12/14/06 Survey gives spud commission good marks

Washington Ag December 14, 2006 A survey of potato growers, packers and shippers, processors, researchers and ag product suppliers conducted as part of the Washington State Potato Commission's long range planning shows high levels of satisfaction with the job the Commission is doing. Tricia Lubach of Lubach Communications reported on the survey results at a Commission long range planning session this week. Lubach: "A vast majority of the respondents feel that the Commission does a very good job. There are certainly some areas in which respondents would like to see the Commission do a better job, but there are also some restrictions on the Commission in terms of how much impact it can have on things like grower profits. But in general well over 90% of the people surveyed felt the Commission is fulfilling its mission well. A large number of them feel the Commissioners do a good job and they feel the Commission is very effective." One area Lubach said the Commission could get more involved and provide better representation is with small potato growers; those with 250 acres of potatoes or less. Lubach: "Smaller growers felt that they were not necessarily as well represented by the Commission as they would like." As for the Potato Commission's assessment, nearly 63 percent said it's about right, 35 percent said its too high. Two and a half percent said it's too low. I'm Bob Hoff.