The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a referendum on a proposed amendment to the federal marketing order for cranberries grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York.
The referendum is scheduled for Jan. 23 through Feb. 13, 2017, and will gauge support for an amendment recommended by the Cranberry Marketing Committee that was published as a proposed rule in the Aug. 4, 2016, Federal Register.
If approved by voters, the amendment would provide the committee with authority to receive and expend voluntary contributions from domestic sources.
USDA will mail ballot materials on Jan. 20, 2017, to all known producers that produced cranberries grown in the designated area between Sept. 1, 2015, and Aug. 31, 2016.
The proposed amendment will become effective only if approved either by two-thirds of the producers voting in the referendum, or by those representing at least two-thirds of the volume of cranberries produced by those voting in the referendum. Notice of the referendum is published in the Dec. 21, 2016, Federal Register.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will mail ballots and voting instructions to all eligible producers on record. Eligible producers who do not receive a ballot may contact Doris Jamieson or Christian Nissen at USDA’s Marketing Order and Agreement Division, Southeast Marketing Field Office by phone at (863) 324-3375 or fax (863) 325-8793.