05/17/05 USDA asparagus and spud purchases

05/17/05 USDA asparagus and spud purchases

Washington Ag May 17, 2005 Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced Monday that the USDA plans to purchase asparagus and potato products for donation to the child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs. The USDA plans to buy up to seven million pounds of frozen and canned asparagus. That's the same amount it purchased in 2004. Johanns said the USDA plans to purchase up to 80-million pounds of frozen and dehydrated potatoes. This will be in addition to the up to 100 million pounds of fresh bulk and frozen potatoes USDA intends to procure this fiscal year for normal school year purchases. The Washington Council on International Trade is in Washington D.C. this week pushing for congressional support of the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA. Wheat growers, potato growers and apple growers are members of the Council, which also includes such business as Boeing. Pat Boss, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, they will be talking to all members of the congressional delegation. Boss: "I am disturbed because I have heard that a couple of moderate Democrats in the Puget Sound have said they are going to vote against CAFTA. So we are going to be asking them why they are doing that. For potatoes and for apples, clearly CAFTA is an issue that is huge to those two industries." Boss says Canada already has a trade agreement with Central America that gives it an advantage in potatoes and Chile has an agreement that gives it an advantage on apples. I'm Bob Hoff.
Previous Report05/16/05 Late blight forecast
Next Report05/18/05 Rains good for grains, bad for hay