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" I heard it
through the
AgLine"
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October 22, 2009
·
Troubled
times on New England’s tobacco road
·
Both the EU and South Africa nix GM
crops
·
Oregon gets
approval to certify organic farms
·
Millions
awarded for plant research by USDA
·
When the show’s
over, what happens to the produce?
Troubled times on New
England’s tobacco road
(AP
via SFGate.com) – They're among the lucky few, John, Fred and Dave Arnold.
There's a good supply of crisp broadleaf tobacco drying in their 14 curing
sheds and over the next couple of weeks they'll be pulling it down, bundling it
up and selling it for the best price they can get. Pretty much what their
family has done every year since the 1830s in the Connecticut River Valley.
There's no better place in America to grow broadleaf and shade
tobacco, the kinds used for premium cigar wrappers and binders. But these are
troubled times along New England's own tobacco road, roughly 75 miles
straddling western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
A disastrous growing season plagued by crop viruses,
combined with sagging cigar sales, has left many growers reeling.
For the Arnold
brothers, it wasn't the greatest year, but it could have been much worse. Their
farm could have been almost anywhere else in the valley.
"We were south enough to avoid the problems of the
farmers north of us and we were north enough to avoid the problems of the
farmers south of us," Dave Arnold said.
Most of the problems, anyway. The Arnolds' business partner,
John Coward, says not all the leaves are as thick as buyers might want them, a
byproduct of persistent early season rains. And he points to some leaves that
bear greenish-yellow splotches along their veins, a telltale sign of disease
that ravished the crop elsewhere in the valley.
Leaves like those won't be wrapper quality, Coward knows.
Certainly not for some of the finest and most expensive cigars in the world, which is what they're grown for in the first place. But he's
philosophical.
"Maybe not the best crop we've ever had," he said.
"But it beats insurance." While most tobacco farmers carry some type
of crop insurance, it's rarely enough to cover their losses.
Broadleaf and shade tobacco have been grown successfully in
the Connecticut River Valley since pre-Colonial times, yet even farmers are
hard-pressed to explain what makes the valley so unique for this crop. The
climate, it seems, is just right and the soil is light and easily drainable.
International competition comes from growers in several
other countries, including Sumatra, Honduras, Ecuador
and the Dominican Republic.
Tobacco sheds, or barns, are hulking yet oddly graceful
structures that have dotted the valley's rural landscape for generations. Many
now stand abandoned and decaying, silent testament to a vanishing era.
While the acreage devoted to tobacco in the valley has been
declining for more than half a century, the cigar bar craze of the 1990s
rekindled demand for premium, handmade cigars and brought record prices. The
market has long since cooled off.
Norman Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America,
said about 271 million premium, handcrafted cigars like those wrapped with Connecticut River Valley
tobacco were sold in 2008 in the U.S., about 5 percent of all
large-cigar sales. About 334 million premium cigars, or 9 percent, were sold in
1998.
And while there are still more premium cigar smokers than
before the cigar bar craze, "cigar smoking remains very much an occasional
pastime," Sharp said.
If market pressures weren't enough, nature dealt growers a
punishing blow in 2009.
A stew of viruses carrying names like
potato virus-y, tobacco etch, and tobacco mottling virus attacked the
plants, ruining the leaves.
The viruses, which had appeared in the past but not to this
extent, likely wintered in uncultivated potatoes, transmitted to tobacco by
tiny aphids who feed on both, said Dr. James LaMondia,
chief scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in Windsor, Conn.
"I've seen bad years but this is probably the worst,
particularly in Massachusetts,"
LaMondia said.
"About a week before we were going to harvest, the
leaves started to get all puffy and there was no way they could make cigars out
of them," said Joe Czajkowski, a farmer in Hadley, Mass.,
in the heart of the northern valley. He grows other crops and was insured for
some of his losses.
As the disease progressed, the leaves turned a sickly
yellowish color.
"There was nothing you could do .... we
took care of the crop, but there was nothing that would make any
difference," he said.
In the southern valley, in Connecticut, the culprit wasn't so much
disease but heavy rains that in some cases literally drowned the tobacco, or
produced fungi that caused root rot. And there were hail storms, too, blowing
holes like shotgun pellets in some of the leaves.
U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show that the
valley's tobacco acreage is about 10 percent of what it once was.
In 1949, 26.3 million pounds of tobacco were harvested from
19,500 acres in Connecticut; 13.6 million
pounds were harvested from 8,600 acres in Massachusetts. In 2008, about 3.5 million
pounds were harvested from 2,600 acres in Connecticut,
while only 968,000 pounds were harvested from 690 acres in Massachusetts.
While the exact dollar value of the crop is not known, it could
be estimated at nearly $30 million, based on average prices.
The USDA expects this year's production to drop to 594,000
pounds in Massachusetts and 2.4 million in Connecticut.
