Florida tomato groups meet during the Joint Tomato Conference
Florida tomato groups meet during the Joint Tomato Conference
NAPLES, FL -- The Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange held their annual membership meetings as part of the Joint Tomato Conference held here Sept. 5-10 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Representatives from both organizations discussed several issues currently affecting the Florida tomato industry. Both groups also appointed their respective boards of directors.
The first meeting of the morning was held by the Florida Tomato Exchange, and those in attendance were briefed by its legal counsel, John Himmelberg of O'Connor & Hannan LLP in Washington, DC, on the numerous fronts on which he had worked over the previous year as well as the state of various bills pending in Congress.
"The multi-lateral trade agreement fell apart and it is not going to happen," Mr. Himmelberg said. "Will there be a farm bill or a farm bill with a specialty crop provision? It is not likely in my opinion, though there may be a year extension. It will be difficult to get the whole package done, and though there have been hearings around the country, nothing will happen until after the election."
Mr. Himmelberg said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service "has been very active in revising import regulations for fruits and vegetables," and that there was an issue involving streamlining of the process to expedite the nearly 400 pending requests from other countries.
"These requests are generally coming in from the lesser-developed countries, and the more fruits and vegetables that are being imported, the greater the risk of pests like the Medfly," he said. "We have submitted comments on behalf of the exchange opposing this.
"The [Central American Free Trade Agreement] has allowed pink and red tomatoes into the United States from countries such as the Dominican Republic, and we are opposed to this and want APHIS to put more regulations on this," he added.
Mr. Himmelberg said that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration takes the issue of food safety "seriously and it is something that is going to have an impact" on the industry. "The [U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] is interested in traceability all the way back to the field," he said.
Another key issue that Mr. Himmelberg discussed was immigration and the pending congressional midterm elections this November.
"To me, immigration is one of the big issues with lots of competing interests," he said. "At least temporarily, nothing is going to happen this session [of Congress]. It will be taken up after the new year only if the president puts everyone in the same room with orders to deal with the issue in a comprehensive way. The election will make a big difference on issues involving immigration and food safety."
Before adjourning its meeting, the Florida Tomato Exchange elected its board of directors for 2006-07. Its officers are President Tony DiMare, Vice President David Neill, Secretary Jay Taylor and Treasurer James Grainger. Directly after the FTE meeting, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange convened its annual meeting and was addressed by Executive Vice President Reggie Brown.
"Last year was one of the smallest years in the number of boxes in recent history and the return was significantly less," Mr. Brown said. "We certainly hope that this is behind us and this year we can get back to a normal marketing situation."
Danny Raulerson, manager of the Quincy Tomato Growers Exchange, discussed the state of the industry in the Quincy, FL, area. He said that the "good news was we have gotten back to normalcy with volumes and prices, but the bad news is that volumes have become normal and prices are not good at all. This leaves growers hoping for the best."
Mr. Raulerson said that he had concerns for the current labor situation, especially for the smaller organizations.
Ed Beckman, president of the California Tomato Commission in Fresno, told attendees about the state of the California tomato industry and his embattled commission.
"We started 30 days late and in July, Fresno was hot -- 115 degrees -- and we thought, 'will there be a bloom drop or will there even be a crop at all?' We are packing in a week what we normally pack in a day or a day-and-a-half," he said. "This has had a very significant impact, and in California, where we typically pack 38 [million] to 42 million cartons, we predict 34 million cartons for this year. This will go down in the book as the toughest year in many years."
Mr. Beckman said that in the food-safety arena, the commission introduced legislation that would make good agricultural practices mandatory, but the legislation was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"The reality is that we have individuals coming up from Mexico for tomatoes due to the shortage there, and they are taking tomatoes for processing back to Mexico and selling them as fresh."
Mr. Beckman said that the California Tomato Commission's history goes back to the 1970s and that 40 percent of commissions in the United States are under some sort of litigation.
"It comes down to First Amendment rights and whether we will continue is a big question mark," he said.
Mr. Beckman said that his organization went to the industry and asked " 'How can we do a better job?' We are going to completely downsize to a research component which will go into effect in March. One thing you can be certain of: There will be cooperation between the California and Florida tomato industries because we are the U.S. tomato industry."
