2017 Ag Journal - Winter by Daily Record

Hay recap and outlook

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Table of contents

Ag Journal Editor Joanna Markell

Hay recap and outlook

Publisher Heather Hernandez

Page 4

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Columbia Basin water forecast

The Ag Journal is published three times a year by Kittitas County Publishing LLC. Contents copyrighted 2015 unless otherwise noted.

Page 12

On the cover: Brian Myrick/ Daily Record

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Snowpack looks good so far Page 10

Farming crickets Page 18

Running short of the ‘good’ hay

Dale Mickelsen photo

A baling crew member checks his progress in early June 2016 in a timothy hay field off Manastash Road. Good early June weather helped many growers but a series of scattered thunder showers later in the month significantly damaged cut hay on the ground that was drying before baling.

Demand builds for premium, green hay from a strong first cutting By MIKE JOHNSTON For the Daily Record An overseas buyer seeking highquality timothy hay right now likely would be hard pressed to find any major source in the Kittitas Valley or the Columbia Basin that has hay with absolutely no rain damage. Valley hay processors and exporters contacted recently said supplies of their best, undamaged hay have

already been shipped or are under contract waiting to be shipped. They say there wasn’t enough of the higher grades or premium hay from the 2016 season to begin with, at least what international buyers would have liked to have been available. “It’s all been spoken for,” said Rollie Bernth, president of Ward Rugh Inc., about the higher quality hay. “We’re short of the better hay, short

of the higher quality hay our international customers always look for and want. Now we’re moving our lesser grade hay, but our customers are very anxious for that higher quality hay the Kittitas Valley is famous for. The demand is there; our inventories of even the lesser grades are getting short.” The problem last year was the old nemesis to local growers: the timing of rain. Scattered thundershow-

4 | 2017 Ag Journal - Winter

ers occurred off and on around the valley starting June 16, 2016. They continued into July, the peak of the crucial first cutting of timothy hay, Kittitas County’s single-largest cash crop that’s exported overseas. The showers on one day reportedly dumped ½ inch of rain on a portion of the valley’s growing areas. The rain caught cut hay on the ground while it was bunched in windrows for drying.

In many cases, it bleached out the much-sought-after consistent green color as the hay dried in the sun, turning much of it a shade of yellowish brown. For many growers the valley’s first cutting can make up 75 to 80 percent of a year’s crop income, with its sale going a long way to determine if rising production costs can be covered.

Always the hope The level and extent of discoloration depends on several factors. They include the amount of rain, the maturity of the cut hay, the subsequent temperature and wind conditions, and the hay’s speed in drying. Many growers swept back and forth over their damp windrows with tractor attachments that fluffed and turned their hay to aid it in drying. Lots of discoloration can significantly reduce the value of the hay for export and the price a grower and exporter receives. Top-quality timothy for horses,

with no rain damage, harvested in early June before the rains was purchased from growers for around $270 a ton. The better-quality timothy for overseas dairy operations (with no rain damage) ranged from about $150 through $220 or more a ton. Rained-on, discolored hay, depending on severity of damage, likely is going for around $90 to $125 a ton. Prices go up with less discoloration. Brad Haberman, partner in No. 9 Hay Trading Co., said he’s seeing an increase in pent-up demand for higher-quality Kittitas Valley timothy hay that could come from a strong 2017 first cutting. In the meantime, lesser grades from 2016 are selling as overseas buyers need to keep up their inventories. “If last year’s bales don’t have a lot of damage, if it’s just light or moderate, and most of the color is still there throughout the bale, they’ll go for export,” Haberman said.

Mike Johnston photo

Timothy grass cut in a field off Vantage Highway awaits drying and baling in June 2016 after thundershowers hit the Kittitas Valley during harvest.

See Hay, Page 6

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HAY Continued from Page 5 “But the hope is always there, it’s always expressed that the coming season could be a great one. Like always, it comes down to weather conditions at cutting time; is it going to rain at harvest?” Ron Schilling, president of Wesco International Inc., estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the 2016 first cutting had some level of rain damage, from very little to significant. A trend is growing among farmers to cut their timothy somewhat earlier than normal to stay away from possible rains and keep away from allowing plants to become too mature. Haberman said growers know that a timothy plant that’s not as mature can resist discoloration from rain better than a plant that’s becoming too mature, with its head starting to open. “Buyers from Japan ask ‘is there

any more premium?’ and the answer is ‘sorry, it’s all been sold,’” Schilling said. “With the rain damage and some hay getting over mature last year, well, overall last year wasn’t what I’d call a good year.” Much of last season’s second cutting was good quality, but sporadic rains fell on some of second cutting’s downed hay during the latter part of the harvest. “There’s a lot of room for overall quality to go up for this year’s season, and if we get good quality there’s the possibility of a little stronger pricing,” Schilling said. “Right now, though, I don’t see evidence they’ll be huge rises in pricing in the near future.” The hope is that the weather pattern over Eastern Washington at harvest time this year will be favorable for cutting, drying and baling quality hay, Schilling said.

