Washington Ag Today April 15, 2009 Come this July 27th there will no longer be a Washington Wheat Commission or a Washington Barley Commission. There will be a Washington Grain Commission instead. Governor Gregoire signed House Bill 1254 late last week, which creates the Washington Grain Commission, that will cover both wheat and barley. Both commodity groups had requested the right merge.
Tom Mick CEO of the Washington Wheat Commission, who will be CEO of the Grain Commission, says the new entity will benefit growers and both industries.
Mick: "Because we can eliminate duplication. There are elements of financial savings that are just fantastic. So we are looking forward to this new relationship."
Mick says there is a lot work to be done to prepare for the Grain Commission.
Mick: "We have to change all of our accounting systems, our investments. Notifying people of the change. Contracts. There is a tremendous amount of work we will have to undertake but we are prepared for it and we are looking forward to the merger."
The Grain Commission will conduct research, market development and education on behalf of wheat and barley growers. Wheat assessment funds will only be used for wheat projects and barely assessments only for barley projects. The assessments paid by growers remain at their current levels.
I'm Bob Hoff and that's Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
