California Fruit and Vegetable

Tag: The U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • New Trade Advisory Committee Members Needed to Represent Fruits and Vegetables

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are accepting applications for new members to serve on agricultural trade advisory committees.

    Members of the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee provide advice to the administration on the implementation and enforcement of existing U.S. trade agreements, negotiation of new agreements, and other trade policy matters.

    Members of the six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees, or ATACs, provide technical advice and recommendations on international trade issues that affect specific agricultural commodity sectors. The ATACs focus on trade in:

    • Animals and animal products
    • Fruits and vegetables
    • Grains, feed, oilseeds, and planting seeds
    • Processed foods
    • Sweeteners and sweetener products
    • Tobacco, cotton, peanuts and hemp

    Applicants must have expertise in U.S. agriculture and experience in international trade to be considered for committee membership. Committee members serve four-year terms and represent a cross-section of U.S. food and agricultural stakeholders. Committee members must be U.S. citizens, qualify for a security clearance, and be willing to serve without compensation for time, travel, or expenses. The committees hold frequent video or teleconference calls and generally meet in Washington, D.C., twice a year.

    Application instructions are available at https://www.fas.usda.gov/trade-advisory-committees-applying-membership. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. ET on January 31, 2024. Any applications received after the deadline will be considered for future appointments, as appropriate.

    In support of the Administration’s priority to improve equity and representation across the Federal Government, USDA and USTR intend for the advisory committees to be broadly representative of agricultural sectors and groups with expertise and experience in agricultural trade and policy issues. Applications are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial status, parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or gender identity. For more information, visit https://www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-advisory-committees or e-mail ATACs@usda.gov.

  • USDA Expands Crop Insurance Coverage Options for Specialty Crops  

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its insurance coverage options for specialty crops and other actual production history (APH) crop programs. Through its Risk Management Agency (RMA), it will expand the availability of enterprise units to crops where they were previously unavailable, giving agricultural producers greater options to manage their risk.

    An enterprise unit allows a producer to insure all acres of the insured crop in the county together, as opposed to other unit structures that separate the acreage for insurance. Enterprise units are attractive to producers due to lower premium rates offered to recognize the lower risk associated with the geographic diversification. In general, the larger the enterprise unit, the lesser the risk, and the greater the enterprise unit discount.

    “We want to make sure we are giving the nation’s agricultural producers the strongest risk management tools possible – and one of those is flexibility,” said Marcia Bunger, Administrator for the Risk Management Agency. “This expansion of enterprise units gives producers more choices for how they can protect their operations and themselves best. That is our ultimate goal.”

    This furthers RMA’s efforts to improve and expand the insurance program for specialty crops as required by the 2018 Farm Bill. Moreover, this expansion also meets producer requests for enterprise units for other APH crop insurance programs. The initial set of targeted crops can enjoy this new option when it becomes effective on June 30, 2023. RMA plans to expand to dozens more specialty and other APH crop programs with these benefits in the coming months.

    “This expansion of enterprise units provides more producers the same options for discounted insurance coverage as row crops,” Bunger added.

    The following crops will have enterprise units available beginning with the 2024 crop year:

    • Alfalfa seed
    • Cultivated wild rice
    • Forage production
    • Mint*
    • Onions*
    • Potatoes* (Enterprise units will be available in California for the 2025 crop year)

    *Specialty Crop

    More Information

    Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting your RMA Regional Office.

  • Hass Avocado Board Introduces New Board Members from California

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture on November 1st, 2022 announced the appointment of seven new members to the Hass Avocado Board. Appointed are two producer members, two producer alternates, one importer member and one importer alternate to fill three-year terms expiring on October 31, 2025, and one vacant importer alternate seat to fill the remainder of the term which expires on October 31, 2024.

    Members and alternates newly appointed to serve are:

    • Bob Schaar, Temecula, California (Producer Member)
    • Elaine Veyna Bannatyne, Fillmore, California (Producer Member)
    • Daniel Harte, Santa Paula, California (Producer Alternate)
    • Rocco Fiore II, Pasadena, California (Producer Alternate)
    • Debbie Willmann, Ontario, California (Importer Member)
    • Juan Monsalve, Norwalk, Connecticut (Importer Alternate)
    • Christopher Henry, San Diego, California (Importer Alternate 2-Year Term)

    The Hass Avocado Board has 12 members, including seven producer members, two importer members, and three producer or importer members who serve in swing seats. Each member has an alternate.

