Northwest Farm and Ranch - Fall, 2013

Pend Oreille Ferry

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Bonner

Spokane

Lincoln

Grant

Boundary

Benewah Adams

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Shoshone

Latah Clearwater

Franklin Yakima

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Benton

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Nez Perce Lewis Asotin

Klickitat Umatilla

Wallowa

Morrow

Farm and Ranch Northwest

Kootenai

Idaho

Union

Baker

Inside this issue

Apples not just red, yellow and green anymore Average wheat export expected Food safety wars Produced quarterly by Tribune Publishing Company

FALL 2013

Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

2 | Monday, September 30, 2013

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Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch Pend Oreille Ferry

Stevens

Bonner

Spokane

Lincoln

Grant

Kootenai

Benewah Adams

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 3

Boundary

Whitman

Shoshone

Latah Clearwater

Franklin Yakima

Garfield Columbia

Benton

Walla Walla

Asotin

Nez Perce Lewis

Klickitat Umatilla

Wallowa

Morrow

Idaho

Union

Farm and Ranch Northwest

Hot and Dry

Scientists say hotter summers and longer fire seasons will be the new normal | 4

New markets

Organic crops create opportunities | 6

Ag politics

Ranchers still waiting on new farm bill | 11

Hard times

Farmers weather difficult year on the Palouse | 14 On the cover: Apple varieties are on the rise | 8

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 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News advertising department at 208.882.5561 or Advertising Manager Craig Staszkow at cstaszkow@dnews.com, or the Lewiston Tribune advertising department at 208.848.2216 or Advertising Director Kim Burner at kburner@lmtribune.com.

Editorial suggestions and ideas can be sent to Lee Rozen at lrozen@dnews.com or Doug Bauer at dbauer@lmtribune.com.

Lewiston Tribune/Kyle Mills

A pair of combines kick up dust as they traverse the rolling hills on the breaks of the Clearwater and Snake River valley north of Lewiston, threshing away at this season’s wheat crop.

Average wheat export expected

By Eric Barker

for Northwest Farm and Ranch

J

apan’s return to the wheat market following a genetically modified crop scare will buoy sales but exports from the Pacific Northwest are expected to be average this year.

“We can expect them to do their usual market purchase,” said Shawn Campbell, assistant director of U.S. Wheat Associates at Portland, Ore. “They are a regular buyer. They don’t usually go up or down by a large amount.”

A patch of genetically modified Roundup Ready wheat was discovered growing on an Oregon wheat farm. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture made the announcement at the end of April, wheat prices plunged nearly $2

a bushel, largely because Japan and other primary customers of U.S. wheat halted shipments.

No additional Roundup Ready wheat was found and Japan and other buyers are returning to the U.S. market.

Egypt, China and Brazil are buying large amounts of wheat this year but their appetite for the crop isn’t expected to directly effect Pacific Northwest Farmers.

“I’m sure it helps the overall prices indirectly but as far as actually moving wheat bushels, it doesn’t really effect the amount we are moving out of Portland.”

Egypt can be a good wheat customer and Campbell said the government there is trying to secure the country’s food supply. Despite being in a

buying mood, the country is likely to largely pass on Pacific Northwest crops in favor of wheat that is grown closer to home.

Campbell said farmers in the Black Sea region had a good yield this year. The wheat is of lesser quality but enjoys a better position in the market because of its close geographic proximity to the north African country.

“It’s right next door to Egypt so the freight rates are cheaper. In a year when the Black Sea sees good production, we don’t see a lot of sales into the country.”

Brazil and China are also stepping up wheat purchases. China is trying to build its reserves following a poor yield there. Brazil also saw poor production from its farmers and poor quality related to various weather

factors in Argentina, one of its main suppliers, which has it turning to the open market. But Campbell said farmers from the Midwest are likely to reap the benefits.

“Both of those have mostly led to increases in the Gulf market as opposed to us,” he said.

U.S. farmers saw varying yields this year. The hard wheat crop in the Southern and Central Plains was hit by drought. The soft white crops from the Pacific Northwest, Montana and North Dakota “looks good,” he said.

“It looks like it’s just going to be a fairly average year altogether for exports.”

