06/22/05 USDA says `no` to hop marketing order

Forget about a marketing order for hops grown in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Senator Mike Crapo commended USDA for ending a marketing order before it could be launched. Idaho hop growers have been unified in their opposition to the proposed order and Crapo went to bat for them, telling Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns that it wasn't needed. USDA said no need for the order was demonstrated, no positive economic impact on the industry could be identified, and there was no way to split the benefits and costs associated with the proposed marketing order. Hop production in Idaho is limited to the Wilder area in Canyon County and an 18 hundred acre farm near Bonners Ferry which is owned by Anheuser-Busch. The heat has finally hit Idaho. With that comes another drought declaration. Governor Dirk Kempthorne has added Lincoln County to the growing list of counties that have water supply problems. That means that irrigators in Lincoln County and 19 others can now work with the Water Resources Department to secure temporary water rights and make modifications to existing ones. Last year 24 of the state's 44 counties made it on the drought list and that number could be matched or exceeded this year. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott