The 2010 season was one the Florida tomato industry would rather forget. Devastating winter weather followed by over-production that led to plummeting prices made for a double whammy that battered grower-shippers from January through June. The industry will gather Sept. 7-12 at the Ritz- Carlton in Naples, FL, for the 35th annual Florida Tomato Conference aiming to learn how to avoid a repeat of 2010.

What do ogres and onions have in common? They shook up produce aisles, VidaliaOnion.org and even schools this spring and summer.

Nearly 43,000 Vidalia onion fans played to win on the newly revamped VidaliaOnion.org web site, increasing the number of consumer contest entries more than 400 percent over previous campaign contests. A second contest garnered thousands more entries specifically from school-aged children across the country.

Columbia Marketing International, headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, will see a surge in its organic pear volume this season.

"We have a fairly prominent grower that came to CMI last year," said Vice President of Marketing Bob Mast. He told The Produce News the company's volume will more than triple for the 2010-11 season for organic Anjou, Bosc and Bartlett. “That’s pretty significant,” he added.

WASHINGTON -- Capitalizing on the popularity of its 2010 convention mobile applications, the United Fresh Produce Association has launched a new, feature-rich version in preparation for its annual Washington Public Policy Conference later this month.

The Colorado state engineer's office of the Department of Natural Resources is moving forward with its rulemaking procedure to establish rules to regulate water consumption in the San Luis Valley.

"We're getting toward the end of the process," said Craig Cotten, division engineer for Water Division 3. "The state engineer hopes to be finished by the end of the year and have the rules submitted to Division 3 Water Court."

Produce industry veteran Eugene Loffredo, 88, died Aug. 15 in Des Moines, IA, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

In 1940, Mr. Loffredo went to work in Des Moines for his father at his family’s produce business, Loffredo Gardens. Two years later, he joined the U.S. First Marine Division, serving on the front lines of the South Pacific in World War II from 1942 to 1945 or '46, his son, Mike Loffredo, told The Produce News.

According to The Des Moines Register, Mr. Loffredo was buried Aug. 19 at Des Moines’ Glendale Cemetery.