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

4 | Monday, September 30, 2013

Hot and dry: The new normal?

A singleengine air tanker drops fire retardant on a hillside fire along U.S. Highway 12. It was one of several aircraft used to douse fire along the railroad tracks.

Scientists say changing climate will likely mean hotter summers and longer fire seasons across the Northwest

By Eric Barker for Northwest Farm and Ranch

A

s the planet warms in the coming decades and even centuries, fire, climate and vegetation will interact with each other in a way that could dramatically change the forested landscape of the West.

Most climate scientists project a warmer and drier climate in the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.

Springs are likely to arrive earlier, summers will be hotter and the

fire season will be longer.

From there it is easy to project larger and more intense wildfires becoming more common.

“Any of the climate scenarios we look at, by midcentury, things warm up and dry up enough you are at and above what, until recently, was the warmest and driest conditions in the region,” said Anthony Westerling, an associate professor of environmental engineering and geography at the University of California, Merced. “There is a big change over the next 40

years where the average time between any particular point burning in the Northern Rockies gets shorter.”

The region has long been near a tipping point when it comes to climate and fire. In most years, the climate has been generally too cool and wet to support large-scale fires.

“Most years we experience little fire activity, and every number of years we expect to have a really big fire year. That is the way it works,” said Philip Higuera, an associate profes-

Lewiston Tribune Barry Kough

sor at the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources. “A few years are going to account for most of the area burned in most any system and certainly in the Northern Rockies.”

Years such as 1910 and 1929 saw massive wildfires devour millions of acres. Springs came earlier, were drier than normal and followed by hot, dry summers. Soils and vegetation had time to dry and when ignitions happened, the fires were voracious.

Westerling said those years tended to be rare.

But they could become the norm as the climate warms.

“We know we are warming the climate and that change will continue for the foreseeable future,” he said.

“Within the next few decades we anticipate these systems being as warm and dry as any of the major fire seasons of the past century on a regular basis.”

By most accounts we are in the midst of one of those warm, dry periods.

Firefighters say they are seeing the effects of climate change. They are reporting conditions that are more intense

and more dangerous than the recent past.

“We are seeing more acres burned and seeing more of those acres burning in uncharacteristically large and severe wildfires,” said Dave Cleaves, a climate adviser to Tom Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

For those on the front lines, he said, the effects of climate change are here.

“Climate change was much an issue of the future just 10 years ago,” he said. “We are finding more and more it is an issue of the present and the future.”

Cleaves said it is driving more than just the way fire burns on the landscape. It is changing the ability of the agency to deal with its responsibility to manage forests and protect them for future generations.

“One half of our budget now goes to fire and fire management and with that goes a very strong opportunity cost. There are lots of forest health activities and other management activities we can’t get done because the dollars go to suppression and trying to support

and protect values in these large catastrophic fires.”

Many climate scientists are less willing to say the big fire seasons of the past two to three decades can be attributed to warming trends associated with climate change. Although the fires align with warmer and dry springs and summers, they say climate variability has produced periods with similar climatic conditions that led to largescale fires earlier in the century.

For example, big fires were more common in the early part of the 20th century when the climate was drier and warmer. That was followed by several decades of moderate fire activity when the climate was cooler and wetter. The conditions that tended not to support active fire were coupled with advances in firefighting that was supported by the development of roads and trails.

“Yes, we have had large fires but if you look at the climate, the climate was much more conducive to fires early in the century than it was in the middle of

Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch the century,� said Penny Morgan, a fire scientist at the University of Idaho College of Natural Resources.

She said the recent increase in fire activity can likely be attributed to both climatic conditions and the build up of fuels from both fire suppression and climate conditions in the middle of the century. “That explains why we had such extensive fires early in the century and not so many in the middle and more since 1988. That is why we think there is a climate pattern.�

That ended around the 1980s, when fires again became more severe. “It is very difficult to tease out the changes in (annual) area burned associated with climate change, the changes in area burned associated with fuels management and human activity and the change you expect from natural climate variability,� said Jeremy Littell, a researcher at the Alaska Climate Science Center, who previously worked in the

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 5

Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. “That said, everything we have seen the last 25 or 30 years seems to point toward the trend to warmer and drier conditions, lengthening fire seasons and increases in fire activity. We can’t say any given fire year is because of climate change and we can say the past three decades appear to be different than anything before.�

But the scientists are more confident in saying projections of warmer and drier seasons associated with climate change, combined with a buildup of fuels in many but not all forest types, will lead to more fire. “There is no doubt that large wildfires are going to continue to threaten people and their property. We have seen that in recent decades and we are going to see more in the future. Climate certainly plays into that but it’s not all about climate,�

Morgan said.

