Nectarine pioneer passes

Guest blogger Lance Jungmeyer here ...

Look in the April 23 edition of The Packer for a tribute to a true pioneer in the California tree fruit industry.

LeRoy Giannini, who died April 15 in Kingsburg, Calif., helped popularize the nectarine, one of my favorite fruits. From David Mitchell's story on Giannini's life:

"Giannini, owner of Giannini Packing Corp., Dinuba, was the first chairman of the Reedley-based California Tree Fruit Agreement’s nectarine committee and served in that role for 28 years. He was one of the first growers to plant nectarines in California in the 1950s, sources said.

“He was the guy that had the vision,” said Micky George, president of George Bros. Inc., Sultana, Calif. “He saw the potential for a viable commercial industry.” "

It takes more than vision to see through an unfamiliar product. It also takes guts. Hats off to Giannini, another innovator in a long line of produce industry pioneers.

Joel Nelsen testimony

Here is Joel Nelsen's testimony before the House Agriculture subcommittee on conservation, credit, energy and research. In his April 19 testimony, Nelsen focuses on the conservation title of the farm bill, making a point that expanding the EQUIP program is CCM's top priority.

Specialty Crop Competition Act of 2007

As expected, the Specialty Crop Competition Act of 2007 was introduced today in the Senate by Sens. Larry Craig, R-Ida., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., with about 15 co-sponsors signing on - Hillary Clinton included.

Here is a section by section rundown of the bill, passed along by John Keeling of the National Potato Council.

Here is the release from United.

Here is the release from Stabenow and Craig.

The text of the bill is not yet available.


TK: As one lobbyist told me today, now is when the "fun" starts. The industry has a bill both in the House and the Senate; now, what can it get in the 2007 farm bill? One thing is sure; never have ambitions been set so high.

E manifest official

U.S. CBP issued this release today...

Beginning today, all truck carriers are required to electronically submit manifests detailing cargo and carrier information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection prior to arrival at any southern U.S. land border ports of entry. By allowing the truck carrier to begin import procedures in advance, drivers may shorten administrative time at the border, potentially leading to expedited border crossings for the approximately 21,000 trucks that cross the southern U.S. border each day.

Until now truck drivers have arrived at the border and presented CBP officers with a paper manifest that details information on the cargo being transported, the truck and trailer carrying the cargo and the driver. The manifest must then be processed by CBP while the driver waits. However, when a carrier files an electronic manifest, CBP officers can begin processing the truck before it arrives at the port.

Requiring manifest information to be submitted electronically greatly reduces the potential for errors and improves efficiency, resulting in faster border crossings for legitimate carriers. With e-manifests, time-consuming paper processes are eliminated, truckers spend less time waiting at the border, and goods make their way to market faster—all of which provide positive economic benefits for both the United States and Mexico.

The e-manifest capability is available at all ports featuring the Automated Commercial Environment, the commercial trade processing system being developed by CBP. Since January 2007 e-manifest filing rates at Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico land border ports have grown steadily, from approximately 5,500 e-manifests filed in January to more than 32,000 in March.

This significant increase in the e-manifest participation rate by carriers on the southern border illustrates that they have been planning and preparing for the mandatory use of e-manifests. Now that the policy is in effect, CBP expects e-manifests to further facilitate and expedite the crossings of legitimate southern border carriers.

For more information on ACE, e-mail CBP.CSPO@dhs.gov or visit the CBP Web site at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/.

TK: Lee Frankel of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas says about 80% of volume in Nogales is going through the e-manifest system in this period of soft enforcement. He praised the CBP for being responsive to industry concerns and working with the trade on tweaks to software that might make it more efficient.

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Andy Nelson posts from Spain

Andy Nelson of The Packer files this from Spain....


VALENCIA, SPAIN - April 18-19 I was the guest of IVEX, an organization that promotes exports from the Valencia region of Spain. While in Valencia, I was, thanks to a connection made by New York-based importer Luke Sears, able to spend an afternoon in the company of a citrus exporter, Javier (last name in hotel room, alas.) Sears said he is the most knowledgeable citrus guy in Spain. Javier said he and other exporters were surprised the California freeze did not have a bigger impact on Spain. Very few Spanish navels, it turns out, were needed to supplement California supplies, he said. Because the fruit was not promoted as much, due to the freeze, expected shortages did not materialize, he said.

On our drive north of Valencia, we saw little other than citrus groves, mainly clementines. (The major orange-growing regions are further south, Javier said.) The citrus-growing region in Spain stretches for 600 miles along the coast of the Mediterranean. It´s all about the sea, Javier said. Just a few miles inland, on the other side of the coastal mountains, it´s too cold to grow citrus. Inland winters, he said, are worse than winters in New York. Javier´s company specializes in clementines. And while growth in the U.S. market has leveled off, the company is turning its eyes toward China, where the company shipped clems this year for the first time ever (two or three containers, with more in future years, he predicted.)

