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IN NEED OF BREEDERS Decline in farm programs threatens our food supply / Page 2

2 | Saturday, September 26, 2020 |

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

| RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT |

Plant breeders are withering away Decline in programs threatens food supply; survey shows funding, personnel have dropped By Michael Wells for Farm & Ranch

ublic plant breeding programs are declining across the country, which experts say could lead to problems in food security for the country. A recent survey found that public plant breeding programs were seeing decreases in funding and personnel. Washington State University horticulture orofessor Kate Evans, who leads WSU’s pome fruit (apples and pears) breeding program, is a member of the U.S. Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee that surveyed 278 public plant breeding programs around the country. The study found a significant reduction in full-time equivalent personnel working in public plant breeding programs and a lack of available resources for the programs that typically take decades to produce new, more resilient food plants. The plant breeding program Evans works with at WSU is well-funded through the large local apple Evans and pear industry and royalty money. That program recently released the Cosmic Crisp apple, with more than 15 million trees in the ground over the last three years. The apple was developed to be available to all growers in Washington. Other regional programs, usually associated with universities, are feeling the pinch from declining budgets. The drop means that U.S. Department of Agriculture capacity funds are being spread thinner as they are used for other things, Evans said. “Plant breeding programs get hit,” she said. The programs are expensive, it takes See BREEDERS, Page 3

ABOVE: Graduate student Shiferaw Gizaw and two undergraduate researchers collect data on research plots. Plant breeding programs can develop disease- and droughttolerant crops. Robert Hubner/WSU

LEFT: Arron Carter works in the Washington State University Plant Growth Facility, making new winter wheat cross pollinations.

Arron Carter Washington State University

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 3

Breeders from Page 2

many years to develop a new variety of a crop, and they require long-term funding, which is a significant investment. Because plant breeding programs play the long game, many grant cycles do not work for them, and they struggle to compete for funding. It took the WSU program 20 years to go from seeds to product. Grant cycles are typically much shorter and require results in a much shorter time frame. “There is a need for continued funding for public plant breeding programs,” Evans said. “There is a need for more sustainable funding.” The committee will replicate the survey every five years to track any declines in public plant breeding programs. Many of today’s crops were developed through public plant breeding programs, Evans said. “We can grow things in places where we couldn’t grow them before,” she said. “Much of this is because we’ve had these regional programs.” The regional programs develop food crops that are resilient to the conditions of their region and that maintain the nation’s food security resilience. breeding programs mainPlant breeding tain our resilience.” programs develop diseaseThe focus on food tolerant crops, droughtsecurity has received tolerant crops, better more attention during the tasting crops, and they COVID-19 pandemic. develop crops that have “Plant breeding plays higher yields and increase “It’s getting hotter a fundamental part of the production. Bacteria, plant pathogens and pests long-term food security of out there. It could continue to adapt, and crop this country,” Evans said. varieties must keep up. be a disease, a pest, “The tremendous increases Plant breeding programs food production over the climate change, any in help growers stay ahead of past century are largely those threats. due to plant breeding, and number of things. “It’s getting hotter out the world’s population is We do not live in a there,” Evans said, alluding only increasing.” to climate change. “It could Some public plant stable environment, be a disease, a pest, climate breeding programs are change, any number of and there are many focused regionally, such things. We do not live in as Washington’s cereal different ways to a stable environment, and breeding programs there are many different that develop grains that deal with that.” ways to deal with that.” grow well in eastern The programs work on Washington, and the citrus varieties of crops in diverse — KATE EVANS, WSU industry, particularly conditions. As the climate in Florida, where a HORTICULTURE PROFESSOR changes with warmer temcitrus greening disease peratures and precipitation devastated growers with changes, public plant breeding programs green, bitter, misshapen fruit. are already working on crops that will Plant-breeding programs are working to produce in the region amid those changing develop varieties that naturally repel the conditions. As the programs decline, so, too pest that causes the problems. does the nation’s ability to produce food. “We run the risk of losing diversity in Wells may be contacted at mwells@ the food available to us,” Evans said. “Plant lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.