That is what leads scientists like Westerling to predict fire and climate will work

together to change forests.

As fires burn more often, the vegetation that is adapted to less frequent fire will have a difficult time sustaining itself. Eventually it could be replaced with new types of plants. “The time between fires is going to get shorter, so that implies a really dramatic change in the density of the forest and probably a pretty dramatic change in the species composition.�

Westerling said in parts of the Northern Rockies and the Yellowstone area, there could be more grass and open area and less lodgepole pine.

Eventually, that will change fuel structures and how often and how intense fires burn.

But projecting precisely what the vegetation changes will look like is difficult, Littell said. It will depend in part on precipitation - how much falls and at what time of year. “What happens could change vegetation type pretty distinctly because of the climate change and the fire

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regime but there is little agreement on what comes next.�

What is more certain will be people’s need to adapt to the changing conditions.

Morgan said that means thinking about how we interact with fire, where we build homes and communities and how we manage the forests around them.

Ray Rasker, an economist with Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Mont., said only about 16 percent of the private land that abuts public forests, known as the wildland urban interface, has been developed.

That means the vast majority doesn’t have homes or communities on it. “Undeveloped land where future homes will go is what is going to grow firefighting costs to a point they can swamp agency budgets,� he said.

The nation needs to decide how that land will be developed, he said, “so we protect lives and prevent future tragedies and prevent (firefighting) costs from entirely swamping agency budgets.�

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For Morgan, that means accepting that people in the West live in an environment and landscape where fire is part of the natural process. “I just think it’s really critical our communities become fire-adapted because fires will happen and we think about how to make the landscape surrounding those communities resilient so when fires happen we have more options from a fire management standpoint.�

Higuera said we also have to think about allowing fires to burn in areas where they don’t threaten people and their property. “It’s going to happen with or without us and in concert with climate change it is going to increase in frequency at least in the short term,� he said. “We have to ask hard questions about how we interact with fire, when we want to fight fire and when we want to let fire burn.�

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Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

6 | Monday, September 30, 2013

Organic crops create new opportunities Traditional growers dipping work boots into nontraditional markets

By Dylan Brown for Northwest Farm and Ranch

V

enture down any supermarket aisle in Lewiston and you’ll find the bright green seal.

“All different companies in the area have organic on their shelves,” said Renae Smith of Lewiston’s Harvest Ridge Organics. “It’s everywhere.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified stamps filling grocery stores mark a continued increase in role of organic crops in the food supply — up to 4 percent in 2010, according to the Organic Trade Association.

But while many attribute the uptick to farmers market philosophies, more traditional growers see an opportunity to reach an expanding market.

After five generations farming northern Idaho staples like

“

This generation seems to be a lot more aware of health issues and eating the right things — they seem to be the ones that we are targeting.”

Renae Smith Harvest Ridge Organics wheat and peas, Harvest Ridge is no backyard garden. The farm set aside 100 of its acres for organic production, having found more people being concerned about how their food is produced. “(We) saw some demand for organic products in the area and around,” Schmidt said. “This generation seems to be a lot more aware of health issues and

eating the right things — they Lewiston Tribune/Barry Kough seem to be the ones that we are Many Harvest Ridge Organics brand products are being milled targeting.”

The total of certified-organic from organic wheat grown on the McIntosh farm east of Lewiston. producers and distributors in Idaho is fertile ground for Idaho has hovered around its Foods in Idaho as an offset. current total of 231 for the past The number of organic produc- organic growth with its dry clifive years, but Idaho Department ers has plateaued for now, but mate and cold winters, which of Agriculture Organic Program Smyth said demand for their means less disease and fewer pests to hamper production Specialist Andrew Smyth point- products has not.

