The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for positions on the Fresh Pear Committee to fill two grower member and four handler member seats, each with a first and second alternate. Selected members will serve two-year terms beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2027. An additional grower member second alternate position is open for a partial term beginning when the selection is approved and ending June 30, 2026.
Nominations for grower and handler members and their alternates will be made at nomination meetings held in each district. Some meeting details are yet to be determined. For more information, including the meeting dates and times and attendance information, contact the Fresh Pear Committee manager.
These meetings will be held as follows:
Medford District: This includes all counties in the state of Oregon except for Hood River and Wasco counties.
- January 2025, virtual meeting. Contact the Fresh Pear Committee manager or the USDA Marketing Specialist for the date and time.
Mid-Columbia District: This includes Hood River and Wasco counties in the state of Oregon, and the counties of Skamania and Klickitat in the state of Washington.
- Grower meeting – February 2025, at the Oregon State University annual winter horticulture meeting, Best Western, 1108 E. Marina Way, Hood River, Ore.
- Handler meeting – March 2025, at the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers’ shippers meeting, Grace Su’s China Gorge Restaurant, 2680 Old Columbia River Dr., Hood River, Ore.
- Contact the Fresh Pear Committee manager or the USDA Marketing Specialist for the dates and times of these meetings.
Wenatchee District: This includes the counties of King, Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, Grant, Lincoln and Spokane in the state of Washington, and all other northern counties in Washington.
- Grower meeting – 21, 2025, 11:20 a.m. PT, at the NW Washington Tree Fruit Days, Wenatchee Convention Center, 121 N. Wenatchee Ave., Wenatchee, Wash.
- Handler meeting – 3, 2024, at the Washington Pear Growers Marketing Association Meeting, Washington Apple Commission, 2900 Euclid Ave., Wenatchee, Wash.
Yakima District: This includes all of the state of Washington that is not included in either the Wenatchee District or the Mid-Columbia District.
- 9, 2024, 1:15 p.m. PT, at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association annual horticulture meeting, Yakima Convention Center, 10 N. 8th Street, Yakima, Wash.
Nominees for member or alternate positions on the Fresh Pear Committee must meet the following conditions:
- Nominees for grower positions must be a grower, or an officer or employee of a corporate or LLC grower, who grows pears for processing in the district for which they are nominated.
- Nominees for handler positions must be a handler, or an officer or employee of a handler, who handles of pears for processing within the district for which they are nominated.
For nomination information, contact Fresh Pear Committee Manager Jeff Correa at (503) 652-9720 or jcorrea@usapears.com or USDA Marketing Specialist Joshua Wilde at (503) 326-2055 or joshua.r.wilde@usda.gov.
The marketing order authorizes quality regulations, research, promotion and advertising programs for pears produced for the fresh market in the states of Oregon and Washington, as defined by the marketing order. The Fresh Pear Committee administers the order locally and consists of six grower members and their alternates, six handler members and their alternates, and one public member and an alternate.
More information about the Committee is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Oregon and Washington Pears webpage.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight to fruit, vegetable and specialty crops marketing orders and agreements to help ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
