05/11/06 Idaho fares well in ag appropriations

The House Appropriations Committee has sent its fiscal year 2007 bill to the floor. Mike Simpson, a member of that committee, says there's 18.4 billion dollars for the nation's commodity, rural development, conservation and ag research projects. Idaho gets its share. 682-thousand for the Barley Gene Mapping Project, 702 thousand for sugarbeet research at Kimberly, 564 thousand for cool season legume research, 446 thousand for grass seed cropping systems, 365 thousand for potato breeding research at Aberdeen and 1.5 million for nationwide potato research in which the University of Idaho is a participant. 854 thousand for a U of I project on safety and shelf life of Idaho commodities, 1.8-million for aquaculture projects at Aberdeen and 756 thousand at Hagerman, One million for the Yellowstone brucellosis committee, 1.3 million to share with Wyoming and Montana for predator control and 4.4 million for grasshopper and Mormon cricket control, plus 200 thousand dollars to the Idaho One Plan. There's also money for Northwest research projects involving hops, fruits and canola. The full House of Representatives is expected to consider the ag appropriations next week. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott