WG: Early take on "More with Less"

The Pacific Institute released a 69-page report today on ag water efficiency called "More with less"

From the summary and conclusion:

Agriculture is important to our economy, culture, and environment but is subject to mounting pressure from uncontrolled urbanization, global market pressures, and threats to the reliability and availability of fresh water. Actions are needed to both ensure a sustainable agricultural sector and to reduce the water required for it.
-- Better combined land and water planning is needed. For example, strengthen recent legislation, such as the Costa and Kuehl Acts (SB 610 and SB 221) to ensure all new developments have an adequate water supply for at least 100 years. In addition, the number of new housing units required to trigger implementation of these acts should be reduced.

- Modify and expand the Williamson Act to encourage protection of prime agricultural land from urban and suburban development. Water conservation and efficiency improvements can reduce water use and improve water quality while maintaining or increasing crop yield. Yet these improvements often entail significant investment (capital and operation and management costs), which can be a
barrier to implementation. Smart policies can reduce this barrier. More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California Special Focus on the Delta

-- Provide sales tax exemptions or rebates on efficient irrigation equipment to help offset capital
investments for these systems.
-- Provide property tax exemptions for farmers who upgrade to more water-efficient irrigation systems. Exemptions apply to the value added to a property by the irrigation system and be valid for 5 to 10 years.
-- Develop new legal mechanisms by which municipal water or state or local wildlife agencies could invest in farmers’ irrigation systems in exchange for some portion of the water conserved.

-- The state, federal government, and/or energy providers should offer rebates or incentives to farmers who implement on-farm conservation measures that result in a net energy savings.

-- The state and/or federal government should investigate and establish other mechanisms that encourage water-use efficiency if they achieve broader social or environmental benefits. Agricultural commodity-support programs typically subsidize field crops, inadvertently encouraging the production of low-value, water-intensive crops. These programs should be refocused on the potential to save water.
-- Reduce or realign subsidies from low-value, water-intensive crops to less water-intensive crops.
-- Provide greater emphasis on water conservation and efficiency improvements within the federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program and expand funding for these initiatives.

-- Implement new water rate structures that encourage efficient use of water.

Federal and state government has invested substantially in the construction of irrigation systems, without full repayment. By creating an artificially-inexpensive supply of water, these indirect water subsidies provide a disincentive for water conservation and efficiency improvements. Eliminate programs that encourage inefficient use.

-- Ensure federal contracts for the Central Valley Project achieve full repayment by 2030 or
sooner.
-- Avoid inappropriate public subsidies for new water-supply options that are more expensive than efficiency improvements. The existing water rights system in California provides disincentives for water conservation and efficiency improvements. More aggressive efforts are needed to apply the constitutionally mandated concepts of reasonable and beneficial use in ways that encourage improvements in water-use efficiency.
-- Give legislative, regulatory, and administrative support to developing a more rational water rights system. In particular, the State Water Resources Control Board’s authority and funding should be expanded to include groundwater and to challenge inefficient use as neither reasonable nor beneficial

Here is the early take on the report from Western Growers:

IRVINE, CA (September 8, 2008) - Today, the Pacific Institute released a detailed report entitled, “More with Less,” Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California. Western Growers is studying this report in more detail and in the coming weeks plan to release an official analysis of the study.

Jasper Hempel, Western Growers Executive Vice President and General Counsel, made the following statement today:

“On first read, we appreciate the Pacific Institute’s acknowledgment of all that California’s family farmers have done to increase water use efficiency. There are specific proposals within the report that may merit our support, but there are others we find very troubling. We are troubled by the many broad assumptions the report makes about the realities of agricultural commodity supply and demand, the profitability, or lack thereof, of some crops citied in the report and the omission of discussion of the largest segment of developed water use — the environment.

“The State Water Plan has officially characterized the developed water supply as the total of three segments: urban, agricultural and environmental. Simply subtracting the segment of environmental water and then saying that agriculture uses 80 percent of the remainder is deceptive. We believe this labeling methodology has caused legislators, journalists and the general public to think that agriculture is the biggest water user in the state, when in fact, according to Bulletin 160-05 (State Water Plan update of 2005), in a normal year of precipitation (like 2000) the environment uses 48 percent, urban uses 11 percent and agriculture uses 41 percent of the state’s dedicated water supply. We think the time has come for the Pacific Institute, or another scientific organization, to research and publish a report on ‘Environmental Water Use Efficiency in California,’ complete with accurate statistics in line with official state records on the quantities, sources and outcomes of all water that comes from the 82.5 million acre feet of developed water (out of a total of 200 million acre feet annually in a normal year of precipitation). We are all part of the environment — people, homes, farms and wildlife.

