02/27/07 Farm Bureau in D.C.; a potato record

Washington Ag February 27, 2007 Officers and members of the Washington State Farm Bureau are in Washington D.C. this week where they are meeting with members of Washington's congressional delegation. The Farm Bill, immigration, trade and animal identification were some of the issues the group was briefed on by the American Farm Bureau Federation in preparation for Capitol Hill visits. The Washington Farm Bureau representatives are also meeting with the Bureau of Reclamation and visiting the Chinese Embassy. The 2006 U.S. potato crop was a record setter. Lucier: "The value of the U.S. potato crop hit a record high 3.2 billion last year." That's USDA economist Gary Lucier who says price was a big factor in setting a record. Lucier: "Basically a lot of that is because the season average price rose to $7.42 a hundredweight, or 7.4 cents a pound. And we had revenue rising across most of the potato states including the three top producing states Idaho, Washington, and Wisconsin." To keep strong prices the United Potato Growers of America is asking producers nationwide to reduce their plantings this year by 15 percent from their 2004 base acreage. All of United's member co-ops have agreed to the 15 percent reduction. I'm Bob Hoff.