Final Operating Budget & Reduced Potato Acreage

Final Operating Budget & Reduced Potato Acreage

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

WSU will be able to purchase equipment for its biomedical and health sciences building, a geoduck harvest safety committee will be created, and a public outreach program will be conducted on non-lethal ways of limiting conflict between large carnivores and livestock - these and hundreds of other policy and spending proposals are part of the new state budget totaling $33.6 billion. Negotiations broke down however on the debate over water quality standards and withdrawn amendment 379, which specifically referred to a fish consumption study to collect data to determine the nature of the pollution of the fish within state waterways. Senator John Smith had this to say on the subject.

SMITH: This is an issue where we have policy for the entire state being driven by problems in a very small portion of the state. All of the shareholders with interests in this - the Tribes, the major employers, the industry, the cities, the towns - it’s time for all of us to come together, and instead of throwing rocks at each other find a long term realistic solution that maybe none of us really like, but all of us can really live with.

According to a USDA NASS report released on Friday potato growers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have significantly reduced their acreage this season following a 2012 crop that was marked by overproduction and low prices. Washington growers reduced their crop from 165,000 acres in 2012 to 160,000 this season. Nationally the fall potato crop was reduced by 44,300 acres this year.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.