12/18/06 Barley balks on joint CEO plan

Washington Ag December 18, 2006 The Washington Barley Commission last week rejected as too vague a proposal that would put it and the Washington Wheat Commission and Washington Association of Wheat Growers under the management of one CEO. The proposal for joint administration had previously been unanimously approved by the Wheat Commission and the Wheat Growers board. The Washington Grain Alliance Committee which has been working on a more unified structure for the grain industry organizations is scheduled to meet this week. Wanting to eliminate any fodder for farm program opponents during the upcoming farm bill debate the Farm Service Agency is going through producer records making sure all the proper documents and signatures are on file. A recent review by the Office of Management and Budget concluded many payments issued were not supported by the documents and signatures. So called improper payments. State FSA Director Jack Silzel told an Ag Bureau breakfast in Spokane Friday it's basically a matter of dotting "Is " and crossing "Ts ." Silzel: "Whitman county alone has to go through six-thousand files, check every piece of paper in them to make sure there is a dot. And we have to have this done by January 31st so then we can go ahead." Silzel said farmers have been very cooperative with this process and understand why it's being done. I'm Bob Hoff.