The Arnolds and Coward together employ about 80 seasonal
workers, most of them local high school and college students paid about $9 to
$10 per hour. Many growers rely more heavily on temporary overseas workers,
including many from Jamaica,
who must be housed as well as paid.
Coward said while it might cost him on average about $500 to
$600 per acre to grow pumpkins, tobacco costs about $5,000 to $6,000 per acre
to grow.
Planting begins in April with harvesting generally in
August. It is a delicate process with each plant — or in the case of shade
tobacco, each leaf — picked individually. The leaves are hung to dry for
several weeks in the sheds, then pulled down by hand and bundled for sale in
the early autumn. It may be Thanksgiving before the entire crop is sold to
buyers, who will ship to overseas manufacturers where the leaves are rolled
into cigars.
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Both the EU and South Africa nix GM crops
(AFP
via Yahoo! News) LUXEMBOURG – European Union
farm ministers refused to give their seal of approval on Monday to plans to
allow the import of genetically-modified maize from US growers, diplomats said.
During a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers in Luxembourg
dominated by crisis in the dairy sector, nations were unable to agree on
proposals to green light the latest batch of so-called 'Frankenstein foods.'
Agriculture Commissioner Mariann
Fischer Boel sought the go-ahead for two strains of
corn produced by Monsanto and another by rivals Pioneer to be cleared for
import by European firms.
Several sources told AFP that the decision would ultimately
be left up to the commission itself, because if no agreement can be reached by
the ministers Brussels
will have free rein to choose.
Fischer Boel argued that a
shortage of soya for animal feedstuffs and over-reliance on US exporters meant
the EU had to get over old fears about new products.
She slammed regulations that meant one large shipment of
soya was turned back from EU borders this summer because traces of unauthorised GM maize, that she said were harmless, were
found in its containers.
"We have to rely on science and not on emotions,"
said Fischer Boel. "The commission will take a
clear decision and that will be a yes," she vowed.
Only a handful of genetically modified crops have been
approved for cultivation in the European Union, but of them only Monsanto's
MON810 maize, approved in 1998, is so far being grown.
The MON810 case has become a source of transatlantic
friction. The United States
has warned Europe against using environmental
issues as an excuse for protectionism.
Six European countries -- Austria,
France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary and Luxembourg
-- had adopted safeguard clauses to ban its cultivation on their territory.
South
Africa rejects GM potatos
(supermarket.co.za)
– In a damning and ground breaking ruling, South Africa’s GM body, the
Executive Council (EC), has rejected attempts by the Agriculture Research
Council (ARC) to bring GM potatoes to the South African market. The EC cited no
less than 11 biosafety and socio economic and
agronomic concerns for rejecting ARC’s commercial
release application. These support the objections raised by the ACB that GM
potatoes pose unacceptable risks to human health, the environment and the
farming community.
The ARC has touted the GM potato, engineered to resist tuber
moths, as a new agricultural technology that will benefit smallholder and
commercial farmers. Its five year field trial programme
has chewed up considerable public funds as well as having been bankrolled by
USAID and Michigan
state university.
According to Haidee Swanby of the ACB, “the precautionary decision taken by the
EC concluded that ARC’s toxicology studies were
inadequate, scientifically poorly designed and fundamentally flawed. It was
unconvinced that the GM potato would benefit small holder farmers, who are
faced with more fundamental production problems such as access to water and
seed, and found that the Potato Tuber Moth is a low priority for most farmers.”
“We are elated with this decision because it confirms our
contention that the GM potato was not developed in answer to pressing problems
faced by South African farmers , but rather as a solution developed in search
of a problem” said Mariam Mayet,
Director of the ACB.
According to Swanby, “Potatos South Africa,
representing commercial and small holder potato farmers opposed ARC’s application. Fruit and Veg City,
Simba and McDonald’s also expressed their opposition
to GM potatoes. Consumers in South
Africa have also overwhelmingly expressed
their opposition.”
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Oregon
gets approval to certify organic farms
(AP
via Google) – Oregon
has been accredited to certify farms under the National Organic Program, which
sets standards for farms and other operations that market agricultural products
as organically produced.
Organic farming represents a small but growing sector of the
agricultural production in Oregon,
increasing from just under $10 million in 2002 to $88 million in 2007,
according to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture.
State figures show more than 92,000 acres in Oregon are in organic
production.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture will concentrate on
crops in the first year, said Jim Cramer, the agency's commodity inspection
division administrator.
The department already has six certifiers trained to conduct
the organic audits.
"For several years, we've had requests to provide
organic certification as we perform other inspections," Cramer said.
"This is a natural fit for our program."
The state will not conduct organic certification for beef
cattle or dairy operations until 2011 at the earliest, he said.
Oregon
is the 16th state accredited for the national program.
