Peterson to FMI and CPMA

I had yesterday asked Bruce Peterson in an email whether I could air the audio of an interview I did with him right after he announced he was leaving Wal-Mart. Today he responded with an email. In other news, he said he has managed to keep his Harley upright in his recent free time. Peterson did say he will be at FMI and CPMA this year, but no news yet on where he will land in the industry.

Jim Offner leaving

One of the stalwarts of The Packer during the last 10 years is leaving the paper as of April 13 to take a public relations/management position here in KC. Bringing a background as a school principal and a teacher, Jim Offner started working for the The Packer in 1997 and has been one of the most prolific and respected reporters I've ever been associated with. I had a chance to visit with Jim today and get some of his reflections about the industry, The Packer, and his future. Here is the audio link of this informal Q and A.

Candy Anderson at South Hamilton Schools

I visited with Candy Anderson the day after her elementary school in Jewell, Iowa was honored April 3 as a winner of a $15,000 grant from the Hidden Valley Ranch company.

Here is an audio file from that interview. While she was tired the day after the big press event, she retains her enthusiasm for providing fruits and vegetables for her schools.

Today's crop production report

The USDA's crop production report can be found here.
Highlights from the report:

U.S. all orange forecast for the 2006-07 season is 7.36 milliontons, down 1 percent from the March 1 forecast and 18 percent belowlast season's final utilization of 9.00 million tons. Florida'sall orange forecast, at 131 million boxes (5.88 million tons), is`down 1 percent from last month and 12 percent lower than theutilization from the 2005-06 season's crop. Early, midseason, andnavel varieties in Florida are forecast at 65.7 million boxes(2.96 million tons), down 2 percent from the previous forecast anddown 12 percent from last season's final utilization.
Florida's Valencia forecast is 65.0 million boxes (2.93 million tons), unchanged from the March forecast but down 11 percent from last season's final utilization.
California's all orange forecast, at 37.0 million boxes(1.39 million tons), is unchanged from the March forecast but 39 percent lower than last season's final utilization of60.5 million boxes (2.27 million tons). California's navel orangeutilization is forecast at 27.0 million boxes (1.01 million tons),unchanged from the previous forecast but 43 percent lower than lastseason's final utilization. Packing houses continue to find some good quality navel oranges. California's Valencia forecast is 10.0 million boxes (375,000 tons), unchanged from the March 1forecast but 26 percent below the utilization from the 2005-06season's crop. A few packing houses were scheduled to start handling Valencia oranges in early April. The Texas all orange forecast is 1.85 million boxes (78,000 tons), down 7 percent from the March 1 forecast but 16 percent higher than last season's finalutilized production. Arizona's all orange utilization forecast,at 350,000 boxes (14,000 tons), is unchanged from the previousforecast but 22 percent lower than the 2005-06 season.

Not enough

Here is the link to a report from the Salinas Californian that talks about the Monday's state senate hearing on foodborne illness.

An excerpt:

The outbreak prompted the leafy green industry to institute a voluntary marketing agreement under the supervision of the state Department of Food and Agriculture that requires participating handlers to accept products only from farmers following new growing standards.Sen. Den Florez, D-Shafter, who chaired the hearing Monday, also has introduced legislation calling for state health officials to play a role in state inspection and oversight of the leafy green industry.“We are trying to offer a parallel process through regulation,’’ Florez said, “because we are skeptical.’’



TK: Here is additional coverage of the leafy greens marketing agreement from MSNBC and here is the official Web site of the CALIFORNIA LEAFY GREEN HANDLER MARKETING BOARD

Target trying harder

Here is a link to a report about Target's advertising campaign, both more cash flush and hipper than Wal-Mart.

But get this tidbit:

Wal-Mart is also pushing ahead with its marketing. The much-maligned retailer is girding up its in-store TV network to serve up more content and, of course, ads (not just its own). According to USA Today, Wal-Mart TV has more than 125,000 screens in about 3,100 of Wal-Mart's 4,022 U.S. stores and a potential audience of more than 127 million shoppers per week. Yeah, according to WWD, 84 percent of the U.S. population visits one of the retailer's stores each year. Wal-Mart wants to entertain them so they might stay awhile and make their stores much more than just a shopping destination.


