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Decoding a disease to save grains
Researchers at WSU and KSU identify, clone gene in wheat that provides resistance to wheat scab
— Page 6
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Year of Pulses exceeds promise
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| Saturday, December 31, 2016 | 3
Opening up Asian connections to benefit Idaho Trade mission to China by governor, University of Idaho agriculture dean and others designed to improve relations I 11
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Northwest Farm and Ranch is published quarterly by the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman Daily News and printed at the Tribune Publishing Co. Inc.’s printing facility at 505 Capital St. in Lewiston. To advertise in Northwest Farm and Ranch, contact Advertising Director Angela Kay with the Tribune Publishing Company at akay@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2251.
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Pulse crops are riding a wave of popularity following a United Nations marketing campaign.
Year of Pulses exceeds promise U.N.-backed campaign drawing to a close By Kathy Hedberg
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As the international Year of Pulses draws to a close the goals of those who produce and promote the products far exceeded expectations. “We’ve had pretty incredible results and the demand for our products has increased,” said Tim McGreevy, executive director of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow. “We’ve started a movement and it’s been kind of fun. And we were definitely the number one food trend in 2016.” The United Nations designated
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2016 as the Year of Pulses, which includes the edible seeds of legumes, such as dry peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans. According to the Western Pulse Growing Association, pulse production in the Pacific Northwest increased by 39 percent during the year. McGreevy said pulse producers began laying the groundwork for the U.N. designation as early as 2004. The idea was to educate and promote consumers — especially here in the United States — about the benefits of eating pulses. “We’ve tracked all of the new product launches in the U.S. and
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Northwest Farm and Ranch in 2005, when we really began our domestic marketing efforts, putting more money into it and have steadily increased our commitment to increase consumption of these crops in America,” McGreevy said. In 2005, he said, there were about 40 new product launches that contained dry peas, lentils or chickpeas. During this targeted year “we’ve had over 329 new product launches that can be seen on store shelves containing peas, lentils and chickpeas. … We’ve introduced new ways to use this product. But this international year has really ignited the consumer base and especially the millennials (those ages 18 to 24) who are looking for healthier choices and food that is affordable, sustainable and good for your health. And that is pulses.” Throughout the year there have been food demonstrations and celebrations around the world, including one earlier in December at the Best Western Plus University Inn in Moscow where growers met to toast the accomplishments of the Year of Pulses. Having a U.N. designation also heightened media attention on food events that featured peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans. “We had a goal at the begin-
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Commodities produced in the Palouse area are advertised in foreign markets with materials produced by the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow.
ning of the campaign to have 500 million media (mentions),” McGreevy said. “And at the end of October we surpassed over 3 billion media (mentions). So it’s kind of built on itself; it was kind of amazing to witness that.” For farmers who raise pulses — usually as a rotation crop with cereal grains — pulse demand and prices have gone up, even with the record number of acres that were planted to pulses in 2016. Usually, as production inflates, prices go down in a supply-anddemand market. Washington farmers bumped up their pulse acreage by almost 750,000 acres this year while Idaho producers added another 70,000 acres. “And yet we’re still seeing very strong pricing and profitable levels for our producers,” McGreevy said. “Commodity markets will go up and down, but in our case we have built demand worldwide and growing demand here (in the U.S. and it has translated into strong demand and strong returns. It is one of the few bright spots in production agriculture.” Kathy Hedberg can be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 9832326.
