Mike Madsen has been elected as the newest commissioner for the Washington State Potato Commission. The election took place during the WSPC’s quarterly meeting Sept. 6. Mr. Madsen will fill the WSPC’s vacant at-large position and begin serving his term immediately.

Mr. Madsen has worked in the potato industry for over 40 years and has spent the last 18 years of his career with AgriNorthwest. He currently works as a farm unit manager for AgriNorthwest’s Plymouth Farms, where he is responsible for all aspects of production including planting, harvesting, storage and monitoring.

With substantial new plantings coming into production, Medjool date production in the Bard Valley, located along the lower Colorado River, is on the rise.

Tim Feit, executive director, and Linda Prehn, chairperson of United Cranberry Growers Cooperative in Wausau, WI, spoke with The Produce News in early September to announce the initiatives of the new and fast growing organization.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and Patricia Dombroski, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food & Nutrition Service Mid-Atlantic Region, joined a panel of middle and high school students, school district officials and other dignitaries at Secaucus High/Middle School in Secaucus, NJ, in sampling new school lunch menu items that meet healthier federal guidelines enacted this school year.

Members of Certified Onions Inc. will test 75 percent of onions produced in the Treasure Valley this season. President Kay Riley, who is also general manager of Snake River Produce Co. in Nyssa, OR, said Central Produce Distributors is the latest company to join the organization’s ranks. “We now have 25 members,” Mr. Riley told The Produce News Sept. 6.

Early-season onion demand has been good and movement heavy for Snake River Produce in Nyssa, OR, according to General Manager Kay Riley.

Mr. Riley told The Produce News during the first week of September that first loads had gone out Aug. 14, “about a week ahead of normal.”

He said, “Quality is good, despite a very hot and dry summer.”

Rail shipments of cured onions were expected to begin mid-month, and Mr. Riley said he sees a repeat of 2011’s rail volume.