January 2022 - 31

INDUSTRY NEWS
NARBA conference
in-person and virtual
The North American Raspberry &
Blackberry Association annual conference
on Feb. 21-24 will be a hybrid
conference for both virtual registrants
and for in-person attendees at the
conference location in Gaithersburg,
Maryland.
Most in-person sessions will be livestreamed
for virtual participants, and
recorded sessions will be available for
on-demand viewing by all registrants
for an extended period.
Special features for novice growers
include a seven session " Getting
Started in Raspberries & Blackberries "
virtual short course, which starts
Jan. 31, and an in-person workshop
on the " Fundamentals of Caneberry
Production " on Feb. 21.
A full-day farm tour is planned
for Feb. 22. A post-conference
" Tastemaker Trail " tour, visiting a
brewery, winery and farm-to-table
restaurant is also being planned. For
virtual registrants, more than a dozen
virtual presentations are scheduled
concurrent with the conference tour.
Feb. 23-24 will feature a trade
show and educational sessions on
a wide range of topics. For detailed
information and registration,
visit www.raspberryblackberry.
com/2022-north-american-raspberryblackberry-conference/
or email info@
raspberryblackberry.com.
Fruit sales growth
ahead of the 2019
November 2021 picked up where
October left off. Grocery shopping
and food consumption patterns
remained in flux. IRI, 210 Analytics
and the Produce Marketing have
teamed up since March 2020 to
document the changing marketplace.
The first 11 months of 2021 brought
$633 billion in food and beverage
sales - up 1.3% over 2020. However,
inflation played a significant role with
year-on-year unit sales still down 3.5%.
Fresh produce prices are also higher
than last year. Year-to-date, prices
for total fresh produce are about
6% higher than they were last year.
Inflation for fruit is above average
at +8.2 percent year-to-date through
Nov. 28. Fruit prices during November
2021 were 11.9% higher than in
November 2020.
Fruit sales growth slowed a little
to +8.5% versus November 2020,
but gains remained more than 18%
ahead of the pre-pandemic 2019
levels.
2022 wage rates
official on Dec. 29
The Department of Labor (DOL)
published Dec. 15 its 2022 Adverse
Effect Wage Rates (AEWR), which
are the minimum an employer must
pay H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural
workers, and has proposed some
changes to how those rates are set
for certain jobs.
The Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) of the DOL
issued this notice to announce
the AEWR for the employment of
temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant
foreign workers (H-2A workers) to
perform agricultural labor or services
other than the herding or production
of livestock on the range.
AEWRs are the minimum wage
rates the DOL has determined must
be offered and paid by employers
to H-2A workers and workers in
corresponding employment so that
the wages and working conditions of
workers in the U.S. similarly employed
will not be adversely affected.
These rates were applicable
Dec. 29, 2021.
The rates can be found online
at https://fruitgrowersnews.com/
wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2022AEWR-Effective-12-29-2021.pdf.
Survey
targeting
blueberry pollination
To better understand current
blueberry pollination practices,
growers across the United States
are being asked to complete a
short survey about their pollination
practices.
This is part of a USDA-funded project
to develop improved pollination
practices. The survey is being run
by Washington State University in
collaboration with team members
from Michigan State University (MSU),
Oregon State University and University
of Florida. Growers anywhere in the
U.S. can complete the survey, and the
goal is to get representation from
across the country.
All responses are anonymous. If you
are willing to share your email address,
in a separate section at the end of the
survey, you can sign up for a drawing
to receive one of 12 gift cards.
" We thank you in advance for
spending a few minutes informing
our work to develop the next
generation of pollination strategies
for blueberry farming, " Rufus Isaacs,
MSU Department of Entomology, said
in a news release.
The survey can be accessed at
https://beav.es/3ua.
Celebrating 20 years!
Jan. 6-9, 2022
Join us for the Southeast's
premier, grower-focused production
conference and hear from industry
experts! Commodity and operational
topics include peach, vegetable, organics,
blueberry, food safety, strawberry, vidalia
onion, roadside markets, watermelon,
business operations and more!
education * leadership * growth
Register today!
www.seregionalconference.org
FGN | JANUARY 2022 | 31
http://www.raspberryblackberry https://www.fruitgrowersnews.com/ https://www.beav.es/3ua http://www.seregionalconference.org
January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
