State Growers Rebuff Lentil Fee Hike Idaho Growers Like Dan O’Brien More Than Washington Growers Do?

It involves legumes, a world-class athlete and an international marketing campaign.

Idaho farmers liked the idea, but Washington farmers didn’t.

According to the results released Monday, legume growers voted against a Washington Dry Pea and Lentil Commission assessment increase which would have planted more money into both crop research and an international marketing campaign featuring decathlon world champion Dan O’Brien.

It was a simple “yes” or “no” ballot, the first assessment increase in 11 years, and a majority of Washington farmers voted “No.”

Of the 1,891 eligible voters in the state, 775 returned ballots. According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s official tally, 63 percent voted against an assessment increase from 1 percent to 2 percent of the net sale value of their crops.

Idaho farmers, who have a joint commission with Washington’s, voted in favor of the same assessment in December. What happens now is up to the pea and lentil commission board members from both states.

Money from annual assessments is pooled to run the commissions, fund research to produce higher yielding and disease-resistant crops, and market peas, lentils and chickpeas.

The last assessment brought about $300,000 from Washington and a little less from Idaho, said Tim McGreevy, president of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council and supervisor of the Washington and Idaho commissions. About $100,000 of the annual assessment pays for marketing and another $150,000 supports research, he said.

The biggest reason for an increase in the assessment is the need to pay matching funds for government support, McGreevy said.

“The new reality is you have to have some matching dollars to get government dollars,” he said. “They want to know the industry is committed.”

But a few Washington farmers said they didn’t support the increase because they didn’t know where their money was going. They questioned the necessity of a $75,000 marketing campaign with Dan O’Brien.

That money was already in the budget and would be used for marketing with or without the world-class athlete, McGreevy said. The photographs are already done and the fee - $10,000 to O’Brien’s favorite children’s foundation - has already been paid.

Scoring O’Brien’s endorsement was a marketing coup for the dry pea and lentil commissions, McGreevy said. “We’re not Nike. We’re not Footlocker,” he said. “Dan’s image will allow us to have a little star power and hopefully make our commodities more interesting to the consumer. We will move forward with our domestic marketing campaign, though we will have less money to work with.”

The use of the rest of the funds and the discrepancy in Washington and Idaho assessments will be dealt with by the Idaho and Washington commissions’ boards after harvest in September.

“Certainly it’s disappointing,” McGreevy said. “A lot of it is educating growers in what you’re going to do with the money. We didn’t do that well enough.”

Bruce Nelson, a lentil farmer in Whitman County, said he supports the Washington Dry Pea and Lentil Commission, but opposed the increased assessment.

“Sometimes you have to fail before you can succeed,” Nelson said. “This may bring us back as a stronger organization.”

, DataTimes