OpEd

An open letter to Roy Peters

John Swendrowski, CEO
Northland Cranberries

6/18/02 -- Thank you for your response.  We obviously disagree on several "facts".

Please reread your original post where you contend "Northland is going to extremes to assure that Oregon is not represented on the CMC" ¹.  That comment is what prompted my response.

Once again Mr. Peters, Northland has never attempted to eliminate Oregon from the CMC and that accusation was false. 

I nominated two other growers from Oregon after I talked with John Meyer.  John Meyer told me that the CMC should be eliminated and he publicly stated that he would find it difficult to ever vote for a volume regulation.

Let's set all the facts on the table.  John Meyer is attempting to eliminate Wisconsin Independents from representation on the CMC due to the voting procedure that requires Wisconsin growers to be present to vote while Oregon growers can mail in their ballot.

This became a regional issue the minute that John decided to "work the system".  John Meyer obviously planned a trip to Wisconsin to attend the meeting.  This was not a last minute decision.  John Meyer could have placed his name in nomination weeks ahead of the Wisconsin meeting.  John Meyer could have detailed his views to all growers in seeking their votes before the election.  John Meyer has divided the Oregon and Wisconsin growers, not Northland.

I have absolutely no idea how much contact Gary Jensen had with Oregon growers over the last two years.

I however believe that Gary's actions have been in the best interest of all growers.  Gary has consistently taken the position that a volume regulation should not be enacted unless it would increase the price to growers to break even.  Gary publicly stated that he would have preferred no volume regulation vs. the last two years.

What did Gary Jensen do for Oregon growers?  He did the same thing that he did for Wisconsin growers.  He voted against the last two volume regulations.  Gary Jensen proposed a Handler Withholding for 2002 to protect against a bumper crop driving the price back to $10 per bbl.  Do you think that a bumper crop in Oregon will cause another oversupply?  His proposal was an attempt to protect all growers from another disaster due to oversupply.  If Wisconsin brings in a bumper crop, every grower in Oregon will wish that we had invoked a Handler Withholding because the price per bbl will crash again.

Last years Marketing Order was enacted as a direct result of a meeting of Ocean Spray and four other handlers.  A deal was reached at that meeting that sealed the fate of the Order for 2001.  Gary Jensen and Northland had nothing to do with the 2001 Order.

Yes, Mr. Peters, Northland has 16 votes because we have 16 separate farm units.  Those 16 separate farm units represent almost 20% of the Independent crop in the United States.  You are well aware that several growers have multiple votes because they have multiple farm units.  Is it fair that some growers with under 5,000 total bbls have three votes?  Are you aware of the fact that two years ago when Gary Jensen was elected, Northland did not cast its 16 votes for anyone and abstained from voting?

We should all support the candidate that we believe will do the best job of representing growers.  We should not support a candidate simply because of where they live.

John Meyer, not Northland, decided to play the system of voting and made this into a regional issue instead of a best candidate issue.  That is the one undeniable fact.