Tomato groups hold meetings at Joint Tomato Conference
Tomato groups hold meetings at Joint Tomato Conference
NAPLES, FL -- Members of the Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange met for their annual membership meetings at the Joint Tomato Conference here at the Ritz-Carlton Naples during the morning of Sept. 6.
Attendees of the FTE's meeting were addressed by John Himmelberg of the law firm of O'Connor & Hannan LLP, who discussed pending legislation and other activities in Washington, DC, that affect the produce industry.
Mr. Himmelberg said that the new farm bill had passed the House of Representatives and would be taken up by the Senate this month. While he described it as "probably the best bill ever for fruits and vegetables with the caveat that it might not pass," and though he noted that "there are indications that fruits and vegetables will be supported in the Senate," he said it was "unclear what the results would be in conference, what would be in and what would be out."
Mr. Himmelberg added that the House bill has mandatory country-of-origin labeling, but it "provides broad leeway for the folks in the chain of movement of product, and they do not have to create new documents, you can provide an affidavit, you can use the existing documents that you have. You have to show where you got it from and where you sold it to, which is much different than what the U.S. Department of Agriculture was trying to implement a couple of years ago."
He also noted that the five-year suspension agreement negotiated on dumping of Mexican tomatoes was coming to an end and would undergo a sunset review on Nov. 1, adding that "we are continuing to work for a resolution that is beneficial for the Florida tomato industry.
A public meeting of the presidential working group on import safety, created to promote the safety of imported products within existing resources and made up of five Cabinet members, will take place Oct. 1, and Mr. Himmelberg said he would take the opportunity "to advise the secretary of agriculture and provide some suggestions on imported food products including fresh fruits and vegetables."
Mr. Himmelberg said that he and his firm have taken the opportunity to inform key people in Congress about what the Florida tomato industry is doing to improve food safety.
"It gets mentioned almost every day in conversation in Washington, and I commend you for taking on the burden. Given the current makeup of the leadership of the House, if you hadn't taken it on, it would have been pushed on you," he said. "The people in the regulatory agencies know you are doing this and think it's a really good thing. It's not an easy thing, but it's a good thing you are doing it and it's good you are doing it now."
The FTE elected Tony DiMare as its president, Bob Spencer as vice president, Jay Taylor as secretary and James Grainger as treasurer.
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange meeting followed on the heels of the FTE meeting, and Reggie Brown, who serves as executive vice president of both organizations, addressed attendees and lamented this past season. "All of you understand how brutal [this past season] was and it's been a tough year for business," he said. "Hopefully the following year will be significantly better than last year was."
He said that a meeting of the scientific committee Sept. 5 saw the approval of three compounds for the sanitization of tomatoes: peracetic acid, aqueous chlorine dioxide and chlorine for brush overspray.
"Looking down the road, we are obviously concerned about the overall profitability of the business, and there is extreme concern about the current labor situation," he said.
Danny Raulerson, director of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association's membership and marketing division, commented on the Quincy tomato- growing area. "This past spring was dismal at best, but we are now optimistic going into this fall," he said. "Our only concerns at this point are the drought combined with the heat has been stressing the plants, and for the first time we are seeing some tomato yellow leaf curl virus in as much as 10 percent in some fields."
Mr. Raulerson noted that while "they lost one more grower member who has diverted over to being a shipper-handler, everything else remains rather stagnant in terms of acreage. We're right around 1,300 acres."
Ed Beckman of the California Tomato Farmers cooperative gave the California report to attendees.
"Tomatoes are challenging, especially this year," Mr. Beckman said. "We're feeling pain just as you are and the entire North American market is actually. We've had two houses close this year in California, and it is indicative of the overproduction."
Mr. Beckman said that the two states are facing many of the same challenges, and he emphasized the need for immigration reform.
Even though he said that "farmers are in a no-win situation" when it comes to food safety, Mr. Beckman said that his organization doesn't look at the challenge as being a negative and that "food safety is its foundation."
"A bright spot for us in California this year has been exports" to Canada and Mexico, with one out of every five tomatoes going to these two countries being from California. California tomatoes are even are being seen on store shelves within California itself, which he said are traditionally filled with imports from Canada and Mexico during the summer.
Mr. Beckman said that the cooperative looked forward to working with the Florida tomato industry "to advance our common interests. After all, many of our members also call Florida home."