“The market’s definitely with organic’s strict standards ed to an influx of organically on synthetic additives. minded retailers like Whole growing,” Smyth said.

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Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch farms. “Anecdotally, the reason for that is the types of crops grown in the Palouse are typically challenging,� Lewis said he’s heard from growers.

Weed control on the Palouse relies heavily on herbicides and Lewis said there just isn’t an organic system that can compete yet. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to grow dry land pulses and grains without herbicides, but people just haven’t figured out a way to do it consistently.�

While slightly hotter and drier in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, it’s not much different for Harvest Ridge. So, does it make financial sense to produce their organic flour and oats? “It’s much, much more expensive to do it this way ,� Schmidt said, but “it definitely does.�

Organic production is more labor intensive and requires heaps of documentation, but Schmidt said the market is there — even in Lewiston. “Just little by little I think Lewiston’s coming around,� she said.

Harvest Ridge plans on offering items like biscuit and pancake mix in the near future, just as soon as a new mill arrives from Denmark.

Brown may be contacted at dbrown@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2278.

Follow him on Twitter @DylanBrown26.

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Geography, Smyth said, dictates Idahoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s north-south split in the types of operations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pretty good mix between the market gardeners and the big alfalfa farms and the grains,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I really think it depends on the region of Idaho.â&#x20AC;?

Most of the farms producing wheat, dairy, barley and alfalfa â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Idahoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest organic crop â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are in southern Idaho and small, garden-style operations thrive in the cooler northern portions of the state.

Across the border, Washingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s divide is east-west. The issue is more visible in the western Washington, but Nate Lewis, a coordinator for the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organic program, said the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eastern half is the reason the state is second only to California in dollar-for-dollar organic production. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not because of farmers markets, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because of apples, pears, cherries,â&#x20AC;? Lewis said.

A Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources study identified 64 percent of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organic farms and 70 percent of the acreage as east of the Cascades.

But while tree fruit production is exploding in the Columbia River Basin, farther east, Asotin, Whitman and Garfield counties only have 18 total

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 7

Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

8 | Monday, September 30, 2013

Apples not just red, yellow and green anymore Varieties are on the rise, including Honeycrisps

By Elizabeth Rudd for Northwest Farm and Ranch

A

WSU Extension

Honeycrisp apples grown in Benton County are shown.

pple options used to be like a stoplight — Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith.

In the 1980s and 1990s that was really the extent of available apple varieties, said Gwen Hoheisel, a regional extension specialist for Washington State University in Benton County.

But apple profiles are changing and there is now a range of different varieties, including Fujis, Galas, SweeTangos, Pacific Roses and Honeycrisps.

“A consumer can pick ones they’ve never had before,” Hoheisel said.

Hoheisel said she doesn’t have the market data to back it up, but she thinks people are starting to want a higher quality apple that reflects qualities similar to wine. Like the varieties of wine, apples can have different qualities that make them desirable depending on what a consumer wants to do with the fruit, like eat raw or cook.

Some apples are crisper, some are juicy, some are sweet, some sour and they will all make a good apple pie with the addition of cinnamon and sugar, Hoheisel said. The different types of apples are also all selling, which is a sign that consumers like the options.

“That gets back to the fine nuances of wine,” she said. “You can pretty much cook or eat raw any apple — there’s nothing wrong with it.”

The increasingly popular

and fairly new to the market Honeycrisp apple is a good example of that, she said. The apple has only been grown and marketed commercially for about a decade.

Honeycrisps have a mild flavor, but are sweet and tart, and have a crisp, coarse flesh, according to the U.S. Apple Association. Hoheisel said those qualities contribute to why the apple is becoming so popular with consumers.

“It just happens to be that those are good flavor profiles for the market,” she said.

Consumers are not the only ones still learning about Honeycrisps.

Apple growers are researching how to overcome the challenges of growing the apples and then storing them for yearlong availability. Hoheisel said the apples

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Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch are being grown all around the world, but the number of acres grown in the United States is being tallied by private businesses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not have the variety listed on its website.

While the Honeycrisps can be stored for several months, Hoheisel said it’s not as long as other varieties because they are still learning about the apples.

“We’re in our beginning learning curve with Honeycrisp,” she said.

