[Federal Register: February 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 30)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 7645-7650]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15fe05-2]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 930
[Docket No. FV04-930-2 FR]
Tart Cherries Grown in the States of Michigan, et al.; Final Free
and Restricted Percentages for the 2004-2005 Crop Year
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This rule establishes final free and restricted percentages
for the 2004-2005 crop year. The percentages are 72 percent free and 28
percent restricted and would establish the proportion of tart cherries
from the 2004 crop which may be handled in commercial outlets. The
percentages are intended to stabilize supplies and prices, and
strengthen market conditions. The percentages were recommended by the
Cherry Industry Administrative Board, the body that locally administers
the marketing order. The marketing order regulates the handling of tart
cherries grown in the States of Michigan, New York, Oregon, Utah,
Washington, and Wisconsin.
DATES: Effective Date: February 16, 2005. This final rule applies to
all 2004-2005 crop year restricted cherries until they are properly
disposed of in accordance with marketing order requirements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kenneth G.
Johnson, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable
Programs, AMS, USDA, Suite 6C02, Unit 155, 4700 River Road, Riverdale,
MD 20737; Telephone: (301) 734-5243 or Fax: (301) 734-5275; or George
Kelhart, Technical Advisor, Marketing Order Administration Branch,
Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.,
STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; Telephone: (202) 720-2491 or Fax:
(202) 720-8938.
Small businesses may request information on complying with this
regulation, or obtain a guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and
specialty crop marketing agreements and orders by contacting Jay
Guerber, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable
Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237,
Washington, DC 20250-0237; Telephone: (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-
8938, or e-mail: Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 930 (7 CFR part 930), regulating the handling
of tart cherries produced in the States of Michigan, New York,
Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, hereinafter
referred to as the ``order.'' The order is effective under the
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-
674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act.''
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing this rule in
conformance with Executive Order 12866.
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in
effect, final free and restricted percentages may be established for
tart cherries handled by handlers during the crop year. This rule will
establish final free and restricted percentages for tart cherries for
the 2004-2005 crop year, beginning July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2005.
This rule will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or
policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this
rule.
The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted
before parties may file suit in court. Under section 608c(15)(A) of the
Act, any handler subject to an order may file with the Secretary a
petition stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any
obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance
with law and request a modification of the order or to be exempt
therefrom. Such handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on
the petition. After the hearing, the USDA would rule on the petition.
The Act provides that the district court of the United States in
any district in which the handler is an inhabitant, or has his or her
principal place of business, has jurisdiction in equity to review the
USDA's ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed not later
than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
The order prescribes procedures for computing an optimum supply and
preliminary and final percentages that establish the amount of tart
cherries that can be marketed throughout the season. Handlers handling
tart cherries produced in the regulated districts are subject to these
regulations. Tart cherries in the free percentage category may be
shipped immediately to any market, while restricted percentage tart
cherries must be held by handlers in a primary or secondary reserve, or
be diverted in accordance with Sec. 930.59 of
[[Page 7646]]
the order and Sec. 930.159 of the regulations, or used for exempt
purposes (and obtaining diversion credit) under Sec. 930.62 of the
order and Sec. 930.162 of the regulations. The regulated districts for
this season are: District one--Northern Michigan; District two--Central
Michigan; District three--Southwest Michigan; District four--New York;
District seven--Utah; District eight--Washington, and District nine--
Wisconsin. Tart cherries produced in Districts five and six (Oregon and
Pennsylvania, respectively) will not be regulated for the 2004-2005
season.
The order prescribes under Sec. 930.52 that those districts to be
regulated shall be those districts in which the average annual
production of cherries over the prior three years has exceeded six
million pounds. A district not meeting the six million-pound
requirement shall not be regulated in such crop year. Because this
requirement was not met in the Districts of Oregon and Pennsylvania,
the tart cherries produced in those districts and handled by handlers
will not be subject to volume regulation during the 2004-2005 crop
year.
Demand for tart cherries at the farm level is derived from the
demand for tart cherry products at retail. Demand for tart cherries and
tart cherry products tend to be relatively stable from year to year.
