WASHINGTON -- Budget haggling over the 2007 farm bill continues as Congress has until March 15 to reach agreement on a historic bill shaped for the first time by fruit and vegetable growers.

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said that his top priority in the remaining months in office is to deliver a farm bill that President Bush can proudly sign. "That means a bill that preserves a strong safety net for producers, and achieves real reforms in farm policy, and it does it without imposing new taxes on the American citizens," he said at the 2008 Agricultural Outlook Forum.

The Association of Avocado Growers, Packers & Exporters of Michoacan, based in Uruapan, Mexico, and commonly referred to by its Spanish acronym APEAM, announced in a written statement Feb. 28 that it had "filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the California Avocado Commission requesting money damages to compensate for the severe damage to the marketing of Mexican avocados in California caused by the CAC during 2007."

The board of directors of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, AZ, voted during its board meeting March 4 to hire Nogales produce industry veteran Jesse Driskill as the association's new president, filling the vacancy left by Lee Frankel, who resigned in late November to take the position of chief executive officer at United Potato Growers of America.

GREELEY, CO -- Agricultural commodity producers in Colorado learned more about market trends that can have a positive bottom-line impact during this year's Colorado Agriculture "Big & Small" Conference & Trade Show.

Tom Lipetzky, director of the Division of Markets of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, was the keynote speaker at the event, talking on the topic, "Today's Driving Trends and How You Can Position Your Operation to Benefit from Today's Trends."

WATSONVILLE, CA -- California Giant Berry Farms, here, expects to triple its volume from last year in blueberries from Florida to more than 1 million pounds during the seven-week blueberry harvest there this year.

The jump in volume comes as a result of a long-term blueberry venture that Cal Giant has entered into by partnering with Bartow, FL-based land management company Clear Springs. Expansion in blueberry acreage is planned for future years in the district.

Eric Schwartz, president of Salinas, CA-based Dole Fresh Vegetables, resigned from the company on Monday, March 3.

Dole Fresh Vegetables is a division of Dole Food Co. Inc., which is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.

Mr. Schwartz said that the decision to leave was his and that it had been in the works for a couple of months. "This is a good move for me," he said. "There's nothing wrong with Dole. It's just that now's the time."

Mr. Schwartz said that he was treated "very well" by Dole, including in the transition period leading up to his departure.