Peach shipments

Retail promotions of California tree fruit are near their zenith, just as this shipment chart illustrates truck movement of yellow flesh and white flesh peaches have topped out over the past few weeks.

On the planting restriction

As Congress considers whether to eliminate the the planting restrictions on fruits and vegetables in farm commodity programs, this Congressional Research Service report is helpful in evaluating the real options Congress has.

Although the House Agriculture Committee wants to retain the planting restriction (with the exception of a pilot program in Indiana, the book is not yet written on the issue. In the end, it could be a bargaining chip that is traded away for a few hundred million dollars. A simple solution would be to end direct payments in farm programs. That's a non-starter. Though it would satisfy the WTO cotton case plainly, it would also yield the greatest political havoc.

From the executive summary:


This report summarizes and examines five academic and industry studies on the economic effects of removing the fruit and vegetable planting restrictions. These studies indicate that lifting the planting restriction could have an economic effect on certain crops within certain producing areas. However, differences in approach and scope (e.g., regional versus national; plantings of permanent, perennial crops versus easily rotated, annual crops) complicate a direct comparison across all five studies, and make it difficult to generalize about the possible economic effects of lifting the planting restriction. Only two of the studies provide estimates of revenue losses to existing fruit and vegetable growers (ranging from about $1.7 billion to $4.0 billion in the first year of lifting the current restriction).

Here are the options for Congress, according to CRS

* Retain the current restrictions (status quo). This option would not satisfy concerns in the WTO cotton case and could subject the direct payments program to expenditure limits applied to highly distorting amber box subsidies. Nor does it address the concerns of midwestern fruit and vegetable growers for processing. It could, however, satisfy fresh fruit and vegetable growers who prefer to keep the restriction as compared with simply lifting the restriction. ! Allow fruits and vegetables for processing on base acres, without additional penalty, if growers give up government payments when they plant such crops. This option likely would not satisfy WTO rules because it basically keeps the current planting restriction while creating a smaller penalty for a select group of fruits and vegetables (those for processing). Legislation, such as H.R. 1371/S. 1188, could appease midwestern growers for processing, but likely not fresh produce growers.
Eliminate the restriction on planting fruits and vegetables. This option could remedy violations identified in the WTO cotton case, and it would exceed what is proposed by midwestern growers of CRS-4 fruits and vegetables for processing. Farmers would not have to give up their government payments (nor face additional penalties as they do now) should they grow fruits and vegetables on base acres. However, this action, by itself, likely would not satisfy fresh growers who may want some other form of protection or compensation
because of new competition from subsidized growers.*
* Transition out of direct payments. If direct payments are eliminated, the planting restriction issue is irrelevant. Some are calling for an end to direct payments in the 2007 farm bill, either to score budget savings for other farm bill priorities, or to recognize the inconsistency of making payments to farmers even when farm income is high. Direct payments were intended to be decoupled and eligible for green box treatment. Planting restrictions have become a barrier to this goal. Thus, the fruit and vegetable planting restriction is seen by some as another reason to reconsider the future of direct payments.

If the planting restriction is eliminated and direct payments are retained (in the second or third bullets above), several additional options exist to respond to the concerns of existing fruit and vegetable growers who may perceive additional and unfair competition from new growers who would continue to receive direct and counter-cyclical payments on base acres.

* Direct compensation. Provide some type of direct payment to existing fruit and vegetable growers who do not have base acres on which they plant their fruits and vegetables. The amount of the payment could be based on the level of direct payments received by program crop growers.
* Research assistance. Increase federal funding for university and government research on growing, processing, and distributing fruits and vegetables. Implementation of research findings could lower production costs, increase quality or output, and/or increase demand.
* Increase demand for fruits and vegetables. To the extent that eliminating the planting restriction increases fruit and vegetable production — which could depress prices and revenue as some existing growers fear — federal efforts to increase demand could offset potential revenue shortfalls. Increasing demand could be accomplished in several ways: market promotion (including healthy diet standards, and farmers markets), foreign trade assistance(negotiating trade agreements to export U.S. produce), and government purchases of produce (for feeding and nutrition assistance programs such as Section 32, school lunch programs, and fresh fruit and vegetable snacks for children).

My first call

I've been out of the office on vacation for a couple of days, but my first call tomorrow will be to the United Fresh Produce Association. What is the early view of the chairman's mark in the House Agriculture Committee? With the fruit and vegetable snack program apparently left to rely on reserve funds while the specialty crop block grants have tens of million in paid for funding, it will be interesting to see how the attempt to push both priorities with equal force will proceed. Meanwhile, I would like to see a House Ag Committee accounting of the $685 million for f/v priorities purportedly in the chairman's mark.

A sale on bananas?

The most unlikely of summer promotions is still an eye-catcher. Here in KC Hy Vee has a Friday the 13th sale, along with its weekly food section promotions that are good from July 11-July 17. I'll check out Wal-Mart later this week.

