March 2020 - 52

CHERRY MARKETING INSTITUTE
Cherry industry stunned by Turkish trade decision
JULIE GORDON
President/Managing
Director
JGordon@usacherries.com
The Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI)
held its 31st annual meeting in January at
the Grand Traverse Resort in Michigan.
The National Cherry Festival kicked off
the morning program recapping the
highlights and great accomplishments
from the 2019 festival. Carolyn Westcomb
and I followed with a review of last year's
promotion activities as well as plans for
this year's domestic and international
market programs. Brad Burke from Weber
Shandwick captured everyone's attention at
lunch with his great presentation on " The
Evolving Media Landscape. "
The day before CMI's annual meeting
the International Trade Commission
(ITC) decision for the dried tart cherry
dumping and countervailing duty case
against Turkey was announced. The news
spread quickly throughout the 4,000-plus
in attendance at the Northwest Michigan
Orchard and Vineyard Show that the ITC
decided to " not " support the U.S. tart
cherry growers.
I think it's safe to say that everyone
at the show was stunned and many
of us struggled to comprehend the
ITC's decision after the preliminary
determination clearly showed damage.
Elizabeth Drake, the cherry industry's
trade attorney was scheduled to present
after the CMI annual meeting luncheon
on a study that the Cherry Industry
Administration Board (CIAB) funded on
imports from Brazil and the Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) status of tart
cherry juice concentrate from Turkey.
In addition to her report, Elizabeth was
able to address questions about the dried
cherry dumping case.
As a result of that CIAB import study, a
customs allegation regarding tart cherry
juice concentrate from Turkey and Brazil
was filed on Jan. 21, 2020.
In 2018 CMI successfully petitioned the
U.S. government to remove Turkey from
the list of countries eligible to import tart
cherry juice concentrate into the U.S. dutyfree
under the (GSP). Immediately upon
the revocation of Turkey's GSP status,
imports of tart cherry juice concentrate
from Brazil flooded into the U.S. market.
In the first 11 months of 2019, Brazil
had become the top source of U.S. Tart
cherry juice concentrate imports, and it
is the only top source eligible to import
tart cherry juice concentrate duty-free
under GSP. CMI requested that customs
fully investigate the matter. Shortly after
the complaint was filed, we issued a press
release. On Feb. 11, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters,
D-Michigan, called on U.S. Customs and
Boarder Protection (CBP) to investigate
allegations contained in our complaint.
Mollie Woods from the CIAB surveyed
the industry on surplus inventory and
helped put together a purchase request
for USDA. We submitted the purchase
request on Feb. 6. This is a very important
request and we hope that USDA will help
remove some of the access inventory
before this year's harvest.
We have received a lot of support from
our congressional delegation on the dried
cherry dumping case. We continue to
have support as we fight the unfair trade
practices in our industry. On Feb. 3,
Congressmen Jack Bergman and John
Moolenaar joined Congressman Bill
Huizenga in calling for the United States
Trade Representative (USTR), Department
of Agriculture, and Department of
Commerce to hold a field hearing in
Michigan to hear directly from specialty
crop growers.
Moving forward we are not taking
the ITC's decision lightly. CMI has had
numerous phone conversations and
meetings with various departments at
USDA regarding all the issues the tart
cherry industry is facing. We continue
to foster and build new partnerships and
alliances that will help move our industry
forward. There is a lot of work that needs
to be done and CMI remains committed to
addressing our grower needs.
Promotion in South Korea
Shifting gears, CMI plans to launch a
new promotion program in South Korea
very soon. We are excited to be working
with Ken Yang from Korea Business
Services Inc. and his team to help expand
exports in South Korea. Our plan is to
educate consumers on the product forms
that are available and the many health
benefits associated with U.S. Montmorency
tart cherries. We are excited to expand
consumer education and with the free
trade agreement that is in place in South
Korea we are hopeful to see growth in this
new market.
We also will be submitting an Emerging
Market Proposal (EMP) proposal for
Mexico to USDA soon. If awarded, the
EMP should open new channels for our
exporters in Mexico.
For the past several weeks CMI has
been working with industry members
and Risk Management Agency (RMA)
on crop insurance to address the issues
growers identified and to protect both
sweet and tart insurance policies to
assure that cherry growers continue to
have crop insurance available.
In closing, I would like to welcome
our new members to the CMI Board of
Directors. Jay Jollay is replacing Randy
Willmeng from southwest Michigan. Our
new processor member from west central
Michigan is Sarah Schlukebir from Peterson
Farms, replacing Michael DeRuiter. Melanie
LaPerriere from Cherry Central replaced
Glenn LaCross. We are fortunate to have
these talented industry members join our
board and I look forward to working with
them. Thank you, Randy, Mike and Glenn
for your service on the CMI board. Your
efforts and contribution were very much
appreciated. FGN
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July 2019 | Volume 53 |
Issue 7
Joyce Van Eck of the Boyce Thompson Institute is researching ways to make ground cherries and goldenberries easier to grow commercially. Photo: Mike Carroll/Boyce Thompson Institute
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Talking to researchers and companies
about their genetically-engineered projects
for specialty crops is a little bit like a trip to
a grower's dream world.
Imagine ground cherries that stay on the
plant until harvest, potatoes that are more
nutritious and disease-resistant, apples that
genetically dodge browning aſter slicing,
industrial hemp varieties fine-tuned for
growers and microbes that help protect
crops from diseases and pests.
These projects are in various stages of
completion - and their place in the market
in some cases hasn't yet been determined.
Public attitudes - and those of growers
- on genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) and organisms engineered with
next-generation technologies are not yet
universally accepted.
Genetically-engineered specialty crops
will find a niche of some kind in future
markets. Researchers and industry leaders
say it's up to growers and consumers to
decide how they're used.
Grower confidence
The amount of confidence growers put
in genome editing varies widely. Joyce
Van Eck of the Boyce Thompson Institute
at Cornell University is overjoyed to
have a few organic
growers open to
accepting
disease-resistant
plants from her
genetics research,
which includes
CRISPR-edited potatoes, goldenberries
and ground cherries.
High-Tech Tools
2019
See GENETICS, page 5
Survey: U-pick strawberries take top dollar
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Pick your price.
Farm marketers across the country
this spring again participated in a
Vegetable Growers News survey of
what they charge for commodities and
food items.
More than 180 marketers from 34
states voted multiple-choice-style,
picking the price in the survey that was
closest to the price at their market.
For an example of how this works,
take that standby of summer, U-pick
strawberries.
Fiſty-four percent of marketers chose
$3 per pound, the highest price reported
by participants last year for that
category. Strawberries must be selling
well - there were only the few items in
the survey where the high price got the
most votes.
Search through the chart on Page 7
to compare notes with your colleagues
across the country.
The product, the process and the
region's clientele all play a role in
pricing. An organic, pick-your-own
SweeTango apple will sell for more
in the suburbs of New York City
than a bagged Granny Smith will in
Wenatchee, Washington. That's why, this
year, again VGN asked people how they
went about picking their prices.
Making markup
For most farm market managers,
prices are the product of much looking
about: Checking out competing
See MARKETS, page 6

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March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2020