Spud growers on verge of fee increase

Research is focus of 1-cent proposed increase in Oregon

Dave Wilkins
Capital Press Staff Writer

July 6, 2007

Oregon potato growers will pay a penny more for every 100 pounds of spuds they sell if a proposed rule change is adopted as expected.

The 1-cent hike will increase annual revenue at the Oregon Potato Commission by an estimated $170,000. The additional funds will be used primarily to boost potato research, industry officials said.

A public hearing was held June 22 in Bend on the commission's request to hike assessments from 4 cents per hundredweight to 5 cents.

No one spoke in opposition to the proposal, and it's likely that the fee increase will be approved soon and applied to this year's crop, industry officials said.

"I believe (the assessment increase) will go through," OPC Executive Director Bill Brewer said this week.

The main reason for the increase is to bolster potato research, Brewer said.

The Northwest remains the largest potato-production region in the country, but growers face increased challenges managing pests and disease.

Research could help growers control serious pests such as potato tuber moths, aphids and various nematodes.

"To maintain a viable potato research program, we felt we needed additional money," Brewer said.

State potato commissions have also been asked to increase their support of the National Potato Council, which is another reason for the fee increase request, he said.

The NPC represents growers on a number of national issues ranging from immigration reform to pesticide re-registration from its office in Washington , D.C.

The OPC hasn't had an increase in its assessment rate since 1990 or 1991, Brewer said.

The average process grower in the Columbia Basin produces 540 hundredweight per acre and pays $17.28 per acre under the existing 4-cent assessment. The penny rate hike would increase the assessment to $24.30 per acre.

For table stock growers in the Klamath and Willamette valleys, the rate hike will mean an assessment increase from $16.70 per acre to $21.31 per acre, based on average yields and pack-out rates.

Brewer talked to growers across Oregon before the commission submitted its administrative rule change request to the state.

Producers seem to understand the need for an increase even though they would rather it wasn't necessary, Brewer said.

"I didn't find any grower who wanted to pay more, but I didn't find anyone who was really opposed (to the fee hike) either," he said.

The commission's costs have been going up just like growers' expenses, Brewer said.

Spud growers in Oregon have cut back in recent years, harvesting just 35,000 acres in 2006.

Oregon isn't alone in asking growers to cough up more money for research and promotion.

Earlier this year, the Idaho Potato Commission increased its assessment from 10 cents per hundredweight to 12.5 cents per hundredweight and has the authority to bump it up to 15 cents per hundredweight next year.

Dave Wilkins is based in Twin Falls, Idaho . His e-mail address is dwilkins@capitalpress.com. 

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