“

ABOVE: Arron Carter takes a last look at breeding plots before harvest at Spillman Agronomy Farm near Pullman. Gary Shelton / Washington State University

LEFT: The WSU winter wheat summer crew finishes up hand harvest of single rows in early generation breeding material.

Arron Carter Washington State University

4 | Saturday, September 26, 2020 |

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE

| PRODUCTION |

Contributed photo

Pulses, such as peas and lentils, are sorted at a Columbia Grain International pulse processing facility at the Port of Wilma in Whitman County. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether certain pet foods containing high levels of pulses contribute to heart disease in dogs. Some say more research is needed before such a conclusion can be drawn, and Columbia Grain is donating $25,000 for more research.

Pulse producers challenge link to pet food, heart disease

FDA exploring possible connection between grain-free foods containing peas, lentils with canine dilated cardiomyopathy By Elaine Williams for Farm & Ranch

olumbia Grain, the operator of one of the largest dried pea, lentil and garbanzo processing plants in the region, is taking a close look at a type of heart disease in dogs. The attention follows an announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it is examining a

possible link between certain pet foods and canine dilated cardiomyopathy, described by the FDA as a condition that “can be severe and even fatal.” The pet foods involved were ones with a high proportion of peas, lentils and other pulses. “Based on the data collected and analyzed thus far, the agency believes See PULSE, Page 5

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

rising uses of those ingredients and was even outpacing growth of sales to hummus makers, Roelofs said. from Page 4 Then, in 2018 the FDA announced its investigation, and sales dipped by that the potential association between 250,000 metric tons, he said. diet and (the disease) in dogs is a By comparison, Idaho and complex scientific issue that may Washington, two of the highestinvolve multiple factors,” according producing states for pulses, last year to an FDA report updated in raised about 300,000 metric June 2019. tons, Roelofs said. Columbia Grain is donating “The FDA based their $25,000 to help pay for three actions on a very small sample studies that will be completed of dogs with unsubstantiated by BSM Partners, a firm with scientific evidence,” according veterinarians with expertise to a news release from in clinical nutrition, cardiology Columbia Grain. “This bad and food safety, according to a press has negatively impacted news release it issued in July. the grain-free pet food “We want to do a study Tony Roelofs industry, as well as the pulse on our own to find out what farmers and trade.” the truth of the matter is,” said Tony BSM Partners has already analyzed Roelofs, the vice president of Columbia more than 150 studies related Grain’s pulse division. to the illness and found they don’t His employer has a processing plant support a tie between grain-free and at the Port of Wilma in Whitman County legume-rich diets and canine dilated west of Clarkston, where it cleans and cardiomyopathy, according to the sorts legumes by color and size. Columbia Grain news release. What experts learn about the illness “They say their review also points could have an impact on the profits of out significant gaps in the literature farmers in Idaho and Washington, states available, which offers opportunities that produce high volumes of dried peas, for further research,” according to the Columbia Grain news release. lentils and garbanzo beans, he said. The FDA is also seeking more Pet food had been one of the fastest

Pulse

information. The issue came to the agency’s attention after reports of 320 cases of the disease in 2018 and another 197 in the first four months of 2019, according to a report from the FDA updated in 2019. That contrasts with between one and three reports annually from 2014-17. Of all of the reports the FDA received between 2014 and April 2019, only nine were in cats and the rest were in dogs. Canine dilated cardiomyopathy is recognized as a genetic condition in dogs, typically large or giant breeds such as Doberman pinschers, Great Danes and Irish wolfhounds and is also seen in cocker spaniels connected with

Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 5

another ailment, according to the FDA. “Many of the (2018 and 2019) case reports included breeds of dogs not previously known to have a genetic predisposition to the disease,” according to the FDA. Like Columbia Grain, the FDA wants to know more. “The FDA is using a range of sciencebased investigative tools as it strives to learn more about this emergence of (canine dilated cardiomyopathy) and its potential link to certain diets or ingredients,” according to the agency. Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune. com or (208) 848-2261.

