After 19 years leading the National Watermelon Association as executive director, Bob Morrissey will retire this coming March. He will be  succeeded by George Szczepanski, a 12-year veteran of the Produce Marketing Association and the newly formed International Fresh Produce Association, who currently holds the position of director of production, supply chain and environmental policy.

The transition will become official in February at the conclusion of the National Watermelon Association convention in Asheville, NC. Morrissey  will stay on for another month after the convention wraps to

Joe (Giuseppe) Marchini, who founded California-based J. Marchini Farms specializing in radicchio and Italian specialties, died Dec. 28 surrounded by family. He was 84.

Mr. Marchini’s farming career may have ended with radicchio, but it all began with tomatoes. His parents, Florindo and Elisa Marchini, made a long and uncertain journey from Lucca, Italy, in the 1920s. They settled in Le Grand, CA, where he met Carlo Giampaoli and founded the Giampaoli-Marchini Co., a grower-shipper of the Live Oak Brand of tomatoes.

As a boy, Mr. Marchini enjoyed being outside and watching his father farm

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. has initiated a leadership transition, naming Scott Anderson, chair of the board of directors, as the interim CEO. Bob Biesterfeld has stepped down as president and CEO and as a member of the board.

The board has commenced a search for a new permanent CEO. With Anderson’s appointment as interim CEO, Jodee Kozlak will become independent chair of the C.H. Robinson board. C.H. Robinson has also made changes to the membership of the audit committee and governance committee so that these committees remain composed solely of independent directors, and appointed Kermit

Paul J. DiMare Sr., president of DiMare Inc., died Dec. 30 at the age of 81.

Mr. DiMare Sr. was born April 14, 1941, in Cambridge, MA. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC, 1958-59 before leaving to join the family business.

Mr. DiMare was honored with the Southeast Produce Council's 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. DiMare received many other accolades during his life. Among them, he was named Agriculturalist of the Year by the Dade County Farm Bureau in 1998; he was named the American Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year in 2007; he was elected to the Florida Agriculture

AppHarvest Inc. named AppHarvest Board Member Tony Martin as its chief operating officer, effective immediately. He will retain his board seat, and as COO he will lead efforts to optimize production and revenue across the AppHarvest four-farm network that now includes 165 acres under glass.

“I expect Tony’s extensive background in controlled environment agriculture and his track record for optimizing the efficiency of core operations and consistently achieving revenue growth will help us accelerate our path to profitability,” said AppHarvest Founder and CEO Jonathan Webb.

“AppHarvest is at

Chuck Church has been named chief performance officer of Church Bros., effective immediately.

Chuck Church has played an integral role in in sales and marketing over the last nine years at Church Bros. Chuck brings over 20 years of experience in the agriculture industry, along with growing up as part of a multi-generational agriculture family in the Salinas Valley.

Chuck will work with CEO Brian Church and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Church to provide leadership and strategic vision as the company continues to grow. The role will work cross-departmentally to provide data and analytical