Feb 7, 2012

Apple crop report threatened by USDA budget cuts

Last fall, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced plans to eliminate a number of commodity reports. With budget pressures mounting from Congress, NASS was looking for ways to cut expenses, according to the U.S. Apple Association.

Many annual reports were eliminated at that time, including the August apple report and June tart cherry report. In December, however, USDA received additional Congressional funding and NASS reinstated many of the reports. Leaders in the apple industry believed the August crop report was part of the list of those reinstated, but they found out in January that wasn’t the case.

“The August crop report is critical for the U.S. apple industry, and we were shocked USDA eliminated the report,” said Nancy Foster, president of the U.S. Apple Association (USApple). “It is critical in getting the marketing season up and running, and is the first snapshot of the crop. It helps everyone have the same information.”

According to NASS, the annual August apple report was eliminated because that information is duplicated in another report released every October.

“We were looking at the entire budget, and we looked at the (August report) as a duplication,” said Alex Minchenkov, NASS public affairs specialist. “The later we go in the year, the more accurate they get because we have more numbers.”

But USApple contends the two reports are not duplicates, and both are vital to the industry.

“The August report is very important,” said Mark Seetin, USApple’s director of regulatory and industry affairs. “It is right at the beginning of apple harvest, so we need to have that information to form our marketing plan. The October report is important because it corrects the August report. Both are very important to the industry.”

USApple sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack shortly after learning the August report was still eliminated, delineating why that report is vital to the industry. In January, apple industry representatives were in constant communication with USDA, urging it to reinstate the August report.

“We have had some questions back and forth, and I think it’s been very positive,” Seetin said. “We feel very strongly about it, and there is a great need for it to be reinstated. I am very optimistic.”

Tart cherries

In January, USDA reinstated the annual June tart cherry report, following a letter of request to Vilsack from the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB).

The June report is the only annual report NASS releases specifically for tart cherries. The industry publishes a postharvest report in September, but that is an industry report exclusively – and in many cases it’s used to adjust the June report.

CIAB, a marketing order administered by USDA, relies on the June report to determine how much product can be marketed each season.

“It is important to us because our whole system relies on that report,“ said Perry Hedin, CIAB’s executive director. “We take the projections from the estimate and make regulatory decisions for the whole industry. It is pretty critical for growers and handlers in knowing what to do with the crop.”

By Everett Brazil III, FGN Correspondent