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6 | Saturday, September 26, 2020 |

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

| PROMOTING THEIR PRODUCT |

Princeton farmers plant seeds in D.C. Anna and Jacob Vowels went to the nation’s capital earlier this year to meet with legislators, policymakers and industry leaders

Both natives to the area, the Vowels took over the 1,000-acre family farm in Princeton in 2007, raising crops of wheat, hay, alfalfa and garbanzo beans, among others, on the same land Jacob’s great-grandfather worked. Anna, Jacob and their three children now live in his great-grandmother’s home, he said. Anna said programs fueled by the farm bill that help small farms By Scott Jackson get on their feet and are adminisfor Farm & Ranch tered through organizations like the Farm Services Agency were critical n a year that saw the finalization in getting their small operation up of numerous pivotal trade and running. agreements between the U.S. “If you talk to bankers and and other countries, two fourthaccountants, they spend a lot of time generation Idaho farmers found helping people get out of farming, themselves discussing issues and we were one of the few trying to affecting farmers in the Northwest get back into it,” she said. with the movers and shakers of the Both from small towns in north agricultural world. central Idaho, Anna and Jacob have known each other most of their Thanks to an Idaho Grain lives. Jacob grew up on his family’s Producers Association program farm in Princeton, working with his that mentors small farmers to grandfather and learning to drive become advocates and leaders for a grain truck at 10. They attended their trade, Anna and Jacob Vowels the same school and were friends went to Washington, D.C., earlier throughout their childhood but said this year to meet with legislators, they didn’t start dating until Anna’s policymakers and industry leaders. first year of college at the University Among those who met with the of Idaho. Vowels were Idaho members of After college, Jacob took a job in Congress and U.S. Department central Washington with the state’s of Agriculture Deputy Secretary fish and wildlife department, and his Stephen Censky. grandfather retired, leasing out the Jacob Vowels said he was family farm. When the lease expired surprised at high level officials’ in 2007, the two made the decision receptiveness and willingness to move their small family back to to listen to first-hand accounts of Idaho and take up the toil of their issues facing Idaho farmers but predecessors. He said organizations noted many are farmers themselves. like the Idaho Grain Producers “Sometimes on the farm, you’re Association and the Farm Services out there all day by yourself on Agency not only helped make that the tractor, and you can feel kind Courtesy Vowels Family possible, but also prepared them to of isolated,” he said. “But there’s a lot of other people in the same Princeton farmers Jacob and Anna Vowels, seated next to their Idaho Grain advocate effectively about the issues situation, and (it’s good) to know Producers Association mentor, “Potlatch Joe” Anderson, discuss issues facing small facing the industry. He said it was always his dream that these people have been there, family wheat farms with U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky to take over the farm. done that, and they can really (not pictured) on Jan. 15 in Washington, D.C. “I think it’s great. We’re raising relate to what you’re going through our family here now. We have three During their mid-January visit, the She said the Idaho Grain Producers and (are) really looking out for your children; they all play a role here on the Vowels said trade agreements with Association and other industry orgabest interest.” farm now, and they’re really helpful,” “It encourages us that we should nizations like it have been central in China and Mexico were being finalized he said. “I’m not really a big city perand discussion of next year’s farm bill maintaining an agricultural lobbying continue to follow policy and speak up, son, and so this is a great environment and we realized how important the body in Washington, D.C., and connect- was already a hot topic. They said the to raise our families.” agricultural lobby is,” Anna said. “It is ing actual farmers with the people who finalization of these agreements was so important that we have a presence will shape the policy and legislation important to them, pointing out most Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com. Idaho wheat is exported. that affects them. in D.C. year-round.”

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 7

| LABOR |

Farmers adjust potato harvest for virus safety By Jacqueline Allison Skagit Valley Herald

