Potato Board mulls seed farm funding options

By Laura Schools
Special to the Pioneer Times
    LITTLETON — The Maine Potato Board held its monthly meeting December 17 as directors and local farmers gathered at the Meduxnekeag Snowmobile Club to discuss industry issues and updates.
    The meeting, led by Maine Potato Board President Dominic Lajoie and Executive Director Donald Flannery, began with announcements, and then financial statements were discussed and approved.
    Thomas Qualey, the Maine representative to the United States Potato Board (USPB), gave a recap of their latest meeting. He reported that the USPB was considering a one half cent per hundredweight increase in assessment to growers; this will be voted on at the March 2009 meeting and the increase would take effect on January 1,2010 if enacted. He also discussed his recent trade mission to Singapore. Qualey also reported that he is running for president of the USPB.
    Gregory Schools, president of the Agricultural Bargaining Council (ABC), updated Potato Board members on activities his group was involved in. ABC Executive Director Dana Wright and Secretary/Treasurer Brent Edgecomb traveled to Red Deer, Alberta in November to discuss contract negotiations and updates at the fall meeting of the Potato Marketing Associations of North America (PMANA). The next meeting of PMANA will be held Jan. 4, 2009 in San Antonio.
    An ABC/McCain Foods Inc. negotiating meeting will also be held Jan. 6 because of the significant number of attendees from Maine, as well as McCain Foods in San Antonio. “It is in the best interest of both parties to move forward on this contract. We look forward to meeting with the McCain team and hope for a timely and fair settlement,” said Schools.
    MPB members and farmers then gave their attention back to Director Flannery as he discussed the Porter Farm/Seed Board Transfer. The Porter Farm in Masardis is the state-run seed facility for Maine. The recent state budget deficits have forced a need for a change in the way this facility is funded and the Maine Potato Board is looking at possibly taking on this responsibility. “This project will not survive without industry support,” said Flannery.
    Timothy Hobbs, Maine Potato Board director of development and grower relations, spoke next about Governor Baldacci’s Dec. 16 meeting with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). The meeting was in regard to water issues, irrigation, and funding for the state of Maine. The two sides failed to come to an agreement on how to prioritize the irrigation issue, Hobbs noted.
    A legislative update was presented next by Flannery and Hobbs. Flannery pointed out that “since the legislative committees have yet to be finalized there has been no activity.”
    In other MPB business, Flannery reported on the efforts of the Natural Resource Consolidation Task Force and Farmland Protection Task Force, while Hobbs discussed the United States Geological Survey/Congressional Delegation meeting and the most recent Board of Pesticides Control hearing.
    Potato Board members were given the opportunity to discuss other matters of concern, but none were raised. At 4:30 p.m., President Lajoie adjourned the meeting. Raymond Wotton and the crew at the Snowmobile Club treated everyone to a dinner after the meeting.