The Federal Raisin Marketing Order

Excerpt from the report: The California raisin industry has made effective use, during the past 15 years, of the tools available in the Federal Raisin Marketing Order and the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 in improving the economic position of both producers and packers. The marketing of raisins is more orderly, and probably more efficient, than it was prior to 1949. Through the Order and the efforts of forceful and dedicated leaders, the industry has achieved some notable successes in raising prices, reducing market instability, developing new markets in other countries, improving product quality, and improving levels of understanding and cooperation within the industry that are so essential for effective policy formation and action. Nevertheless, the industry could use the Federal Raisin Marketing Order more effectively. Some moderate revisions in the Order and in industry policy, as suggested in this report, could improve the industry's market and income positions in important ways. An immediate attack can be made on the instability and uncertainty that pervades both the field (unprocessed raisin) market and the packed raisin market. The initial steps that have a potential for more orderly marketing include (1) establishing the free-tonnage allocation as a fixed number of tons rather than as a percentage of an unknown volume of total production, (2) making this allocation in the mid-summer of each year prior to the time raisin-grape growers must decide whether to sell to wineries or to make raisins, and (3) eliminating the reserve pool.