The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has announced that a referendum by producers of peaches south and east of the Suwannee River to participate in a proposed Florida peach marketing order did not receive the required 65% approval necessary.
The order was proposed as peaches emerge as one of the state’s newest and popular alternative crops. But, like with many new industries, there was not enough support to push the order forward.
A marketing order establishes, by vote of the producers, a self-imposed assessment or fee to be used for a variety of industry activities, including: advertising and promoting their agricultural products, expanding markets and distribution channels, researching improved growing techniques, regulating the quality and grades of their products, regulating trade practices, and resolving other critical problems and needs in the industry.