Representatives from United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Western Growers Association and Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association presented their top policy priorities for the upcoming legislative year. Many common themes emerged including implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act, Immigration Reform Act, trade issues, and microbiological contamination. These topics were chosen because of the need for research in these areas. With regard to foreign market access, discussion centered around the Supplier Credit Guarantee Program, the Market Access Program, and technical barriers to trade such as phytosanitary regulations. Participants indicated the need for research into what competitor nations were doing with regard to export promotion as well as looking into our own export promotion returns.
Information is collected on crops, management practices, debt load, equipment and other farm assets.
These models enable researchers to estimate the impact that various policies will have at the farm level. This type of analysis enables policy makers to see what the impacts of policy are on people, not just markets, in various areas of the nation. John Love from the Economic Research Service of USDA began the last discussion session of the day by discussing trends in per capita consumption for fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the Food Quality Protection Act could have consequences for the availability of crop protection tools, affecting the ability of U.S. growers to compete against imports for the domestic market. Five research priorities were identified as a result of the meeting.