Fruit and root crop farmers merge

According to Joseph Tiobech of the Bureau of Agriculture, PTFFA is a chartered association of fruit farmers with formalized by-laws, an established membership, and elected officials.  He further added that the creation and establishment of PTFFA took months of planning and numerous meetings to develop and was formally founded earlier this year.PRCF, on the other hand, is a fairly new group of farmers – some of whom are members of PTFFA – who intended to organize in a manner similar to PTFFA.  However, due to time constraints and repeated processes, members of PRCF asked to merge with PTFFA.According to Tiobech, a meeting was set up for members of the two groups last Thursday.  During the meeting, PTFFA accepted PRCF’s proposal and thus the creation of TPFA.Tiobech said that except for a name change from PTFFA to TPFA, the by-laws, membership, and officers of PTFFA will remain as established.  However, any and all new members to TPFA – those who were not members of PTFFA – must comply with all the established requirements of the merger.Tiobech said new members to TPFA must pay a one-time $20 membership fee as well as all the monthly dues stated in the by-laws of the association.“TPFA currently has at least 50 members,” Tiobech said. “There is more than enough space for new members and literally anyone can join.”Tiobech said “We hope to provide all the necessary support to members of the association and to assist them in developing sustainable and productive farms.”The presiding officers of TPFA are: Henry Saiske, president; Florencio Adelbai, vice-president; Maria Rechucher, treasurer; and Marianne Espangel, secretary.  All interested individuals may contact Joseph Tiobech at 488-8171 for further inquiries.