The supply of tart cherries, by contrast, varies greatly from crop year
to crop year. The magnitude of annual fluctuations in tart cherry
supplies is one of the most pronounced for any agricultural commodity
in the United States. In addition, since tart cherries are processed
into cans or frozen, they can be stored and carried over from crop year
to crop year. This creates substantial coordination and marketing
problems. The supply and demand for tart cherries is rarely balanced.
The primary purpose of setting free and restricted percentages is to
balance supply with demand and reduce large surpluses that may occur.
Section 930.50(a) of the order prescribes procedures for computing
an optimum supply for each crop year. The Board must meet on or about
July 1 of each crop year, to review sales data, inventory data, current
crop forecasts and market conditions. The optimum supply volume shall
be calculated as 100 percent of the average sales of the prior three
years (taking into account sales of exempt and restricted percentage
cherries qualifying for diversion credit) to which is added a desirable
carryout inventory not to exceed 20 million pounds or such other amount
as may be established with the approval of USDA. The optimum supply
represents the desirable volume of tart cherries that should be
available for sale in the coming crop year.
The order also provides that on or about July 1 of each crop year,
the Board is required to establish preliminary free and restricted
percentages. These percentages are computed by deducting the actual
carryin inventory from the optimum supply figure (adjusted to raw
product equivalent--the actual weight of cherries handled to process
into cherry products) and subtracting that figure (referred to as the
current crop year requirement) from the current year's USDA crop
forecast or by an average of such other crop estimates the Board votes
to use. If the resulting number is positive, this represents the
estimated over-production, which would be the restricted percentage
tonnage. The restricted percentage tonnage is then divided by the sum
of the crop forecast(s) for the regulated districts to obtain a
preliminary restricted percentage, rounded to the nearest whole number,
for the regulated districts. If subtracting the current crop year
requirement, from the current crop forecast, results in a negative
number, the Board is required to establish a preliminary free tonnage
percentage of 100 percent with a preliminary restricted percentage of
zero. The Board is required to announce the preliminary percentages in
accordance with paragraph (h) of Sec. 930.50.
The Board met on June 24, 2004, and computed, for the 2004-2005
crop year, an optimum supply volume of 177 million pounds. The Board
recommended that the desirable carryout figure be zero pounds.
Desirable carryout is the amount of fruit required to be carried into
the succeeding crop year and is set by the Board after considering
market circumstances and needs. This figure can range from zero to a
maximum of 20 million pounds. The Board calculated preliminary free and
restricted percentages as follows: The USDA estimate of the crop for
the entire production area was 215 million pounds; a 24 million pound
carryin (based on Board estimates) was subtracted from the optimum
supply of 177 million pounds which resulted in 2004-2005 tonnage
requirements (adjusted optimum supply) of 153 million pounds. The
carryin figure reflects the amount of cherries that handlers actually
had in inventory at the beginning of the crop year. Subtracting the
adjusted optimum supply of 153 million pounds from the 215 million
pound USDA crop estimate (for the entire production area) results in a
surplus of 62 million pounds of tart cherries. The surplus was then
divided by the production in the regulated districts (207 million
pounds) and this resulted in a restricted percentage of 30 percent for
the 2004-2005 crop year. The free percentage was 70 percent (100
percent minus 30 percent). The Board established these percentages and
announced them to the industry as required by the order.
The table below summarizes the preliminary percentage computations
made by the Board at its June meeting for the 2004-2005 year:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Millions
of pounds
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimum Supply Formula:
(1) Average sales of the prior three crop years......... 177
(2) Plus desirable carryout............................. 0
(3) Optimum supply calculated by the Board at the June 177
meeting................................................
Preliminary Percentages:
(4) USDA crop estimate.................................. 215
(5) Carryin held by handlers as of July 1, 2004......... 24
(6) Adjusted optimum supply for current crop year (Item 153
3 minus Item 5)........................................
