02/11/05 P.A.C.A. seminars and workshops

It was last fall that the Washington Growers Clearing House and Washington State Potato Commission received a U.S.D.A. Risk Management Agency grant to sponsor a series of seminars connected to education of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. According to Dan Kelly of the Growers Clearing House, those seminars are set for early next month throughout Washington State. KELLY: The sessions are basically going to have some general sessions on the law itself and then other P.A.C.A. trust law, and then recent legal decisions. And then some alternative dispute resolution in the produce industry. And that's just the morning session. Various breakout sessions are covered in the afternoon at seminars March First in Yakima, March Second in Pasco, a potato grower only session March Third in Moses Lake, and a general session March Fourth in Wenatchee. So why should growers attend these seminars to learn more about P.A.C.A.? KELLY: Anybody that has ever had slow payments or not getting paid for their product, there's protection under the P.A.C.A. and this law will help do that. It's primarily a domestic in the U.S. because our laws can't really carry over to outside the U.S. There is a $30 registration fee to cover workbooks and lunch. More information on the sessions can be obtained at www.waclearinghouse.org.