02/28/05 Potato growers meet in D.C.

02/28/05 Potato growers meet in D.C.

Farm and Ranch February 28, 2005 Recently formed state fresh potato grower cooperatives will be meeting in Washington D.C. this week in conjunction with the National Potato Council meeting. Dave Beesley with the United Fresh Potato Growers of Idaho, says Tuesday will be the first meeting of the recently charted United Potato Growers of America, to which state cooperatives will be chartered. Beesley: "And when we walk away from that meeting I expect we will have six states that will have joined United of America with their own coops. The Klamath Basin already has a United. The balance of Oregon and Washington I think are going to form under United of the Columbia Basin. Wisconsin has filed the paper work on their United Fresh Potato Growers of Wisconsin. Colorado already theirs and they have their own website up and running. And then Maine and Pennsylvania already have cooperatives they are just not named United." Beesley says there has also been interest in Canada from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Manitoba. Beesley: "At what level those Canadian entities will join in is hard to say, but they have expressed interest." The bottom line to this cooperative effort is to improve potato growers' ability to become stable and profitable. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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