Positives Mark Anderson, president of Anderson Hay and Grain Co. Inc.,

said supplies of lesser grades of 2016 timothy hay are selling and moving well, and he foresees inventories from that crop year being “mostly cleaned up” before the 2017 firstcutting crop begins getting into barns. Other processors contacted agreed. That’s a big plus because having leftover hay for sale from the previous crop year can put a downward trend on current crop pricing. “That’s always good for the grower and the processor,” Anderson said about reducing hay stocks. He added that the varying levels of rain damage on some 2016 hay created a wide range of different prices for a larger number of grades. This, in some cases, made valley hay more competitive against other growing areas that had rained-on hay, including Canada and Idaho. Schilling said most timothy growing regions that compete with each other in the export market “got rained on equally.” Anderson said a good mix of qual-

ity from valley’s 2016 crop worked as a positive in many cases compared to rain-damaged hay from elsewhere. Haberman agreed. “If all of our hay is premium quality, top quality, then we have a lot of high-value product but prices would likely go down: it’s supply and demand,” Haberman said. Anderson said a variety of grades has helped keep pricing more stable and balanced, something attractive to overseas customers.

Old hay moved out A big effort was made by exporters in late 2015 and into 2016 to market and move out a large backlog of hay built up from the 2014-2015 crop seasons due to the West Coast port and shipping slowdown. The backlogged hay was earlier purchased by exporters from growers at the agreed-upon strong prices set for 2014 and 2015. Much of that hay later was bought by overseas buyers at significantly reduced prices as supplies overflowed

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warehouses. “A lot of it ended up being sold for bargain-basement prices by exporters who took a significant loss, a big economic hit, but the old hay did get moved out,” Bernth said. Carl Jensvold, Badger Pocket timothy farmer and president of the Organization of Timothy Hay Growers and Suppliers, acknowledged that local hay exporters worked extremely hard to move the backlog of hay, which helped growers and the overall market. That 2016 effort and the continuing demand for timothy hay around the world is reflected in export figures. Hay consultant Seth Hoyt of Ione, Calif., who publishes the Hoyt Report, during a webinar by Northwest Farm Credit Services, said export of timothy hay from West Coast ports increased 17 percent from January through September 2016, according to an online report by Progressive Forage.

See Hay, Page 8

Mike Johnston photo

A tractor and baler, minus an operator, is parked in the middle of a windrow of timothy grass off Vantage Highway while rain falls in the Kittitas Valley in mid-June 2016. Baling was halted to let the windrows and bales dry.

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The value of timothy hay in Kittitas County The value to growers of all hay produced in Kittitas County is estimated at more than $50 million annually, with timothy estimated to value $45 million or more of that total. These estimates are for a typical good harvest year and reflect years with strong pricing. Recent softening of hay prices likely has reduced the overall estimate. Timothy and alfalfa hay grown for the export market is the single-largest agricultural product raised in Kittitas County. Many timothy growers raise alfalfa as a rotation crop which makes up a small percentage of the export hay grown in the county. In a good harvest and market year, about 90 percent of the timothy hay crop is exported overseas to Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, other Middle Eastern countries, Vietnam and other Pacific Rim countries, with Japan being the single largest export customer. Alfalfa shipped from the West Coast goes to China, the Middle East, Japan and other customers. Several Ellensburg-area commercial hay companies buy hay in the Kittitas Valley and the Columbia Basin from growers, and the hay is later exported in agreements with overseas customers. The local firms process the hay, transport it and export it through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Timothy grass for hay is harvested in two cuttings, with the first cutting bales usually fetching higher prices because of higher per-acre yield, more robust plants and usually better color, if there’s been no rain during harvest. First cutting can reflect 75 to 80 percent of a grower’s income for the year, with the usually lesser-quality second cutting bringing in 20 percent of a year’s income. — Federal Census of Agriculture, online information, local exporters.

Mike Johnston photo

Balers make quick work of a timothy field west of Ellensburg off Manastash Road in early June 2016. This hay was spared rain damage when thunderstorms rolled through the Kittitas Valley a different times later that June.

HAY Continued from Page 7 Hoyt reported that much of the uptick in demand could be due to Canada and Australia shipping less timothy to Japan and a typhoon that damaged some of Japan’s foragegrowing areas in the north part of the country. Hoyt also said overall export overseas of all types of U.S. hay products rose 13 percent in 2016 over 2015 exports, despite increasing ocean freight rates and other factors that could put a drag on the market.