Storing the fruit requires a controlled atmosphere room that basically eliminates respiration for the apples and keeps them cool.

Hoheisel said she’s had one grower describe the process as putting the apples to sleep or in hibernation.

But that requires specific characteristics and criteria, which researchers and growers are still in the process of identifying the best ones.

Honeycrisps also grow best in cooler climates, with lower crop loads and with the addition of calcium. Hoheisel said the variety is more susceptible to internal issues, like brown rots in the core, but if calcium is added that risk can be reduced. Brown rot isn’t detectable from the outside, so it’s not until the apples are sold or cut into that the grower knows it exists.

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 9 That is different from the sun burns that apples can sometimes get. For that reason, Hoheisel said growers also put on some kind of sunburn protection. Depending on where the growers are, some will have irrigation misting the trees to help keep the apples cool.

“Some do it, some don’t,” she said of the irrigation system, “ but almost everybody does some kind of sunburn protections.”

The flavor of the apples can also be manipulated with growing conditions, like that of wine grapes,. It changes with high or low crop loads, high or low starch and how long the fruit is on the tree.

“Honeycrisp apples will taste differently just based on how you grow it,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about Honeycrisps or how to grow the crop can attend a one-day workshop with WSU Extension on Dec. 5. The workshop costs $80, including lunch, and registration can be done online at www.wahort.org/events. The workshop will include an orchard tour and discussions on crop harvest, handling and economics.

Rudd may be contacted at erudd@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-8465. Follow her on Twitter @elizabeth_rudd.

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U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, DWash., and the Federal Aviation Administration announced the development earlier this month.

The Center of Excellence in Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment will bring together 16 research universities and 26 industry partners to focus on developing and testing biofuels that are cost-competitive with current, petroleum-based jet fuel.

Fuel is the largest expense for commercial airlines, making up 35 percent of operating costs. Jet fuel prices have risen 267 percent during the past 11 years, causing airlines to shut down routes and increase ticket prices.

The new center will receive $40 million in federal funding during the

next decade, matched by another $40 million in industry funding. Partners in the endeavor include the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, the Port of Seattle, Spokane International Airport and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“This landmark investment will help the jet biofuels industry take flight,” Cantwell said in a news release.

“It secures and grows our aviation competitiveness by controlling the costs of jet fuel, protects our environment by reducing carbon emissions and keeps our nation safer by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

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Without that incentive, Field said, some of the programs “could get extremely expensive.

“Each of these practices has great Farmers and ranchers have been watching with anticipation as benefits for the ranching operations Congress teeters back and forth on and wildlife. But oftentimes it seems like it takes time and money and we the 2014 Farm Bill.

With the current program set can do a lot, but we don’t have the to expire Sept. 30, ranchers have ability to do everything (especially when) we look at been hopeful water quality.” the funding in Field said a new farm bill everybody reaps will continue the the rewards of cost-share prothese conservagrams that have tion programs, allowed them to “but without put into place some of these environmental cost share opporand stewardship tunities the practices. rancher has to “It could have bear the economsome very draic cost that you matic impacts and I get to enjoy on cattlemen in as well. We all regards to, absent want clean water the farm bill, we and we should won’t have a conall participate in servation title,” helping the farmsaid Jack Field, er and rancher executive director make that posof the Washington sible.”

Cattlemen’s A n o t h e r Association. aspect of the farm “That’s been bill that could something that’s have a dramatic probably one of effect on ranchthe biggest benJack Field ers is whether efits to livestock executive director of the Washington the bill continues producers — the Cattlemen’s Association to support the incentives to put dairy industry. If sound and environmental practices on the ground.” dairy farmers are forced by the lack One such program — the of price supports to cull their herds, Environmental Quality Incentives those animals will end up in the Program — provides financial and beef market, pushing up supply and technical assistance to agricultural forcing down prices that, until now, producers through contracts up to have reached profitable levels.

“I don’t know if that’s going to 10 years. These contracts help farmers and ranchers plan and imple- materialize,” Field said. “There are ment conservation practices that quite a few reports out there and a help improve soil, water, plant, ani- number of senators and representamal, air and other resources on agri- tives that represent large dairy areas cultural and nonindustrial private have made statements, saying they’re going to do what they can to not see forest land.

