Californians rally as agreement set to end

Californian stonefruit growers are issuing an “open for business” message despite the likely end of the California Tree Fruit Agreement (CTFA).

The US department of agriculture (USDA) has this week released the results of the federal referenda for the continuation of the Peach Commodity Committee and the Nectarine Administrative Committee, announcing that it will now terminate the marketing order programmes for California-grown nectarines and peaches.

But the CTFA has stressed this does not mean that exporters do not still want to ship but are merely coping with a tough economy.

Carried out once every four years, and taking place between 12 January and 2 February this year, the referenda saw growers vote on whether to continue the marketing programmes - with 66 per cent of the total voting needing to back the them for them to survive.

Some 62 per cent of peach growers, who produce 36 per cent of total volumes, favoured continuance, and 63 per cent of nectarine growers, producing 36 per cent of volumes, favoured continuance.

Failure to renew peach and nectarine marketing programmes by growers could spell end of the agreement.

The long-term future of the CTFA will depend on whether the USDA allows the plum marketing order to stay in place, with a board meeting set for 11 April.

A spokesperson for the CTFA told FPJ: “The growers are still growing and they still want to ship. They are still open for business and very much want to export to the UK and Europe.”