Ontario Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman has stepped in to totally revamp marketing of tomatoes and carrots for processing.
He said he needed to do something because tomato processing has remained flat while imports have increased.
From now on, tomato and carrot growers and processors will be free to negotiate directly with each other and for three-year terms.
“Amendments to Regulation 440 will now allow carrot and tomato growers to vote through secret ballot on whether to negotiate directly with their processors, either individually, as a group of growers, or through a negotiating agency,” Hardeman said via a news release.
He said the reason for including carrot growers is because there are so few of them.
Things will remain much as is for all others who grow vegetable crops for processing, but they will also gain some security through three-year agreements.
