● On Wednesday, I travel to New Orleans for the annual convention and trade show of the Produce Marketing Association. Along with absorbing information at  PMA’s educational sessions and meandering around and through the extensive trade show floor, I will be attending side meetings to be held by the Minor Crop Farmer Alliance and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s North American Trade Committee.

●  Farm Bill  conferees from the House of Representatives have been named by both the majority and minority parties; only two from the Pacific Northwest will be on the House’s negotiating team: Kurt Schrader (D/Oregon) and Suzan DelBene (D/Washington).

● Nancy Foster, who left the staff of the United States Apple Association at the end of August, will take over as new president of the National Renderers Association after its current president retires at the end of this year. This according to a trade publication, the Renderer Magazine.

●  Representative Dave Reichert (R/Washington) is the co-chairman of the new “Friends of TPP.” This is a bipartisan group of legislators who favor the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations and will work for this trade treaty’s adoption once the Obama Administration negotiates a final deal. Mr. Reichert also serves as a member of the President’s Export Council.

●  Dr. Lori Berger, who until recently headed the California Specialty Crops Council, is now with her own firm, AgBusiness Resources, located in Visalia, California.  Dr. Berger has worked for a number of years on federal and international  minor crop chemical issues.

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