Good Fruit Grower

February 15th

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Exports boost PEAR RETURNS Lowering prices on the domestic market benefits retailers, not growers. by Geraldine Warner grower returns, he believes Foreman analyzed the relationships between pricing L James Foreman advocates expanding exports and giving up segments of the U.S. market to Argentina. and production of fresh Pacific Northwest pears and con- cluded that retailers are the only ones who gain when the region produces a large crop. The 2011 Northwest pear crop is estimated at 19.2 mil- lion boxes, up from 17.7 million a year ago. Over the past four seasons, exports have ranged from 5.3 to 6.8 million boxes. Foreman found that when Northwest pear production increases by one million boxes, the industry typically exports 430,000 more boxes of pears and imports 550,000 owering f.o.b. prices in a big crop year does nothing to benefit growers, says James Foreman, operations manager with Foreman Fruit and Land Company in Wenatchee, Washington. But exporting more pears could significantly boost fewer boxes. He also found that when Northwest pear production increases by a million boxes, the U.S. whole- sale price goes down by $1.25 a box, on average, despite the fact that the volume of pears on the market is unchanged because of more exports and fewer imports. U.S. domestic consumption remains constant because the supply of pears on the market is the same. "In a situation where we produce a million more boxes, U.S. retailers are getting lower wholesale pricing by $1.25 a box, they're not doing anything meaningful to move more volume, their prices to consumers stay the same, and U.S. domestic consumption remains the same," he told producers during the Washington State Horticultural Association's annual meeting. "Essentially, U.S. retailers are the ones benefitting when we have larger crops." ISOMATE -CM FL ® echno Sustainable Mating Disruption Technology for Your Growing Needs ating Disruption Technolog of 200-400 dispensers per acre off 200-40 00 dispensers per acr pensers per acr 8 FEBRUARY 15, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com pe TE - CM F LEX -CM FLEX L E X

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