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Decoding fusarium head blight to save grains “ Researchers at WSU and KSU identify, clone gene in wheat that provides resistance to wheat scab By Josh Babcock For Northwest Farm and Ranch
The gene in wheat that provides resistance to fusarium head blight — a disease that shrivels kernels of cereal grains — has been identified and cloned by scientists at Washington State University and Kansas State University and it could benefit consumer health and farmers financially. Fusarium head blight, also known as wheat scab, is a devastating and dangerous disease of wheat, barley, corn, oats and other grains that causes yield loss, low seed germination and contamination of grain with mycotoxins, which can cause illness in those consuming the grains. “It makes you throw up, you can’t eat, and animals also throw up,” said Bikram Gill, distinguished professor and director of wheat genetics at Kansas State University. “Not only that, it causes devastating crop loss
Let
and the grain has to be thrown away.” The disease was responsible for $7.6 billion in losses in U.S. wheat fields between 1993 and 2001. Gill said the disease caused the Pumphrey biggest crop loss by a disease in farming history in the early 1990s. “What looks like a beautiful crop, two weeks later the whole head and spike is bleached,” Gill said. “And you thought you Gill had a great crop.” He said the disease is most prominent in corn, and the fungi makes its way to the spike during periods of increased rain. Gill said that’s why the disease is most common in areas like the Great Plains, where heavy rainfall and corn crops are common. Michael Pumphrey, WSU associate professor and spring wheat geneticist, said because there’s little rainfall on the Palouse, eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the disease isn’t common in those areas. He said areas more dependent on irrigation and
that experience heavier rainfall — like southern Idaho — are more prone to the disease. He said the disease is most significant in parts of Africa and Asia and this discovery will help reduce sickness, as grain is a primary food source for many people in parts of those countries. Pumphrey said the discovery and isolation of the gene — known as the novel gene — will allow for more resistant wheat and other cereal grain crops, too. “Scientists and geneticists examined the resistance and spent the past 15 years doing really detailed technical genetics to determine what the gene was,” he said. “The gene was already in wheat, it’s just people didn’t know how to select for it directly. We now know how to track it and make better resistant plants.” Gill described the novel gene’s resistance like a “lock and key.” “The way the pathogen causes disease is like a lock and key,” he said. “This key fits in the lock; the fungus sneaks into the plant and takes over plant machinery and uses it for disease. This resistant gene doesn’t allow the lock to be opened, now we can learn how the gene blocks the fungus.
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“We can also genetically engineer the gene to make wheat more resistant, beyond breeding” he added. “This is a huge step for us.” He said to discover the novel gene — referred to as the novel gene because of its unique DNA combination and the fact no one knows how it works — they had to sift through the DNA sequence of a spring wheat breed in China that was known to be resistant to the disease. Gill said it was like searching through 15 billion letters of the alphabet, with each gene
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We can also genetically engineer the gene to make wheat more resistant, beyond breeding. This is a huge step for us.� Bikram Gill Kansas State University distinguished professor and director of wheat genetics being about 5,000 words. “That’s how complex it was to isolate this gene,� he said. Gill said the gene could be used to help other cereal grain crops become resistant, too. “Right now GMOs aren’t accepted but this gene could be transported to barley and used there,� he said. Pumphrey said now that the novel gene is identified he would like to explore why the gene is resistant. “Right now we know what it is but not why and how it works,� he said. “The next step is understanding how
| Saturday, December 31, 2016 | 7
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that resistance works, how is it keeping the disease from infecting crops.� The discovery is at least 10 years in the making for Pumphrey and Gill. “It’s a special discovery because I committed more than a decade of my life toward that goal,� Pumphrey said. “This disease can cause devastating financial losses for farmers. Having resistance to the disease is a huge financial benefit — it can keep them from going bankrupt.� Josh Babcock can be reached at (208) 8834630, or by email to jbabcock@dnews.com.
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States take reins of cattle disease tracking program Industry’s distrust of federal government leads to approach, considered essential for trade in Asian markets By Joel Mills For Northwest Farm and Ranch
The development of animal disease traceability programs will be crucial to expanding trade opportunities for America’s cattle producers, according to the Washington Department of Agriculture. Dr. Scott Haskell, the assistant state veterinarian at the department, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture took a stab at creating a national program about 15 years ago. But it fell flat, largely due to the independent mindset of the country’s cattlemen and -women. “They have limitations on who they trust,” Haskell said. “The federal government is not high on their list.” So the USDA took a different approach by requiring each state to develop and fund its own traceability program.
