DeVaney: Tree Fruit Industry Must Continue To Tell Their Story

The theme for this month’s Northwest Horticultural Trade Expo was “Weather the Storm and Prepare for Progress in Smoother Sailing.” Jon DeVaney President of the Washington state Tree Fruit Assocation said for the industry to enjoy smoother sailing into the future, producers, packers, workers need to share their story.

"The mistake, I would say, that we in tree fruit and in all of agriculture, we frequently make is keeping our heads down, focused on doing what we do as ag producers, and therefore we only show up in the media when something goes wrong.  It’s really incumbent upon us to talk about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and the challenges that we’re facing so that when we do have a problem they see it for the aberration or the unusual circumstance that it is, that that is the exception and not the rule.”

DeVaney said it’s vital to share, especially with the non-farm community, the long-term challenges the tree fruit industry is facing.

"The fact that we have overseas competition, the fact that we’re facing a lot of economic pressures, the fact that we facing changing weather patterns might not be new to growers, but it might be new to the people who are thinking about how we produce food in this country, and they need to be aware of those challenges that our producers are facing so that they recognize that they’re not making these management decisions in a vacuum.”

The "Hort" took place December 6^th through the 8^th in Yakima, WA.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com