Please note the rates displayed do not include Volume Premiums, Sustainability Incentives, Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD) or IC-DISC advantages which need to be added in. Your actual crop earnings are shown in the box on the last page of your personal grower’s statement. We are once again proud to deliver Blue Diamond ’s return at a record competitive advantage to other handlers in the industry. It’s clear to me, and I hope to each of you, that every Blue Diamond team member feels a personal connection to you, our growers, and a commitment to our co-op’s overall mission to maximize your returns. But as I mentioned in my letter that was included with your 2021 Patronage Dividend, our responsibility to our growers goes far beyond profitably marketing each year’s crop. Two recent developments offer prime examples of the advocacy and “Power in Partnership” that our Blue Diamond co-op contributes to its members and California’s almond industry as a whole. In June, to address the ongoing logistical challenges that were inhibiting the movement of almonds to markets around the world, our Blue Diamond team leaned in to find an innovative solution. Partnering with the Almond Alliance, government, and shipping industry
representatives, we created an “Almond Express” rail link to U.S. ports to ensure more efficient and timely movement of almonds to our customers around the globe. Last month Blue Diamond Growers was awarded $45 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of a historic climate protection initiative. Working with our partners Project Apis m . and Pollinator Partnership, these grants will help amplify and expand the great sustainability work already being done in your orchards. I hope you agree it’s quite an honor to have been selected as one of 70 partners out of 450 proposals submitted to the USDA for this first round of funding. Our faith in each other and in our future is the secret to our success as a co-op. After two years of virtual meetings, I look forward to celebrating in person our collective achievements for our sustainable future on November 16 at Blue Diamond ’s 112th Annual Meeting at the Modesto Centre Plaza. Best of luck with the rest of your harvest activities. See you soon!
Mark Jansen President & CEO
7
SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2022
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