07/08/05 Feds fund freight transportation center

Washington Ag July 8, 2005 Economists and engineers at Washington State University, the University of Washington and North Dakota State University are forming a regional freight transportation center to study issues that transcend state borders. The center has been made possible by 500-thousand dollars that's recently been received from the Federal Highway Administration and will be headquartered at .North Dakota State University Ken Casavant, transportation economist in the WSU School of Economic Sciences, says that as they look at combining the expertise at three different universities, he thinks they can get a handle on the movement and problems that exist in the regional movement of freight. Casavant says for example that capacity problems in North Dakota can affect movements here through the port of Seattle. There has been no potato late blight reported so far this season in the Columbia Basin and WSU plant pathologist Dennis Johnson says growers can now lengthen their fungicide application intervals. Johnson: "Fungicide application intervals can now be extended to 14 days. With this extended application interval fields need to be monitored very closely for late blight." And Johnson emphasizes the need to report the finding of any late blight. I'm Bob Hoff.