In the 21-year history of the Floral Management Marketer of the Year Award, no farmer has ever won it. That all changed on Aug. 15 at the 130th annual Society of American Florists convention in Marco Island, FL, when Sun Valley Floral Farms in Arcata, CA, was presented with the coveted title for its tireless efforts on building awareness and demand for Women’s Day.

“This is not about Sun Valley,” Lane DeVries, chief executive officer of the company said in his acceptance speech. “This is about the American flower industry.”

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers 2014 National Conference Oct. 19-22 in Newark, DE, Growers’ School, banquet and tour have all sold out, but there are still spaces available in the educational sessions on Oct. 20-21 and also in the post-conference tours on Oct. 23 at North Creek Nurseries in Landenberg, PA, Lilies and Lavender farm and design studio in Doylestown, PA, and Barefoot Gardens in Doylestown, PA.

The conference educational sessions schedule is as follows.

Monday, Oct. 20

7:50 a.m. Welcome, Frank Arnosky, ASCFG President.

The fifth edition of the International Floriculture & Horticulture Trade Fair will be held Nov. 5-7 at Expo Haarlemmermeer in Vijfhuizen, Holland, and exhibit space is fully booked plus there is a waitlist, according to an HPP Exhibitions news release, the expo’s organizers. The IFTF is an industrywide event serving all segments of the floriculture and horticulture trades.

October is Fair Trade Month, a national, annual campaign to bring awareness about why every purchase matters. The Fair Trade Certified label represents products that are both socially and environmentally sustainable.

Jenna Larson, public relations manager at Fair Trade USA in Oakland, CA, told The Produce News that consumers are looking to make a difference with their purchases and over 55 percent of the U.S. population today is aware of the Fair Trade Certified label.

Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — is a religious and cultural event observed in Mexico, and regions with large Hispanic populations, which can be traced back to pre-Columbian, Aztec festivals for the goddess of the underworld. The annual holiday custom has now spread throughout the world, begins Oct. 31, ends Nov. 2, and starts with the gathering of goods to be offered to the dead. Graves are decorated, altars are created, and food is prepared for loved ones who have died.

A group of concerned floral industry veterans announced in a news release that they are forming a new trade association, the Flower Handling Association of North America.

According to a statement from Flower Handling Association of North America Organizing Committee Chairman and spokesman Terry Johnson, “Our mission will be to develop, implement and monitor flower handling standards designed to improve consumer satisfaction with their flower purchases.”