The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a referendum May 18-29, 2020, for kiwifruit growers to vote on whether to continue their federal marketing order. Growers who produced kiwifruit in California from Aug. 1, 2018, through July 31, 2019, are eligible to vote. A notice of the referendum was published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2020.
USDA will consider continuing the marketing order if at least 50 percent of the growers who represent at least 50 percent of the volume of California kiwifruit produced in the 2018-2019 marketing season vote in favor of continuation.
The Kiwifruit Marketing Order authorizes the industry’s Administrative Committee to regulate quality, markings, pack and container requirements, and to fund research and promotion programs for kiwifruits grown in California to help the industry thrive in a competitive marketplace. The marketing order requires USDA to conduct a referendum every six years to determine the producers’ level of support for the program.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will mail the ballots and voting instructions to all growers of record. Eligible growers who do not receive a ballot by March 18 may contact Jeffery Rymer at Jeffery.Rymer@usda.gov or (559) 487-5901. Requests for a ballot may also be faxed to (559) 487-5906 or mailed to USDA, AMS, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, Calif. 93721.
More information about the marketing order is available on the AMS 920 Kiwifruit webpage.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. The Agricultural Marketing Service provides oversight to 29 fruit vegetable and specialty crops marketing orders, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity. More information about federal marketing orders is available on the AMS Marketing Orders and Agreements webpage or by contacting the Marketing Order and Agreement Division at (202) 720-2491.
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