Wheat Producer Concerns

The Idaho Wheat Commission is proposing a rule change where when grain elevators remit their wheat tax, they would also remit a name and mailing address for the person who sold that wheat to them. I asked spokesperson Kathy Wilson if there was resistance. "There is some opposition. Growers have memories like elephants when they get burned. Whenever I have talked to anybody who has been opposed to the rule, that is what comes to mind. You are going to turn our information over and it's not the growers, it is the elevators that are fearful. Everybody has issues about your private information being kept private. Our list is considered highly confidential so it is not shared with anybody. We use the list to communicate with growers. For us as a taxing commission we need to allow at times for everybody to have the opportunity to vote on something. I know that they tried to do that when they raised the assessment. That would be the kind of thing where they would want to have everybody have the opportunity to weigh in on that. If we don't know who our constituents are then we can't very well hear from them. We're just trying to make it better for the growers to get the benefit of information and have a voice and what the commission does when it is necessary for them."

Other commissions collect grower names and contact information.