The purpose of Environmental dairy programs go by the wayside.”

Quality Incentives Program is to help producers meet federal, state, tribal Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@ and local environmental regulations. gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.

By Kathy Hedberg

for Northwest Farm and Ranch

Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

12 | Monday, September 30, 2013

Washington state’s food safety wars Initiative 522 highlights issue of genetically modified foods

By William L. Spence for Northwest Farm and Ranch

The biggest issue on Washington’s general election ballot this year pits consumers, farmers, retailers and manufacturers against one anoth-

er in a battle over food safety.

If approved, Initiative 522 would require all genetically engineered crops and seeds offered for retail sale in Washington to be labeled.

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taining more than 0.9 percent genetically engineered ingredients would also have to be labeled, starting July 1, 2015; products containing even trace amounts of genetically modified ingredients would be labeled

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In all cases the words “genetically engineered” or “partially produced with genetic engineering” would have to be placed clearly and conspicuously on the front of the package.

Supporters include organic farmers and retailers, the Washington State Nurses Association, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and a long list of state and local elected officials.

They characterize I522 as a transparency issue, saying consumers have the right to know which products contain genetically engineered ingredients so they can make appropriate choices. Some also feel the long-term health and environmental effects of

these foods haven’t fully been determined.

Opponents include several major biotech firms, the Washington State Farm Bureau, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Washington Retail Association and a long list of medical doctors.

They say the initiative provides inaccurate information about which foods actually contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms), imposes unnecessary costs on consumers and manufacturers and unfairly seeks to demonize ingredients that have been a safe part of the country’s food supply for the past 20 years.

“These are foods we’ve been eating for decades. Now all of a

sudden we need a warning label? That doesn’t make sense,” said Dana Bieber, spokeswoman for the Vote No on 522 campaign.

By most estimates, sugars, oils and other products made from genetically engineered crops can now be found in 70 to 80 percent of all processed foods in America.

The technology was developed in the 1980s, but didn’t achieve widespread commercial application until the mid1990s. Today, roughly 90 percent of all the corn, soybeans, sugar beets, canola and cotton grown in the United States have been genetically modified, primarily to increase resistance to certain herbicides or pests.

Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch it’s an effort to scare consumers by requiring “warning labels” for genetically engineered foods that, according to the Food and Drug Administration, are no different from their non-GMO counterparts in terms of safety or nutrition.

Bieber suggested this was a calculated strategy by the organic food industry to increase market share.

She noted a director of the Organic Consumers Association — one of the largest contributors to the I-522 campaign — wrote in an op-ed last year that the first steps toward moving organic foods from a 4.2 percent market share to “the dominant force in American food and farming” was to change the nation’s labeling laws.

“It’s no different than if your competitors forced newspapers to carry a warning label, ‘May contain typos,’ ” Bieber said. “They don’t have to prove it, don’t have to demonstrate that it’s bad. They just have to say it.

They’re trying to imply that something is wrong.”

Many proponents of GMO labeling would agree with that, citing studies that link genetically engineered foods See SAFETY, Page 18

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Only a handful of other GMO crops are grown commercially, such as alfalfa and papaya, but more are being developed.

Unlike conventional techniques, which modify a plant’s DNA through selective breeding, genetic engineering provides a more targeted approach.

It allows researchers to insert specific genes into a plant’s DNA, conferring a wider range of traits than would be possible in nature.

The new gene “expresses itself” as a protein, Bieber said, meaning it produces a specific protein or enzyme that can serve as a catalyst for particular biochemical reactions. That’s how it confers resistance or gets the plant to do things it otherwise couldn’t do, such as produce more sugar or vitamins.

These are invariably proteins that are already produced naturally. Most cheese manufactured in the United States, for example, is made using chymosin, the key coagulation enzyme contained in rennet. It’s the same enzyme that’s always been used to make cheese, only now instead of being removed from calf stomachs it’s produced by genetically engineered yeast and bacteria.

That’s one of the main complaints opponents have about I-522: They feel

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 13

Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

14 | Monday, September 30, 2013

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In May, fire destroyed the Hinrichs Trading Co. elevator and the Columbia Grain plant, reducing the much of the storage capacity close to the Camas Prairie farmers’ fields.

