CTGA Tomato Bulletin - June 21, 2004

June 21, 2004

Dear Tomato Grower:

Personnel Change at the CTGA:

Jack Snyder is leaving the CTGA after 30 years of dedicated service. Jack has been an institution in our industry helping growers, estimating crop sizes and organizing the occasional golf or sporting traps outing. Jack is a true advocate for grower interests and he will be missed. We wish Jack the best in his future endeavors.

Adam McCarthy will join the CTGA in early July. Adam brings a Masters in Ag Econ from UC Davis and experience in precision farming, pesticides, ranching, produce brokering, and field services. His family runs a winter pear operation in Hood River, Oregon. Adam will work with members on issues affecting their bottom line. He will also assist in assessing the impact of rising input costs and how they affect raw and finished product costs. Please welcome Adam when he visits and don’t hold his being an Oregonian against him.

Adam and I hope to meet all members over the next 60 days to get feedback on what each would like to see for the ’05 contract and beyond.

2004 Processing Season to Start the 26th:

All plants will get started within the next 3 weeks with Kern County commencing harvest on the 26^th and other counties starting shortly thereafter. Most plants will start by the 5^th.

Tomato Guesstimator average estimate was 11,168,260 tons with a low of 8,950,000 and a high of 13,243,150 tons.

More Evidence that Demand is Suffering:

Processors report the paste market at $0.28 – 0.29 with little demand.

The Food Institute reports in its June 14 issue that 1^st quarter ’04 supermarket sales of Spaghetti/Italian Sauce are down 5.7% in volume and 12.5% in dollars. Both of which are 5 yr lows. Sales promotions increased with 52% of the volume tied to some promotional activity versus 46% last year. Please note that these figures exclude Wal-Mart which does not supply public information.

This flagging demand reinforces the need for the industry as a whole to get behind an informational program which highlights the health attributes of processing tomatoes. The CTGA will be meeting with marketing professionals and processors during the next 60 days to get something rolling.

Aussies Grow Processed Tomato Demand:

Aussie canner SPC engaged Anna Nicole Smith, heiress and former bunny, to promote their Tomato Sauce in the “Rich and Thick” campaign. Demand is up 40% over 3 years whereas the category as a whole grew 30% over the same period. Perhaps we should consider the old standbys; celebrity, humor and sex.

Washington Visit:

As a part of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Board Meeting in Washington I had the opportunity to meet with legislators, administrators and trade officials. Highlights as follows:

Farm Bill: Little interest in opening the current farm bill. Money is very tight and growers need to recognize that the next farm bill will be smaller. Growers represent too few votes which makes protecting benefits difficult. The Specialty Crop Legislation supported by Ose and Dooley is stalled.
Trade: Guarded optimism that the Doha Round of the WTO will progress. As consequence we are likely to see the next farm bill be smaller, have less support payments and a greater emphasis on conservation.
FAS: Market Access Program (MAP) funding will exist for processors to offset some of their marketing costs in overseas markets. There is a preference for Coop’s so the CTGA could help facilitate access to those funds. Need to work on 2005.
EPA: Discussed metam sodium risk assessment and tomato grower concerns with the EPA decision makers. The CTGA will need to supply written comments by August 2, 2004. The good news is that the EPA will not enforce any regulatory changes until September ’05. We will be in contact with interested members.
USDA: The farm economy showed record earnings in 2003 - $63 billion and trade with NAFTA and China as bright spots. The red flag is conservation where growers need to be proactive in adopting conservation measures since public sentiment is on the side of environmentalists.

Commerce: Energy is going through a structural change with production capacity at 81 million barrels per day versus demand of 80 million. Natural gas demand exceeds supply so import installations need to be constructed. Bottom line – get used to high energy costs.

More on Metam Sodium:

Discussions with the DPR indicate that they will take a cautious approach in their risk assessment which will allow greater time for grower input. Their stated goal is to eliminate by-stander exposure, but to also get the science right. Ultimately EPA and DPR should be on the same page.

PTAB Orientation:

For growers interested in how PTAB determines fruit quality they will be holding the following seminars:

Friday, June 25, 2004, 9:00-12:00 Monday, June 28, 2004, Monday 8:30-11:30

Modesto Orientation Los Banos Orientation

Ag Building, 3800 Cornucopia Ramada Inn (Franciscan Room)

(Near Crows Landing and Service Road) Highway 33 and I-5, Santa Nella, CA

Tuesday, June 29, 2004, 9:00-12:00. Monday, July 5, 2004, 9:00-1200

Stockton Orientation Sacramento Orientation

Farm Bureau, Stockton CA Sacramento Orientation Norton Hall

first street right (Ad Art Rd.) next to CHP. 70 Cottonwood, Woodland CA

Tuesday, July 6, 2004. 9:00-1200

Colusa Orientation

Colusa County Dept. of Agricultural Extension

Colusa Industrial Park, Colusa CA

Sunrise Blvd, Off Highway 20, next to golf course West side of Colusa.

The inspectors’ orientation lasts approximately 2 hours (visitors welcome). An illustrated description of the grade categories begins the second hour. The third hour is reserved for PTAB supervisors.

Member’s e-mail address:

Several members requested that the bulletin come via e-mail. The CTGA office will be in contact to get e-mail addresses for those that wish to make the change.

Comments, questions welcome rdsiragusa@ctga.org or (209) 478-1761

Ross Siragusa