Farrell Cole (Dutch) Gay, a founder of Tom Lange Co. and a key leader, died at the age of 89. Mr. Gay retired in 1997, at which time he served as president and chairman of the Tom Lange Family of Cos. The company said he was instrumental in building the company into what it is today.

Superfresh Growers promoted Conner O’Malley to the role of president. In his new position, O’Malley will lead sales, operations, marketing, production management and grower relations for the company.

“Conner is a gifted leader and has an unparalleled work ethic. At Superfresh Growers, he has been instrumental in cultivating a team-centric mindset. He is empathetic, a clear communicator, and embraces our culture,” said Robert Kershaw, CEO.

As the Northern Hemisphere citrus season comes to a close and the Southern Hemisphere season begins, Salix Fruits, a leading company in the import and export of fresh fruits, said shipments of citrus are arriving steadily.

According to Alejandro Moralejo, CEO of Salix Fruits, South Africa, the major citrus supplier in the Southern Hemisphere has grown in all citrus varieties.

"The first week of April, RSA (South Africa) started with lemon shipments to the Middle East, their most important market, and to Canada," he said.

Tudor Ranch, a third-generation family farm located in the Coachella Valley, specializes in growing, packaging and distributing fresh California table grapes. This season, the company is seeing excellent bunch counts and good vine and bunch growth across the varietals, despite cool weather slowing down the crops.

“Normally we would start harvest around May 10-12,” said Joseph Tudor, vice president of the company. “This season we expect to start closer to May 22.”

For the past six years, the National Watermelon Association has recognized promising members of the next generation in the watermelon industry at its annual convention through its Future Watermelon Farm Leaders award program.

This year, Bailey Leger of Leger & Son was among the recipients named to Class VII of the program.

“Bailey excels in everything she does because she is dedicated and diligent,” said Jordan Carter, director of marketing at Cordele, GA-based Leger & Son.

Some of the first signs of spring are Florida sweet corn, asparagus and Vidalia sweet onions in the stores. It’s time to set up some nice aggressive displays of all three items. Warm spring days will have people out doing some backyard grilling. Sweet corn, asparagus and sweet onions fit in perfectly for that.