OUNT VERNON, WASH. — As this year’s potato harvest begins in Skagit County, farms have had to adjust their operations to meet COVID-19 safety requirements. Physical distancing, masks and other measures are required under Gov. Jay Inslee’s requirements for agricultural businesses. The measures are aimed at protecting the health and safety of agricultural workers. Don McMoran, director of the Washington State University Skagit County Extension, said farms are making sure they check the necessary boxes to comply with the new aspects of doing business. The extension estimates

about 12,000 acres of potatoes are grown in Skagit County and are worth about $5,000 an acre, making it the county’s most valuable crop at $60 million a year, McMoran said. Outdoor harvesting work is less of a COVID-19 health concern than the packing and shipping operations that take place inside large packing plants that are called potato sheds. Workers typically stand shoulder-to-shoulder sorting, sizing and packing potatoes, a situation in which physical distancing can be difficult, said Darrin Morrison, partner at Smith & Morrison Farms south of Mount Vernon. “We had to revamp some of our protocols to keep people socially distanced,” he said. “That’s been the biggest headache in keeping a packing

shed running.” Morrison said Smith & Morrison Farms has installed plexiglass and plastic dividers to separate workers. It has also taken steps to separate workers during breaks. Like all businesses, the facility must screen workers for signs and symptoms of COVID19 at the start of each day. Hughes Farms, located along Farm-to-Market Road west of Mount Vernon, has staggered start and break times for workers to reduce crowding in high-traffic areas, said partner Michael Hughes. Another rule requires businesses to sanitize shared equipment between uses. “We’re just trying to follow the governor’s guidance and do the best we can,” Hughes said. At Norm Nelson Inc. in

Burlington, the farm has been able to space workers 6 feet apart without losing efficiency, said financial officer Ryan Schols. He said the farm’s purchase of automated equipment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic has helped decrease the number of workers in one area. The farm has enough masks and hand sanitizer, in part thanks to a giveaway of safety supplies by the Washington Farm Bureau in Mayin Conway, Schols said. “The last thing we want is to get anyone sick, so we’re taking all precautions the state has recommended,” he said. No COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at agricultural settings in Skagit County, though some have contracted the disease. Skagit

County Public Health has not released data on the number of cases tied to f arms and agricultural facilities. “Farms with (positive cases) have been quick to isolate those individuals and quarantine them and are following the instructions set forth by the health department,” McMoran said. “Our farms are doing a pretty good job trying to follow rules and regulations.” Morrison said if a facility had to shut down temporarily because of a large number of COVID-19 cases, it would be a hardship on the business. “That would be a very costly consequence,” he said. Morrison said while market demand has fallen for potatoes in restaurants, schools and hotels, more people are buying potatoes for cooking at home.

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Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

Century Ranch Award honors legacy of T.A. Long and the generations since who have worked the land near Grangeville ever since, grandson Ted Wilkins says By Joel Mills for Farm & Ranch

even and a half bucks. That was all the money T.A. Long had in his pocket when he and two of his brothers got off a train in Grangeville in 1891, their last stop on an arduous journey from Cork County, Ireland. But after a few years of hard work, including more than three years mining gold at Warren, Long founded a ranch that has endured for 122 years. The Idaho State Historical Society and the Idaho Department of Agriculture hon-

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 9

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: The Wilkins farm displays its Century Ranch sign. MIDDLE: Ted and Mary Wilkins, center, holding a sign and an award, pose with their family and their Century Ranch award at their farm near Grangeville. ABOVE: The farm stands against the backdrop of the Camas Prairie. LEFT: T.A. Long and family sit for a family portrait. Long was the first member of the family to own what is now the Wilkins Ranch, and was also Ted Wilkins’ grandfather.

ored that legacy over the summer with a Century Ranch Award. Long’s grandson Ted Wilkins said he applied for the designation, presented in July, with his grandfather’s efforts and sacrifices in mind. “It’s to recognize my grandfather’s accomplishments more than anything the way he put that together when times were tough,” Wilkins said. “It just recognizes what the generations before us did to keep that put together. And it’s our goal to continue it.” Long was born in 1872 and left Ireland with his brothers, landing in New York on Feb. 15, 1891, according

