The USDA has issued a proposed rule that would raise the assessment rate for growers under the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Potato Committee for the first time since 2017.
The proposal would increase the assessment from $0.002 to $0.003 per hundredweight of potatoes handled under the marketing order, according to a notice. Comments on the proposed rule are due Oct. 28.
This proposed rule is issued under Marketing Agreement No. 98 and Marketing Order No. 945, both as amended, regulating the handling of potatoes grown in certain counties in Idaho, and Malheur County, Ore.
At a June 5 meeting, the committee unanimously recommended 2024-25 fiscal period expenditures of $99,522 and an assessment rate of $0.003 per hundredweight of Idaho-Eastern Oregon potatoes handled under the order for the 2024-25 fiscal period and subsequent fiscal periods. In comparison, the budgeted expenditures for fiscal period 2023-24 were $99,703.
The committee recommended increasing the assessment rate to better align the assessment revenue with budgeted expenses and to replenish reserves that were depleted between August 2017 and June 2024, according to the notice.
The committee estimates shipments for the 2024-25 season to be approximately 34 million hundredweight, an increase from the 28.16 million hundredweight handled for the 2023-24 fiscal period.
