

The harvest of fresh market and storage onions in California’s San Joaquin Valley got underway in early June and was expected to continue into September. Acreage industry-wide is believed to be similar to last year, and growers say they are expecting good quality due to favorable growing weather, although some smaller-than-normal sizing is manifesting itself in the early crop.

Chris Veillon, the former marketing director at Mastronardi Produce in Leamington, ON, who left the company in August 2010, has returned to lead marketing at the company.

South African summer citrus growers of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum have established the Summer Citrus Soccer Star Award, which will honor eight U.S. Youth Soccer players from across the United States.

U.S. Youth Soccer is the largest youth sports organization in the country, with more than 3 million registered players. The forum is a longtime supporter of U.S. Youth Soccer.

Winners will be selected for their display of courage, imagination, commitment, determination and success in adverse situations both on and off the playing field.