August Frank/for Farm & Ranch and contributed photo

to a family history Wilkins wrote for the Century Ranch application. They made it to Idaho by March and worked in the Grangeville area before spending 3½ years trying to strike it rich in the central Idaho gold fields. By 1898, Long was able to purchase a relinquishment on a homestead 15 miles west of Grangeville at the end of what is now Gill Point Road. He lived in a home that was already on the property, adding a barn a short time later. Bachelorhood ended in May 1902 with his marriage to Emma Reibold. Their first daughter, Ida, arrived in August 1903. Wilkins’ history details the expansion of the ranch over the next several years, starting with the purchase of 320 acres

from James Woodward for $2,200. Other additions came in 1904, 1909 and 1911. The family grew along with the property, with the arrivals of children Dora, John and Eva (Wilkins’ mother). Sadly, Emma Long died in 1913 after the birth of her last child, Grant. After the tragedy, the family moved to Clarkston in 1916 for health reasons. They hired another family to work the ranch while Long continued to retain management and financial responsibility. They moved back to the Grangeville area in 1922, living on a farm north of town. Eva Long married Lester Wilkins in 1926, and the couple worked at farm jobs until 1930. Their first children, Emma Jean and Merlin, were born before they

moved to the family ranch in the fall of 1930, where they operated a partnership and share lease with Long. Wilkins came along in 1936, and his parents bought the ranch three years later with a loan from the Federal Land Bank for $12,000 at 5 percent interest. The family moved to Grangeville in 1942, but Lester continued to run the ranch until he and Eva were able to repay the loan in 1945. After that, they continued to use the ranch’s pasture while leasing the farm land for shares. Wilkins married Mary Rider in 1955, and they worked in the area until the fall of 1957, when they moved to the ranch to work a partnership agreement and a share lease with his parents. They had four

children: Steven, Mark, Jeff and Carla. Wilkins bought the ranch in the fall of 1967 for $50,000 on contract at 5 percent interest. He and Mary put the kids to work during their school years, and Mark started renting land in 1980 and Jeff in 1989. Grandson Ken Bruegeman is the latest family member to carry on with the ranch, working there part time after 2015 and graduating to renting a small wheat field last year. “We are planning to bring Ken on a full-time basis as Mark and Jeff cut back,” Wilkins wrote. The ranch grew to cover more than 1,000 acres over those years, with about 350 acres cultivated and the rest in pasture. The spread is divided by Wilkins

from a depth of 200 feet. Wilkins said the most important factor in keeping the ranch in the same family for more than a century has been the teamwork exhibited by its members over those many years. “Without their help, none of us would have made it,” he said of his forebears. “Especially in the ’30s, when my parents moved out there. It was (Great) Depression times. It was more subsistence than anything. They made a living off of it, and that’s about all.” The Century Farm and Ranch program, a partnership program of the Idaho State Historical Society and the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, was created as part of Idaho’s Centennial Celebration. More than 450 farms and ranches statewide have been designated since the Century Farm and Ranch program began in 1990.

Gulch, and some of the cultivated acres are rocky. Part of the pasture is steep, but Wilkins wrote that most of it is good. “It’s on the edges,” he said of the overall property. “I’ve always cussed my grandfather for not farming out of the middle of the prairie. But that’s beside the point. Some of it’s more marginal than some, but some of it’s pretty good. Some of the smaller fields are a little more expensive to farm, but we’re getting by.” Finding water has always been one of the biggest challenges for the ranch, and wells dug over the years have had mostly poor results. For instance, five wells drilled between 1930 and 1970 had little success, Wilkins wrote, and the current Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or well yields less than 1 gallon per minute (208) 848-2266.

10 | Saturday, September 26, 2020 |

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE

| ANIMAL HUSBANDRY |

Backyard critters may need more vets Studies find that as the number of backyard livestock, poultry owners increases in urban areas, animals might not receive veterinary care By Garrett Cabeza for Farm & Ranch

he number of small-scale and backyard livestock and poultry owners in urban and suburban areas has greatly increased over the last decade in the U.S., but two recent studies found many owners do not seek veterinary care for these types of animals, and a significant number of veterinarians do not treat such animals. Dale Moore, Washington State University director of veterinary medicine extension in Pullman, said many animal owners do not seek professional care for their animals because they feel comfortable caring for their animals themselves and/ or are financially constrained to pay for veterinary services. According to the study published in 2019 that surveyed small-scale and backyard livestock and poultry owners in Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado, 43 percent of owners had not sought animal health care in the last year. “That’s a little concerning,” said Moore, who took part in both studies. “I want to make sure that the animals are well taken care of.” As for veterinarians, Moore said those surveyed said their veterinary practices focused on companion animals, such as cats and dogs, instead of backyard livestock like chickens,