The first phase of that effort is nearing completion, and Haskell said that highly desirable markets in the Pacific Rim will be open to Northwest producers once the programs are fully operational. “We want China, we want Japan, we want Korea, we want Vietnam,” he said. “Those are our targets, and they require complete animal traceability or they will not buy our cattle. That’s a very compelling fact. If you want trade, you play the game the way the game has been written.” Washington’s program works by requiring health certificates for all cattle coming into or moving around the state. Cattle are identified by a variety of methods, including brands, ear tags or microchips. If a disease is found, the database created by compiling the animal health information can be used to trace the
Barry Kough/Lewiston Tribune
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animal’s path back to its origin. Quarantines can then be imposed to isolate an outbreak to a small geographical area, rather than an entire state or region. And large-scale quarantines can have a devastating effect on producers, Haskell said, because cattle can’t move and have to be fed on a daily basis. That’s been the case recently in Alberta, Canada, where 10,000 head have been segregated due to bovine tuberculosis outbreak. Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field said his members support the program, including a 23 cents per head assessment to help fund its operation. “The goal of the system is to help our animal health officials have the ability to get that quick trace back to understand where an animal originated from so they can then have a more effective and efficient search when looking for other potentially exposed animals,� Field said. Haskell said the total cost for participating in the program could start around $3 per head, but should shrink rapidly to around $1. And that invest-
ment is well worth the potential for producers to expand into those lucrative Asian markets. “China can’t even come close to feeding their population,� Haskell said. “They’re reaching out to Australia, but we would like to get a big part of that business.� Phase two of the program begins next year, and involves working to ensure the programs neighboring states are compatible. The USDA requires that Washington’s system is compatible with those in Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. Haskell recently went to Oregon to test its compatibility, and will make a similar visit to Idaho in the spring. And that may be the most important component of the various programs because devastating diseases like tuberculosis and brucellosis don’t respect political boundaries, said Washington agriculture department spokesman Mike Louisell. “We’re all pretty much equally susceptible to any animal disease outbreak,� Louisell said. “We always have to be on the alert for disease potentials.� Joel Mills can be contacted at jmills@ lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.
Nez Perce Tribe looks at ag production opportunities Grant funds used to study business options, including possibility of dryland farming By Elaine Williams For Northwest Farm and Ranch
Whether the Nez Perce Tribe should enter the agriculture business is one of the questions being explored with a $60,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development. The tribe plans to examine a number of possibilities such as if it should engage in traditional dryland farming to raise crops like wheat, barley or dried peas, said Kermit Mankiller, business operations director at Nez Perce Tribal Enterprises. “What we’re looking for is how to get the greatest return on our equity in the land.� It will also look at irrigated crops that could include vegetables and fruit trees, Mankiller said. “We’ve got a really strong interest in producing more of our own food locally, not only for health benefits, but to address some of the hunger issues and create jobs.� Wine grapes could be a possibility too. A large
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share of the tribe’s more than 150,000 acres are within the recently designated Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticulture Area, Mankiller said. At least 85 percent of the grapes used in a wine have to come from within the AVA to use the emblem. Right now the AVA only produces 20 percent of the grapes it needs for wine made within it. Expanding into agriculture is just one of the ways the tribe is considering to diversify its businesses. The tribe is one of the region’s top employers with more than 900 jobs in its government and business operations. But its business interests are concentrated in casinos and convenience stores, which don’t offer much for people who don’t like working inside wearing uniforms, Mankiller said. The study will be completed in late August. It will have information that will help the tribe obtain additional grants or seek bank financing for new initiatives. Any project would require approval of tribal government before it moved forward, Mankiller said. “I’m a blank slate.�
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Opening up Asian connections to benefit Idaho Trade mission to China by governor, University of Idaho agriculture dean and others designed to improve relations By William L. Spence For Northwest Farm and Ranch
A recent trade mission to China helped a University of Idaho official connect with some of his foreign counterparts, as well as strengthen ties with industry representatives from back home. Michael Parrella, who became dean of UI’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in February, said improving relationships was one of the main reasons he signed up for the trip, which was sponsored by the Idaho Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture. “I’m new here, so it’s all about building relations,” he said. “They say Idaho’s a big state with a small-town culture. It’s important that you have face-time and interact with people one on one.” About 40 people went on the trade mission. It was led by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and included several other state officials, as well as representatives from the Idaho Wheat and Potato commissions and a number of businesses. UI Director of International Programs Bob Haggerty joined Parrella on the eight-day trip, which took place Oct. 28 to Nov. 5. They spent some time with
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The Temple of the Five Pagodas, a 18th century Buddhist temple in northwest China, was on the recent tour of Idaho officials on an agricultural trade mission.
