" I heard it through the AgLine"

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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