Courtesy Charlie Powell

Sisters Hazel and Carmen Stevens, of Moscow, show off their backyard poultry that they have trained to walk on a leash. The harnesses were custom sewn by Carmen. Backyard livestock and poultry ownership in urban areas has greatly increased over the last 10 years in the U.S., but studies say many owners do not seek veterinary care for these types of animals, and numerous veterinarians do not treat such animals. goats and pigs. The study published this year, which surveyed veterinarians in urban and periurban areas, the space between urban and rural areas, in the same four states as the livestock and Moore poultry owners, said most respondents perceived an increase in backyard poultry and livestock in their practice areas, but few were actively treating such animals, primarily because of a lack of facilities, interest or experience. “We knew the animals were

there, but we wanted to know if the companion animal veterinarians were seeing them, and the answer is: not much,” Moore said. She said she does not have an answer to solving the financial constraints of animal owners and the specialized services of veterinarians. “I think one of the concerns that we have is that first, we hope that people caring for these animals know enough about animal husbandry and animal health care so that the

inated food products like eggs. “We’re not sure if all the owners are aware of animals’ needs, and then we’re concerned about both public and animal health and welfare,” Moore said. “We have this opportunity to increase the veterinary services or at least keep an eye on this population of animals, but I don’t think we’re there yet.” According to the animal owners study, 82 percent of owners gained information about animal health from the internet, and 71 percent sought information about animal treatment procedures from the web. Moore said the internet can be fraught with misinformation and that veterinarians are the best source of information for animal health and food safety. She said animal owners should take preventative measures, such as vaccinating and supplying nutritious foods, to keep their animals healthy. Moore said there is plenty of backyard poultry in large western cities like Seattle and Denver, but also in smaller towns like Pullman and Moscow. “You’d be surprised,” Moore said of the number of backyard poultry in major U.S. cities. About 74 percent of respondents in the animal owners survey used their animals’ products for their own consumption, but 48 percent sold animal products, mostly through internet sales and farmers markets. Chickens are the most popular of the backyard livestock and poultry animals, because they are easy to keep and able to live in a backyard, Moore said. According to the animal owners survey, 86 percent of respondents owned chickens.

animals are being taken care of properly and their welfare is addressed,” Moore said. The second concern, she said, is some of these animals serve as reservoirs for certain diseases that can infect people and other animals. So, Moore and other veterinary professionals want to make sure these animal owners understand those diseases, can recognize them and take action. She said animal owners also need to understand both how to raise their animals and the food they produce, so the ani- Cabeza can be reached at mals do not become ill and so (208) 883-4631, or by email the owners do not sell contam- to gcabeza@dnews.com.

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 11

Students work with growers to make water testing easier WSU develops website to share irrigation data

Producers historically have tested their water several times throughout the growing season to meet buyer requirements, but increased testing requirements may be put in place in the near future, based on current requirements in the Food and Drug Administration’s Produce Safety Rule.

By Anthony Kuipers for Farm & Ranch

ashington State University students are W working on a project aimed at helping growers share irrigation water quality data with each other online. In April, students tested a beta version of a website where growers can upload their water testing data and GPS coordinates. Tiffany Reiss, program developer in WSU’s Innovation and Research Engagement Office, said the university’s researchers would like to seek grant funding to build a mobile app growers can use to access this data. Faith Critzer, associate professor at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, Wash., said the project is an example of students tackling a

Reiss

Critzer

real-world problem and working to serve the greater good. She said the idea for crowdsourcing water quality data stemmed from proposed Food and Drug Administration standards that would require growers to test their water at a higher frequency — five times during the growing season. Critzer said this would almost double the cost and time required of growers to collect samples, drive them to a lab and fill out paperwork. Currently, growers are

Courtesy Washington State University required to test one to three times throughout the season. The tests are required to determine if the water is contaminated with a foodborne pathogen like E. coli. After hearing concerns from Columbia Basin growers about these possible testing requirements, it became clear there was a need for growers using the same canal system to pool water testing data together.

