07/31/07 Japanese barley team comes to Idaho

The Idaho Barley Commission is going to host an eight member trade team from Japan in Lewiston and Genesee later this week. It's the second year in a row that Japan has sent a team that part of Idaho to investigate barley imports. They get 80 percent of their barley from Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Idaho Barley Commission Chairman Dan Mader says the Japanese are the largest buyer of Pacific Northwest feed barley. MADER "They need barley badly for a special market in Japan, the Wagu beef. Now our competitors are Canada and Australia. Canada had a very poor crop last year. Right now we're in a pretty good position to sell them barley." Mader says it's also a chance to talk about higher quality food barley, a potential market for Idaho growers. One Japanese company is already importing a small amount of food barley on a trial basis. MADER "Taking this barley and processing it to a very high level, then cooking it and then drying it back down and mixing it in with rice trying to improve the overall diet of just straight rice." The Japanese team will spend Thursday and Friday in Idaho. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott