Potatoes headed for Japan
Idaho growers will send shipments of fresh potatoes to Japan this spring for the first time in 60 years, ending that country’s ban on fresh spuds.
Under an agreement announced last month, the fresh potatoes will be allowed into the country for processing into potato chips at approved facilities. So far, only one Japanese facility has the green light to accept the fresh potatoes.
The first shipment involves 10 container loads of potatoes, mainly from Idaho.
“It’s a nice start, and we’re expecting that that number will increase over time,” said Wayne Hoffman, special assistant to Idaho Director of Agriculture Pat Takasugi.
Dehydrated and frozen Idaho potatoes are already allowed into Japan, but fresh potatoes from the U.S. have been banned since the 1950s. The ban stemmed from concerns about potato wart bacteria and a parasitic worm called cyst nematode that feeds on the plant’s roots. According to the U.S. government, growers here have since eliminated potato wart bacteria, and contained the parasitic worms to a limited area. Fresh potatoes exported to Japan must follow strict protocols covering seed, field inspections, storage, shipping and packaging.
The shipments will be limited to February through June, when Japanese producers run short of fresh potatoes to turn into chips.
Coeur d’Alene
Hecla resolves Nevada dispute
Hecla Mining Co. has resolved a contract dispute with its partner in a Nevada gold project.
Last year, Hecla filed a suit in Elko, Nev., against Great Basin Gold Ltd. over the terms of a 2002 contract that allows Hecla to earn a 50 percent interest in the Hollister development block. Hecla is exploring the ore body to delineate it, and determine how it can be mined profitably.
During the exploration drilling, Hecla has encountered some unexpected issues, such additional groundwater and unstable slope conditions, said Vicki Veltkamp, company spokeswoman. As a result, Hecla wanted deadlines in the contract adjusted. With an amicable resolution of the dispute, Veltkamp said the litigation has been dropped.
A decision on whether to develop a mine at Hollister block is expected early next year.
Stamford, Conn.
GE chief stakes bonus on growth
General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt will not take a cash bonus for 2005, opting instead to take performance shares worth up to $6 million if the company has strong financial results.
Immelt said the move underscores his confidence that the Fairfield-based industrial, media and financial services conglomerate will achieve double-digit percentage profit growth in the coming years.
“I am so confident, in fact, that I have asked the Compensation Committee of our board to pay my cash incentive bonus in GE performance shares for 2005,” Immelt wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Immelt’s base salary was increased by 10 percent to $3.3 million, his first salary increase since April 2001, according to the Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.