02/15/07 Building Honey Demand

Building Honey Demand. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the National Honey Board. Lee Heine - National Honey Board Chairman - says the Honey Board first opened its offices in 1987 after honey producers and importers approved a referendum in 1986. HEINE: Some producers originally had the thought that they had to get more price support for their product and their thoughts were to get with some of the large honey packers in the United States and to get a marketing order because there were other orders going into place at that time and that's how it started. As a result of the referendum - USDA created the National Honey Board to administer the marketing order - the Honey Research, Promotion and Consumer Information Order. Since that time - Heine says the Honey Board has served the honey industry with promotion, research and industry services. Those efforts - he says - have been funded by an assessment of one-cent per pound on domestic and imported honey. HEINE: In the first year assessments were collected on about 260-million pounds of honey. At that time it was about 70% domestic and about 30% import. And even though things have changed in the last 20 years - Heine says the Honey Board has continued to successfully increase consumer awareness and demand - funding research that has resulted in new and improved uses for honey in foods and other products. He says that's how the industry's gotten where it is today. HEINE: We did set an all-time record this year hitting the 400-million pound mark of assessments collected on and the unfortunate thing is that the rolls are reversed that our assessments are collected about 31% domestic, 60% import. Heine says more changes could be on the way - but as is the case for the Beef Checkoff - he says it will take time before those changes would be implemented. But up to this point - Heine says there haven't been any major changes to the marketing order - and to commemorate the 20 successful years of the National Honey Board - he says all past chairmen will be honored at a February board meeting in San Francisco. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.