Since WSU undergraduate students are required to take a capstone course that puts their education into practice, Reiss connected Critzer and the growers with WSU seniors. She helped identify students in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture to develop an idea for a website. After testing the website, the growers provided their feedback, which was largely

positive. “They really loved the concept,” Critzer said. She will wait for additional FDA guidance on the Produce Safety Rule before further implementation of the tool, but is already planning to work with future capstone classes to continue with the project. Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.

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12 | Saturday, September 26, 2020 |

Northwest Farm and Ranch | FALL 2020

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE

| AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS |

Farm country’s red roots runs deep Despite years of low prices under Trump, Washington wheat country likely to remain Republican By Thomas Clouse

Spokesman-Review

POKANE — Jeff Emtman is a fourth-generation farmer in south Spokane County, not far from where the Ponderosa pines give way to the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse. Emtman, 50, spoke from his combine recently as he finished what agriculture officials believe is the 10th-best harvest in Washington since records started being kept in 1978. “It’s going pretty good,” Emtman said. “We are probably 10 to 20 percent better yield than average.” But, the price of soft white wheat at Ritzville was trading Monday at $4.57 a bushel. The price was better near Pullman, at $5.30, because it costs less to transport it to Portland. Most farm economists believe farmers need more than $6 to cover the costs to produce that bushel. That price-to-cost disparity raises two questions: How long can Washington wheat farmers survive below the cost of production? And will their economic struggles change how they vote in the upcoming presidential election? Farm country has traditionally been a Republican stronghold, and it appears it will remain that way. Despite receiving alltime record wheat prices during President Barack Obama’s administration and suffering years of low wheat prices during a trade war

Dan Pelle/Spokesman-Review

A farmer harvests wheat on Aug. 24 near Sunrise and Hemmingway Roads just south of Garfield in Whitman County. The price of wheat remains below what economists believe is the cost to produce it. caused by President Donald Trump, farmers like Emtman continue to support the Republican agenda. Emtman remembers the Obama years, when wheat prices were high enough to pay all his bills and leave a profit. Prices were so good some farmers got back into the game after leaving the field, he said. The current low prices aren’t enough for him to switch parties. “I’m for what he’s doing on trade,” Emtman said of Trump. He added that most of his friends and colleagues feel the same way. Randy Fortenbery, a farm economics professor at Washington State University, said he expects most commercial farmers, like Emtman, to remain strongly in the red camp. “If you talk about commer-

cial agriculture, they will continue to support him,” Fortenbery said of Trump. Amid the trade wars he sparked Fortenbery with China, the European Union, Canada, India, Japan and Mexico, Trump authorized farm bailouts of $12 billion in 2018, another $18 billion in 2019 and the U.S. CARES Act included about $19 billion more. Trump “gave (farmers) some compensation for the trade friction. And, he was able to negotiate agreements with Japan and renegotiate (the North American Free Trade Agreement),” Fortenbery said. “So farmers will say he got us back on track and compensated us.” That doesn’t mean Trump

won’t lose some voters. “The farmers he might lose are those who sell in mostly domestic markets. Hennings They aren’t like fifth-generation farms. They are selling ... directly to restaurants or farmer’s markets. They are not as red as larger commercial operations” Fortenbery said. “And they have been more affected” by COVID-19.

Politics and farming Michelle Hennings, the executive director of Washington Association of Wheat Growers, was like many contacted for this story who did not want to directly comment about whether the lean years for local farmers would influence how they vote.

“We’ve lost that middle. That’s what is frustrating on our end,” Hennings said. “It’s either so far right or so far left that we can’t work together. When Republicans and Democrats agree, that’s when we really get our issues worked out.” Fortenbery, who earned his doctorate in farm economics in the late 1980s, said the annual price of wheat clearly shows that local farmers enjoyed record prices under Obama and have mostly struggled to cover costs during Trump’s first term. In six of Obama’s eight years, local wheat farmers earned better than $6 per bushel. But, the annual price hasn’t approached $6 once under Trump, according to statistics from the Washington Grain Commission. But Fortenbery said the naked truth of the matter is that wheat markets generally don’t really give a hoot who is sitting as president. “Except for the trade impacts in ’18 and the first half of ’19, I don’t assign the higher prices to either administration,” Fortenbery said. “What happened in 2008 is that we had a structural change in demand and we had much more limited supplies. The low prices now are really a function of high supplies.” World markets arguably have more effect on Washington wheat growers than any other grain producers. That’s because more than 90 percent of Evergreen State wheat gets exported to other countries. “The politics can matter, but it’s hard to overcome a supply situation with politics,” Fortenbery said. “I’m sure the Chinese would not want to be buying from us right now. But they lost half their hog herd See ROOTS, Page 13

