Florida Citrus Association Budget and Pistachio Thief Caught
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**The Florida Citrus Commission approved a preliminary 2021-22 operating budget for the Florida Department of Citrus of $29.12 million.
www.morningagclips.com reports, the Department’s total preliminary budget reflects a 50% budget INCREASE over the previous season, largely due to an increase in general revenue funding from the State of Florida for marketing.
The majority of the budget will fund domestic marketing programs aimed at driving sales of Florida Orange Juice.
www.morningagclips.com/florida-citrus-commission-approves-preliminary-2021-22-budget-for-department-of-citrus/
**Deputies in Tulare County California arrested a man for stealing and reselling more than 42,000 pounds of pistachios.
According to www.agweb.com, the Touchstone Pistachio Company ran an audit recently and discovered something wasn't right, so county ag detectives jumped into action and quickly found a tractor trailer full of the missing nuts.
Authorities arrested the 34-year-old Alberto Montemayor, who’d been working for Montemayor Trucking, a Touchstone contractor.
www.agweb.com/news/business/taxes-and-finance/pistachio-bandit-police-arrest-man-accused-stealing-reselling-42000?mkt
**The $4 billion debt relief program enacted by Congress to address past racial discrimination of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers suffered another legal defeat last week when a federal judge in Florida halted payments nationwide.
According to www.agrimarketing.com, U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard says the program is "untethered to an attempt to remedy any specific instance of past discrimination."
Instead, she adds, the program "appears to create an inflexible, race-based discriminatory program not tailored to make the individuals who experienced discrimination whole.
www.agrimarketing.com/s/136850