Farmers weather difficult year Grain elevator fire, rogue seed and fickle weather make for challenging but successful harvest season

By Kath Hedberg for Northwest Farm and Ranch

Mother’s Day, May 12: It was about 2 p.m. on a sunny Sunday afternoon when some people passing by noticed smoke coming out of the Hinrichs Trading Co. grain elevator in Craigmont.

By the time firefighters arrived the blaze had spread through the wooden crib-style elevators and onto the neighboring Columbia Grain plant.

Usually it’s weather that causes farmers problems during the harvest season. This year, despite a harvest that ultimately exceeded early expectations, farmers dealt with the loss of grain companies, an infected seed source in a neighboring state and fickle weather.

Because of the intensity of the heat and the tin outer covering of the Craigmont elevators, firefighters could do little else but stand back and

watch it burn.

The result was a total loss of both elevators — a history dating back nearly a century. The piles of rubble continued to smolder for more than two weeks before it was cool enough for workers to clear the site.

Investigators with the state fire marshal’s office said the cause of the blaze was undetermined. Dollar estimates of the losses have not been released, but both companies have pledged to rebuild in the future.

It was an inauspicious beginning to the season’s harvest and Randy Olstead, general manager for Columbia Grain in Clarkston, said the loss of the elevators had a huge effect on business.

“It definitely affected us,” Olstead said. “We lost harvest volume, mainly because of the (storage) capacity in Craigmont that is no longer there.

Primeland benefited from it, but the growers themselves had longer wait

Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 15

times. â&#x20AC;Ś We just discovered growing didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough on an Oregon wheat time to do anything farm. When the different than what U.S. Department of weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing right Agriculture made the now. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still dealannouncement at the ing with insurance end of April, wheat companies.â&#x20AC;? prices plunged nearly Even though the $2 a bushel, largely intent is to rebuild, because Japan and Olstead said there other primary cusare no definite plans tomers of U.S. wheat in place for that halted shipments. right now. Much will Roundup Ready depend on the insurwheat was tested ance settlement. by the Monsanto â&#x20AC;&#x153;We lost business, chemical company in no doubt about it,â&#x20AC;? he Washington, Idaho said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re and 14 other states in a customer service between 1998 and business and at the 2005. Since then end of the day you no Roundup Ready Russ Braun never want to tell wheat has been your customer you grain marketer for Primeland Inc. approved for culticanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle somevation by the U.S. thing.â&#x20AC;? government. The U.S. Department Olstead said Columbia brought out of Agriculture has not been able to three portable grain bins used mostly determine how the Roundup Ready for legumes and canola, but wheat wheat found its way onto the Oregon customers had to go elsewhere. farm, but the damage appears to Besides losing the Craigmont ele- have been contained. vators, farmers also were dealt a blow when a rogue patch of genetically See WEATHER, Page 16 modified Roundup Ready wheat was

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Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

16 | Monday, September 30, 2013

Weather from Page 15

Russ Braun, grain marketer for Primeland Inc. in Lewiston, said the Roundup Ready wheat issue had an immediate short-term effect, even though Japan resumed wheat trade with the U.S. in about a month.

“But it did, in fact, disrupt the market for two or three months when we were in the throes of figuring that all out,” Braun said.

Since then wheat prices have continued to stay low, mostly because of

an expected large harvest of corn in the Midwest.

“Prices have continued to ratchet lower, taking price direction from corn values, and that’s pretty frustrating because we’re closer to $2 a bushel below last year’s (wheat) prices and about $100 a ton less on barley,” Braun said.

Randy Suess, a farmer from Colfax who also serves on the U.S. Wheat Associates board of directors, said the public is sometimes misled when it reads that wheat is selling for $7 a bushel at Portland, Ore. Although many people believe farmers ought to be able to make a profit at that price, it doesn’t take into account the

cost of transporting the grain to the coast, Suess said. For him, it’s a deduction of 68 cents a bushel from the Portland price, which makes returns even lower.