(7) Surplus (restricted tonnage) (Item 4 minus Item 6).. 62
(8) USDA crop estimate for regulated districts.......... 207
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[[Page 7647]]
Percentages
-----------------------
Free Restricted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(9) Preliminary percentages (Item 7 divided 70 30
by Item 8 x 100 equals restricted
percentage; 100 minus restricted percentage
equals free percentage)....................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between July 1 and September 15 of each crop year, the Board may
modify the preliminary free and restricted percentages by announcing
interim free and restricted percentages to adjust to the actual pack
occurring in the industry. No interim adjustments were made.
USDA establishes final free and restricted percentages through the
informal rulemaking process. These percentages make available the tart
cherries necessary to achieve the optimum supply figure calculated by
the Board. The difference between 100 percent and any final restricted
percentage designated by USDA is the final free percentage. The Board
met on September 10, 2004, to recommend final free and restricted
percentages.
The actual production reported by the Board for the entire
production area was 209 million pounds, which is a 6 million pound
decrease from the USDA crop estimate of 215 million pounds.
A 25 million pound carryin (based on handler reports) was
subtracted from the Board's optimum supply of 177 million pounds,
yielding an adjusted optimum supply for the current crop year of 152
million pounds. The adjusted optimum supply of 152 million pounds was
subtracted from the actual production of 209 million pounds, which
resulted in a 57 million pound surplus. The total surplus of 57 million
pounds was then divided by the 202 million-pound volume of tart
cherries produced in the regulated districts. This results in a 28
percent restricted percentage and a corresponding 72 percent free
percentage for the regulated districts.
The final percentages are based on the Board's reported production
figures and the following supply and demand information available in
September for the 2004-2005 crop year:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Millions
of pounds
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimum Supply Formula:
(1) Average sales of the prior three years.............. 177
(2) Plus desirable carryout............................. 0
(3) Optimum supply calculated by the Board at the June 177
meeting................................................
Final Percentages:
(4) Board reported production........................... 209
(5) Carryin held by handlers as of July 1, 2004......... 25
(6) Adjusted optimum supply (Item 3 minus Item 5)....... 152
(7) Surplus (restricted tonnage) (Item 4 minus Item 6).. 57
(8) Production in regulated districts................... 202
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percentages
-----------------------
Free Restricted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(9) Final Percentages (Item 7 divided by 72 28
Item 8 x 100 equals restricted percentage;
100 minus restricted percentage equals free
percentage)................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department's ``Guidelines for Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty
Crop Marketing Orders'' specify that 110 percent of recent years' sales
should be made available to primary markets each season before
recommendations for volume regulation are approved. This goal would be
met by the establishment of final percentages which release 100 percent
of the optimum supply volume and the additional release of tart
cherries provided under Sec. 930.50(g). A release of tonnage, equal to
10 percent of the average sales of the prior three years sales, is made
available to handlers each season.
The Board recommended that this release be made available to
handlers the first week of December and the first week of May. Handlers
can decide how much of the 10 percent release they would like to
receive on the December and May release dates. Once released, such
cherries are available for free use and can be shipped to any market
the handler desires.
Approximately 18 million pounds will be made available to handlers
this season in accordance with Department Guidelines. These cherries
would be made available to every handler and released in proportion to
the handler's percentage of the total regulated crop handled. If a
handler does not take his/her proportionate amount, such amount remains
in the inventory reserve.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Effects on Small Businesses
Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the
economic impact of this action on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has
prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of
business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will
not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued
pursuant to the Act, and rules issued thereunder, are unique in that
they are brought about through group action of essentially small
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small
entity orientation and compatibility.
There are approximately 40 handlers of tart cherries who are
subject to regulation under the tart cherry marketing order and
approximately 900 producers of tart cherries in the regulated area.
Small agricultural service firms, which includes handlers, have been
defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.201) as those
having annual receipts of less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural
producers are defined as those having annual receipts of less than
$750,000. A majority of the producers
[[Page 7648]]
and handlers are considered small entities under SBA's standards.
The principal demand for tart cherries is in the form of processed
products. Tart cherries are dried, frozen, canned, juiced, and pureed.
During the period 1998/99 through 2003/04, approximately 92 percent of
the U.S. tart cherry crop, or 252.8 million pounds, was processed
annually. Of the 252.8 million pounds of tart cherries processed, 59
percent was frozen, 29 percent was canned, and 12 percent was utilized
for juice and other products.