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the governor’s group, but also split off on their own to visit various agricultural universities, including one in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. “It’s a ‘minor city’ with a population of about 3.5 million people,” Parrella Parrella said. “It’s up on the Steppe. The area reminds me a lot of Idaho. It has a lot of grain and potato production.” China is the largest potato producer in the world, but its per-acre yield is a fraction of what Idaho farmers typically enjoy, Parrella said. “They just don’t have the cultivars we have. I think we’re doing a lot of (potato research) work that they would envy. We have 33 scientists at CALS (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences ) who are working on potatoes. There’s not another institute like it in the world. We’re everything potatoes.” That was another reason he agreed to go on the trade mission shortly after arriving in Idaho. College of Agricultural and Life Sciences does world-class research, he said, but it’s
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collaborative efforts there as well in the future. “The key is we need to follow through,” Parrella said. “We established a relationship and made some initial contacts, but now we need to follow through and bring (the opportunities) to fruition.” Parrella had been to China before, but this trip was a reminder of just how fast the nation of 1.36 billion people is growing. “I’d been there in 2010, but even in the six years since then there has been a lot of growth,” he said. “They have five major or ‘elite’ cities, each of which has more than 20 million people. The number of buildings and people and congestion, how tightly people are packed — it’s just overwhelming.” At the same time, the size of the population and rate of economic growth creates enormous opportunities for Idaho and other American states. Capitalizing on those opportunities was the main point of the trade mission. China is already Idaho’s second-largest export market, topping $560 million in 2015, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. “If you can gain a foothold, the market potential is staggering,” Parrella said. “Incomes are rising and they’re eating more meat. They have huge concerns with food safety; food quality and freshness are front and center — and that pretty much defines agricultural products in Idaho.”
Asian from Page 11
not as well-known as it could be. “We fly under the radar,” he said. “One of my goals is to raise the profile of the college.” Cultivating ties with agricultural universities in China — doing student exchanges, joint education programs and collaborative research projects — is one way to accomplish that goal. For example, Parrella and Haggerty met with officials at Zhejiang University’s College of Agriculture and Biotechnology in Hangzhou, near Shanghai, to discuss the possibility of implementing a “two-plus-two” undergraduate program — two years at one institution, followed by two years at the other — as well as graduate student training. “We went to some of the best universities in the country,” Parrella said. “What concerned me going over there was that we might not be received well (because of UI’s low profile). But we typically met with the dean of the college and with several department heads. They gave a presentation about the college and I gave a presentation about UI. They were excited and eager to initiate connections and student exchanges. The response was beyond what I’d hoped for.” Chinese officials also expressed great interest in Idaho’s 4-H youth education programs, which is run by the UI Extension office, so there could be some
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William Spence can be contacted at bspence@ lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.
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Northwest Farm and Ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
| Saturday, December 31, 2016 | 13
New ways of modifying a changing environment Orchard netting provides a multi-use protection By Shanon Quinn For Northwest Farm and Ranch
After years of putting to use the simple tool of polyethylene netting to protect crops from tree-fruit loving birds, researchers at Washington State University are exploring the uses of netting against a plethora of other threats. It’s certain orchardists have a lot of those to worry about, from drought, hot sun and coddling moths to the more recent threats of climate change — all of which can be downgraded by use of that same simple precaution — with some alterations. Brendon Anthony, a WSU graduate student in horticulture, has spent the past year in Wenatchee, Wash., gathering first-hand experience on the uses of netting and its possible uses. “The orchard netting system was originally developed to protect against hail,” Anthony said. “Hail coming through with a late frost can rip your trees, damage your fruit and that’s really what it was intended for. You could end up saving 50 percent of your crop by putting this netting over it.” Anthony said one of the practical
uses of the netting is to protect against the scorching summers in the state. “In the Washington Northwest you get high amounts of solar radiation. It’s essentially growing fruit in the middle of the desert,” he said. Anthony said the intense sun can cause sunburn on fruit as well as drought stress, both of which have in the past been relieved through the use of overhead irrigation, which is an effective but environmentally costly solution. “It’s incredibly wasteful,” he said. Fortunately, netting isn’t just for predators anymore. “As they started to get more into it, they decided to put some shading element as well,” Anthony said. “In the recent decade or so there’s been newer technology looking into not only manipulating the amount of light coming in but also manipulating the quality of light. What that has evolved into is called photoselective netting. It’s efficient because it can manipulate the spectrum of light.” In a multitude of shades, the photoselective netting is capable of creating the right environment for trees to trigger the desired result.
Geoff Crimmins/Daily News
Fruit trees grow at Washington State University’s Tukey Orchard in March in Pullman. “I like to think of it as precision horticulture,” he said. “We can kind of hone in on technologies and promote a specific tree’s physiological response, let’s say increasing the amount of flowers you can get on the tree which leads to a higher yield.” Anthony said the research will also benefit orchardists as they deal with a changing climate.
