WASHINGTON -- While lawmakers continue to wrestle over the 2007 farm bill and the produce industry lies in wait, the Senate approved former North Dakota Gov. Edward Schafer to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The former two-term Republican governor was quickly and unanimously approved by the Senate, and hours later took his seat along side other Cabinet heads at the State of the Union speech Jan. 28 in Washington.

Glennville, GA-based Bland Farms has increased its presence in key onion- growing areas and is now poised for future growth.

"Bland Farms has a strategy in place that will enable us to grow and expand in many directions in the coming future," said Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of the firm. "We recently broke ground on a new facility in Donna, Texas, near McAllen. It is 100,000 square feet and will have cooler space for 3,200 pallets. It will be used for storing and moving onions and custom-packing other commodities."

Thomas R. Ford, chairman of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in Monte Vista, CO, will be inducted into the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame in Denver on Feb. 28. Mr. Ford was one of several nominees to pass the rigorous screening process of the Montrose-based Colorado FFA Foundation Inc.

Colorado Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp will preside over the award ceremony, which will be held at the Doubletree Hotel Denver located at 3202 Quebec Street. The event begins at 5:30 p.m.

More than 600 members and guests honored the installation of Liane Mast as chairman of the board of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council at the organization's annual dinner dance, which was held Jan. 26 in Anaheim, CA.

Ms. Mast is in charge of the floral departments for Stater Bros. Markets, one of the nation's larger independent regional supermarket chains, headquartered in Colton, CA.

AgriWorld Exchange, an on-line agri-trading marketplace, announced that Cal Citrus Packing Co., with a grower base of 4,000 acres, has signed an agreement to trade produce using the AgriWorld Exchange on-line service.

The agreement will enable the company to offer its 2.5 million cartons of fresh citrus annually via on-line, real-time exchange.

A new 25-pound carton for Washington state's famed Red Wing variety of onions is finding good reception from high-end foodservice customers, according to Bill (Sweet Willie) Brownfield of Sweet Clover Produce.

From his Walla Walla, WA, office, Mr. Brownfield told The Produce News that the new carton provides better protection for the onions, and in addition to the Red Wings grown by Grigg & Sons in Quincy, WA, the box will be used to ship sweets and yellows.