Despite support of many growers, judge overturns Georgia ag commissioner’s Vidalia pack date
Despite support of many growers, judge overturns Georgia ag commissioner’s Vidalia pack date
While many Vidalia onion growers were in favor of a recent decision by Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black to set April 21 as the first date Vidalia onions can be packed and shipped each season, Judge Cynthia D. Wright of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit of the Superior Court of Fulton County March 19 ruled in favor of a challenge to that decision from Bland Farms of Glennville, GA.
Meanwhile, Bo Herndon of Herndon Farms in Lyons, GA, a supporter or the mandatory ship date, said he was “shocked” by the judge’s ruling.
“I’m still behind the commissioner on the issue," he said. "Ninety percent of the growers wanted the commissioner to prevail on it. We lost, now we’ve got to back up and figure out what to do. There’s really not a lot you can say about it.”
Asked if the growers who were in favor of the mandatory date might mount an appeal, Herndon said, “I’m not going to speculate on that. [Bland] has his reasons and we have ours, who’s right or wrong I can’t say.”
Many Vidalia growers feel early-season onions have hurt the deal in recent years due to poor quality. Black agreed and the mandatory pack/ship date was the result.
Unseasonably cool weather in recent weeks has delayed the start of the Vidalia deal, rendering the issue relatively moot for 2014.
“It’s not really going to be an issue this year, Mother Nature took care of that problem,” Herndon said.
“Mother Nature will decide when our Vidalia sweet onions are ready to ship, not an arbitrary date on the calendar,” Bland said in a press release. “I'm glad that we'll be able to ship our onions on the normal timetable and our customers can expect that."
