State Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said his department will appeal a recent state judge’s ruling that he overstepped his authority in determining when Vidalia onions can be packed and shipped to maximize the crop’s quality.
Black said state law gives him the authority to “take all actions necessary and appropriate” to protect the Vidalia Sweet Onion’s trademark, which is owned by the state, and to establish regulations to ensure “quality standards, grades, packing, handling, labeling and marketing” of the produce.
Judge Cynthia Wright of the Superior Court of Fulton County ruled last week that Black essentially gave himself the authority to determine when the Vidalia can be shipped even though state law only gives him the authority to determine packing regulations, among other things
To combat fears that the Vidalia had not been as firm or sweet as it should have been due to premature harvesting, Black last August instituted a rule setting the Monday of the last full week of April as the earliest the onion may be packed, giving the crop 10 to 15 additional days in ground to mature.
Wright ruled the new regulation essentially allowed Black to decide when the onions could be shipped because they could not be shipped before Black’s packing date, which this year is April 21. Before the rule change, growers could ship the onions with a U.S. Department of Agriculture stamp of approval.
Delbert Bland, owner of Bland Farms, sued Black and his department, argued state law did not give him the authority to establish shipping dates for the Vidalia, which is grown in a 20-county region and has an estimated $150 million annual economic impact.
After the ruling, Bland said the judge’s decision meant “Mother Nature will decide when our Vidalia Sweet Onions are ready to ship, not an arbitrary date on the calendar.”
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday, Black said growers and retailers have complained for years about the quality of the Vidalia, and he blamed competition to be the first to get the onion to market.
The commissioner said a 2005 letter from Kroger complained about immature, off-taste onions that are coming out early in the season.
“The law clearly says that we have the authority to develop regulations for packing, shipping, quality standards and all aspects of marketing this onion and that is because the trademark is registered to this department,” Black said.
He also said USDA grading of the onions doesn’t go far enough in considering firmness, sweetness and other attributes that make a Vidalia a Vidalia.
“You harvest and you ship an immature onion, it will melt on the shelf in a week,” the commissioner said in defending his actions. “That’s what growers have faced year in and year out, trying to get the early onion out. And those early, poor quality onions destroy the integrity of the brand.”
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