The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) has released best practice guidelines for the transportation of produce. The document integrates multiple existing transportation guidelines into one best practices document that can be used throughout North America to provide guidance for seamless product movement and to ensure the ongoing vitality of the carrier sector. The guidelines were reviewed and endorsed by the Blue Book and the Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) to ensure compliance with industry trading guidelines for North America.

The 25-member NAPTWG represents fresh produce transportation stakeholders from associations and industry groups across North America. The working group is chaired by David Dever, United Fresh Board of Directors member and president and CEO of Sun World International. Dan Vaché, United’s vice president of supply chain management, also provides leadership for the working group.

“The new guidelines represent an incredible volume of work by industry associations and produce organizations involved in the transport of fresh produce,” said Dever. “We all know how crucial ensuring the vitality of our carrier industry is to the long-term viability of the North American produce industry, and this is one tool to support that.”

The NAPTWG compilation of best practice guidelines is intended to be an evolving resource to guide efficiency in produce transportation. The document is available free of charge to the produce industry and carriers at www.naptwg.org.

For more updates from Inside United Fresh, visit their website.

Click HERE for the full article.

This webinar will be conducted in Spanish.

Romero is the Regional Director in the Western Regional PACA office in Tucson, Arizona. He has been with PACA for 23 years. He has conducted numerous outreach seminars to growers and shippers from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. 

Following a formal presentation, webinar participants will have the opportunity to ask questions live. 

Date & Time:     Thursday, June 23, 2011, at 2 p.m. Eastern

Registration:      The webinar is free.  Registration is required.  Toll charges may apply.  The registration deadline is Monday, June 20, 2011. 

To register for this online event follow this link:  https://vance-events.webex.com/mw0306lc/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=vance-events&service=6&main_url

Hosted by Red Book Credit Services as part of the Red Book University educational offering, these webinars provide you with direct access to USDA experts presenting information live. All members of the produce supply chain are encouraged to participate, including growers, processors, packers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers of all sized operations as well as officials from government, industry associations and community based organizations.

For additional information about the webinar or our services contact Christopher Purdy, Business Development Specialist, USDA AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs, at tel. (202) 720-3209 or christopher.purdy@ams.usda.gov.

For additional information about PACA, visit www.ams.usda.gov/paca.

To all Georgia Growers and Agribusinesses,

As you know the Georgia House of Representatives has passed House Bill 87 (Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011).  The fight is now in the Senate!!

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 40 out of committee last week and we expect it to be on the floor of the Senate for debate as early as Monday of next week.  This weekend is the time to contact your legislators. 

We have been told we have made progress with the Senate leadership and some are asking us to reach out to all Senators.  Our request to you is two-fold,

1. Contact your Senator and let them know your concern from the talking points below,
2. Call or send an email to at least five other Senate Republicans, particularly those north of Macon, expressing your concern over S B 40 and how it will affect the economy in your county.    There are bullet points below to work from. 

If you do not know how to contact your legislator go to:

http://www.votesmart.org/official_state.php?state_id=GA&dist=&go2.x=5&go2.y=8

For a list of all of the Senators:

http://www.votesmart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=GA&criteria=upper

Talking points for a call or email:

1. Thank the Senator for their service to Georgia, and tell them where you are from and what you grow and/or company operations.
2. Recommend a Study Commission be appointed to look the immigrant labor situation and see what e-verify will do to Georgia’s economy before the legislature throws Georgia’s economy in another tailspin because workers are not available.  Ask them to sit back and take a year to study the impact on Georgia with input from the various industries that are putting people to work. 
3. From a state revenue perspective, all W-2 laborers pay Georgia Income Tax.  This could have an economic impact on budget revenues to the state.     
4. Express concern over the use of the Federal E-verify program because,
   1. Additional cost to do business – training of your employee(s) – manual is 82 pages long.
   2. Concern over economic impact in your community – farms, restaurants, hotels, and other small businesses. 
   3. There are not domestic workers available to do farm work.  It is hot, hard and difficult.
   4. The workers you hire have the proper documentation required under Federal law to work on your farm and you have a completed I-9 for all of them.    
5. The cost of enforcing this legislation will be passed on to local city and county governments.   Kentucky prepared a fiscal impact statement showing that an AZ-type immigration law would cost that state a net $40 million a year in new costs for local jails, state prisons, the foster-care system, the administrative offices of the courts and public defenders.  It is estimated the number of undocumented workers in is 455,000 as compared to Kentucky at 50,000.  That $40 million could be $360 million for Georgia. 

1. Many legislators counter that agriculture has H2A available if there is a worker shortage.  H2A is available but there is a 60 day lead time for a petition for workers, advertising, housing and transportation requirements.  These regulations do not allow for a quick response to a worker shortage. 
2. Additional talking points for your consideration: http://aghost.net/images/e0191701/Reasons_to_avoid_an_Everify_mandate.pdf  

ACTION REQUESTED!!

Please contact your Senator and at least five other Republican Senators by phone or email this weekend. 

Please feel free to contact our office if you have any questions – 1-706-845-8200.

Charles Hall,
Executive Director,
Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association

Tattnall County farmer Delbert Bland was named Grower of the Year and the late Delwin Dowdy was inducted into the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame at the 2011 Vidalia Onion industry banquet, held in February.

Bland, of Bland Farms LLC in Glennville, began growing onions with his father Raymond D. Bland in 1982 on five acres. They co-founded Bland Farms, which has grown to over 1,700 acres. With 92 employees, Bland Farms is the largest grower, packer, and shipper of Vidalia onions and has the largest controlled-environment storage capacity in the sweet onion industry.

 Bland was honored in 2008 by the Georgia Senate with a resolution in recognition of his commitment of time, talents, and energy toward the betterment of his community and state. In 2009, Bland Farms was named one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America by Inc. Magazine. The company supplies 4,000 pounds of sweet onions a week to America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia Food Bank, sponsors St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, supports The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in the fight against breast cancer and is a corporate sponsor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.   

 Dowdy, of Dowdy Farms in Reidsville, died in January 2009. He was remembered for his willingness to share his knowledge with other growers.  He assisted many growers getting their start growing onions, giving tips on managing resources, packing quality product and developing infrastructure. Dowdy was known not only as a good grower and for packing the very best quality product, but also was revered as a strategic marketer and a wizard of financial management. Because of Dowdy’s expertise and commitment to detail, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension service often utilized his farm for research projects and field days