Farm bill Wednesday

Thanks to Luis and Big Apple for chiming in with their guest blogs over the past few days. I look forward to more posts from them and perhaps others. I'm posting from Portland, Ore., where the morning weather report called for "partly sunny" later this week, a forecast which seemed to be a remarkable and noteworthy development.

It is beautiful in this part of the world, and I noted some fruit orchards in the I-84 drive along the Columbia River near Hood River and The Dalles.

Got this in my email inbox:

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today announced the scheduling of an open business meeting of the Committee to consider and report out the 2007 farm bill. The meeting will take place Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. EDT in room 328A of the Russell Senate Office Building.



Also, have you checked out the new USDA retail report? I think they have a winner. The Oct. 18 edition noted a significant decrease in grape features over the last two weeks ( a 20% decline last week and a 31% decline this week). I think one of the more closely watched week to week elements of the report will be the "Fruit as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads." Here is the summary from the Oct. 18 report:

Features this week continued to be focused on seasonal items and activities. Many retailers highlighted seasonal produce and decorative items. These included: a variety of pumpkins, Indian corn, hard squashes, and candy/caramel apples. In addition, many stores were promoting Thanksgiving incentives, such as, free or reduced price prepared dinners
with minimum purchase and free turkey/ham/lasagna with minimum purchase qualifications. Fruits continued to dominate activity overall. The top featured items among all commodities were fruits and included: avocados, strawberries, grapes, pears, apples, and cantaloupes. Grapes were still featured heavily, despite a significant decrease for the second week in a row (20% last week and nearly 31% this week). An overall decline in activity on green grapes was noted. One of the most notable increases in activity was on grapefruit which corresponds with the seasonal increase in the Texas harvest. Other seasonal fruits were prominently featured in many ads and included: pomegranates,persimmons, Florida citrus, and cranberries. Vegetable activity was steady overall this week. Items with little seasonal fluctuation, such as baby carrots, tomatoes on the vine, and mushrooms led the vegetables. Sweet onions were another leading vegetable and were primarily from Peru. Cucumbers saw a significant increase in activity and corresponded with Fall harvests in the Southeast.