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Agri-Bytes
September 2009
In This Edition:
- USDA grants help fund value-added programs
- Sliced apples gain popularity, larger share of retail sales
- Install guards on motorized rollers to protect orchard workers
- USDA seeks input on proposed national leafy greens agreement
USDA grants help fund value-added programs
If you’ve ever thought of starting a value-added endeavor, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division may be able to help.
Rural Development has $18 million in grants that it will award to growers and agricultural associations and cooperatives nationally during fiscal year 2009-2010, says Sarah Pursley, public information coordinator for Davis-based Rural Development California.
The money can be used to develop new markets or expand uses for agricultural products.
Rural Development will award planning grants of up to $100,000 and working capital grants of up to $300,000.
Applicants must provide matching funds equal to or more than the amount they are requesting.
Ten percent of the funds will be made to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. Another 10 percent will be awarded to projects that involve co-ops that market value-added products and local and regional supply networks that link producers with businesses.
In 2008, for example, Snow’s Citrus Court, a family-owned and operated specialty citrus farm in Newcastle, Calif., received a $67,073 grant through the program, Pursley says. The Snow family used the money to help market, advertise and promote their citrus-based syrups, marinades, sauces and vinaigrettes through regional retailers.
Deadline to apply for the grants is Nov. 30.
For more information on how to apply, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/vadg.htm.
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Sliced apples gain popularity, larger share of retail sales
Sales of pre-cut apples have been growing at a faster rate than bagged salads during the past few years.
But the sliced fruit still has a long way to catch up to the pre-cut salad category’s overall sales, says Tony Freytag, marketing director for Cashmere, Wash.-based Crunch Pak.
“There are complete departments of sliced applies,” Freytag told attendees at the U.S. Apple Association’s recent outlook conference in Chicago. “There are over 1,500 UPCs listed for prepared apples by Nielsen. That’s a far cry from the 151 Nielsen listed only two years ago."
Sliced apple sales netted about $100 million in retail sales, and about 5.6 percent of last year’s apple crop went into sliced, he says. Those figures don’t include sales of apples that went into food-service, which is half again as much.
Bagged salad sales, on the other hand, brought in $2.6 billion in retail sales.
Freytag attributed part of sliced apples’ growth during the past two years to increased U.S. Department of Agriculture purchases for the school lunch program. Two years ago, the USDA purchases were non-existent. This year, the department will spend $4.1 million on 2-ounce bags.
He expects those purchases to increase as the USDA expands the number of states to 10 from five that are participating in the sliced apple pilot program.
The fast-food industry also has embraced the product. Two years ago, McDonald’s and Arby’s were the major players. This year, nearly every major chain carries sliced apples in one form or another.
In addition, the quick service sector, which includes IHOP and Denny’s, are using the products.
Consumers also are adopting healthier lifestyles and are seeking convenient foods at the same time, he says.
“What’s keeping consumers from purchasing [sliced apples]? Price and health and safety concerns,” Freytag says. “We can’t control price at the retail level. What we can control as a manufacturer is driving as much of the costs out as possible. Higher volume will drive out some of those costs because there’s an economy of scale.”
Processors also have increased their offerings. Only two years ago, consumers typically had a choice of sweet or tart slices.
Today, they can choose from among sweet, tart, mixed, organic and deli trays, to name a few, Freytag says.
“What does that mean for us in the industry?” he asks. “It means we have to be continually coming up with more items.”
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Install guards on motorized rollers to protect orchard workers
Shop-built motorized rollers that help remove reflective material from orchard floors before harvest make the practice faster and more efficient.
Because many of them don’t have the necessary safety guards over rotating parts, they also can pose a danger to workers.
Photo courtesy of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industry Relations
This design lacks the necessary safety guards.
In Washington state alone, three workers have lost fingers or broken bones during the past 12 months, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries in Olympia.
The accidents have prompted the department to post a Hazard Alert on the motorized rollers that warns farmers of the dangers and provides some safeguards.
“A lot of the fixes aren’t that complicated,” says Nichole Rose, an industrial hygienist and Hazard Alert team coordinator.
In the rush to remove the material, workers can inadvertently place fingers in the rotating shafts, which typically lack guards. Loose-fitting clothing also can get caught, pulling the worker into the machinery.
The safety modifications contained in the hazard alert are just recommendations, she says.
“There are a lot of smart employers out there who are innovative, so they very well will come up with different ideas to guard [the parts],” Rose says. “The examples we provide are just starting points. We’d love to have them share their ideas.”
She recommends talking to the workers to make sure the improvements aren’t too restrictive.
“You should work with workers to make sure [the improvements] won’t slow them down too much,” Rose says. “You need to share ideas and get feedback from the users. Think of the employees as the users. Make sure [the improvements] are user friendly.”
In addition, Rose recommends conducting safety training sessions so workers know the importance of the guards and won’t try to circumvent them.
To view the Hazard Alert, which contains a set of recommended safeguards, visit www.lni.wa.gov/WISHA/hazalerts/MotorizedRoller.pdf.
Rose says the department hopes to have the Hazard Alert translated into Spanish and posted on its Web site, www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Basics/HazAlerts/default.asp, by the end of this week.
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USDA seeks input on proposed national leafy greens agreement
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a series of hearings across the country to seek input on a proposed national leafy greens handling agreement.
The voluntary agreement is patterned after a similar one in California.
The agreement was drafted by several industry groups, including the Georgia Fresh Vegetable Association, Georgia Farm Bureau, Produce Marketing Association, Texas Vegetable Association, Arizona Farm Bureau, Leafy Greens Council, California Farm Bureau, California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, Western Growers and United Fresh.
If the national agreement is adopted, only handlers who sign on would be subject to its requirements.
With the California agreement, all of the growers who sold to participating handlers also had to meet the requirements.
But Doug Doohan, a fruit and vegetable specialist with Ohio State University Extension and a leader of the Ohio Roundtable on Safe Production of Fresh Produce, says many of the smaller growers in the East and Midwest are worried about the proposal.
“There’s the concern among the community that the leafy greens proposal, though voluntary in premise, actually works out to be non-voluntary,” says Doohan, who’s based in Wooster. “Grocery stores would require that anybody who sells to them be required to participate in the national leafy greens program. And the concerns go beyond the leafy greens aspect as well.
“It’s generally perceived that if grocers are going to require [growers] follow the leafy greens, they are going to require the same sort of standards of every crop that they purchase from the farm.”
Doohan says these smaller farmers support food safety, but on a more local level.
“And clearly, I think we know almost intuitively that standards set for the local environment make sense,” he says.
The Ohio industry, along with Ohio State University, is trying to develop a food safety and good agricultural practices educational program that would require annual training, similar to that required of pesticide applicators.
Where practices are supported by science, they would be adopted, Doohan says.
Representatives from the university and the grower community already have met with the USDA to express their concerns about why a one-size approach doesn’t make sense.
But Doohan says they remain open to hearing what the USDA and others have to say at the upcoming hearings.
The hearings are planned for:
Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 6
Denver, Colo., Oct. 8
Yuma, Ariz., Oct. 14-15
Syracuse, N.Y., Oct. 20
Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 22
For more information, visit www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/moab, then click on “Proposed Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement” from the right-hand menu.
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