Today, I was the luncheon speaker at a meeting of Specialty Crop Trade Council. It was a group of about 40 growers and marketers, mostly of nuts, from Chico to Bakersfield, including a large representation from the Fresno Area. I generally do about 2 talks like this a month to various business groups, and it is a good way to learn about business issues.
The talk was about our general economic forecast, not the water issue, which didn't come up at all. At my lunch table, they were discussing the thousands of acres of 20 year old almond orchards being ripped out because of low prices. I asked "what about water? Isn't that the reason we are losing almonds?" The response was that there was some of that too, and I was also advised not to believe everything you hear out of Westlands.
I also noted that the salmon was a more popular lunch choice than the chicken. I should have asked them how they felt about eating the imported salmon (pacific coast salmon fishery closed again this year), if they felt safe eating that imported stuff, and if they cared about the California salmon fishery being closed. Oh well, at least I saw first hand that almond growers recognize that salmon is food:)
This was a great group. Great questions, very smart.
No comments:
Post a Comment