    Following the seating of the new HAB Board, on December 6th, 2022, the board announced its newly-elected executive committee board members that will be serving for the 2023 board year.

    The Executive Committee members are:

    “It is an honor and a privilege to be elected as chairperson for 2023,” said newly seated HAB Chairperson, Jorge Hernandez. “I am looking forward to continuing to support HAB and its efforts alongside my fellow industry members, especially in an expanded role. As the only independent avocado organization, HAB is dedicated to the success of the entire industry, and we look forward to continuing our mission of making fresh Hass avocados America’s favorite fruit.”

    HAB also recognizes outgoing board members, Sal Dominguez, Jim Swoboda, Jaqueline Solares, John Cornell. HAB Executive Director, Emiliano Escobedo says, “We want to offer our deepest gratitude to those who are phasing out of their roles on the board. Each has contributed so much to HAB’s success promoting Hass avocados and we wish them the best moving forward.”

    The executive committee will play a pivotal role in implementing HAB’s new 2021-2025 strategic plan, which includes strategies, objectives, and five-year working goals across each of five strategic priority areas:

  • USDA Announces National Watermelon Promotion Board Appointments

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the appointment of nine members to serve on the National Watermelon Promotion Board. The appointees will serve three-year terms from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2023.

    Members newly appointed or reappointed are:

    • District 1 Producer: Kyler Bishop, Punta Gorda, Florida
    • District 1 Producer: Chad Chastain, Punta Gorda, Florida
    • District 1 Handler: Stephen R. Nichols, Lakeland, Florida
    • District 1 Handler: Rob Gibson, Vero Beach, Florida
    • Importer: Matthew N. Tanner, Pompano Beach, Florida
    • Importer: Christopher M. Dyer, Mission, Texas
    • Importer: Christian Murillo, Nogales, Arizona
    • Importer: Jeff Fawcett, Edinburg, Texas
    • Public Member: Craig A. Stokes, San Antonio, Texas

    The National Watermelon Promotion Board now has 30 members composed of 10 producers, 10 handlers, nine importers and one public member. Approximately one-third of the board members are appointed each year. Members can serve up to two consecutive three-year terms.

    More information about the National Watermelon Promotion Board, including a roster of members, is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Watermelon Promotion Board webpage and on the board’s website at www.watermelon.org.

    Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight to 21 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity, and is paid for by industry assessments.

  • Tree & Vine Growers Eligible for Ongoing Disaster Assistance for Drought, Wildfire, Etc.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started making payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program – Plus (WHIP+) to agricultural producers who suffered eligible losses because of drought or excess moisture in 2018 and 2019. Signup for these causes of loss opened March 23, and producers who suffered losses from drought (in counties designated D3 or above), excess moisture, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, snowstorms or wildfires can still apply for assistance through WHIP+. 

    “To date, FSA has received more than 33,000 WHIP+ applications,” said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “We want to remind producers that we are still accepting applications for WHIP+, and we encourage producers to call our offices for next steps on how to apply.”

    To be eligible for WHIP+, producers must have suffered losses of certain crops, trees, bushes or vines in counties with a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or a Secretarial Disaster Designation (primary counties only) for qualifying natural disaster events that occurred in calendar years 2018 or 2019. Also, losses located in a county not designated by the Secretary as a primary county may be eligible if a producer provides documentation showing that the loss was due to a qualifying natural disaster event.

    For losses due to drought, a producer is eligible if any area of the county in which the loss occurred was rated D3, or extreme drought, or higher on the U.S. Drought Monitor during calendar years 2018 or 2019. Producers who suffered losses should contact their FSA county office. 

    In addition to the recently added eligible losses of drought and excess moisture, FSA will implement a WHIP+ provision for crop quality loss that resulted in price deductions or penalties when marketing crops damaged by eligible disaster events. To ensure an effective program for all impacted farmers, the Agency is currently gathering information on the extent of quality loss from producers and stakeholder organizations.

    USDA Service Centers, including FSA county offices, are open for business by phone only, and field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. While program delivery staff will continue to come into the office, they will be working with producers by phone and using online tools whenever possible. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency are required to call their Service Center to schedule a phone appointment. More information on Service Centers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus, and more information on WHIP+ can be found at Remind.