Sunday 7/15 headline roundup

Citrus growers may lose a market Coverage from The Lakeland Ledger:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed a statewide citrus canker quarantine under a temporary regulation effective Aug. 1. That meant no fresh citrus from Florida's 2006-07 crop could be shipped to 10 other citrus states and U.S. territories to keep the canker bacteria from spreading.The temporary regulation also requires canker inspections of groves supplying fresh fruit no more than 30 days from harvest. Fresh citrus from any grove with canker cannot be shipped outside Florida.

TK: Richard Kinney is quoted frequently in this piece, with focus on the temporary regulation and also on Florida's attempt to prove that the symptom free fruit from canker infested regions isn't a threat to spread the disease.


Inspections, not labeling, key to food safety From an editorial:
When unburdened by government restrictions, food companies will devise their own methods of ensuring safe products in response to consumer demand. Free-market methods will prove less costly and more effective than protectionist government mandates.
TK: A rare voice for the "free market."

California, growers team up to safeguard leafy vegetables Editorial from San Jose Mercury News:
The eyes of the agricultural world - and lovers of leafy green vegetables - will be on California beginning July 23, when growers and packagers begin implementing new safety standards approved by the state Department of Agriculture.
The comprehensive agreement should sharply reduce the chances of an E. coli outbreak such as the one that devastated California's food industry in September. It also should serve as a model for regulation throughout the nation. Consumers will be able to tell which lettuce, spinach and other greens meet the new standards by looking for the state-certified stamp of approval. Critics, including Sen. Dean Florez, D-Bakersfield, object to the deal, claiming the voluntary component of industry's agreement permits "the fox to guard the henhouse."

Intense pressure from the industry itself has led to agreement from 99 percent of the companies that package leafy greens. The new rules put stringent standards on irrigation water, prohibits the use of raw manure and requires new measures to keep wildlife out of fields. Extensive record keeping also is required. Plus, a state board will oversee the program. The industry took a $100 million hit because of the Salinas Valley spinach contamination. The billion-dollar leafy-green-food industry is more likely than the state to maintain the necessary funding to effectively inspect and enforce the new safety agreement.
TK: The state-certified stamp of approval - and the approach of the leafy greens marketing agreement to self-regulate - gets an endorsement.

House panel juggles competing interests to write farm policy bill USA Today looks at work of House Agriculture Committee:
The House Agriculture Committee's goal is to deliver a 2007 farm bill that balances the competing interests of grain farmers, fruit and vegetable growers, ranchers, dairy farmers, agribusiness, environmentalists, rural energy producers and anti-hunger advocates. And that's just a few of the groups interested in the bill's outcome. The 46-member panel begins work Tuesday. House committee members will work on a nearly $280 billion main proposal to replace the 2002 farm bill that expires Sept. 30. It could be temporarily extended to give Congress more time to write a new bill. The Senate agriculture committee may not produce its version until September.
TK: If not for Peterson's ability to keep the train on the track and running on time, there may be no farm bill at all in 2007. With payment limits up for debate and advocates for change looking for much more, that punctuality and efficiency will be tested this week.

The crusher

As I was cruising through Wal-Mart Sunday on the way to the auto service desk to pick up my car, I noticed that Wal-Mart was running green seedless grapes at 68 cents per pound.
That's the type of wrecking ball promotion, much like the 76 cents per pound on peaches last week, that gets the rapt attention of consumers and unmitigated dread from other retailers. It is one overwhelming promotion in the midst of assumed everyday low prices throughout the whole department. While the rest of the department may not leave consumers with any particular impression, they will remember the 68 cents per pound and favorably credit it to Wal-Mart's discount reputation.

I was also in a SuperTarget Sunday, and their top feature was a three pound clamshell of red or green seedless grapes at $4 each. The grapes in the display were from Fruit Patch and the Grape Connection.

Cantaloupes and honeydew were featured at 2 for $4, including King Fisher honeydew; cantaloupes were not marked with PLU stickers. Driscoll's strawberries in one-pound clamshells were on sale at 2 for $4.

Large peaches (4038 PLU) and large nectarines (4378 PLU) were priced at $1.50 per pound. The nectarines were labeled with "Tastemark"; "Guaranteed sweet produce of USA."

Miniseedless Pureheart watermelons were priced at $3.99 from Dulcinea Farms, and Tuscan style cantaloupe were also featured at the same price.

SuperTarget featured two-pound poly bags of Market Pantry (own brand) peaches, nectarines and plums at $2.49 each. The bags featured nutrition labels and the 5 a Day logo.

Pluots were $1.88 per pound and Saturn peaches were priced at $2.99 per pound.

Chiquita Gold extra sweet pineapple at $3.99 and and bananas were 52 cents per pound.

SuperTarget also displayed some South African navels and an impressive array of apple varieties, including selections from Washington state, New Zealand and Chile. They did have one display labeled "Pink Lady" that included at least some "Cripps Pink" fruit.