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Roots from Page 12

and they had some flooding issues. So, they are buying, including from us.” Politics could change commodity prices quickly. “Let’s say Russia invaded the Ukraine,” Fortenbery said. “That’s political. If that somehow destroyed the crop in Ukraine as the Russians marched across it, that could affect prices because it’s affecting supply.” Global weather has been consistent enough that all the major producers of wheat — Australia, Ukraine, Russia, European Union, Canada and the U.S. — have plenty to sell, and buyers like Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam, already have a lot of wheat on hand. “What’s going on right now in the U.S. isn’t directly influencing the price,” he said. “The reason the price is low is because there is a lot of wheat everywhere. It’s not that politics can’t affect it, but it takes a pretty dramatic event for that to happen.” Fortenbery used Australia as an example. That country had no corresponding trade war with China like

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE |

Trump sparked with the U.S. est production since 1978.” “Australians ... also have low wheat But the prices remain low. prices right now,” he said, “because Farmers can survive, Squires there’s just a lot of it available.” explained, if prices are below the cost of production as long as yields The Washington harvest come in higher than expected. Glen Squires, CEO of the “In the big picture, there are lots of Washington Grain Commission, said things that kind of make it possible” for local growers started with a very dry farmers to survive, he said. “They kind spring. Timely rains in May and June of lose money for a couple years and led to some of the best growing condi- then have a good year. They may forego tions of all time. purchasing equipment. They cut back “Our winter wheat yield is the on input costs. They maybe take on fourth-highest in history,” he said. more land to spread out their costs. But, “Our spring wheat is the second-high- several years of low prices is not good.” est in history.” Government to rescue However, several farmers west of Spokane did not get the same rains. Fortenbery said it would take him “Some areas out west ... are aver- hours to explain the evolution of farm age or a little below,” Squires said. subsidies, which still exist but in a “But, generally, it’s above average complicated form. across the region.” Decades ago, if farmers said they The U.S. Department of Agriculture should get $6 a bushel for wheat and estimated Washington’s wheat crop at the price was $5, the government about 153 million bushels, which would would kick in a dollar. make it 10th highest since records Later farm bills would provide were kept starting in 1978, he said. direct payments to each farmer in Last year, Washington produced the household, or pay farmers to take 142.7 million bushels of wheat. ground out of production. “They estimate Idaho will have But politicians from both parties 104 million bushels; that’s the eighth started supporting a market-based highest in history,” Squires said. safety net as opposed to direct pay“Oregon really didn’t get the rains we ments, Fortenbery said. did. They are looking at the sixth-low“In the last few farm bills, revenue

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crop insurance has become the primary safety net that the government gives to farmers,” Fortenberry said. How revenue crop insurance works is, essentially, revenue equals price times yield. Some months before planting, farmers and insurers set a price per bushel and study how much wheat that farmer has harvested over time. The farmer then pays so many dollars per acre that guarantees his or her revenue from that crop. If the prices fall below the set price, insurance kicks in to make up the difference. If prices are higher than the set price but the harvest yield is low, farmers similarly could get compensated, Fortenbery said. “If the insurance costs $1, the farmer pays 60 cents and the government pays 40,” Fortenbery said, while noting he was oversimplifying the agreement. “The farmer pays an insurance premium, but the taxpayer pays a part of it.” He noted the federal government offers similar subsidies for low-income housing and things like free and reduced-price lunches at school. “If we didn’t have that,” he said of crop revenue insurance, “people would be significantly worse off in low revenue years.”

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