TK: I am in that pool of 127 million shoppers this week, but I couldn't tell you what was on WMTV

Freeze roundup

It wasn't the lack of bees, but an abundance of cold that spelled doom for some fruit and vegetable growers this spring:

Here is some coverage this a.m. about freeze damage


AP: Fruit Growers Wait for frost estimates
First three grafs:
Frigid weekend weather caused frost that damaged crops across the Southeast, raising fears that peach, apple, blueberry, strawberry and wine grapes were harmed.
Cost estimates for the damage were expected later in the week, and Georgia's agriculture commissioner said he might ask for federal aid depending on how badly crops were affected.
"We know there is significant amount of damage through most of state, but it's too early to give what the final analysis will be," said Tommy Irvin, Georgia's agriculture chief.


The Roanoke Times: Caught in the freeze
First three grafs:
Dead, wilted blossoms.
That was what many farmers in the Roanoke area and elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic found Monday as they rummaged through their orchards trying to assess the damage of the weekend freeze on this year's early-blooming crops.
Peaches, cherries and plums were hit particularly hard by the three days of frost, with some farmers already reporting total losses of each crop this year. Some varieties of apples also suffered, as did many grapevines that were already showing shoots -- although many agricultural experts say it's too early to determine the extent of the damages. Forecasters were anticipating another big chill this morning, with temperatures expected to drop as low as the mid-20s.


Rock Hill S.C. Herald Online: Killer freeze wipes out area peaches
First three grafs:

Growing peaches is in the blood and soil of a number of York County farmers, and when a freeze kills the baby fruit, there's nothing to do but pull up your boots and count your losses.
"This is worse than poker," Filbert farmer Ben Smith said of the weekend freeze that dipped to nearly 20 degrees and killed just about every peach in York County. "In poker, you can quit and go home."
Smith, 73, was born on his daddy's peach farm. He lost his crop from 7,500 trees late Saturday, early Sunday morning. Peaches account for about 90 percent of his farm's income.


St. Louis Today.com: Freeze wipes out many growers' crops
First three grafs:
Susie and Otto Thierbach count on the produce from their 46-acre farm near Marthasville in Warren County to provide for themselves and their two preschool-age children.But abnormally cold weather Saturday and Sunday wiped out this year's 10-acre peach crop, their 12-acre apple crop and their blackberry and blueberry plants that were just starting to make berries.
Everything is dead," Otto Thierbach said Monday after he had driven around his farm to survey the damage.



Cullman Times: Peach crops fall victim to weekend freeze
First thre grafs:

It was the cold that killed the peaches, but unseasonably warm weather was the real culprit, according to local farmer Doug Spradlin.Spradlin lost 100 percent of his peach crop over the weekend — 2,500 trees in all. He also lost most of his vegetable, blueberry, blackberry and apple crops as a result of subfreezing temperatures Friday and Saturday night.Across the county, temperatures dipped into the mid to low 20s Saturday, killing just about everything that was planted early or budding early as a result of unseasonably warm weather through most of March.

More:

West Virginia orchards

More details

This news release also talks about the April 11 event relating to the Center for Produce Safety, and provides a few additional details.
From the release:



A major funding initiative to support research on the safety of fresh produce will be announced by UC Davis' Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Produce Marketing Association.

A food safety research laboratory on the main campus will be opened for photos and videos, following the formal event. Also, the formal event includes the passing of a giant check and dignitaries' comments.

Since 2006, the fresh produce industry has been working with government agencies and the University of California to determine how the 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak occurred and how future outbreaks in fresh produce can be prevented.
This new UC Davis food safety initiative will serve as a clearinghouse for research on produce safety and will fund new scientific studies aimed at mitigating risks associated with the nation's produce supply. This partnership is focused on improving research, training, quality verification and consumer education to enhance the safety of fresh produce.