There is quite a buzz reverberating within the flower business. The excitement is sure to spread as the word gets out about what is happening. It is no secret that in order to successfully represent the floral industry, the Produce Marketing Association had to have a different approach. This was developed with a floral task force last year and the creation of a new Floral Council this past October.

Since then, conference calls and a March 7 meeting in Dallas by council members have created energy that I have never experienced within our industry.

Second of two parts

“There has been an explosion of rose breeders in the past two decades,” John Dolan observed. Mr. Dolan’s career as a pioneer breeder of South American roses spanned the history of U.S. supermarkets beginning to sell roses from that continent.

“When I first went to South America with E.G. Hill Co. in 1984, few European breeding houses were active. They had varieties like Osicana, Vivaldi and Tineke. A little later, Ecuador started growing Ana, Virginia, First Red, Ambiance, Star 2000 and spray roses like Joy, Porcelina and Lydia.”

HERMOSILLO, MEXICO — They now number 100 growers whose farms cover 27,000 acres in the Hermosillo and Caborca regions. They have been pooling tips and sometimes sharing infrastructure for 32 years. They now see the “Aztec Eagle” and “Producto de México” labels on a variety of exports in the world market.

Who would have thought, in 1980, that lands devoted for decades to garbanzo and other crops for Mexico’s domestic market would one day produce a U.S. No. 1 grape that has found a clientele in 30 countries and counting?

Interrupcion*, a fair trade social enterprise working to improve producer livelihoods, practice environmental sustainability and foster a global community, helps farms and cooperatives to become organic and fair trade certified, and it purchases and exports their fresh produce to the U.S. market.

Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. Reedley, a division of Los Angeles-based The Giumarra Cos., announced in a press release dated April 9 that its stone fruit volume for the 2012 season will increase by 32 percent over the prior year.

Last spring, Georgia farmers took a roundhouse to the jaw when the state Legislature passed one of the nation’s toughest anti-immigration bills just before the start of the spring harvest. Fearful workers stayed away in droves, and the state lost $150 million in crops alone and sustained an overall economic loss of $500 million.