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Millions awarded for plant research by
USDA
(USDA) – WASHINGTON,
D.C. - Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack has announced more than $7 million in grants for research on the
biology of plant processes and traits which can be used to breed crops with
enhanced value and resilience to climate stress. The research will increase
understanding of plant biology from the genome to the field, and provide a
foundation for the development of plant varieties with increased yield, reduced
production cost, and enhanced quality and nutritional value.
"At a time when disruptive climate change threatens
production of some of the world's staple foods, some of the biggest gains we
can make in ending world hunger will involve development of stress-resistant
crops," said Vilsack. "Drought-tolerant, heat-tolerant, and
saline-resistant crops will not only offer tremendous improvements for farmers
around the world, but also position American farmers competitively in the world
market."
These grants are awarded by USDA's National Institute of
Food and Agriculture -- previously the Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service -- under the new Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
program to provide funding for fundamental and applied research, extension and
education to address food and agricultural sciences.
Awards have been selected for:
University of California, Davis,
Calif., $448,000
University of California, Davis,
Calif., $447,000
University of California, Riverside,
Calif., $1,000,000
USDA ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm
Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho, $450,000
Purdue University, West
Lafayette, Ind.,
$997,000
Kansas State University,
Manhattan, Kan., $441,000
University of Kentucky, Lexington,
Ky., $150,000
Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Mich., $450,000
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minn., $449,000
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minn., $448,000
University of Nebraska, Lincoln,
Neb., $282,000
Cornell University, Ithaca,
N.Y., $1,000,000
Oregon State University,
Corvallis, Ore., $448,000
USDA FS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Ore.,
$454,545
Through federal funding and leadership for research,
education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and
solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future.
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When the show’s over, what happens to the
produce?
(PMA News) Anaheim,
Calif. — Produce and floral suppliers from across
the United States and around
the world donated an estimated 249,750 pounds of fresh fruit, vegetables and
flowers to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
today. The donation — made by companies exhibiting at the Produce Marketing
Association's (PMA) 60th anniversary Fresh Summit International Convention and
Exposition at the Anaheim
Convention Center — is
the largest fresh produce donation received to date by the food bank.
The food and flowers were collected from the convention
center Oct. 5 by more than 45 local food bank volunteers, and will be
distributed to Orange County area residents in need. Second Harvest Food Bank
of Orange County serves more than 220,000
individuals at risk of hunger each month. Those served include the working
poor, children, seniors on fixed incomes, single parents, the disabled, the
homeless, and individuals experiencing medical emergencies or recent job
layoffs.
“The current economic hardship has resulted in a new
demographic of those relying on assistance from food banks — we are witnessing
some of last year’s donors as this year’s clients. The large quantity of fresh
produce donated through the Produce Marketing Association provides a tremendous
boost to our efforts to keep pace with the growing need,” said Joe Schoeningh, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank.
“This remarkable partnership involving the convention
center, the food bank and hundreds of generous Fresh Summit exhibitors is
making it possible for thousands of Orange County residents in need to enjoy
the delicious and nutritious bounty our global produce industry has to offer,”
said Bryan Silbermann, PMA president. “Increasing
fruit and vegetable consumption of all consumers is one of PMA’s
core purposes.”
“It is always a pleasure to welcome the Produce Marketing
Association to Anaheim,” said Tom Morton, Anaheim Convention Center executive director.
“They are truly a community partner and that could not be more evident than
through their local food donations.”
Feeding America,
the national office of 205 food banks, including the Second Harvest Food Bank
of Orange County, recognized the many
organizations that helped make the donation possible.
“Please join us in thanking the Produce Marketing
Association and its 2009 Fresh Summit donors for their tremendous donations to
the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange
County, a member of
Feeding America,” said Feeding America’s James Borys.
“The donated products will be distributed through food pantries, soup kitchens,
and other emergency feeding centers that serve America’s millions who live at risk
of hunger. We would also like to thank the Anaheim Convention Center
and GES Exposition Services for their generous support and assistance.”
About Produce Marketing Association (PMA)
Founded in 1949, Produce Marketing Association is the
leading trade association representing nearly 3,000 companies from every
segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. Members rely on PMA year
round for the business solutions they need to increase sales and consumption,
build strong professional relationships, and expand their business
opportunities. For more information, visit www.pma.com.
About Second Harvest Food Bank
For over 25 years, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
has provided more than 245 million pounds of safe and nutritious surplus food
to over 400 charitable non-profit organizations throughout Orange County.
The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange
County is a certified
Affiliate Member of Feeding America. For more information about Second Harvest
Food Bank of Orange
County or to learn how to
help, visit www.FeedOC.org
About the Anaheim
Convention Center
At 1.6 million square feet, the ultra-modern Anaheim Convention Center is the largest
convention center on the West Coast. A wide variety of national and international
conventions, trade shows and special event are held here, attracting more than
one million people annually. For more information, visit
www.anaheimconventioncenter.com.
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End Transmission