QUITO, ECUADOR — A busload of journalists on a junket touring flower farms in Ecuador sees exotic sights along the way: Holstein dairy cattle peacefully grazing on a schoolyard as children in school uniforms caper among them; majestic mountains with narrow, white-knuckle highways winding around them, bereft of guardrails; and, of course, a pet llama who demurely bussed a journalist on the cheek.

Floral industry members will gather in Washington, DC, March 11-12 for the Society of American Florists Congressional Action Days, featuring meetings with their representatives and senators on Capitol Hill.

Charlie Cook, for more than two decades one of Washington’s most trusted voices on all things political, will be the speaker at the March 11 Kick-Off Breakfast. Mr. Cook is the editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group and NBC News.

As part of a deal with Sunkist, Bravante Produce, a grower and shipper of table grapes based in Reedley, CA, is looking to enlarge its growing operation as well as help grow the "Sunkist" brand of grapes.

Ron Wikum, table grape category manager for Bravante Produce, said that the deal, now in its second year, has Bravante supplying table grapes for the "Sunkist" brand. All of the grapes Bravante grows are now marketed under the "Sunkist" label, but the Bravante staff still handles sales.

A four-year campaign to launch an industry-funded Christmas tree promotion program is apparently back on track to implementation. “I expect it to move forward sometime in the new year,” Jim Brownlee, director of public affairs for the Agricultural Marketing Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told The Produce News on Nov. 20.

Ippolito International, a grower-shipper of a full line of premium fresh vegetables from California, Arizona and Mexico, has added produce industry veteran Steve Timsak to its Salinas, CA, sales team.

A father-and-son tree farm in Jefferson, NC, supplied the nation’s Christmas tree this year. The 19-foot Fraser fir grown by Rusty and Beau Estes of Peak Farms was presented Nov. 23 to first lady Michelle Obama for display in the Blue Room at the White House. This is the 12th time a North Carolina grower has provided the nation’s Christmas tree, and prospects for a 30-million tree sales season nationwide were deemed bright.