Based on National Agricultural Statistics Service data, acreage in
the United States devoted to tart cherry production has been trending
downward. Bearing acreage has declined from a high of 50,050 acres in
1987/88 to 37,000 acres in 2003/04. This represents a 26 percent
decrease in total bearing acres. Michigan leads the nation in tart
cherry acreage with 73 percent of the total and produces about 75
percent of the U.S. tart cherry crop each year.
The 2004/05 crop is moderate in size at 209 million pounds. The
largest crop occurred in 1995 with production in the regulated
districts reaching a record 395.6 million pounds. The price per pound
received by tart cherry growers ranged from a low of 7.3 cents in 1987
to a high of 46.4 cents in 1991. The problems of wide supply and price
fluctuations in the tart cherry industry are national in scope and
impact. Growers testified during the order promulgation process that
the prices they received often did not come close to covering the costs
of production.
The industry demonstrated a need for an order during the
promulgation process of the marketing order because large variations in
annual tart cherry supplies tend to lead to fluctuations in prices and
disorderly marketing. As a result of these fluctuations in supply and
price, growers realize less income. The industry chose a volume control
marketing order to even out these wide variations in supply and improve
returns to growers. During the promulgation process, proponents
testified that small growers and processors would have the most to gain
from implementation of a marketing order because many such growers and
handlers had been going out of business due to low tart cherry prices.
They also testified that, since an order would help increase grower
returns, this should increase the buffer between business success and
failure because small growers and handlers tend to be less capitalized
than larger growers and handlers.
Aggregate demand for tart cherries and tart cherry products tends
to be relatively stable from year-to-year. Similarly, prices at the
retail level show minimal variation. Consumer prices in grocery stores,
and particularly in food service markets, largely do not reflect
fluctuations in cherry supplies. Retail demand is assumed to be highly
inelastic which indicates that price reductions do not result in large
increases in the quantity demanded. Most tart cherries are sold to food
service outlets and to consumers as pie filling; frozen cherries are
sold as an ingredient to manufacturers of pies and cherry desserts.
Juice and dried cherries are expanding market outlets for tart
cherries.
Demand for tart cherries at the farm level is derived from the
demand for tart cherry products at retail. In general, the farm-level
demand for a commodity consists of the demand at retail or food service
outlets minus per-unit processing and distribution costs incurred in
transforming the raw farm commodity into a product available to
consumers. These costs comprise what is known as the ``marketing
margin.''
The supply of tart cherries, by contrast, varies greatly. The
magnitude of annual fluctuations in tart cherry supplies is one of the
most pronounced for any agricultural commodity in the United States. In
addition, since tart cherries are processed either into cans or frozen,
they can be stored and carried over from year-to-year. This creates
substantial coordination and marketing problems. The supply and demand
for tart cherries is rarely in equilibrium. As a result, grower prices
fluctuate widely, reflecting the large swings in annual supplies.
In an effort to stabilize prices, the tart cherry industry uses the
volume control mechanisms under the authority of the Federal marketing
order. This authority allows the industry to set free and restricted
percentages. These percentages are only applied to states or districts
with a 3-year average of production greater than six million pounds,
and to states or districts in which the production is 50 percent or
more of the previous 5-year processed production average.
The primary purpose of setting restricted percentages is an attempt
to bring supply and demand into balance. If the primary market is over-
supplied with cherries, grower prices decline substantially.
The tart cherry sector uses an industry-wide storage program as a
supplemental coordinating mechanism under the Federal marketing order.
The primary purpose of the storage program is to warehouse supplies in
large crop years in order to supplement supplies in short crop years.
The storage approach is feasible because the increase in price--when
moving from a large crop to a short crop year--more than offsets the
costs for storage, interest, and handling of the stored cherries.
The price that growers' receive for their crop is largely
determined by the total production volume and carryin inventories. The
Federal marketing order permits the industry to exercise supply control
provisions, which allow for the establishment of free and restricted
percentages for the primary market, and a storage program. The
establishment of restricted percentages impacts the production to be
marketed in the primary market, while the storage program has an impact
on the volume of unsold inventories.
