Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Commodities - The Coming Bull Market -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: craig crawford who wrote (212)	6/13/2001 3:22:49 AM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1643

Wednesday June 13, 1:24 am Eastern Time Prune Industry Facing Glut biz.yahoo.com FARM SCENE: Prune Industry Is Facing a Glut and Shrinking Markets By KILEY RUSSELL Associated Press Writer Farmers are being encouraged to let much of their fruit rot in the fields rather than add to a swelling oversupply, and many will be paid to bulldoze their orchards this year in an effort to keep production down for the next several years. To keep production down for the next several years, farmers will be paid $4.50 for every tree they yank out of the ground with money collected from the state's 1,200 prune growers by the Prune Bargaining Association. There will be a $50,000 cap for any one family. The industry wants to cut California's estimated 86,000 acres of plum trees by 20 percent. The worst damage this year is being inflicted by the state's power crisis, according to prune farmers, who rely heavily on natural gas to dry their plums into succulent, wrinkly sugar bombs. Natural gas prices have doubled from a year ago and farmers can expect to pay around $300 to reduce 3 tons of fresh plums to 1 ton of the dried variety, said Mark Cartwright, manager of the grower-owned Tule River Cooperative Dryer in Woodville.