USDA ERS Report: Production Expenses of Specialized Vegetable and Melon Farms

A note from Gary Lucier over at USDA ERS:



Hi Tom,

In the something different department…our report on Production Expenses of Specialized Vegetable and Melon Farms was just released. The link is found here.

Gary


TK: The 26-page report has been in the works for quite a while, and for production-minded readers, this report is a must read. From the report abstract:

Vegetable and melon production requires a substantial investment in production inputs. Using data from USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), this article presents and explores the major expense components of specialized U.S. and regional vegetable and melon farms during 1998-2006. Total cash expenses per acre for specialized U.S. vegetable and melon farms increased 32 percent between 1998-2000 and 2004-06 and were highest in the West and lowest in the Midwest. Labor accounted for 30 percent of U.S. cash expenses, followed by fertilizer and agricultural chemicals at 18 percent.

Railex powerpoint

Railex seems to be at the right place at the right time, and they aren't done yet. Here is a powerpoint presented to the USDA fruit and vegetable advisory committee from Paul Esposito of Railex about the operation. Had to cut a couple of pictures from the presentation to make it fit, but you will get the gist.

The Day Of The Jacka**

Ah, I remember it well. It was the day I was mistaken for a terrorist.

Tom Karst's recent blog about being admonished for taking photos on the Pentagon grounds triggered the memory of my excursion, probably in the early 90's, to Washington, DC for what was then called the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association Conference of Committees.

I remember flying over from Chicago to DC with Joe Comito from Capital City Fruit, Norwalk, IA, and through his ample cache of miles he finagled to score me a first-class seat with his. Marrone! I put my feet up, had free cocktails if I wanted (no, I didn't--ordering an Absolut/tonic at ten in the morning might give my client the wrong idea, but the fact was I could have!), real napkins, two courses with entree choices, I was styling to say the least.

After arriving at Dulles & doing some sightseeing at the Smithsonian (whataplace!), I left Joe & checked into my hotel, after making plans to meet the next morning at the Hart Senate Office Building. At that time, Joe's son Brendan was the scheduler for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), and the upshot from that was that we were going to have a private audience with him. Harkin's not the Pope, but I was pumped nonetheless.

Next morning I suited up, donned my new sunglasses & cabbed it over to the Hart Building, and stood in the lobby waiting. And I waited. Ten, fifteen minutes. I started to get a little anxious, thinking I had maybe misheard the time of the appointment, and remember cell phones weren't as prevalent then, mostly because they were the size & weight of a brick. Thus, I couldn't call Joe either.

So now I'm close to neurotic, and I was fidgeting, looking at my watch repeatedly. And I'm in this lobby, with its marble facade & gleaming floors, all by myself...but not for long. From both sides I sensed movement, and then silently & totally in sync two large security guards reached me simultaneously. They both stood very close, stone-faced, not touching me, and I've turned into a statue by now, not breathing, like an idiot mannequin wearing a suit. Then one of them said in a very low voice, "Are you armed?"

I immediately relaxed & said no, I'm just a businessman waiting for a client to go up to Sen. Harkin's office. The tension broken, the guard phoned upstairs & that's when I realized that we had, indeed, gotten our signals crossed & I missed the meeting. And just like that, my brush with fame was gone like two ships passing in the night.

But can you imagine how this experience would have been different had it happened after 9/11? No way would I have even gotten in the building, or if I had, with my nervousness I'd have been flung to the floor and chloroformed into unconsciousness, my last brain waves registering 'this isn't so bad...'

Later,

Jay

Market News - Terry Long powerpoint

Terry Long presented this powerpoint at the USDA F/V Industry Advisory Committee yesterday. A couple of the highlights of the presentation was talk about increased reporting of organic produce and continued enhancements of the retail report.

Food logic - what to do about food prices

Here in Washington D.C., I am headed today to the Consumer Federation of America's meeting on food policy. The 9:30 am speaker wil be Robert Zoellick, chief executive of the World Bank. There are several workshop panels and the 11:45 am panel includes Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association. The name of that panel is "How consumers and the food industry are dealing with the reality of higher food prices."

This conference features plenty of "pushback" on the use of corn as a source of ethanol. For example, one panel is titled, "How do we go beyond the use of a basic foodstuff for fuel?"

While I had a little time last night, I hopped on the metro and went to the Pentagon, in hopes of seeing the Memorial to victims of the 9/11 attack. The site was closed in preparation for an event on Thursday, but I climbed up a set of stairs and took a picture of the sculpture that stands near the crash site.

As I walking back to the Metro, an officer stopped me and asked me if I was aware that pictures are not allowed on the Pentagon reservation. I said I had merely taken a couple of pics of the sculpture, not the Pentagon.

Long story short, after the police officer talked to headquarters to see if I had any outstanding warrants on me, I was free to go. Word to the wise: no pictures at the Pentagon, please.