The volume control mechanism used by the cherry industry results in
decreased shipments to primary markets. Without volume control the
primary markets (domestic) would likely be over-supplied, resulting in
lower grower prices.
To assess the impact that volume control has on the prices growers
receive for their product, an econometric model has been developed. The
econometric model provides a way to see what impacts volume control may
have on grower prices. The three districts in Michigan, along with the
districts in Utah, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin are the
restricted areas for this crop year and their combined total production
is 202 million pounds. A 28 percent restriction means 145 million
pounds is available to be shipped to primary markets from these five
states. Production levels of 3.9 million pounds for Oregon, and 2.8
million pounds for Pennsylvania (the unregulated areas in 2004-2005),
result in an additional 6.7 million pounds available for primary market
shipments.
In addition, USDA requires a 10 percent release from reserves as a
market growth factor. This will result in an additional 18 million
pounds being available for the primary market. The 145 million pounds
from Michigan, New York, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, the
approximately 7 million pounds from the other producing states, the 18
million pound release, and the 25 million pound carryin inventory gives
a total of 195 million pounds being available for the primary markets.
The econometric model is used to estimate the difference between
grower prices with and without restrictions. With volume controls,
grower prices are estimated to be approximately $0.08 higher than
without volume controls.
The use of volume controls is estimated to have a positive impact
on
[[Page 7649]]
growers' total revenues. With restriction, revenues are estimated to be
$10.7 million higher than without restrictions. The without
restrictions scenario assumes that all tart cherries produced would be
delivered to processors for payments. This scenario is likely since the
total available supply in this crop year is very similar to last year's
when there was a full release of the reserve pool, and handlers appear
to be encouraging growers to deliver their entire crop this year.
Although carryout inventories are 25 million pounds, only 1 million
pounds is in the reserve while 24 million pounds are held in free
inventories held by packers.
It is concluded that the 28 percent volume control would not unduly
burden producers and handlers, particularly smaller growers and
handlers. The 28 percent restriction would be applied in Michigan, New
York, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. The growers and handlers in the
other two states covered under the marketing order will benefit from
the market stability anticipated to result from this restriction.
Recent grower prices have been as high as $0.44 per pound in the
2002-2003 crop year. At current production and yield levels, the cost
of production is reported to be $0.43 per pound. Thus, the estimated
$0.43 per pound received by growers under the regulation scenario just
covers the cost of production. Under the no regulation scenario,
estimated grower prices would not cover the total cost of production.
Lower yields and production result in higher costs of production.
Overhead or fixed costs are spread over lower levels of production
which results in higher costs of production per acre. Even in years
when no production is harvested, growers face fixed costs of production
and additional costs associated with maintaining the orchard for future
years of production. The use of volume controls is believed to have
little or no effect on consumer prices and will not result in fewer
retail sales or sales to food service outlets.
Without the use of volume controls, the industry could be expected
to start to build large amounts of unwanted inventories. These
inventories would have a depressing effect on grower prices. The
econometric model shows for every 1 million-pound increase in carryin
inventories, a decrease in grower prices of $0.0033 per pound occurs.
The use of volume controls allows the industry to supply the primary
markets while avoiding the disastrous results of over-supplying these
markets. In addition, through volume control, the industry has an
additional supply of cherries that can be used to develop secondary
markets such as exports and the development of new products. The use of
reserve cherries in the production shortened 2002-2003 crop year proved
to be very useful and beneficial to growers and packers.
In discussing the possibility of marketing percentages for the
2004-2005 crop year, the Board considered the following factors
contained in the marketing policy: (1) The estimated total production
of cherries; (2) the estimated size of the crop to be handled; (3) the
expected general quality of such cherry production; (4) the expected
carryover as of July 1 of canned and frozen cherries and other cherry
products; (5) the expected demand conditions for cherries in different
market segments; (6) supplies of competing commodities; (7) an analysis
of economic factors having a bearing on the marketing of cherries; (8)
the estimated tonnage held by handlers in primary or secondary
inventory reserves; and (9) any estimated release of primary or
secondary inventory reserve cherries during the crop year.
