News from the Raisin Administrative Committee

December 28, 2012

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Weekly Update of the Raisin Administrative Committee.

Holiday Office Closure

The offices of the RAC and CRMB will be closed on December 31 and January 1, 2013 to celebrate the New Year.

The staff, Committee/Board members and entire raisin industry wish you good health, happiness and prosperity during 2013!

Deliveries to Handlers

For the period of December 16-22, 2012:

10,622 tons of Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS) raisins were delivered to handlers.

547 tons of Golden Seedless were delivered.

71 tons of Other Seedless were delivered.

11,277 tons of all varietal types were delivered.

10,509 tons of all varietal types were delivered for the same period last year.

253,829 tons of NS raisins have been delivered for the year-to-date. This compares to 223,643 tons of NS deliveries as of this date a year ago.

15,757 tons of Golden Seedless raisins have been delivered ytd.

284,068 tons of all varietal types have been delivered ytd, compared to 249,691 tons in 2011-2012.

14,425 tons of the NS deliveries for 2012-13 crop year are organic.

777 tons of NS are held on memo storage. Note that last week, 6,587 tons were held.

3,091 tons of NS are held for reconditioning.

RAC reports may be found at www.raisins.org

Upcoming RAC Meetings

None scheduled at this time.

California Raisins UK Update

Volume 23 of Raisin' Views, produced by The Garden, International Marketing Representative of the Raisin Administrative Committee in London, is now available. Should you desire a copy, please email gary@raisins.org

Kurt Kimmel to Retire

As released on 12/18/12 by the California Marketing Field Office of USDA-AMS

Good Morning,

As some of you may have heard, Kurt Kimmel, California Regional Director, Marketing Order and Agreements Division, F&V Program, is retiring from the United States Department of Agriculture, where he has served the public and the agricultural community since 1978.

Kurt's last day in the office will be December 31, 2012.

We wish him well and ask that you share this announcement with those individuals in your respective industries and staff members who know and have worked with Kurt over the years.

Kurt's e-mail address is: Kurt.Kimmel@ams.usda.gov and the office phone number is 559-487-5901.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season,

Rose Aguayo

Assistant Regional Director, California Marketing Field office

Marketing Order and Agreement Division

Fruit and Vegetable Program

Agricultural Marketing Service

United States Department of Agriculture

Fresno, CA 93721

(559) 487-5901 (phone)

(559) 487-5906 (fax)

Rose.Aguayo@ams.usda.gov

Editor's note: the Raisin Administrative Committee wishes Kurt well in his retirement and thanks him for his many years of service to our industry.

2013 Annual Conference for Contractors and Suppliers in USDA'S Commodity Purchase Programs

The Agricultural Marketing Service has issued a Notice to the Trade regarding the 2013 Annual Industry Conference, to be held February 19- 20, 2013, in Arlington, Virginia.

Please refer to the Notice for details on the Commodity Procurement website: www.ams.usda.gov/commoditypurchasing. An online registration form for the conference will be available soon.

Questions regarding this Notice should be directed to cpdconference@ams.usda.gov or the AMS Commodity Procurement Staff at 202-720-4517.