New Chairman at Washington Grain Commission

Washington Ag Today January 15, 2010 Connell, Washington farm owner and seed company operator Dana Herron is the new Chairman of the Washington Grain Commission. He was elected at a commission meeting this week.

Herron, who has served four years on what was the Wheat Commission and is now the Grain Commission, which administers both wheat and barley assessment revenue, says the board works extremely well as a unit and he just wants to continue the progress that has been make. One thing he specifically mentions is the long range planning process the commission is currently involved in.

Herron: “We are making excellent progress on that. If someone in the industry doesn‘t get their hands around some of the issues we are wrestling with today and make a plan on where we want to be in five years, ten years, as an industry, it just doesn‘t seem to get done. So we are in the process of flushing that out, prioritizing it and developing action plans.”

Herron says the budget situations facing all three Pacific Northwest states has commissions in Washington, Oregon and Idaho representing grain growers looking at more ways to cooperate.

Herron: “For instance, can we test another state’s wheat varieties in our state? Can we cooperate in the area of plant breeding? Do we need three white wheat breeders? There is an obvious deficit in Washington for irrigated wheat varieties. Can we contract with Idaho who has a very well defined program in irrigated wheat breeding.”

The new Grain Commission Chairman says it is all about getting more deliverables for the growers’ dollars they have asked commissioners to steward.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today in the Northwest Ag Information Network.

?

?

?