Nineteen percent of the crop may not reach the ordinary market — a board of growers setting supply by percentage
The Department of Agriculture set percentages under which 81 percent of a tart cherry crop grown in seven states may be shipped freely and 19 percent is restricted. The adjustment of supply follows a recommendation from a board of growers and handlers.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeRule
- AgencyDepartment of Agriculture
- Citation91 FR 55236
Key points
- The Department of Agriculture set 81 percent free and 19 percent restricted for a tart cherry crop grown in seven states.
- Restricted volume may not reach ordinary commercial outlets and must be reserved, diverted or put to exempt purposes.
- Exempt purposes include developing new products, selling into new markets, developing export markets and charitable contributions.
- The percentages are recommended by a board of growers and handlers at a public meeting and implemented by the government as a rule.
- Only districts averaging over six million pounds are covered, and districts with a poor crop are exempt that year.
1Setting shippable volume by percentage
Farm prices fall hard in a good year. A surplus reaching market breaks the price and cuts what growers take home. For some United States commodities a mechanism exists to damp that swing: setting, year by year, the share of a crop that may reach the ordinary market.
The restricted 19 percent is not destroyed. Handlers must hold it in reserve, divert it, or put it to designated exempt purposes — developing new products, selling into new markets, developing export markets, and charitable contributions.
2Who decides
- 1The board recommendsA board of growers and handlers recommends percentages at a public meeting
- 2The Secretary determinesWhether it serves the policy of adjusting supply to demand and stabilizing the market
- 3Implemented as a ruleThe department publishes a final rule and the percentages take legal effect
- 4ScopeApplies within the districts covered
The percentages originate with the industry itself. A board of growers and handlers recommends them at a public meeting and the government implements them as regulation. Industry coordination is given legal force, and the same rule binds businesses that took no part in it.
3Small and poor-yielding districts fall outside
Only districts whose average annual production over the prior three years exceeded six million pounds are subject to volume regulation. Further, any district whose crop falls below 50 percent of its average annual processed production over the previous five years is exempt from regulation that year. Small districts are spared the burden, and no restriction applies in a bad year.
4A crop year two years past
The rule takes effect September 28, 2026, yet it governs the 2024-2025 crop year, and the board recommended on September 12, 2024. Two years separate the harvest from the rule. Given what volume adjustment is, practice evidently moves first on the board decision, with the regulatory procedure catching up afterward.
Why it matters
An industry board decision on volume is given legal force by government rule, binding businesses that took no part in making it — which is what lets supply management function as a system.
FAQ
Why restrict how much may be shipped?
Is the restricted portion destroyed?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.