Optimistic Haberman said he usually takes an early optimistic view of the timo-

thy market going into a new crop year, and now, in 2017, his outlook is no different. “It looks like those growers who depend on (Kittitas Reclamation District) irrigation will have enough water, the snowpack looks good so far,” Haberman said in the third week of January. “There’s good, steady demand, and growers are committed to do all they can to produce the best quality they can.” There’s reason to hope that any field or plant damage from the 2015 drought will be mostly cleared up in the 2017 growing season, he said, and there likely will be little or no carryover hay from 2016 or earlier. “The Japanese customer doesn’t want to see last year’s crop; they want to see that great first cutting,

8 | 2017 Ag Journal - Winter

fresh new, green hay,” Haberman said. Despite his optimism, Haberman said the weather pattern in 2017 at cutting time is the big unknown. The hope is that the weather stays dry and warm with good winds to quickly cure the cut hay. “Every year is totally different, a big gamble; all the factors are a little different or way different,” said Haberman, whose family also grows timothy in the Kittitas Valley. “It can all change with clouds and rain, something you have no control over. It’s not for the faint of heart.” He said his mantra about growing and marketing timothy hay hasn’t changed through the years: “I don’t need to go to Las Vegas to gamble, I can just stay here and be a hay farmer.”

Other timothy hay marketing factors Other factors at play in the hay market: ■ The U.S. dollar to yen exchange rate. The continued strong dollar weakens the buying power of the yen when it comes to Japanese hay buyers negotiating a price for timothy hay sought mostly by Japan’s dairy industry. Japan is the single-largest customer of timothy hay grown and processed in the Kittitas Valley. As of Jan. 18, the rate was nearly 113.5 yen to each U.S. dollar. Some see a further strengthening of the dollar in the coming months. ■ The Australian dollar to yen exchange rate. Farm Credit Services’ online hay industry snapshot for early 2017 indicated the Australian dollar is strengthening against the yen at a similar rate as the U.S. dollar. If this holds,

FCS said Japanese forage buyers may not see the advantage to go to Australia in hopes of more buying power for that country’s timothy crop. Australia’s forage industry is a major competitor with Pacific Northwest states. ■ Ocean freight rates. Added to the price of timothy hay sold to overseas buyers are costs related to shipping metal containers filled with baled hay through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. There’s some indications that shipping rates may rise in response to bankruptcies of certain shipping lines and consolidation that is creating fewer companies and less rate competition. ■ Costs for hay processing, fumigation, storage, transportation and other expenses are rising and are factored into the price paid by the

Brian Myrick / Daily Record

Stacks of shipping containers await transport at Anderson Hay and Grain in Ellensburg on Tuesday. overseas buyer. ■ There’s no clear indication whether milk prices in Japan will rise in the coming months. Japanese dairies are the single-largest customer for timothy

exported to Japan. If prices rise, dairies have more funds to purchase quality forage for milk production, including Kittitas Valley timothy. — Mike Johnston

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Snow blankets Manastash Ridge near Elk Heights in mid-January.

Decent snowpack so far this winter By TONY BUHR staff writer Kittitas County has received a decent snowpack so far this year. The Yakima River Basin is at more than 91 percent of the average snowpack and county reservoirs are 43 percent full and at 103 percent of average capacity for this time of year, Chris Lynch, river operations engi-

neer with the Bureau of Reclamation said in mid-January. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The trends are good. There is no cause to worry,â&#x20AC;? Lynch said. The upper basin in Kittitas County was drier than other parts of the basin, such as around Naches and White Pass, he said. Around Stampede Pass the snowpack is closer to 80 percent of average, but the winter season still has a long way to go.

Overall the snowfall this year looks positive. This has been a decently wet winter so far, with October receiving 2.54 inches of rain, 1.94 inches above average, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow in Easton So far Easton has received 65 inches of snow this season, said Jim

10 | 2017 Ag Journal - Winter

Smith, observation program leader with the National Weather Service in Pendleton, Ore. The historical winter average in the last 16 years in Easton is 121.4 inches of snow with the highest being 234 inches of snow in 2008. The historical average in the last 16 years for snowpack in Easton up to Jan. 11 is 63 inches so the county is right on track, Smith said. The weather so far this year has

Jan 19, 2017 Current Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) Basin-wide Percent of 1981-2010 Median

Snowpack in Washington state North Puget Sound

Bellingham

! !

Upper Columbia

unavailable *

! !

Winthrop

Marblemount

<50% 50 - 69% 70 - 89%

! !

103

110

Seattle

_ ^

130 - 149%

^ ! _ ( Olympia

South Puget Sound

! !

