Numbers from the Senate bill

Here is a link to a spreadsheet that compares the House version of the farm bill and the just passed chairman's mark. The numbers were compiled by Sens. Stabenow and Craig and passed on by Robert Guenther of United.

Here is another link to a summary of the Specialty Crops Subtitle. While the fruit and vegetable program had a big win with Harkin's bill, I wonder how the cut in specialty crop block grants compared with the House bill will play with Western Growers and strong backers of the program.

Senate Agriculture Committee statement on farm bill passage

From the Senate Agriculture Committee:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today passed by an overwhelming majority the 2007 farm bill, The Food and Energy Security Act. The measure continues and improves farm income protection and makes historic investments for the future in energy, conservation, nutrition and rural development initiatives – all while staying within strict budget limits. Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) today hailed the bill’s passage and thanked membership of the Committee. The bill must now be considered by the full Senate.

“After months of negotiations, we were able to work within a very strict budget allocation to complete our work and pass a farm bill that is good for agriculture, good for rural areas and good for the health of Americans” said Chairman Harkin. “Our Committee was able to use budget offsets and report a bill that makes major investments for the future and is still fiscally responsible. This is a forward-looking farm bill with greatly strengthened initiatives to support renewable energy, conservation, nutrition, rural development and to promote better diets and health for all Americans. It maintains a strong safety net for farm producers, and strengthens programs that will help agricultural producers of all kinds across our nation.

“I thank all Committee members for their cooperation in getting this bill passed and join them in looking forward to swift consideration on the Senate floor.”

The bill includes a newly named Producer Income Protection title of that continues basic features of the 2002 bill, which have worked well, and it gives producers a new option, beginning with the 2010 crop year, to choose to participate in a state-level revenue protection system. The Average Crop Revenue program, modeled after legislation introduced by Senators Durbin and Brown, offers producers better options for managing risk on their farms in today’s uncertain, rapidly changing farm environment.

The conservation title extends key conservation programs and increases critical funding. This will allow CSP – now renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program – to grow vigorously at a pace of more than 13 million acres a year, which with the 15 million acres already enrolled, will equal 80 million acres in 5 years. This funding will also continue to allow increased enrollment in the Wetland Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Grassland Reserve Program.

The energy title provides investments in farm-based energy by creating initiatives with financial incentives to help farmers transition into biomass crops, and supports the construction of biorefineries from cellulose ethanol with a loan guarantee program that will provide up to 80 percent of total project cost with a loan cap of $250 million. The bill expands markets for biobased products, and invests in farm-based energy R&D, and in helping farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses move to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The nutrition title strengthens our commitment to fighting hunger and promoting sound health and nutrition. It updates archaic nutrition program rules, increases Food Stamp benefit levels, and stops the erosion of benefits that has gone unchecked since 1996. It expands the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program created by Harkin to reach nearly 4.5 million children in elementary schools nationwide.

The bill’s livestock title will promote market opportunities for producers; it will protect animal health; and it will strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act. This title strengthens the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, with minor changes.

The rural development title provides $400 million in budget authority for a variety of initiatives that will promote economic growth and create jobs in rural communities. This title will help agriculture producers and small businesses to create and capitalize on new opportunities. It will bring quality, affordable day care as well as improved access to broadband to rural America. It will provide loans to rural hospitals so that they can acquire the best equipment possible.

The bill greatly increases assistance to growers of fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops.

To view the chairman’s mark of the bill and amendments that were accepted by the Committee, please visit http://agriculture.senate.gov/.

Farm bill passes out of Senate Ag Committee

There will be a teleconference with Sen. Tom Harkin at 2 pm Eastern to discuss passage of the farm bill by the Senate Agriculture Committee. I'll have some audio for you later. Also thoughts from industry lobbyists. Time to start tallying up the dollars in this farm bill for specialty crops, and what potential trade-offs are in play.

Mid-term report - Fruits & Veggies - More Matters

So how is the new campaign to increase produce consumption doing? That will be my poll question this week, and I'm not quite sure what to expect from our readers. Is the launch of Fruits & Veggies - More Matters where the industry thought it would be at this point? "5 a Day" was such an ingrained message for so many years it still may be hard to let it go, and no measure of success for "More matters" may be enough for some. I have heard one person say he hoped for a "harder" launch of the brand message, and others may not be in love with the "juggler" image. Yet, despite the disconcerting news of a "Meat Matters" campaign (more on that later) there are signs the campaign is coming into its own. For your consideration I have provided some input from PBH on the subject of the launch.

A few weeks ago Elizabeth Pivonka sent me the mid-year report for the Board of Trustees for the Produce for Better Health Foundation. Dated September, the 14-page pdf file examines the launch of the Fruits & Veggies - More Matters campaign. Here is the opening letter from Elizabeth and Michael O'Brien that is found in the document.

From the report:

The beginning of 2007 marked the launch of Fruits & Veggies—More Matters™: a national health initiative that has the promise of making increased consumption of fruits and vegetables a reality for everyone. The launch was a success in garnering a great deal of media attention to help generate consumer awareness of the new initiative and now the hard work lies before us. The new Fruits & Veggies—More Matters brand will need strong, active support on many fronts to provide moms with the assistance they need to make eating
more fruits and vegetables a reality for their families. PBH with its national partners is committed to spreading the word to the consumer through key influencers, including the media, nutrition professionals and classroom educators. Producers, processors, and retailers can build on and increase the momentum by working to translate consumer awareness into
action where purchasing decisions get made, at point of sale. We encourage all fruit and vegetable stakeholders to put the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters platform to work to strengthen your customer relationships and to help grow your produce sales. Retailers, remember the basics: feature the new brand in advertising every week, update your point of sale material including signage and bags, and harness the power of the internet by updating and linking your website. Then work with your colleagues across the aisle from the produce
department to get the new brand executed for all forms of fruits and veggies, including frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice. Suppliers, the new brand presents the same kind of relationship-building opportunities to you. Use the new brand to promote your brand with package labeling, advertising and promotions, and website content and links. And you can leverage your marketing dollars with the millions being invested by other licensees.This mid-year report demonstrates that Fruits & Veggies—More Matters is off to a great start. However, more support for the new brand really does matter, to our companies, to our industry, to our consumers and to our nation’s health. Together we can make 2007 and future years be the time for the consumption needle to move resulting in a healthier America!
Thank you for your continued support of PBH’s mission.

Michael F. O’Brien
Vice President of Produce & Floral, Schnucks Markets, Inc.
Chairman of Produce for Better Health Foundation

Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D, RD
President and CEO, Produce for Better Health Foundation
Joint Letter from Chairman and President


More notes from the report:

PBH secured CARMA, a third-party media analysis provider, to assess the success of the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters launch. Between February 1-May 10, 2007 there were a total of 727 stories resulting in 45 million consumer impressions.
Consumers claimed they learned of 5 A Day primarily through the media, supermarkets, and packaging, so assuring that Fruits & Veggies—More Matters begins to replace 5 A Day and
allow for consumer exposure to this more relevant message is important. Through May, 2007 nearly 500 SKU’s have been approved to carry the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters brand logo. Supermarket Retailers delivered an estimated 600 million consumer ad impressions from January 2007 through June 2007 in their circulars alone.

Reds then and now

Average prices above from U.S. Department of Commerce. Below are ad prices from the USDA's National Retail Report

Apples, red delicious

Stores with ads from 10/19 to 10/25: 5,283
Average Weighted price: $1.07

Previous week:
Stores with ads: 3,992
Average weighted price: $1.04