“So far as climate change, it’s going to be huge,” he said. “The way the climate is shifting we’re getting a lot more of those hot days, we’re getting less rain, less water. You can conserve your water resources better in an age when you’re having less rain.” Shanon Quinn can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to squinn@dnews.com.
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Northwest Farm and Ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Bison ranching makes its way to Palouse Idaho farmer finds passion on buffalo farm
Gary Johnson’s bison are seen on his ranch in De Smet, Idaho, in 2015. Johnson started the ranch 17 years ago, after listening to a pitch about bison farming during an agriculture show.
By Mark Rollins For Northwest Farm and Ranch
Roughly two centuries ago there were more than 60 million American bison roaming the continental United States. By 1900, they had nearly been hunted to extinction. Conservation efforts since then have kept the species alive, and today bison number roughly 360,000. While there are still big wild herds in places like Yellowstone and Alaska, many are confined to smaller ranches, including some throughout the Northwest. One of these ranches is King Valley Buffalo, located in De Smet, Idaho, 36 miles north of Moscow. Gary Johnson started the ranch 17 years ago, after listening to a pitch about bison farming during an agriculture show. “When I first started I was farming with my brother
Courtesy Gary Johnson
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Northwest Farm and Ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
(Dale Johnson) full time ... my brother would raise cattle, I would raise buffalo,â&#x20AC;? Johnson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;About 15 years ago, I quit farming with my brother, and I would raise the buffalo and hay.â&#x20AC;? At that point, Johnson said, bison were going for about $1,000 per head, but it was not long before the price had bottomed out at about $340. Johnson, however, kept growing his herd, its size peaking at 60, and he now has about 30 head. He said he can now get about $700-$1,000 a head, which is about $2 a pound for a walking bison. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a specialty market for buffalo meat, but it will never be as big as beef or pork,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The meat is lean, and better for you, as it is low in cholesterol. It is sweeter, and it is dry when you cook it. It is best to cook it rare, because if you cook it dry, it will be tough to chew.â&#x20AC;? Bison present challenges not seen in cattle. Buffalo, Johnson said, are â&#x20AC;&#x153;still wild animals,â&#x20AC;? and its natural instinct is fight or flight when corralled, which can be dangerous for any human in their path. Gary Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bison are seen on his ranch in De Smet, Idaho, in 2015. When it comes to corralling the buffalo, Johnson uses a strong fence that is Johnson said the bison can be the mother cares for the newborn and 8-10 feet high, but he found he can keep extremely dangerous when calving. then brings the calf back to the herd his herd in a pasture with a 4- to 5-foot- When an alpha mother is about ready when she is ready, which can take up to tall fence and an electric wire running to give birth, certain buffalo will appoint 1-5 days. through it. The bison quickly learn to themselves as scouts or bodyguards of While the Palouse is great for growavoid being shocked, and while he has the area. At that point, Johnson said he ing many crops, it is not as ideal as areas had a few bison break loose, they most wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go anywhere near the mother or like eastern Montana or the Midwest are often stay in the area with the rest of the calf, because the entire herd could for bison. Johnson, however, said bison turn against him. When the calf is born, are adaptable to their environment and the herd.
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Courtesy Gary Johnson
can do well throughout the region. Johnson said bison are better foragers than cattle because unlike a cow, which will eat all the grass in one area and then move along, bison will literally make a lap around a field to graze. Johnson said the timber soil in De Smet, which grows good soil for grass and hay, is good for the buffalo.
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16 | Saturday, December 31, 2016 |
Northwest Farm and Ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Hemp could be grown in Washington soon Applications for industrial hemp license could be available in spring By Garrett Cabeza For Northwest Farm and Ranch
Industrial hemp could be a viable crop for the state of Washington in the future, but growers in the state cannot currently produce the crop legally because applications for a license to grow industrial hemp are not available. That could change soon. Washington’s Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Coordinator Emily Febles said applications for a Washington industrial hemp license could become available this spring. Once a Washington grower applies and is approved for a license, that person or company can grow industri-
al hemp but only within the research goals of the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s IHRP. “It has really great potential as an agricultural product for the state,” Febles said. Hemp is one of the varieties of the cannabis plant, and it can be used to make rope, clothes, food and more. Marijuana is also a variety of cannabis but marijuana was bred for its narcotic components while hemp was bred for its fiber and seed oil, according to the WSDA. When President Barack Obama signed the Agricultural Act of 2014, or the 2014 Farm Bill, a section of the bill allowed universities and state departments of agriculture to grow industrial hemp for research purposes. Febles said Washington passed a bill this year that is in compliance with the federal farm bill. The U.S. has grown industrial hemp in the past and some states can
“We’ll see how many people will legally grow and process industrial actually apply for a license,” Febles hemp and hemp seeds. “The United States and North said. “It’s a new thing sort of in the state so I think America really have a a lot of people are long, long history with very interested but industrial hemp,” it depends on who’s Febles said. “Our brave enough to sort Founding Fathers of try it the first grew it on their planyear.” tations and it was Febles said used a lot for naval Canada exports a rope all the way up large amount of its until World War II.” hemp seed oil and Febles said the grain to the U.S., so IHRP sent out a surshe could envision vey to people and Emily Febles U.S. industrial hemp companies that have Washington’s Industrial Hemp growers seizing that contacted the state market so the U.S. about industrial Research Pilot coordinator would not have to hemp. About 150 people responded and the results were import the crop. “Obviously it’s a new crop for the mixed results, with some indicating they would apply for a license and state so I think the novelty of it is other expressing no interest in pro- very interesting to people,” Febles said. “So whether or not they apply duction. for a license, I do think that there’s kind of a buzz around industrial hemp that’s pretty exciting.” To stay up to date with the IHRP, send an email to hemp@agr.wa.gov.
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Northwest Farm and ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Scientists hack plants, make them use sunlight better Experiments yield impressive leaf growth By Seth Borenstein Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Scientists have hacked a plant’s genes to make it use sunlight more efficiently — a breakthrough that could eventually dramatically increase the amount of food grown. Think of it as photosynthesis on steroids. Photosynthesis is how plants convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into food. But it’s a very inefficient process, using less than 1 percent of the energy available, scientists said. By genetically modifying part of the plant’s protective system, which kicks into gear when too much sunlight beams down, scientists were able to increase leaf growth between 14 and 20 percent in experiments with tobacco plants, according to a study published Nov. 17 in the journal Science. “Now that we know it works, it won’t be too difficult to do it with other crops,” said study lead author Stephen
In this photo provided by Katarzyna Glowacka, University of Illinois, a fluorescence imager analyzes how efficiently plants use light. Scientists have hacked a plant’s genes to make it use sunlight more efficiently, a breakthrough that may eventually dramatically increase the amount of food grown.
Long, a professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois. “If you look at crops around the world, it would (increase yield) many million tons of food.” That’s still at least 15 years away, but this is the first time scientists have been able to do something like this, Long said. A plant’s protective system is like a pressure relief valve in a steam engine. When there’s too much sunlight, it turns on and gets rid of excess energy safely. When the plant is in the shade, the protective system turns off, but not quickly, said study co-author Krishna Niyogi, a plant scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of California, Berkeley. Long said the protective system regulates sunlight in much the same way light-adjusting glasses darken and lighten. But it takes 10 minutes to an hour for plants to adjust, so the plant doesn’t get the optimal amount of energy, especially when it goes back into sunlight. So Long and
Associated Press
See Hack, Page 18
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Northwest Farm and Ranch
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Arctic farming defies icy conditions with hydroponics By Rachel D’Oro Associated Press
Associated Press
This photo provided the University of Illinois shows three plants transformed to improve photoprotection recovery are larger than the normal (wildtype) tobacco plant, right.
Hack
from Page 17 his team genetically modified the plant to turn that protection system off and on faster. Two different plants in the experiment increased leaf growth by 20 percent and a third by 14 percent. Long said he used tobacco because it is easy to manipulate the genet-
ics, but there is no reason it can’t work with rice, corn and other seed-oriented foods. Maybe the yield increase would be only 10 percent, he said. University of NebraskaLincoln agriculture professor Tala Awanda said the study makes sense, but cautioned the yield might not be quite so high for conventional food crops. Still, he added in an email, “this study remains a breakthrough.”
