12/07/07 Priestley re-elected Farm Bureau president

Frank Priestley of Franklin and Carl Montgomery of Eden have been re-elected as Idaho Farm Bureau President and Vice President at the annual convention. For Priestley it's the sixth two year term he'll serve. PRIESTLEY "I'm very humbled. I'm very honored and I think the Farm Bureau is going in the right direction and we need to continue to go and certainly there's things that we need to do and we plan on doing those things." Priestley says there are a couple of issues that are of concern to Idaho Farm Bureau members. PRIESTLEY "Water and crops kind of have to go together and so water is a definite issue, water rights and that whole nine yards. Another thing that is really on the minds of agriculture nationwide especially is input costs, fertilizer and fuel." One issue that was discussed by the House of Delegates is the burning ban on agricultural lands in Idaho. PRIESTLEY "Handled correctly it can be done. One thing that is frustrating to some of our growers is hey we can burn on the reservation but we can't burn across the street." The annual Farm Bureau meeting wrapped up yesterday in Pocatello. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott