Apr 7, 2007

New York Apple Association Thanks Readers for Revote

Now that the vote to reauthorize the New York State Apple Marketing Order is completed and approved, I wanted to take a moment to offer my appreciation to many of your readers for their support and their efforts to help ensure a positive result.

We are most pleased with the 71 percent approval rating in New York, but I must admit that we failed to reach the high level that the Michigan order obtained a few years ago. I believe that re-vote was in the mid-80 percentile. Nonetheless, I commend the New York apple industry for reauthorizing the order for the next eight years. By the way, for those who are interested, our order does have a provision that allows a revote sooner than eight years if a majority of the industry petitions to call a special vote.

The climate today within the industry is certainly not without its cloudy days and the continued pressure to be profitable increases daily. The demand for processing apples and the ability to profit from growing processing apples continues to be a challenge. The impact of foreign imports of concentrate and now processed apples is being felt across the country. Of course, the huge oversupply of apples for processing available in Washington and the Chinese volume provide unlimited inventories at rock bottom prices to growers.

However, we can see some bright days along the way. The increased demand for the newly developed fresh-sliced apple may offer a new direction and home for processing apples. Michigan and the East are very fortunate to have an industry leader in the fresh-slice business in Peterson Farms, with cutting-edge technology and top-notch marketing abilities to open new markets for Eastern apples.

The fresh apple market has shown some encouraging signs over the last few years, despite the huge Washington crop this year. Take-home quality has improved and I believe more people are buying more apples because of that. Consumers are learning more about nutritional and health benefits derived from apples. Although the Washington industry has lost two major export markets in Taiwan and in Mexico, Eastern apple exports have enjoyed favorable conditions in the United Kingdom and Latin America, partly because of the weak U.S. dollar and the increased apple quality.

I commend the New York apple industry for choosing to invest in the future by reauthorizing the AMO vote. I believe that this vote was an expression of confidence in the industry and the recognition that resources have to be provided to meet the industry challenges. It was also a commitment to meet new challenges and to take on issues that are controversial to some, but may be beneficial to many. When Michigan growers overwhelmingly reauthorized their order a few years ago, they too looked at issues that affected the entire apple industry and recognized that a problem in New York or Washington would affect them as well.

The days of Michigan and New York dominating a particular market area (outside of their franchise market areas) have greatly diminished because of retailer consolidation and increased Washington production. Today, New York and Michigan shippers are not only supplying the same retailers, they are often working in partnership to better serve customers. It certainly is a changing world.

Finally, the passage of the New York Apple Marketing Order is a positive step for the entire apple industry, providing resources for increased collaborative efforts among all apple-growing regions. Once again, the NYAA expresses appreciation to those of you in the industry that recognize the need to support state and national efforts and recognize the need to invest in the future.