Jun 12, 2008

Growers, Processors Vote to Continue Cherry Marketing Order

USDA announced in May that tart cherry producers and processors in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin voted to continue their federal marketing order, known as the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB).

Four hundred and seventeen tart cherry producers, about 61 percent of those eligible to vote, cast ballots. Eighty-one percent of those (representing 86 percent of tart cherry volume) voted to continue the order. Seventy-eight percent of the processors voting (representing about 91 percent of the volume) also favored continuance, according to USDA.

CIAB is based in Michigan, which annually produces almost three-quarters of the U.S. tart cherry crop. The marketing order requires a referendum every six years. More than 50 percent of the growers and processors voting must vote in favor of the marketing order in order for it to continue. The continuance vote must include more than 50 percent of the tart cherry volume represented in the referendum, according to USDA.