Yet, pitfalls abound, and Schuler believes the next Farm Bill needs to address small, specialty farm crops, such as peaches. Somewhere along the line, we have to realize that we can't continue like this. It's getting increasingly difficult for our farmers to compete. A major portion of the competition comes from the Greek peach industry. One option U.S. growers have suggested to their Greek counterparts are green drops.
Producers agree to pull down a certain amount of fruit in exchange for some partial payment.
In the process, supplies shrink and prices may rise as long as consumption holds. Meanwhile, higher quality standards are in place for American fruit. Processors have been reluctant to buy machine-harvested fruit over charges of inferior quality. But a recent increase in the California minimum wage has growers and processors taking a second look. A few in the past have done a poor job with machine-harvesting.