The North Carolina (N.C.) Apple Growers Association will be conducting a referendum for the assessment of apples sold to first purchasers in North Carolina on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Voting will take place at County Extension Offices in counties where commercial apple growing occurs, during regular business hours.
The method and amount of assessment being considered will remain as it has been in the past. Individuals may belong to multiple categories and are responsible to each where applicable.
- PACKERS – $.05 per pack bushel – This is anyone that puts apples into a box. A bulk box/volume filled carton qualifies for this charge.
- PROCESSORS – $.05 per hundred weight ($.021 per bushel if the fruit is not weighted) – This is any company that buys apples for slicers, sauce, juice or other forms of processing. This would also be any roadside market that presses apples for fresh cider.
- BROKER – See packer or processor depending on the market. If you are a broker that markets fruit for growers and pays the grower. The broker is responsible for paying the assessment if your customer is not paying the assessment.
- ROADSIDE MARKETS – $100.00 per year. – This is anyone that grows fruit and sells direct to the general public.
- GROWER – $.05 per hundred weight ($.021 per bushel if fruit is not weighed) – This is any grower that sells fruit by the bin to someone such as a roadside market or farmers market.
Funds from the assessment will be used to promote marketing, research, use and sale of North Carolina apples.
The votes will be collected and tabulated by N.C. State University and results published by North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
The North Carolina Apple Growers Association is governed by an all-volunteer board of apple growers and industry advisors.
Assessment allows N.C. apple growers to have a unified voice in the protection and advancement of the apple industry. It’s a program by the growers and for the growers.