“We have record expenses this year, too,” Suess said. “Seed prices keep going up; fertilizer didn’t go up because natural gas prices went down and anhydrous ammonia is made of natural gas. But (expenses) went up in every other area.”

To top that off, the weather this spring didn’t lend itself to prime growing conditions.

Farmers seeded under unusually hot and dry conditions in the spring and erratic temperature fluctuations. Some areas in western Whitman and Garfield counties lost crops due to frost. And in the lower elevations around Lewiston and Clarkston some crops failed to grow because of a lack of moisture early on.

But in the higher elevations the million-dollar rain happened just in time

and Craigmont-area farmer Nathan Riggers said it saved the day.

“It would have been a disaster without that June rain because we only had 13 inches of precip from September to the middle of June. And that’s not enough for the annual crop,” Riggers said.

“So I think we got 2 to 3 inches of rain that last 10 days of June and that salvaged everything. It’s the best crop we’ve ever had on 15, 16 inches of precip.”

Despite the setbacks crops produced average to slightly above average yields this year, farmers said. Quality looked good and farmers are now starting to seed fall crops.

“Overall it’s probably good,” Olstead said. “I think everybody’s been pretty happy with the yields and I think everybody is pleasantly pleased.”

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@ gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.

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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 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News advertising department at (208) 882-5561 or Advertising Manager Craig Staszkow at cstaszkow@dnews.com, or the Lewiston Tribune advertising department at (208) 848-2216 or Advertising Director Kim Burner at kburner@lmtribune.com.

Editorial suggestions and ideas can be sent to Lee Rozen at lrozen@dnews.com or Doug Bauer at dbauer@lmtribune.com.

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Safety from Page 13

with various health risks.

The biotech industry adamantly rejects such claims, citing their own voluminous studies and the work of independent researchers. Last year the American Medical Association declared there was “no scientific justification for special labeling of bioengineered foods,” although the group also recommended mandatory safety testing of any modified foods before they’re approved for sale.

Elizabeth Larter, communications director for the Yes on 522 campaign, said while some supporters have concerns about the safety of GMO foods, the campaign itself is focusing on consumer choice.

“We aren’t saying GMOs are good or bad,” she said. “We’re saying shoppers should have an option. This labeling requirement isn’t because of the health implications; it’s to give consumers the information they need to make a choice.”

Labeling GMO foods is no different than distinguishing between artificial or natural flavorings, Larter said, or marking salmon as wild-caught or

farm-raised.

“This is a couple of words added to the front of a package,” she said. “Our primary concern is having more information about the groceries we consume.”

GMO-labeling is already required in 64 countries, Larter said. She also noted food manufacturers have a history of resisting demands for more consumer information, such as the nutritional panels that were approved in 1990.

“But they’re still around and still selling,” she said. “We don’t expect a mass exodus (away from genetically engineered food products).”

Bieber pointed out that roughly twothirds of Washington food purchases would be excluded from the I-522 labeling requirements, including restaurant meals, cheeses made using GMO-produced enzymes, and meats, poultry and dairy products from animals fed with genetically engineered crops.

Rather than resort to a labeling initiative that’s riddled with exemptions, she said, consumers who want to avoid GMO foods already have a reliable option: They can buy organic foods or products labeled “non-GMO” or “GMO-free.”

“That’s an approach that’s already working today,” Bieber said. “I-522 does nothing but add confusion.”

The battle to sway voters is just now heating up. Monsanto, Bayer Cropscience, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and DuPont Pioneer have poured $10.2 million into the No on 522 campaign since the last week of August.

Initiative supporters have raised about $5.5 million over the past year.

Both campaigns launched their first television ads the week of Sept. 15.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune. com or (208) 791-9168.

Pend Oreille Ferry

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Boundary

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Bonner

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Lincoln

Kootenai

Benewah Adams

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Franklin Yakima

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Nez Perce Lewis

Klickitat Umatilla

Wallowa

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Union

Farm and Ranch Northwest

Baker

To advertise in our next issue, contact Craig Staszkow at (208) 883-4624 or cstaszkow@dnews.com

Fall 2013 | Northwest Farm and Ranch

Monday, September 30, 2013 | 19

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Northwest Farm and Ranch | Fall 2013

20 | Monday, September 30, 2013

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