The Friday the 13th sale here in KC features staples like ground beef, eggs, sugar and last, but not least, bananas (4 pounds for $1.13)

The July 11-17 Hy Vee produce ads
$1.18/lb for Ripe N Ready peaches or nectarines
$2.99/lb for Stemilt red cherries
$1.88 Dole Salad blends ( 5 to 12 oz package)
$1.99/lb for Artisan natural Washington apricots
$1.68/lb Greenhouse on the vine tomatoes
$3.88 10 ounce package Hy Vee portabella mushrooms
$4.98/4 lb Driscoll's strawberries
$1.99/6 ounce package Driscoll's raspberries
$2.48/5.5 ounce Fresh blackberries
$1.88/1 lb package Driscoll's strawberries
$3.48/2 lb package Driscoll's strawberries
$2.48/pint fresh blueberries
$5.88 whole red ripe watermelon
$3.48 Earthbound Farm grab and go salad 2.7 to 4.4 ounce
$4.99 Melissa's organic edamame soybeans 10 or 12 ounce



Dillons July 11-17 produce ads (rewards card)
88 cents/pound Ripe California peaches
$2.79 Northwest grown sweet red cherries
$4.99 Northwest grown rainier cherries
$4.99 Whole seedless watermelon
69 cents/pound Ice cold seedless watermelon
79 cents/pound Variety melons
99 cents leaf lettuce all varieties
$2.79 Driscoll's 1-lb strawberries or 1 pint blueberries
$1.79/lb Tree ripened nectarines or plums
$1.79/lb Red or green seedless grapes
$1.29/lb Fresh Arkansas tomatoes
$3.49 5-pack wrapped sweet corn
5 for $2 Sweet corn
2 for $5 baby bella mushroom 10 ounce sliced or whole


Price Chopper 3-day sale July 12-14 (chopper card)
99 cents/lb nectarines, peaches or black plums

Price Chopper July 11-17 ads
2 for $3 Driscoll's 1-lb clamshell strawberries
2 for $5 1-pint blueberries
$2.99/lb BC red, orange or yellow bell peppers
2 for $5 Dole salads 5 to 6 ounces
99 cents/lb fresh green beans
$1.28 each Green Giant mushrooms 8 ounce
99 cents/lb BC Hothouse cukes
$1.49/lb Hot house tomatoes on the vine
2 for $5 Green Giant baby cut carrots 2 pound
99 cents each Dole celery
2 for $4 Earthbound Farm organic vegetables (celery hearts, broccoli or cauliflower)



Hen House July 11-17 (rewards card)
Features meet the growers event at two stores this week, also promoting Andy Candy Corn(tm) from Nebraska



$2.99/lb jumbo sized dark red cherries from Stemilt
$4.99/each 18 ounce package of blueberries
$1.99/lb SunWorld large red or white seedless grapes
$1.49 red tomatoes on the vine
2 for $5 Driscoll's strawberries 1-lb
2 for $3 Calavo hass jumbo avocados
2 lbs for $1 Idaho backer russet potatoes
2 for $3 red bell peppers
2 for $5 Dole salad mixes 5-ounce to 8-ounce
2 for $3 Green Giant mini carrots 1-lb bag
2 for $3 Green Giant whole mushrooms 8 ounce package
BLT meal deal: buy two 12 to 16 ounce Oscar Mayer sliced bacon and get head of iceberg lettuce, up to 1 pound of tomatoes on the vine, sandwich bread and 1/4 of seedless watermelon for free

Monday headline roundup 7/9

Eagle Eye selects Harvestmark Utah based Eagle Eye will use HarvestMark on products including tomatoes, peppers, melons and potatoes, according to its Produce Warehouse Manager, Mike Jacobson.
HarvestMark allows anyone, anywhere, to instantly trace fresh produce via the Web or cell phone from the home or store back to the specific ranch, field and date on which it was picked. It provides unit-level, consumer-facing traceability for field-packed fresh produce and gives consumers confidence in, and information about, the safety of their food.

Going and growing organic: consumers turned to home grown produce Whether it's making a special trip to a local farmstand or looking for the organic label in the supermarket, more people are looking for fresh food and locally produced food.Finding it isn't always easy. Much of the produce in local supermarkets has been shipped across the country, sometimes even from another country. That means more people are looking to local farms for food.



A pro food farm bill If our farm bills had also been healthy food bills, we would have distributed government support more equitably to make nutritious foods more accessible and more consistent with US Department of Agriculture dietary guidance, which encourages us to eat more fruits and vegetables.


Getting kids to eat better What have government programs done to change behavior?

Employers to face more headaches on immigration The collapse of federal immigration reform means businesses can expect more state and local laws aimed at preventing them from hiring undocumented workers or renting apartments to illegal aliens.
Immigration attorneys also think the Department of Homeland Security will move forward with a proposed federal regulation that would increase a business' liability for employing workers whose Social Security numbers don't match government databases.
"There will be mass layoffs as soon as that regulation is published," said Laura Reiff, an immigration attorney at Greenberg Traurig's McLean, Va., office and co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition