March-6,  1999

Illinois Ag Leadership Program
National Travel

State of Washington

Enjoying a dinner with our friends at the Washington Apple Commission
(link from the photo for a larger version)

The Washington Apple Commission was the setting for today's program in lovely Wenatchee, WA.  We were surrounded by the beautiful Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River.  Bruce Grimm was our host and main speaker for a program on the "Apple Production, Marketing and International Trade".  As  the Chairman of the Apple Commission, Bruce gave us a wonderful view of the apple industry.  We were shown a very informative video produced by the commission.  We were all very entertained by a television commercial recently developed to increase apple demand across the country.  The commission has a annual budget of $40 million.  The first hour of the program was devoted specifically to the apple industry, and the challenges it faces.  We also heard from two Washington Ag./ Forestry Leadership alums.  Gus Heinicke and Randy Smith were helping answer our "apple' questions.

The second hour was devoted to an interactive discussion period between the WA panel and our IALF class on several issues pertinent to both groups and agriculture in general. Environmental issues such as the EPA's current interpretation of the Food Quality Protection Act(FQPA) were discussed, and it was noted that last Friday was the ten year anniversary of the Alar scare. We also learned that the apple industry is very labor intensive with mandated minimum wage increases and migrant housing being current problems apple farmers are dealing with. The growers also are currently suffering from low profitability due to the Asian crisis and being excluded from the Mexican market at curent price levels.

The WA Leadership Program made this program very memorable.  There were many WA alums in attendance for us to get acquanted with.  Tonight we would be staying at the homes of these fine individuals. The WA group defined the word hospitality.  Our gracious hosts took us home after supper to experience a bit of Wenatchee culture.  Some of our group found themselves at a "rockin" blues concert featuring local favorite, "SWAMP MAMA JOHNSON".  This was an outstanding opportunity to dialogue with WA Ag. people one on one.  Sunday morning we got a "close-up" look at apple growing at the individual farm operations.  Staying overnight with the host families allowed us a lot of time to learn about life as a fruit farmer in Washington.

Typical apple fields along the stunning Columbia River Valley
(link from the photo for a larger version)