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<P><B>Joining the Coop Costs Potato Growers</B>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>Right now, spuds are selling $1.95 per hundredweight. That’s
about $3.25 below the cost of</B> <BR><B>production.</B></BLOCKQUOTE>January 24,
2005
<P>In Idaho Falls, hundreds of spud farmers are meeting with United Fresh Potato
Growers Cooperative to <BR>decide whether to become a member.
<P>The initial membership fee is pretty painful. United Fresh Potato Growers of
Idaho are asking growers <BR>to dump a portion of their spud crop.
<P>Some will go for cattle feed, some for charitable organizations and some will
just rot on the ground.
<P>It’s a tough move, designed to get supply down and prices up.
<P>It’s not easy.
<P>Bob Martin agreed to dump spuds and says, “When you go through all the sweat
and effort of growing <BR>a crop and pull in to the dump, it makes you
physically ill. We want to feed people, not dump a crop on <BR>the ground.”
<P>But that is exactly what has to happen to get the prices back up to a
profitable level.
<P><B>Right now, spuds are selling $1.95 per hundredweight. That’s about $3.25
below the cost of</B> <BR><B>production.</B>
<P>David Beasely is on the board and says even potato growers in other states
are joining in the effort.
<P>Beasely says, “Even as we speak, growers in Prince Edward Island are removing
1.5 million sacks from <BR>their supply. Growers in Maine are removing 4 million
sacks, New Brunswick, too. Growers in <BR>Washington will remove some of theirs.
Even though Klamath Basin doesn’t have enough to finish out <BR>their season,
they want to work and cooperate with us.”
<P>Beasley says most of the excess spuds are in Idaho, so this state bears the
burden of removing supplies.
<P>He hopes to have 400 million pounds of potatoes off the market. He says times
have changed.
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