WASHINGTON -- A record number of produce industry leaders will be arriving here to hear top policy makers and fill congressional offices during the United Fresh Produce Association's annual Washington Public Policy Conference, set for Sept. 9-11.

"When I was very young, I would ride through the onion fields with my grandfather Raymond Bland," said Troy D. Bland, manager of Bland Farms New York LLC. in Sterling, NY. "We called him Gran-Gran. I remember eating raw Vidalia onions right out of the field, and I used to enjoy playing with the seed stems."

Raymond Bland died Feb. 19, 2009, following an extended illness. Troy Bland and his grandfather were extremely close, and the memories of the many days they shared made an indelible mark on his heart.

As reported previously in The Produce News, Dick Spezzano, founder of Spezzano Consulting Services in Monrovia, CA, and former vice president of produce and floral for The Vons Cos., is working with Farmer's Best in Nogales, AZ, to develop a major retail tomato category management program as part of an effort to maximize the tomato category for Farmer's Best's retail customers.

The board of directors of A. Duda & Sons Inc., a family-owned, diversified land company based in Oviedo, FL, has appointed Barton Weeks chief operating officer of the corporation.

Mr. Weeks, who has worked for the company for 25 years, is retaining his responsibilities as chief financial officer. He will report to Joseph A. Duda, president and chief executive officer of the corporation.

If the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast for the 2009 cranberry crop holds true, it would be the second largest cranberry harvest on record.

The USDA figures, released in mid-August, predict 7.09 million barrels (each barrel weighs 100 pounds), down 10 percent from 2008. The forecast was for yields to be down in Massachusetts and Wisconsin but up in New Jersey, Oregon and Washington state.

Graham Daren Pimiskern, 42-year-old sales director of Del Fresco Produce Ltd. in Kingsville, ON, died Aug. 28 at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, ON. He died peacefully with family members and friends by his side.

Mr. Pimiskern suffered from kidney disease for the past year, struggling with a series of related setbacks.