MTCherries

FLATHEAD LAKE CHERRY GROWERS, INC.

 MINUTES – REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 – 7 p.m.

Directors present:  Bruce Johnson, Mitch Jones, Ward Marshall, Rod McRae, Mark St. Sauver

Absent:  Mike Bonner, Henry Hooker, John Nasgovitz, Brian Peterson

Guest:  Brian Campbell

Meeting recorded by Barbara Hammons

Meeting held at Hammons’ residence

 

Rod called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Minutes for the meeting held September 17, 2022, were approved.

 

Checking account balance as of 10/19/22:  $56,883.52

(Of this balance, $12,785.75 is culls payment from TT and will be distributed to members.)

                WFCU balances:  Regular account $5,643.33

                 TT security deposit $5,270.76

Budget update Jan–Sep  2022 distributed.

                Payment for culls from three other buyers will be coming as soon as trucking costs are determined.

 

Harvest expenses – cooler shut off Monday, October 17.  TT took 55 bins of cherries to the dump.  TT will sanitize and clean the bins prior to pick up by Monson’s trucker and will pay shipping costs to Washington.

                Rod reported that the MVP bill was higher than anticipated due to overage in power usage estimates for cooling equipment.  Will be rectified next year.

 

Rod – Tabletree – lease payment to go up 3% retroactive to July 1 of this year.

 

Cooler removal from the plant.  Sale of the scrap metal is being considered.  Rod also reported that the old chiller system might be moved from the back of the plant to be closer to the hydrocooler out front.  According to Monson’s representative, the rented chiller and tank can be relocated to the front of the warehouse. 

                Rod will meet with Monson the end of October to discuss industry charges and the contract which will be in its last year in 2023. 

 

Rod and Comfort Systems – Comfort Systems finally figured out the glitches.  Rod noted only one compressor should be running at a time but the current setup always runs both compressors adding to the power cost.  This will be resolved next year.  They are due to close up the system the end of this week.

 

Surcharge for 2022 – Directors discussed the surcharge, other income sources, and potential expenses.  Upon motion duly made by Mitch Jones, seconded by Bruce Johnson, and unanimously approved, directors set this year’s crop surcharge at .02 per gross pound.

 

PMA and Jack Stivers’ retirement – Bruce questioned whether Jack’s arrangement with the County regarding PMA follow up of orchards will transfer to the new extension agent.  Jack is commonly referred to as the Lake County Extension Agent but he refers to himself as the MSU agent.   Bruce will call Jack and discuss the situation.

 

Brian Campbell – Brian reported on a conversation with a tribal fish and game agent who would like to do an education program on bear management geared toward cherry orchards. Brian will try to line her up to speak at the spring meeting.

                Brian also reported he will attend the January cherry growers meeting in Washington and will look for speakers for the spring meeting.

                The subject of sharing pruning workers and finding housing for them came up.  Some discussion followed but no decision made.

No meeting in November.  The next meeting will be in December; date to be determined.

FLATHEAD LAKE CHERRY GROWERS, INC.

 MINUTES – REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 – 7 p.m.

Directors present:   Mike Bonner, Bruce Johnson, Rod McRae, John Nasgovitz, Mark St. Sauver

Absent:  Henry Hooker, Mitch Jones, Ward Marshall, Brian Peterson

Guest:  Brian Campbell

Meeting recorded by Barbara Hammons

Meeting held at Hammons’ residence

Rod called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Minutes for the meeting held July 20, 2022, were approved.

Checking account balance as of 9/21/22:  $57,036.43

(Of this balance, $12,785.75 is culls payment from TT and will be distributed to members.)

Actual balance available to FLCG:  $44,250.68

                WFCU balances:  Regular account $5,643.33

                 TT security deposit $5,270.76

Budget update Jan–Aug 2022 distributed.

 

Payment for culls from three other buyers will be coming as soon as trucking costs, if any, are forwarded from Monson. 

Brian C. – crop review.  Brian commented that it turned out better than expected, and that it was an uneventful year with no complaints.  Two violators of the 80% rule were discussed but since both have a significant number of Lamberts, no action will be taken as growers are not required to deliver Lamberts.  A question came up with one orchard who was on the schedule to pick but couldn’t because pickers were on loan to another orchard who was not scheduled to pick for the co-op.

                Brian explained that trucks are closely scheduled to immediately return with a full load to avoid the expense of having a trucker spend the night.  Directors agreed the importance of truck scheduling will be a subject for the next preharvest meeting to be sure growers understand why they must pick as scheduled.  Brian noted that 110 bins equal a truck load.  Rod will talk to the growers involved.

Rod – Mission Valley Power Charge – billing is higher due to a reactive power charge now being assessed.  Rod will discuss the charge with MVP.

Bruce – Drone demonstration review.  Bruce reported that the drying demonstration was accomplished by Bill Webster thoroughly wetting down a portion of his orchard.  The drone dried one-half acre on one battery in 8 minutes.  The demo truck had two generators and 8 batteries charged or charging.  So, 4 acres could be dried in one hour using the 8 batteries.  For drying, the drone tank is weighted down half-full for control.  The drone has a camera and slows down when it perceives a barrier.  The extent of the actual drying was comparable to what the helicopter did.  The drone cost is around $35,000; the additional items (generators, batteries, etc.) would bring the total cost to $50-60,000.    Discussion followed on ways the drone might or might not work in its present configuration for drying and spraying cherry orchards, taking into account the tall trees and canopies.   Full coverage is questionable, as is the practicality and cost of the unit.    Directors suggested there is a potential for the drone use, especially for some crops and certain pruning systems, but in its present form it doesn’t appear a good fit overall for cherry orchards.   Desirae had been invited to visit the board again when she had more information and will be welcome to do so.

Mark – FSMA audit – Mark reported on a FSMA audit during picking.  Their main issue seemed to be the dirty bins, buckets or boxes.  

Rod – Fruit Fly Orchards –   Rod reported that he turned in two orchards (non-members) with fruit fly problems that are not being addressed.

 Bruce – Bears shot in orchard – Bruce explained who and what happened in a neighbor’s orchard.  The incident took place in the Pinkerman orchard; not a co-op member.   The co-op received four complaints from the public erroneously blaming FLCG for the incident.    

The meeting adjourned at 8:40.

Next meeting October 19, 2022.