MCLEAN, Va. – Representatives of the U.S. Apple Association (USApple) met with Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Feb. 23 to discuss several of the apple industry’s most pressing issues. The group of apple industry leaders included:

• Phil Glaize, Fred. L. Glaize Orchards, Winchester, Va.; USApple Chairman;
• Ed Wittenbach, Wittenbach Orchards, Belding, Mich.;USApple Vice Chairman;
• Jane Bautista, Bari Produce, Madera, Calif.; USApple Secretary-Treasurer;
• John Rice, Rice Fruit Company, Gardners, Pa.; USApple Trustee;
• Larry Olsen, Olsen Brothers Orchards, Prosser, Wash.; USApple Trustee
• Kenton Kidd, President, California Apple Commission, Fresno, Calif.; and
• Kraig Naasz, President and CEO, U.S. Apple Association, McLean, Va.

“We received an incredibly warm welcome from Secretary Veneman, and a pledge to partner with USApple on efforts to address our industry’s economic woes,” said USApple President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz. “Secretary Veneman’s knowledge and appreciation of the challenges confronting apple growers will prove extremely helpful as we attempt to restore our industry’s profitability.”

USApple urged Secretary Veneman to make available the $100 million in market loss assistance promised to growers last fall by Congress, to increase the Department of Agriculture’s purchases of apples and apple products through the school lunch program, and to support other industry initiatives to assist our nation’s beleaguered apple growers.

The USApple leaders also discussed current market conditions, efforts to tout the health and nutritional benefits of apples and apple products, and the apple juice concentrate antidumping case against the People’s Republic of China.

Ambassador Zoellick Meets with Agricultural Leaders
USApple’s Kraig Naasz, along with 19 other national commodity group leaders, met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on February 26 to discuss agriculture’s international trade priorities and concerns. The group strongly endorsed Ambassador Zoellick’s plans to further open foreign markets to more U.S. agricultural exports and to demand strict enforcement of existing trade agreements.

Naasz, along with most of the meeting’s other participants, serves on the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC), which provides the Secretary of Agriculture and U.S. Trade Representative with advice on overall trade objectives affecting the nation’s agriculture producers.

USApple President Kraig Naasz (right) and California Apple Commission President Kenton Kidd (left) discuss apple issues with Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Feb. 23.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state apple associations representing 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as nearly 500 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple’s mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.