MCLEAN, Va. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will announce the implementation of the $100 million market loss assistance payment program for U.S. apple growers on Thursday, March 8. Growers will be permitted to sign-up for their portion of the market loss assistance payments through April 13.

“Apple growers across America have been hard hit by three terribly tough years in a row, and this year is no better,” said U.S. Apple Association (USApple) President Kraig R. Naasz, whose group spearheaded efforts to secure apple assistance. “In fact, the average price received by growers in Jan. 2001 dropped to the second lowest level in more than 10 years, according to USDA statistics. For many growers, this assistance can’t come soon enough.”

Congress approved the apple market loss assistance program as part of the fiscal 2001 agricultural appropriations act to aid apple growers, who suffered $760 million in estimated losses between 1995 and 1998 due to unfairly priced imports of apple juice concentrate, adverse weather conditions, increasing retail consolidation and rising regulatory costs among other factors. USApple worked with Congressional sponsors of the market loss assistance program to urge the earliest possible implementation by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).

“We greatly appreciate Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman’s efforts to deliver this urgently-needed assistance to offset the devastating losses suffered by apple growers,” Naasz said.

USApple wrote Secretary Veneman on Jan. 25, shortly after she accepted the oath of office to lead USDA, urging swift implementation of the apple market loss assistance program. In addition, several members of USApple’s Board of Trustees met with Secretary Veneman on Feb. 23 to reiterate the dire need for this assistance among the nation’s apple growers.

Following publication of the program’s details in the Federal Register on Thursday, March 8, growers will have until April 13 to submit an application for assistance. Apple producers may obtain an application, Form CCC-891 (Apple Market Loss Assistance Payment Application), in person or by mail, telephone or facsimile from any county FSA office. In addition, growers may download a copy of the application at http://www.sc.egov.usda.gov.

Growers must submit their completed application to a county FSA office by no later than close of business on Friday, April 13. A list of FSA offices can be obtained at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/edso/.

Payments will be made on a grower’s first 1.6 million pounds of production in either 1998 or 1999. Actual payments made will depend on the number of growers who apply, and the volume of production they report. Growers should contact their local FSA office, or USApple at (800) 781-4443, for more information.

USApple’s Efforts Cushion Hard Economic Times
Securing market loss assistance for growers is just one of several activities USApple has undertaken to provide relief to an economically beleaguered apple industry.

USApple gained congressional approval of $38 million in crop loss assistance for U.S. apple growers, whose 1999 or 2000 crops were damaged by fireblight or weather related disasters, $200 million for surplus specialty crop purchases as part of a farm relief bill, $99 million for a new low-interest loan program, and a record $81 million in purchases of apples and apple products over the past two years for distribution to federal feeding programs.

In addition, USApple successfully sought and secured the imposition of antidumping duties of up to 52 percent on unfairly-priced imports of apple juice concentrate from the People’s Republic of China.

USApple’s current efforts to address the industry’s economic woes include generating increased consumption of apples and apple products by touting their health and nutritional benefits to consumers, seeking increased federal funding for the industry’s research and export promotion efforts, and aggressively contesting pending proposals to admit imports of apples from countries whose markets remain closed to U.S. apple exports.

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.