New Contract for Michigan Asparagus

LANSING - Mar 17/06 - MFB -- Michigan asparagus growers will get a raise this year after a collective bargaining agreement was reached between growers and processors.

In what is being called "a new spirit of cooperation" among asparagus growers and processors, the Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association's (MACMA) asparagus division forged an agreement that should bring price stability to Michigan's processed crop.

Eight out of the nine processors in Michigan have agreed to pay growers 59 cents per pound for asparagus with sales conditions, or 57 cents cash upon delivery.

The agreement brings growers back to a more profitable situation after last year's 48 cents per-pound price threatened the state's asparagus industry, said Ken Nye, manager of MACMA's asparagus division.

"We've also been told by a majority of the handlers that they can do business at that price level," he said.

Last year's price was the lowest in years, mainly because the state's largest asparagus packer, Honee Bear Canning in Lawton, opted out of MACMA negotiations. Under terms of Public Act 344, which authorizes ACM to perform collective bargaining for its members, any packer may opt out of negotiations.

But Ron Armstrong, sales president of Honee Bear Canning, said things have changed since last year.

"MACMA came to us in a professional manner and acknowledged that the industry couldn't cut it unless Honee Bear played ball," Armstrong said. "From our perspective, we're always looking for a common denominator, even though this is a global market. That common denominator is that our customers want North American asparagus first at a competitive price, and if they can't get it, they'll go elsewhere."

Honee Bear also needed to stabilize its supply, which had been losing volume and quality in the face of 48-cent asparagus.

"There were a lot of fields that should have gone out of production that kept on growing anyway," Armstrong said. "I had one grower tell me as soon as he heard the news (about the price agreement) that he had to go order seed."

Replenishing fields will be more likely under a collective bargaining agreement that sets prices at reasonable levels for growers and processors, Nye said.

"Asparagus growers have enough to worry about with weather uncertainty, potential immigration legislation that could take away their workforce and a minimum wage increase," Nye said. "It was important to get a price agreement in place, not only for indi vidual growers, but for the long-term viability of collective bargaining for the asparagus industry in Michigan. With strong support from all handlers, including Honee Bear, we are now able to rebuild a reasonable price delivery process again in 2006."

Copyright (c) 2006 Michigan Farm Bureau