03/01/05 A CEO for potato cooperative

Washington Ag March 1, 2005 A potato cooperative is being formed that will represent about 80 percent of the fresh potato acreage in the Columbia Basin of both Washington and Oregon. And that cooperative aimed at stabilizing prices for potato growers already has a CEO, Dave Long of Othello, a former president of the National Potato Council. Long sums up what this new entity needs to do. Long: "First of all we have to get the growers' confidence, letting them know we are working for them. Then we have to get established the acres that we can plant as a maximum grower base so we can return a profit and avoid years like this year where growers right now are getting practically nothing on the fresh market." Long is in Washington D.C. this week for the annual meeting of the National Potato Council, where several states that have, or are forming cooperatives, are working on a national cooperative through which state organizations will coordinate activities. Workshops are being held this week for farmers, ranchers and producer groups who wish to apply for the USDA's Rural Development "Agricultural Value-Added Producer Grant." One is March 2nd in Spokane at the WSU Extension Service Building on Havana and one is in Wenatchee March 3rd at the Federal Post Office building. Both workshops are from nine a.m. to noon. I'm Bob Hoff.