09/28/07 Trying for a Washington wheat museum again

Washington Ag Septemer 28, 2007 The idea of having a wheat museum in Washington state is not new but there is a renewed effort at making it happen. Adams county grower and past president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers Jerry Snyder, has told the Washington Wheat Commission that proponents of a museum or wheat interpretive center, have several verbal agreements including one for donated land along Interstate 90 at Ritzville. Snyder says the plan is for more than a display of equipment. Snyder: "But it would showcase a process, the actual process of taking wheat from the field and turning it into flour. It would not just show the combines, the tractors and the farmers, but it would show industry where you have to barge this or move it by rail. Or you have to truck it. Or you have to mill it. The process the milling people go through. The breeding process. It would be from A to Z as far as the wheat industry is concerned. And it would be changing. As the seasons change so would the interpretive center. It wouldn't be just one solid, same thing every time." Access to the exhibition shed would be through a grain bin and there would be an auditorium which can be rented to generate income. Snyder asked the Wheat Commission for its support but did not make any specific funding request. Bob Hoff.