“The report also acknowledges the tremendous investment in increased water use efficiencies made by California farmers over the last decade. We appreciate that, but at this moment, in a time of drought and federal court order decreasing Delta water supplies to Central Valley farmers by 30 percent, those very expensive investments ($500 million dollars in the years between 2004 and 2006 alone) today cannot be sustained. Without adequate water supply, the debt on those water efficiency investments cannot be serviced.

“Farmers will continue to increase water use efficiency. It is the right thing to do from a business standpoint as well as an environmental standpoint. But increased water-use efficiency is not a substitute for the needed improvements in water storage or conveyance. This need cannot be disregarded by any well-intentioned desires or dreams that conservation alone will answer California’s water needs for decades to come. “

The Dirty Dozen and other topics of discussion

Some hot topics at the f/v industry advisory meeting this afternoon:

Mike Hollister brought up the topic of the "Dirty Dozen"; specifically, the fact that the Environmental Working Group uses USDA data against conventional produce; can or should the USDA try to counter use of pesticide data program by activist groups? What should the industry's approach be in view of this use of USDA data by activist group?

Another high interest part of the program was a presentation by Railex; the Railex presentation by Paul Esposito drew a lot of interest and questions. The next phase for Railex is in California this fall and the third phase in Florida in a couple of year.

Group is now breaking into working groups.....

New Zealand kiwifruit report - USDA FAS

Here is the link to the USDA FAS annual report on New Zealand kiwifruit. From the USDA report:




New Zealand production of kiwifruit during Marketing Year (MY) 2007 (January – December) jumped significantly, up 11.5% to a record 367,916 tons. Production of kiwifruit is expected to break another record in MY 2008 increasing approximately 4% to 382,000 tons. In MY 2007, New Zealand exports of kiwifruit reached a record 347,916 tons, a 12.2% jump from the previous year. Exports in MY 2008 are expected to increase a further 4% reaching 362,700 tons, primarily due to better orchard yields, larger fruit size, and lower loss rates.



A look ahead.....


In spite of increasing costs, kiwifruit production is expected to expand steadily over the next few years. While some kiwifruit vines have been taken out of production, the removals have largely been on marginal land that has historically delivered relatively low yields or low dry matter content. The areas withdrawn have been more than offset by a steady increase in plantings of the Zespri Gold variety. The plant variety rights for Zespri Gold are owned by Zespri, which controls the area planted to this variety. Currently, acreage planted to Zespri Gold is approximately 2,060 hectares compared to 451 for organic fruit and 9,675 for green fruit. Zespri is reportedly allowing an addition 600 hectares of the Zespri Gold variety to be planted over the next few years. Zespri has accepted tenders submitted by growers at over NZ $20,000 (USD 15,000) per hectare for the right to grow Zespri Gold, which indicates a certain degree of confidence in the future of this variety.A total of approximately 1,000 hectares planted to both Zespri Gold and green kiwifruit are expected to come on line over the next five years. This alone is expected to account for an 8% increase in production. Improvements in orchard management techniques will likely contribute to improved yields and a more favorable exchange rate will likely contribute to improved profitability. Having peaked at 82 cents to the U.S. dollar in April 2008, the New Zealand dollar fell to 70 cents in August 2008, which will bolster returns to growers in New Zealand dollar terms. New Zealand Government officials are forecasting that the New Zealand dollar will continue to depreciate over the next two to three years against most major currencies. This should help improve the profitability of kiwifruit production. In light of these factors, post predicts that national production will continue to increase between 2 and 4% per annum over the next few years. Industry contacts report that there is considerable scope for improving yields, dry matter content, and fruit size while also minimizing post-harvest fruit loss. Zespri pays its growers on the basis of various incentives, including taste (high dry matter) and early harvesting (Kiwi-Start program) , which results in considerable variation in the price received by growers. Successfully using the Kiwi-Start program could mean an additional $2.70 (USD 2.03) per tray for growers ompared to the industry average. Taste Payment incentives typically make up 16% to 25% of the total price received by growers depending on the variety of fruit. Zespri also pays premiums for organically grown green fruit and the Zespri Gold variety. In MY 2007, Zespri paid a premium of $1.85 (USD 1.39) per tray for organic fruit and a premium of $2.51 (USD.88) for Zespri Gold over and above the $6.30 (USD 4.73) per tray for the green variety. In July 2008, Zespri announced it will begin orchard trials of four new varieties. Orchardists will graft the new varieties onto 30 hectares of rootstock vines in August 2008.

Fruit and Vegetable Industry Committee slideshow - Sept. 8

Cornucopia Institute to f/v industry committee - watch out for collateral damage to small farmers

Small farmers are sending the message that they will not necessarily go along with food safety regulations applied to "industrial-scale" operations. One of the guest speakers at the f/v industry advisory committee meeting this morning was Carlea Arnold, research associate with The Cornucopia Institute. During her presentation, she noted that the group is ready to sue over the issue of what they consider onerous regulation. Here are some excerpts from the text of her prepared remarks.

My goal here today, on behalf of the Institute, is to convey a simple message. In the industry's attempts to deal with the fallout from numerous pathogen related contamination incidents, we ask that you please be cognizant of any collateral damage new regulations might have, burdening the thousands of family scale fresh market producers around the country.

While the vast majority of the most dangerous and well-publicized outbreaks have been tied back to industrial-scale operations, in the United States and abroad, three is a vibrant subset of vegetable and fruit growers that by their very nature create less; these are the truly local and/or organic producers.

In the case of organic farms, producers are already highly regulated in terms of nutrient management. For the riskiest crops, they are prohibited from spreading raw manure and are required to compost waste.......

Organic growers are required to develop planning models and document through record keeping their adherence to Federal standards. They are inspected during the growing season by independent third party certifiers that are accredited by the USDA's National Organic Program.

Later....

For these reasons, The Cornucopia Institute strongly encourages any future discussion of voluntary or mandatory protocols to consider the needs of, and potential damage to, these important growers who have developed profitable niche markets.


Later......

We encourage you to enter into a dialogue with organizations representing the interest of local and organic growers in order to assure that they are not damaged by future rule making that addresses problems that they might very well may not be a part of.

In the form of a warning, The Cornucopia Institute filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging the legality of the USDA's almond pasteurization mandate.

The Almond Board of California, and the USDA, had the opportunity to help forge a compromise position, exempting smaller and organic producers form the almond pasteurization mandate. The chose not to collaborate in that effort and the result might be losing the rule that very well could have had legitimate application for the industry's largest growers.


Similarly, and to be very clear, we will aggressively defend the interests of family farmers if their economic well being is threatened y rule making that places them at a competitive disadvantage based on their scale. An insensitive one size rule does not fit all.

Later...

We invite discussion of these issues amicably, before the fact, rather than through debates in the marketplace under intense media scrutiny and the possibility for potential future litigation...


TK: There you have it. Produce safety regulations - whether voluntary or mandatory - may be challenged in courts by groups like The Cornucopia Institute who wish to spare small and organic farmers from "collateral damage." It will be interesting to see how much the committee decides to wrestle with this issue during today's meeting....

USDA ERS - What's new

Not too much of compelling indusry connection at the USDA ERS, but some topics related to nutrition and obesity that may be worth a look for Fresh Talk readers.


Thursday, September 4, 2008
• Economic Impacts of Feed-Related Regulatory Responses to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
• The Use of Markets To Increase Private Investment in Environmental Stewardship
• Creating Markets for Environmental Stewardship: Potential Benefits and Problems
• Amber Waves, September 2008
• Regulating Agricultural Imports To Keep Out Foreign Pests and Disease
• Balancing Nutrition, Participation, and Cost in the National School Lunch Program
• Obesity in the Midst of Unyielding Food Insecurity in Developing Countries
Friday, August 29, 2008
• The Role of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) in Nutritional Assistance to Mothers, Infants, Children, and Seniors
• The Effects of Avian Influenza News on Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Case Study of Italian Consumers’ Retail Purchase
• Farm Household Economics and Well-Being
Thursday, August 28, 2008
• Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade
• Farm Balance Sheet Data
• Farm Income Data
• Farm Income and Costs
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
• Vegetables and Melons Outlook

The Packer Extra - Sept. 8

Here is today's edition of The Packer Extra

This Sept. 8 edition of The Packer Extra sponsored by:

Famous Software
RJO Produce Marketing
Ballantine Produce
Maxco Packaging
YottaMark


Need to catch up on recent news from The Packer? Check out our new Packer News Feed here:

FDA mobile lab running tests in Salinas
SALINAS, Calif. - Food and Drug Administration investigators are in Salinas, using a $4 million mobile lab to test tomatoes, hot peppers, leafy greens and other fresh produce linked to foodborne illness outbreaks during a monthlong examination. Go here for the story.


Input on new FDA GAPs deemed critical
In a move signaling a desire to update 10-year-old industry guidance for good agricultural practices, the Food and Drug Administration is seeking public input on its 1998 version of GAPs for fresh fruits and vegetables. Go here for the story.

Organic supplier adds conventional bananas
Organics Unlimited, a San Diego-based organic fruit supplier, is making a three-year break into the conventional banana category, introducing its line of Fruti Fresh brand bananas in late August. Go here for the story.

Western Growers backs McCain-Palin ticket
Grower-shippers could anticipate a more sympathetic ear at the White House if Sen. John McCain is elected president in November, said Tom Nassif, president and chief executive officer of Western Growers, Irvine, Calif., and a delegate at the Republican National Convention. Go here for the story.

Philly produce terminal to be ready in 2010
With the Sept. 4 groundbreaking for a new Philadelphia terminal market a reality, produce wholesalers say they're ready to see construction begin on a modern produce distribution facility. Go here for the story.