Apple growers are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider their eligibility for payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, or CFAP.
The U.S. Apple Association and 11 grower groups, including the Washington Apple Commission and the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, sent a letter Tuesday to the USDA stating its criteria to determine whether growers qualify for direct payments through CFAP is flawed.
To qualify for a direct payment, growers must show they suffered a sales price loss of at least 5% between Jan. 15 and April 15. The USDA based apple growers’ eligibility on data it collected at a dozen terminal markets.
In the letter, industry officials say using that data to determine eligibility was flawed because more than 99% of apple sales happen outside a terminal market — primarily to supermarket chains and mass merchandise retailers.
The USDA has said it would accept additional pricing data from industry groups, said Mark Powers, president of the Northwest Horticultural Association, the Yakima organization that represents the fruit industry in public policy issues.
The data from the Washington State Tree Fruit Association included sales figures provided by 85% to 90% of the state’s shippers, said association president Jon DeVaney. Other data came from unidentified individual shippers representing other U.S. apple producing states, such as New York and Michigan.
The numbers show losses of anywhere from 7.3% for the Washington state shippers to 24.9% for one of the individual shippers elsewhere in the U.S. The variation reflected that Washington figures were aggregated for multiple shippers, while individual shippers saw varying price declines depending on their core business. A fruit shipper focused on supplying restaurants, for example, would likely see a greater loss than one that depended on a large grocery store.
Regardless of the exact figure, the prices make it clear that apple growers meet USDA’s criteria for aid, DeVaney said.
And those prices will likely drop even further as the state has had to contend with an increase with a record amount of apple stock.
While domestic shipments have returned to normal levels in recent weeks, it has not been enough to make up for the loss of exports caused by both COVID- 19 and ongoing trade disputes with countries such as India, DeVaney said.
In recent weeks, shipments have dropped. After peaking at 3.87 million 44-pound boxes in mid-March as people stocked up on food in response to COVID-19, shipments have declined gradually. Last week, nearly 2.4 million boxes were shipped, a 2.5% decrease from a week earlier and 38.1% from that peak shipment week in mid-March.
The result is that more apples have remained in storage. With the fall harvest just months away, apples from last year’s crop may end up being thrown away if they can’t be sold, DeVaney said.
The USDA is accepting additional comments through Monday and a response should come by sometime in July, said Powers of the Northwest Horticultural Council.
In the meantime, several fruit companies have been able to receive revenue through selling to government food and nutrition programs.
It’s far from ideal, however, Powers said.
“It’s not moving product at a price people would be happy with,” he said. “On the other hand, the alternative is no good.”