On the drive back to Valencia, Javier showed me the huertas, tiny patches of land (an acre at most) divided by irrrigation channels, still in use, dug by the Moors in...well, before the 11th Century, when the Christians booted them out. The huertas are farmed by individual farmers who typically specialize in a certain vegetable, as their fathers, grandfathers, etc. before them did. A field of romaine, followed by a field of onions, etc. I saw one old farmer weeding by hand. Another walked his field, pushing a portable tiller, what they call a ¨mechanical bull.¨ The rich, black earth on the puertas could be sold elsewhere for fertilizer, Javier said, maybe only partly in jest. The quality of the vegetables is unparalleled, he said. They are sold to the best restaurants in Valencia, which, I was told by one of the food writers in my tour group, are attracting some of the world´s top chefs.

Senate produce bill to be introduced today

The word on the street is that the Senate's version of the produce title of the farm bill - called the "Specialty Crops Competition Act of 2007" will be introduced today by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Ida, , and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., with 13 or more co-sponsors. One of those is N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Though there are some differences between the bills, John Keeling of the National Potato Council says the Senate bill is considered a companion bill to the EAT Healthy America Act in the House. The Senate bill defers to Senate Ag chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, on conservation issues and also offers a different funding formula for block grants, among other marginal differences.

One red paper clip

One of the news magazine videos on the Google video bar at the bottom of the site is a feature about Kyle MacDonald from Canada. He was inspired to test his trading ability by starting with one red paper clip, with a goal of making deals until someday he would trade his way to a home. He made dozens of trades, documenting them and taking pictures of his trading partners and the stuff they exchanged. Somehow, some way, after dozens of trades and growing notoriety, he eventually had his house. You can find this Web site here.


That story got me to thinking. If you had to count on someone in the industry to start with one red paper clip and trade his way to something as bodacious as a house, who would you choose (besides yourself)?

I don't know all the buyers out there, but I have sat in the office of Stanley Greenspan, for 25 years associated with St. Louis-based United Fruit & Produce Co. Inc.. and now with Proffer Wholesale Produce Inc., Park Hills, Mo.

Stanley wouldn't charm his way to a house. But he would cajole and insist that the house was so deficient that he would offer only the plastic push pin, not the red paper clip.

Don't mess with our pets

I was talking with a St. Louis retailer today for a story about food safety (bagged salad sales are slowly coming back to where they used to be, he is selling the H E double toothpicks out of Veggie Wash) and he brought up the pet food recalls.

"This pet food thing has blown me away," he said. This retailer, who works at store level, said one lady accused the store of being a "cat killer" because he hadn't pulled a particular brand from the shelves when in fact he had been closely following instructions about the recall.

Now, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, have issued a news release that said FDA officials have indicated to them that the Chinese Government has blocked requests from the FDA to send personnel to China to inspect the facilities suspected of producing the contaminated products.
From the release:

"It is unacceptable that the Chinese government is blocking our food safety inspectors from entering their country and examining facilities that are suspected of providing contaminated pet food to American consumers," said Durbin. "
“At time when China is exporting more foods into the U.S, the Chinese are refusing to allow our inspectors in to the country to investigate the source of the pet food contamination. The FDA needs to be allowed to investigate this so we can better protect our pets and identify the source of the source of the problem. While we have a significant trade relationship with the Chinese, the investigation of the contaminated product comes first,” said DeLauro.
Additionally, DeLauro, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, will further explore FDA’s inspection of imported foods in a follow-up hearing before the subcommittee.
Durbin and DeLauro have been actively engaged on food safety issues for over a decade. This Congress they introduced legislation that calls for the development of a single food safety agency and the implementation of a food safety program to standardize American food safety activities (The Safe Food Act – S. 654 and H.R. 1148 in the Senate and House respectively). The Illinois senator said legislation he has introduced to consolidate all federal food safety responsibilities into a single, independent agency has taken on new urgency because of a possibly heightened need to respond quickly and effectively to any acts of bioterrorism or agroterrorism. Currently, there are at least 12 different federal agencies and 35 different laws governing food safety. With overlapping jurisdictions, federal agencies often lack accountability on food safety-related issues.


TK: We may see an international incident over Fido. China isn't helping their cause by refusing to allow FDA inspectors in, and they may be sabotaging their efforts to win future access to the U.S. market for commodities like fresh apples with their steadily worsening reputation in food safety issues. And finally, China - don't mess with our pets.