WASHINGTON FARM BUREAU NEWSWATCH

January 5, 2005 No. 2
MEXICO HAS AGREED TO DROP A 46.6 PERCENT TARIFF ON WASHINGTON-GROWN Red
and Golden Delicious apples for members of the Yakima-based Northwest
Fruit Exporters, which negotiated the agreement with the Mexican
government. (Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan. 4) The agreement takes effect
at the end of February. Mexico initially imposed a 101 percent tariff
in 1997 after accusing Northwest exporters of selling apples at
below-market process. The tariff was lowered to 46.6 percent in August 2002,
still high enough to stop almost all exports of Red and Golden Delicious
apples, the two most abundant varieties grown in Washington. Before the
tariff went into effect, Mexico bought about 3 percent of the state's
Red Delicious apples and 8 percent of the its Golden Delicious apples.

THE COLVILLE CONFEDERATED TRIBES HAVE SIGNED ON TO A PLAN PROPOSED by
outgoing Gov. Gary Locke to provide more water from the Columbia River
for farmers and cities. (AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Jan. 5) The plan
calls for drawing down Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand
Coulee Dam, by as much as an additional foot every year to provide an
additional 137,000 acre-feet of water for use downriver. The plan also calls
for another 591,000 acre-feet through increased storage, conservation,
and agreements with Canada and the Bonneville Power Administration.

R-CALF AND THE NATIONAL FARMERS UNION ON TUESDAY URGED THE UNITED
States to delay plans to resume imports of Canadian beef. The Department of
Agriculture recently announced plans to reopen the U.S. border to
limited Canadian imports in March. However, new concerns have been raised
after Canada confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in an
Alberta dairy cow on Sunday. The Bush administration says it still
intends to allow imports of Canadian cattle 30-months in age or younger as
scheduled. The American Farm Bureau Federation supports the resumption
of Canadian cattle imports as proposed by the administration.

AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS TO CUBA REACHED NEARLY $300 MILLION LAST YEAR,
more than double exports in 2003. Rice was the largest export to Cuba in
the first eight months of 2004, which was seven times the rice exports
for the same time period in 2003, making it the third largest market for
U.S. rice. Wheat exports also doubled and corn exports were up 87
percent.

SACRAMENTO-BASED VENTRIA BIOSCIENCE, WHICH IS PIONEERING CROPS THAT can
produce pharmaceuticals for human use, is moving to Missouri because of
anti-biotechnology sentiment in California. (Kansas City Star, Jan. 4)
A spokesman for the Consumers Union in San Francisco said he was happy
for California, but worried about Missouri. However, the president of
Northwest Missouri State University, which has offered Ventria
Bioscience space in an on-campus biotechnology center, said the move puts the
state on the cutting edge of agriculture. "This opens up incredible
learning opportunities for our students," said university President Dean
Hubbard. "Imagine training students so that they are familiar with a
variety of 21st century fields in science, including plant-made
pharmaceuticals."

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ANN VENEMAN WILL ADDRESS THE AMERICAN FARM Bureau
Federation's annual meeting Jan. 9 in Charlotte, N.C. In what could be
her last appearance as secretary before a major agricultural
organization, Veneman will make her remarks during the opening general session of
the convention. Veneman's successor, Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, is
expected to be confirmed this month.
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* 2005 Washington Farm Bureau. Washington Farm Bureau NewsWatch is a
periodic update on news of interest to agriculture. Contact Dean Boyer,
director of public relations, 1-800-331-3276 or, send e-mail to
dboyer@wsfb.com to receive NewsWatch by fax or e-mail.