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The landscape is virtually treeless around a coastal hub town above Alaska’s Arctic Circle, where even summer temperatures are too cold for boreal roots to take hold. Amid these unforgiving conditions, a creative kind of farming is sprouting up in the largely Inupiat community of Kotzebue. A subsidiary of a local Native corporation is using hydroponics technology to grow produce inside an insulated, 40-foot shipping container equipped with glowing magenta LED lights. Arctic Greens is harvesting kale, various lettuces, basil and other greens weekly from the soil-free system and selling them at the supermarket in the community of nearly 3,300. “We’re learning,” Will
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Anderson, president of the Native Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp., said of the business launched last spring. “We’re not a farming culture.” The venture is the first of its kind north of the Arctic Circle, according to the manufacturer of Kotzebue’s pesticide-free system. The goal is to set up similar systems in partnerships with other rural communities far from Alaska’s minimal road system — where steeply priced vegetables can be more than a week in transit and past their prime by the time they arrive at local stores. There are other tools for extending the short growing season in a state with cold soil. One increasingly popular method involves high tunnels, tall hoop-shaped structures that cover crops. But the season can last year-round with indoor hydroponics, which uses water and nutrients to grow vertically
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stacked plants rooted in a binding material such as rock wool. Anchorage-based Vertical Harvest Hydroponics, which builds enclosed systems out of transformed shipping containers, partnered with Kikiktagruk. The 2-year-old company also sold the system to a farmer in the rural town of Dillingham. “Our vision is that this can be a long-term solution to the food shortage problems in the north,” said Ron Perpich, a company founder. “We’re hoping that we can put systems anywhere that there’s people.” But the operations have challenges, including steep price tags. Startup costs in Kotzebue were around $200,000, including the customized freight container and the price to fly it in a C-130 transport plane from Anchorage, 550 miles to the southeast.
Northwest Farm and Ranch
| Saturday, December 31, 2016 | 19
a chronically high unemployment rate, with the school district, state and local hospital among its major employers. For now, the biggest selling point of the hydroponics produce is freshness. Prices are parallel with greens brought up from the Lower 48. But operators are trying to work out kinks and find ways to lower energy costs, possibly through such alternatives as wind power, according to Anderson. “We want to be a benefit to the community,” he said. “Not only do we want fresher produce, but affordable produce.” Nearly 400 miles to the northeast, the village corporation in the Inupiat community of Nuiqsut is considering acquiring one of the systems. Joe Nukapigak, president of the Kuukpik Corp., said he plans to travel to Kotzebue to see hydroponics in action. Will Anderson via Associated Press Unlike diesel-powered Kotzebue, In this Oct. 19 photo provided by Will Anderson, shoots of crops are seen Nuiqsut is just miles from the Prudhoe inside an indoor hydroponics farm owned by a local Alaska Native corporation in Bay oil field and taps into far less costly natural gas. Kotzebue, Alaska. Nukapigak envisions the oil industry as a possible customer if hydroponresidents who regularly buy the produce. garden.” She said there are plans to start providFor now, the new business is operating ics takes hold in his village. He also ing it at the local hospital’s cafeteria, as a prototype, especially as it enters the likes the thought of same-day freshness where she is an assistant manager. long, harsh winter season in Kotzebue, as opposed to produce that’s sometimes ruined by the time it arrives. Adan said the locally grown greens 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle. “If we have a local operation like are superior to the produce that’s transThe town, the regional hub for northported north. west Alaska villages, is built on a 3- that, it would not get spoiled as much,” “It’s so much better,” she said. “It mile-long spit, and many there live a he said. “It would be made locally, and tastes like it just came out of your subsistence lifestyle. The community has that would help.”
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The town also relies heavily on expensive diesel power, so operations could eat into profits. In addition, moving tender produce from its moist, warm growing enclosure to a frigid environment can be challenging. And farming can be a largely foreign concept to Native communities with deeply imbedded traditions of hunting and gathering. Still, the potential benefits outweigh the downsides, according to Johanna Herron, state market access and food safety manager. Grown with the correct nutrient balance, hydroponics produce is considered just as safe as crops grown using other methods. “It’s not the only solution,” Herron said. “Hydroponics is just a piece of it, but certainly an excellent thing for communities to look into.” Alaska Commercial Co., which has stores in nearly three dozen remote communities, is carrying Arctic Greens in the Kotzebue store. This week, the Dillingham AC store is beginning to sell produce grown in the local farm’s hydroponics system. The chain will bring the Arctic Greens brand to more locations if expansion plans prove cost-effective, AC general manager Walter Pickett told The Associated Press. “The produce is fantastic, at least what we’ve been seeing out of Kotzebue,” he said. “The customers love it.” Lisa Adan is among the Kotzebue
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
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Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Northwest Farm and Ranch
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