The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a referendum from Nov. 30, 2020, through Dec. 21, 2020, for south Florida avocado producers to vote on whether to continue their federal marketing order.
The marketing order authorizes the Avocado Administrative Committee to regulate grade, size, maturity, container and pack standards for avocados grown in south Florida under USDA’s oversight and it requires a continuance referendum every six years to determine producers’ level of support for the program.
Producers who produced avocados within the designated production area in Florida for the fresh market during the period of April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020, are eligible to vote. USDA will consider continuing the marketing order if at least two-thirds of the producers voting, by number or volume, vote in favor of continuance. Notice of the referendum was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 27, 2020.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will mail ballots and voting instructions to all producers of record. Eligible producers who do not receive a ballot by Dec. 11, 2020, should contact Abigail Campos at Abigail.Campos@usda.gov or (863) 324-2145. Requests for a ballot may also be faxed to (863) 291-8614 or mailed to USDA, AMS, 1124 First Street South, Winter Haven, Florida, 33880.
More information about the marketing order regulating the handling of avocados grown in south Florida is available on the AMS 915 Florida Avocados webpage, the Marketing Orders and Agreements webpage or by contacting the Marketing Order and Agreement Division at (202) 720-2491.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. AMS provides oversight to 29 fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop marketing orders and agreements, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
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