Idaho Potato Growers to vote on McCain, Simplot contracts

Idaho potato growers will vote Monday in Burley on contracts with McCain Foods and J.R. Simplot Co. paying a 1.6 percent average increase, according to sources involved in negotiations.

Lamb Weston growers ratified contracts in early February with the same increase.

Dan Hargraves, who represented growers in negotiations spanning two months as executive director of Southern Idaho Potato Cooperative, anticipates members will approve the contracts.

However, he'd hoped for increases averaging 3-7 percent to recoup additional costs associated with zebra chip.

Depending on variety and farm location, grower payments would range from $7 to $8 per hundredweight on field-run potatoes -- gross weight less dirt and foreign material. Most contracts would include some level of increase.

Hargraves explained the Simplot contract seeks to resolve payment inequities between growers who deliver spuds directly from the field and those who offer their own storage. Simplot's Russet Burbank growers with storage would see increases of more than 3 percent.

Potato Growers of Washington ratified contracts Jan. 24 with J.R. Simplot and Lamb Weston including a 2.1 percent increase on a weighted basis.