Like the FTE, the FTGE also elected its 2006-07 board of directors at the end of its meeting. Its executive officers are President Larry Lipman, Vice President Billy Heller, Secretary Kern Carpenter and Treasurer Mike Sullivan.
The first meeting of the morning was held by the Florida Tomato Exchange, and those in attendance were briefed by its legal counsel, John Himmelberg of O'Connor & Hannan LLP in Washington, DC, on the numerous fronts on which he had worked over the previous year as well as the state of various bills pending in Congress.
"The multi-lateral trade agreement fell apart and it is not going to happen," Mr. Himmelberg said. "Will there be a farm bill or a farm bill with a specialty crop provision? It is not likely in my opinion, though there may be a year extension. It will be difficult to get the whole package done, and though there have been hearings around the country, nothing will happen until after the election."
Mr. Himmelberg said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service "has been very active in revising import regulations for fruits and vegetables," and that there was an issue involving streamlining of the process to expedite the nearly 400 pending requests from other countries.
"These requests are generally coming in from the lesser-developed countries, and the more fruits and vegetables that are being imported, the greater the risk of pests like the Medfly," he said. "We have submitted comments on behalf of the exchange opposing this.
"The [Central American Free Trade Agreement] has allowed pink and red tomatoes into the United States from countries such as the Dominican Republic, and we are opposed to this and want APHIS to put more regulations on this," he added.
Mr. Himmelberg said that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration takes the issue of food safety "seriously and it is something that is going to have an impact" on the industry. "The [U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] is interested in traceability all the way back to the field," he said.
Another key issue that Mr. Himmelberg discussed was immigration and the pending congressional midterm elections this November.
"To me, immigration is one of the big issues with lots of competing interests," he said. "At least temporarily, nothing is going to happen this session [of Congress]. It will be taken up after the new year only if the president puts everyone in the same room with orders to deal with the issue in a comprehensive way. The election will make a big difference on issues involving immigration and food safety."
Before adjourning its meeting, the Florida Tomato Exchange elected its board of directors for 2006-07. Its officers are President Tony DiMare, Vice President David Neill, Secretary Jay Taylor and Treasurer James Grainger. Directly after the FTE meeting, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange convened its annual meeting and was addressed by Executive Vice President Reggie Brown.
"Last year was one of the smallest years in the number of boxes in recent history and the return was significantly less," Mr. Brown said. "We certainly hope that this is behind us and this year we can get back to a normal marketing situation."
Danny Raulerson, manager of the Quincy Tomato Growers Exchange, discussed the state of the industry in the Quincy, FL, area. He said that the "good news was we have gotten back to normalcy with volumes and prices, but the bad news is that volumes have become normal and prices are not good at all. This leaves growers hoping for the best."
Mr. Raulerson said that he had concerns for the current labor situation, especially for the smaller organizations.
Ed Beckman, president of the California Tomato Commission in Fresno, told attendees about the state of the California tomato industry and his embattled commission.
"We started 30 days late and in July, Fresno was hot -- 115 degrees -- and we thought, 'will there be a bloom drop or will there even be a crop at all?' We are packing in a week what we normally pack in a day or a day-and-a-half," he said. "This has had a very significant impact, and in California, where we typically pack 38 [million] to 42 million cartons, we predict 34 million cartons for this year. This will go down in the book as the toughest year in many years."
Mr. Beckman said that in the food-safety arena, the commission introduced legislation that would make good agricultural practices mandatory, but the legislation was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"The reality is that we have individuals coming up from Mexico for tomatoes due to the shortage there, and they are taking tomatoes for processing back to Mexico and selling them as fresh."
Mr. Beckman said that the California Tomato Commission's history goes back to the 1970s and that 40 percent of commissions in the United States are under some sort of litigation.
"It comes down to First Amendment rights and whether we will continue is a big question mark," he said.
Mr. Beckman said that his organization went to the industry and asked " 'How can we do a better job?' We are going to completely downsize to a research component which will go into effect in March. One thing you can be certain of: There will be cooperation between the California and Florida tomato industries because we are the U.S. tomato industry."
Like the FTE, the FTGE also elected its 2006-07 board of directors at the end of its meeting. Its executive officers are President Larry Lipman, Vice President Billy Heller, Secretary Kern Carpenter and Treasurer Mike Sullivan.
