3/23/06 Governor signs bills of interest to ag

Washington Ag March 23, 2006 Legislation providing a targeted exemption for the Odessa aquifer area from the state's water relinquishment law was signed by Governor Chris Gregoire yesterday. Senate Bill 6151 will allow deep well irrigators in that area to address the depleting water table by conserving water without fear of losing their right to use it in the future. The governor also signed the bonding authority for the Columbia River Management program which aims to increase water storage. Also signed by Gregoire was the Energy Freedom Program which will help develop a biofuels industry and House Bill 2457 which provides a sales tax exemption for agricultural machinery replacement parts. The Washington Oregon United Potato Coop is making its first foreign appearance this week exhibiting in Vancouver B.C. at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's annual meeting. Pat Boss who handles public relations for the potato coop, this was a timely opportunity to try and boost sales given the recent removal of the B.C. anti-dumping duties on some sizes of U.S. Russet potatoes. Boss: "Basically with tariffs going down it is a good time to do that and try to re-engage the trade in British Columbia. There are about five-million people up there. There's going to be Olympic Games up there in a few years. It is a good time to ramp up our efforts and get the word out that the tariffs are down and we have great potatoes down here in the Columbia Basin of Washington and Oregon that would be great for that market." I'm Bob Hoff.