October 2004

An Extra-Strawberry Success is the “Adapting to Change” feature in the Canadian publication The Grower (Oct. ’04). In 1972, seven strawberry growers from Kent, England, established a cooperative called Kentish Garden (KG) in order to reduce transportation costs and develop the economies of scale needed to secure new markets. . . . By the early 1990’s KG had grown into a substantial business. . . . Certain they could expand beyond their 1994 turnover of CAD$28 million, KG invited two food industry experts to join their Board . . . to help the fruit growers develop a vision for the future. In 1995, KG formed a marketing company called KG Fruits, Ltd and recruited a managing director that could lead a CAD$230 million company. They are expected to reach that figure this year.” More information on Kentish Garden cooperative is available at the KG website: http://www.kgfruits.com/kgf_public_history_p.php.

Canada and U.S. reciprocity (The Grower, Canada, Oct. ’04) asks “Why is it important for Canadians shipping product to the U.S. to be members of the Fruit & Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) or holders of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Produce License under the Licensing and Arbitration Regulations? The short answer is to get preferred access to the USDA’s Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) dispute settlement mechanism. PACA requires persons acting as commission merchants, dealers or brokers in the produce industry to be licensed. Parties who are licensed under PACA are governed by a set of trading standards and a dispute resolution system. . . . Canadians enjoy an advantage under PACA. . . . However, in a recent ruling the PACA has clarified that it will only extend reciprocity to those exporters from Canada who comply with Canadian regulations, meaning they are DRC members or CFIA Licensees or they qualify for a specific exemption such as, being growers who only ship produce they have grown themselves. . . . If you are a Canadian exporter of fresh fruits and vegetables to the U.S., make sure you are either a DRC member or a CFIA Licensee and make sure you only sell to PACA Licensees,” concludes the author.

For Raspberries, Ubiquity (at a Price) in Bramble (Autumn, ’04) discusses how Driscoll Strawberry Associates of Camarillo, CA produces raspberries “in the months when the canes usually do not bear fruit. The growers dig up dormant plants from northern nurseries, hold them in cold storage, then plant them in Southern California from April to September. The discombobulated plants then bear fruit from late fall to early spring. That is the rainy season in California, and rain causes raspberries to soften and rot. So Driscoll began shielding many of the rows in near-transparent plastic tunnels, originally adapted from Spanish strawberry growers. Supported by metal hoops, and open at the sides for ventilation, these structures also protect against wind and mild frost. In the last two years, other growers have also started using the tunnels. . . Driscoll’s innovations are a tremendous boon to productivity and shipping, but do not make the berries taste any better. Even the plastic tunnels, as useful as they are, slightly reduce light, and so they too reduce the raspberries’ flavor. . . . The company now handles about half of the fresh raspberries shipped in the United States. . . . California overtook Washington State last year as the nation’s top raspberry producer.”

Selling the farm should be less taxing says Hoard’s Dairyman (Oct. 10, ’04). “Whether or not to sell the farm is a complex financial and emotional decision, but understanding property exchange tax benefits under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 can help farmers reap more benefits than costs if they decide to exchange one property for another. . . . For instance, if you sell property, you need to identify one or more replacement properties within 45 days of the sale, and you need to close on at least one of them within 180 days of the sale to defer capital gains taxes.” The article stresses that to receive a tax benefit you must use “a truly qualified intermediary. . . . To do a 1031 exchange you must put all the money from your property sale into their ‘qualified trust’ account until you are ready to close on another property. Your money is in the name of the qualified intermediary during that time. Be certain to find out if he or she has a large fidelity bond and security arrangements for your money.”

Farm Subsidy Rules Called Too Vague. Hoard’s Dairyman (Oct. 10, ’04) quotes a Washington Post article that reported “Farm subsidy payments from the Department of Agriculture aren’t going to the right people, according to the Federal Government’s General Accounting Office (GAO). . . . The GAO sharply criticized the USDA saying that the department’s rules to qualify for payments are too loosely written. Additionally, the GAO said that the USDA’s antifraud measures are not tough enough.” Read the complete Washington Post article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19029-2004Jun30.html.

SCALA Fungicide Gains EPA Registration. SCALA Fungicide, a reduced-risk product from Bayer CropScience, has been approved by the EPA to control several economically important diseases on a broad range of crops including Botrytis gray mold in grapes and strawberries. With this registration, fruit, nut, vegetable and grape growers throughout the United States have a new fungicide that provides a high level of preventive control against a broad spectrum of diseases caused by the fungi Venturia, Monilinia, Botrytis and Alternaria. State registrations are pending in Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts and New York. Check with the local agency or Bayer CropScience sales representative to determine if SCALA is approved in any individual state. (Source: The Vegetable Growers News online Oct. 13, ‘04, http://www.vegetablegrowersnews.com/pages/news.php?ns=31).

The Organic Way- Use of Compost and Manure in Small Fruit Production. “Compost can be an important part of small fruit nutrient management. In addition to adding nutrients to the soil, compost can improve long-term soil health. Composts are best when used in combination with other nutrient management strategies including raw manures, green manures, fertilizers and crop rotations, “ write Elsa Sanchez and Kathy Demchak in Vegetable and Small Fruit Gazette (Oct. ’04). . . . The nutrient content in compost varies depending on source materials and composting protocols used; therefore, it is recommended that compost be tested to determine the amount of nutrients it contains (kits are available through local county Extension offices). . . . As with composts, raw manures can be used as a part of a nutrient management system. . . . However, . . . manures are better suited for use during soil preparation prior to planting small fruit crops rather than after the crop has been planted. Composted manures are a better option for application after the small fruit crop has been planted. . . . When raw manures are used on fields that are planted in a crop for human consumption with the edible part of the crop in contact with the soil (e.g., strawberries), the manure must be soil incorporated a minimum of 120 days before harvest. The use of sewage sludge is prohibited in certified organic production. Even non-organic growers should be aware that there are site- and crop-specific restrictions that limit sewage sludge application to cropland, as outlined in state (and possibly local) regulations.” Read the complete article at
http://hortweb.cas.psu.edu/extension/vegcrops/vegetable_gazette/2004/oct2004.htm#organic

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