The exchange elected Larry Lipman as president, Billy Heller as vice president, Kern Carpenter as secretary and Mike Sullivan as treasurer.
Attendees of the FTE's meeting were addressed by John Himmelberg of the law firm of O'Connor & Hannan LLP, who discussed pending legislation and other activities in Washington, DC, that affect the produce industry.
Mr. Himmelberg said that the new farm bill had passed the House of Representatives and would be taken up by the Senate this month. While he described it as "probably the best bill ever for fruits and vegetables with the caveat that it might not pass," and though he noted that "there are indications that fruits and vegetables will be supported in the Senate," he said it was "unclear what the results would be in conference, what would be in and what would be out."
Mr. Himmelberg added that the House bill has mandatory country-of-origin labeling, but it "provides broad leeway for the folks in the chain of movement of product, and they do not have to create new documents, you can provide an affidavit, you can use the existing documents that you have. You have to show where you got it from and where you sold it to, which is much different than what the U.S. Department of Agriculture was trying to implement a couple of years ago."
He also noted that the five-year suspension agreement negotiated on dumping of Mexican tomatoes was coming to an end and would undergo a sunset review on Nov. 1, adding that "we are continuing to work for a resolution that is beneficial for the Florida tomato industry.
A public meeting of the presidential working group on import safety, created to promote the safety of imported products within existing resources and made up of five Cabinet members, will take place Oct. 1, and Mr. Himmelberg said he would take the opportunity "to advise the secretary of agriculture and provide some suggestions on imported food products including fresh fruits and vegetables."
Mr. Himmelberg said that he and his firm have taken the opportunity to inform key people in Congress about what the Florida tomato industry is doing to improve food safety.
"It gets mentioned almost every day in conversation in Washington, and I commend you for taking on the burden. Given the current makeup of the leadership of the House, if you hadn't taken it on, it would have been pushed on you," he said. "The people in the regulatory agencies know you are doing this and think it's a really good thing. It's not an easy thing, but it's a good thing you are doing it and it's good you are doing it now."
The FTE elected Tony DiMare as its president, Bob Spencer as vice president, Jay Taylor as secretary and James Grainger as treasurer.
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange meeting followed on the heels of the FTE meeting, and Reggie Brown, who serves as executive vice president of both organizations, addressed attendees and lamented this past season. "All of you understand how brutal [this past season] was and it's been a tough year for business," he said. "Hopefully the following year will be significantly better than last year was."
He said that a meeting of the scientific committee Sept. 5 saw the approval of three compounds for the sanitization of tomatoes: peracetic acid, aqueous chlorine dioxide and chlorine for brush overspray.
"Looking down the road, we are obviously concerned about the overall profitability of the business, and there is extreme concern about the current labor situation," he said.
Danny Raulerson, director of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association's membership and marketing division, commented on the Quincy tomato- growing area. "This past spring was dismal at best, but we are now optimistic going into this fall," he said. "Our only concerns at this point are the drought combined with the heat has been stressing the plants, and for the first time we are seeing some tomato yellow leaf curl virus in as much as 10 percent in some fields."
Mr. Raulerson noted that while "they lost one more grower member who has diverted over to being a shipper-handler, everything else remains rather stagnant in terms of acreage. We're right around 1,300 acres."
Ed Beckman of the California Tomato Farmers cooperative gave the California report to attendees.
"Tomatoes are challenging, especially this year," Mr. Beckman said. "We're feeling pain just as you are and the entire North American market is actually. We've had two houses close this year in California, and it is indicative of the overproduction."
Mr. Beckman said that the two states are facing many of the same challenges, and he emphasized the need for immigration reform.
Even though he said that "farmers are in a no-win situation" when it comes to food safety, Mr. Beckman said that his organization doesn't look at the challenge as being a negative and that "food safety is its foundation."
"A bright spot for us in California this year has been exports" to Canada and Mexico, with one out of every five tomatoes going to these two countries being from California. California tomatoes are even are being seen on store shelves within California itself, which he said are traditionally filled with imports from Canada and Mexico during the summer.
Mr. Beckman said that the cooperative looked forward to working with the Florida tomato industry "to advance our common interests. After all, many of our members also call Florida home."
The exchange elected Larry Lipman as president, Billy Heller as vice president, Kern Carpenter as secretary and Mike Sullivan as treasurer.
