WASHINGTON — The May 16 deadline set by the Food & Drug Administration to comment on sweeping food-safety changes to farms and processing facilities is impossible to meet, the United Fresh Produce Association and more than 80 other groups told FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg in an April 11 letter asking for a deadline extension.

One sign of springtime in the Pacific Northwest is a cherry orchard in full bloom, and Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers in Wenatchee, WA, reported such an event is now taking place.

Oneonta Marketing Director Scott Marboe said April 10 that this year’s Northwest bloom portends good things to come.

Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee based in Monte Vista, CO, said in early April that that low market prices and water restrictions will result in fewer potato acres in the San Luis Valley this year.

The Texas onion season got off to such an early start for Rio Queen LLC of Mission, TX, that Mike Martin did not even know what kind of market he was heading into. Already the Lone Star State’s largest onion grower, Mr. Martin decided during the offseason to go against the grain and increase his plantings significantly this year.

The gamble has paid off as Texas is cruising into a solid onion market as Northwest storage supplies and fresh Mexican product are dwindling.

Creekside Hot House recently announced it will add a 10-acre specialty tomato facility in South Surrey, BC.

The family-run farm is headed by Ravi Cheema, a fourth-generation farmer. “My dad started farming in Canada back in 1977, when he was growing strawberries and raspberries,” Mr. Cheema said. “He eventually moved into a variety of outdoor crops, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and sprouts.”

BRENDA MAINWARING will be promoted to Union Pacific Railroad's vice president of public affairs for the Southern Region, effective April 15, succeeding Joe Adams, who will retire May 31.

Ms. Mainwaring joined the railroad in 1997, serving as director of public affairs for Iowa and Nebraska since 2007. She worked in Washington, DC, with the U.S. government prior to joining Union Pacific.Ms. Mainwaring earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in anthropology from the University of Iowa.