01/23/09 Regulation a major issue for agriculture

Washington Ag January 23, 2009 In reporting to state lawmakers on the results of the Future of Farming project, Acting Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Bob Gore said government regulation is a top issue for the state's agricultural industry. Gore: "This was probably the most overarching issue to all of the respondents that participated in the survey." Gore told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee this week that due to limited time and money the project couldn't go into which specific regulations are causing the most trouble. Gore: "Other than it is an accumulation of regulations that have become financially burdensome and difficult to comply with. So the recommendation was to establish a blue ribbon panel to go into the depth around regulation." Other recommendations included better producer education about regulations and: Gore: "The recommendation to construct a model agricultural impact statement that can be used to assess and document the effect of state agency actions prior to their implementation." In addition to regulation, Gore said other top challenges for agriculture were, labor, input costs, land, education and research and water. The Future of Farming project will develop a strategic plan to guide decision makers with the goal of passing a vibrant farm economy on to the next generation of Washington producers. The Washington State Potato Foundation has named Bud Mercer as the winner of the 2009 Industry Leadership Award. He will accept this award during the sixth annual Washington State Potato Foundation Industry Leadership Banquet next Tuesday in Richland. A one year college scholarship will be awarded in Mercer's name. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.