The Hass Avocado Board in Irvine, CA, which conducts generic avocado marketing for foreign and domestic suppliers, has approved a proactive diversity policy to assure that the composition of the board reflects the demographics of the avocado industry while supporting the board's diversity goals.

Charles H. Bronson, Florida's commissioner of agriculture, will visit the Homestead area of southern Florida Tuesday, Aug. 30, to view the damage that Hurricane Katrina wreaked on the states nursery industry.

"The strong winds, heavy rain and loss of power have combined to wallop our nursery industry in south Florida," said Commissioner Bronson. We will do all that we can to assist our growers.

August in Pennsylvania can only mean one thing: sweet, juicy and delicious tree-ripened peaches.

Wal-Mart and Rice Fruit Co. in Gardners, PA, teamed up for the second year in a row to recognize Pennsylvania's peach industry with a giant display of Pennsylvania peaches in both the Carlisle, PA, and Chambersburg, PA, supercenters.

The peach displays go hand-in-hand with Wal-Marts Store of the Community effort, which places products that customers want to buy in the stores  meaning more local produce, like the Pennsylvania-grown peaches featured in this promotion.

The Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission in Baton Rouge, LA, and Louisiana Cookin' magazine have concluded the first Sweet Rewards Recipe Contest for canned sweet potatoes, naming four first-place winning recipes and one grand-prize winner. Over 400 entries from 38 states nationwide were narrowed down to 10 recipes in four categories: soups, sides, desserts, and breads and breakfast. These 10 dishes were then prepared for judging by students in the Culinary Arts program at Delgado Community College in New Orleans.

Capitalizing on a strong stone fruit market and looking ahead to future opportunities, The Oppenheimer Group and Pride Packing Co. have joined forces.

The recently announced alliance with the Wapato, WA-based Pride represents Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer's first full-scale venture into domestic stone fruit marketing.

CHICAGO  At the U.S. Apple Association 2005 Apple Crop Outlook & Marketing Conference, held here at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago Aug. 18-19, James R. Cranney Jr., vice president of the hosting group, told the audience of apple marketers that the total U.S. apple crop this season will be down 6 percent over 2004 and should total about 234.2 million bushels, which is, however, 3 percent above the five-year average.