The Board's review of the factors resulted in the computation and
announcement in September 2004 of the free and restricted percentages
established by this rule (72 percent free and 28 percent restricted).
One alternative to this action would be not to have volume
regulation this season. Board members stated that no volume regulation
would be detrimental to the tart cherry industry due to the size of the
2004-2005 crop. Returns to growers would not cover their costs of
production for this season which might cause some to go out of
business.
As mentioned earlier, the Department's ``Guidelines for Fruit,
Vegetable, and Specialty Crop Marketing Orders'' specify that 110
percent of recent years' sales should be made available to primary
markets each season before recommendations for volume regulation are
approved. The quantity available under this rule is 110 percent of the
quantity shipped in the prior three years.
The free and restricted percentages established by this rule
release the optimum supply and apply uniformly to all regulated
handlers in the industry, regardless of size. There are no known
additional costs incurred by small handlers that are not incurred by
large handlers. The stabilizing effects of the percentages impact all
handlers positively by helping them maintain and expand markets,
despite seasonal supply fluctuations. Likewise, price stability
positively impacts all producers by allowing them to better anticipate
the revenues their tart cherries will generate.
USDA has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this regulation.
While the benefits resulting from this rulemaking are difficult to
quantify, the stabilizing effects of the volume regulations impact both
small and large handlers positively by helping them maintain markets
even though tart cherry supplies fluctuate widely from season to
season.
In compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), the information collection and
recordkeeping requirements under the tart cherry marketing order have
been previously approved by OMB and assigned OMB Number 0581-0177.
Reporting and recordkeeping burdens are necessary for compliance
purposes and for developing statistical data for maintenance of the
program. The forms require information which is readily available from
handler records and which can be provided without data processing
equipment or trained statistical staff. As with other, similar
marketing order programs, reports and forms are periodically studied to
reduce or eliminate duplicate information collection burdens by
industry and public sector agencies. This rule will not change those
requirements.
A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal
Register on December 10, 2004, (69 FR 71744). Copies of the rule were
mailed or sent via facsimile to all Board members and handlers.
Finally, the rule was made available through the Internet by the Office
of the Federal Register and USDA. A 30-day comment period ending
January 10, 2005, was provided to allow interested persons to respond
to the proposal.
One comment was received during the comment period in response to
the proposal. The commenter stated that the percentages were too
restrictive. The commenter was of the view that the percentages were
outdated, restricted trade, and should be removed. The commenter also
believed that the Board should be terminated.
The marketing order program including this rule is authorized under
the authority of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. The
Board recommended the percentages based on its review of sales data,
inventory data, current crop forecasts, and market conditions. It
calculated an optimum supply which represents the desirable volume of
tart cherries needed
[[Page 7650]]
to meet primary market needs. Further, the Board, at a later date, can
recommend a release of the reserve to provide more tart cherries to
satisfy market needs as may be necessary.
Accordingly, no changes will be made to the rule as proposed, based
on the comment received.
A small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and
specialty crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab/html.
Any questions about the compliance
guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at the previously mentioned address
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the
information and recommendation submitted by the Board, and other
available information, it is hereby found that this rule, as
hereinafter set forth, will tend to effectuate the declared policy of
the Act.
It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the
effective date of this rule until 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because handlers are already shipping
cherries from the 2004-2005 crop. Further, handlers are aware of this
rule, which was recommended at a public meeting. Also, a thirty-day
comment period was provided for in the proposed rule, and the comment
received has been addressed herein.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 930
Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Tart cherries.
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 930 is amended as
follows:
PART 930--TART CHERRIES GROWN IN THE STATES OF MICHIGAN, NEW YORK,
PENNSYLVANIA, OREGON, UTAH, WASHINGTON, AND WISCONSIN
0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 930 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
0
2. Section 930.254 is added to read as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal
Regulations.
Sec. 930.254 Final free and restricted percentages for the 2004-2005
crop year.
The final percentages for tart cherries handled by handlers during
the crop year beginning on July 1, 2004, which shall be free and
restricted, respectively, are designated as follows: Free percentage,
72 percent and restricted percentage, 28 percent.
Dated: February 8, 2005.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 05-2879 Filed 2-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P