Raisin Industry News and the Work of the Raisin Administrative Committee and the California Raisin Marketing Board, by Gary Schulz, President and General Manager

May 7, 2013                                       
Deliveries to Handlers
In their meeting on Friday, March 1, the Raisin Administrative Committee directed staff to continue to collect weekly raisin acquisition data, but to release to the industry and post on the website every four weeks.
The next Acquisition Report of Deliveries to Handlers will be published and posted on May 22. Thereafter, the subsequent reports will be published/posted on:
            June 19
            July 17
The traditional FINAL Acquisition Report will be published after August 15, 2013 and will take into account deliveries to handlers through July 31.

ALL PACKERS, PLEASE NOTE: It remains very important that all handlers report their acquisitions to the RAC in an accurate and timely basis every week.

RAC reports may be found at www.raisins.org

Registration is still open to attend the Department of Viticulture and Enology's Annual Dinner!
From Cynthia Wood at CSU-Fresno
Join us for an enjoyable evening at Fresno State as we celebrate the Department of Viticulture and Enology's Class of 2013!

Thursday, May 16, 2013
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Fresno State Viticulture & Enology Lawn & Gazebo
2360 E. Barstow Avenue, between Cedar & Maple, Fresno

Graduates, students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends and families are welcome to attend!

Click to  Register online  for the dinner by May 8.

We are pleased to announce that the San Joaquin Valley Winemaker's group has made this event one of their monthly meetings.    We hope you will also invite your industry friends and colleagues to attend this event.

USDA Webinar Series for the Fruit and Vegetable Industry
The Agricultural Marketing Service's  Fruit and Vegetable Program invites you to take part in a series of free, interactive webinars on our many programs and services.  At each webinar, you'll hear a presentation from a USDA expert on a specific topic, be introduced to our staff, and take part in an interactive question and answer session. 
These informative webinars are designed for fruit and vegetable growers, packers, shippers, processors, wholesalers and retailers of all sizes.  All of the webinars are free and available to anyone with Internet access.  Registration is, however, required and space is limited.  Log on today to register – it's your first step to gaining a competitive edge and learning how we can work together to meet your unique business needs.  If you miss a webinar, just visit our Webinar Archive to watch it online. 
Take a look at all we have to offer.  Follow the links next to the webinar titles below for full information on each session and to register.  We’ll see you online!    Coming Up:

*        Learn more about the Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act (PACA) by
watching our video.  

If you have any questions about our webinar series or USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, please contact Christopher Purdy at (202) 720-3209 or christopher.purdy@ams.usda.gov

Upcoming Industry Events
RAC Delegation Trip to Germany and United Kingdom
May 11-18, Hamburg, Germany and London, England
Official delegates include Monte Schutz, Gerald Chooljian, Glen Goto, Barry Kriebel, Doug Moles, Linda Kay Abdulian, Richard Sahatjian and Kalem Barserian. RAC staff in attendance will be Gary Schulz and Larry Blagg.
For more information, contact Larry Blagg or Chris Rosander at the RAC at 559-225-0520

International Nut and Dried Fruit Conference (INC)
May 21-23, 2013, Barcelona, Spain
For information, go to www.nutfruit.org

Ag Roundtable
Friday, May 31, 7 a.m., Marie Callendar’s at Cedar and Shaw in Fresno

California Specialty Crops Council Annual MRL Workshop
June 5 & 6, Holiday Inn-Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
For more information, go to
http://specialtycrops.org/mrlworkshop.html

CRMB Scientific Nutrition Research Panel Meeting
July 24-26, 2013

Fresno State Agribusiness Conference
October 31, 2013

American Vineyard Grape, Raisin and Nut Expo
November 14, 2013

Have a Great Week!

Gary Schulz, President and General Manager
Raisin Administrative Committee
559-225-0520
gary@raisins.org 
www.raisins.org