Agriculture & Commodity Boards

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are passionate about working on behalf of American agriculture and commodity boards. While we are clearly handier with a pencil than a plow, our work with this industry has placed us literally in fields and orchards, canneries, packing sheds and dry yards up and down California.

For the past 16 years, we have proudly served the California Cling Peach Board (CCPB), simultaneously rebranding the Board while rebuilding their Domestic Promotions Program. On behalf of the CCPB, the Agency managed this industry’s first nutrition study with Oregon State University that proved canned peaches are nutritionally on par with fresh. For the past 20 years, Echo has worked hand in hand with the Apricot Producers of California (APC) and worked closely with President Bill Ferriera on industry-saving programs with the USDA, the American Commodities Distribution Association (ACDA), and the School Nutrition Association. We’ve successfully partnered with our clients to create food safety programs, to stop Target from buying Chinese peaches, to educate school foodservice directors about the benefits of California’s crops (as compared to flavorless out-of-state or imported contenders). Long before it was trendy, Echo launched dietitian programs to promote our growers’ nutritious bounty and to combat misperceptions of canned fruit.  We’ve secured Specialty Crop Block Grants to fund research and have garnered some terrific media coverage thanks to our efforts. Along the way, we’ve developed the terrific relationships with third- and fourth-generation growers, California’s processors, industry stakeholders and key nutrition organizations including the Produce for Better Health Foundation, The Canned Food Alliance, Cans Get You Cooking! and others.

We have had an ongoing relationship with Monfort Management Services, Inc. (MMS) (JD Allen) since 1998 in supporting several California agriculture clients and boards.  Established in 1969 and located in the San Joaquin Valley, MMS has provided management and financial services to California Agricultural Marketing Orders and Commissions for nearly 50 years.  Serving numerous clients, MMS has developed the knowledge and experience to provide a professional full-time staff for each client, while charging “part-time” rates.  Our principal function is to provide a professional staff for our client Boards, thus giving them full time coverage, while only charging for the time necessary to complete the tasks included in their annual contracts, with the purpose of handling all of the functions and problems normally faced by Advisory Boards and Commissions.