PMA

PMA. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Every year ag producers from every corner of the world attend the annual Produce Marketing Association show. Kevin Moffitt, Executive Director of Pear Bureau Northwest says they had record attendance and is probably one of the best ag shows around for a variety of reasons.

MOFFITT: In fact they had a record of I think over 19-thousand people which I believe the last record was something closer to 18,500 so a pretty good jump even in this slow economy.

There are a lot of different ag shows especially at this time of year but Moffitt says this show offers more for produce growers and industry people.

MOFFITT: You see buyers and sellers all across the board from people that are importing our pears for example from around the world to a lot of the retailers from the domestic market in Canada so it’s really a great place to see many, many people in a very short period of time.

He says that it was good timing too to be able to talk about the current pear crop. But Moffitt says there is another big reason people attend the show.

MOFFITT: The other thing that this show gives anybody who attends is the opportunity to see what is really going on out there in the world of packaging, in the world of equipment. Del Monte for example was showing off a produce vending machine, produce only and really trying to get that into schools with fresh cut fruit as well as whole fruits.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.