Cle Elum

! !

Spokane

Wenatchee

Upper Yakima

>=150% Olympic

Central Columbia

Everett

90 - 109%

* Data unavailable at time of posting or measurement is not representative at this time of year

Spokane

Central Puget Sound

Port Angeles!

110 - 129%

! !

96 Source USDA/NRCS

Yakima

! !

92 122

Lower Snake

Snowpack levels in Washington state as of Jan. 19.

Walla Walla

Lower Yakima

! !

Lower Columbia

soaked up quite a bit of water and recharged aquifers and Snoqualmie Pass has a good base snowpack with more snow likely in February and March. One thing to keep an eye on is warm weather and rain melting the snowpack, he said. Lynch said if it does rain, the snow is dry enough to soak up a lot of the water. As long as it doesn’t continue and temperatures dip back down, the snow should stick around, he said in mid-January.

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been a boon to the county reservoirs, which were at below average levels going into the fall. Spring came early last year, and irrigation districts started supplying growers early. That, combined with the 2015 drought, put pressure on supplies. Kittitas Reclamation District Director Urban Eberhart said he feels optimistic about the coming irrigation year. The reservoirs have recovered from their deficit, the ground has

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Forecast: Longer, wetter seasons Report says Columbia Basin water resources to be impacted by climate change By MATT SPAW WNPA Olympia News Bureau OLYMPIA — The Columbia River Basin will gain more yearly water for irrigation and domestic uses by 2035, but those gains come when demand is low, according to the newest forecast from the Office of Columbia River (OCR). The forecast also says less water will arrive when demand is high, and the irrigation season may be earlier and longer. The Washington State Department of Ecology created the OCR in 2006 to monitor water supplies in the Columbia River Basin. The LongTerm Water Supply and Demand Forecast is revised every five years. Legislators and water managers use the forecast to balance use and conservation. Agricultural demand for water in the entire basin is expected to decrease by approximately 5 percent over the next 20 years, according to the forecast. This is due to an earlier and wetter growing season, as well as a shift toward crops that use less water. However, agricultural demand could decrease modestly, or even increase, if farmers respond to climate change by seasonally doubleplanting crops. Meanwhile, hydropower demand may increase by 6 to 22 percent over the forecast period. The increase in water supply is primarily due to climate change, according to the forecast. The report focuses on surface water supplies, which reflects water availability before accounting for withdrawals. Water found in underground aquifers is not included in the forecast, but the OCR plans to include it in future forecasts. The forecast, which looks ahead 20 years and is more than 200 pages long, uses a number of complex simulations to calculate surface water supply and agricultural irrigation demand. It maps water move-

Office of Columbia River

The Columbia River behind Wanapum dam, six miles downstream from the I-90 bridge at Vantage. Columbia River flow is likely to dip below federal and state targets regularly by 2035, according to a long-term water supply and demand forecast. ment, crop use and reservoir operation. The forecast looks at the entire basin, excluding the area below Bonneville dam (see accompanying map). According to the report, 2035 stream flows in the Columbia River and other rivers in Eastern Washington, such as the Yakima, are likely to frequently dip below federal and state targets.

“The OCR takes a holistic, rather than a piecemeal, look — where lawsuits and courts were once deciding,” said Joye Redfield-Wilder, communications manager for the Department of Ecology’s central regional office. “Instead of processing (challenges) one-by-one, the program makes sure there is a pool of water readily available without legal entanglement.”

12 | 2017 Ag Journal - Winter

The creation of the OCR in 2006 represented a new, forward-thinking approach to water management, the manager noted. The forecast receives input from individuals, cities, tribes, irrigation districts, bureaus and departments affected by water in the basin. The Columbia River Policy Advisory Group meets publicly three to seven times a year to provide input and

discuss OCR issues. This legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed state capital budget allocates more than $33 million to the Columbia River program. However, some legislators worry about the fate of funding for other Columbia River Basin projects during this legislative session. Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, who represents eastern and southern Yakima County, said finding revenue for projects remains an issue. “Two years ago I had a bill funding water supplies and stormwater control costing $6 billion over 10-15 years. We haven’t been able to find an acceptable source of revenue,” he said. “This year we still have to find funding for education and mental health, so I don’t see us getting anything this year — not in the capital budget.” That old bill, which did not pass, makes him worry about future project proposals. Phil Rigdon, deputy director of the Yakama Nation Department of Natural Resources and a member of the Columbia River Policy Advisory Group, said the forecast is a useful tool for planning, and for mitigating water disagreements. “The report is a good reference. The activities we’re trying to move forward on — that the document informs — are most important to me,” Rigdon said. “Making sure

there is water to support fish allows us to continue our way of life.” Evan Sheffels, associate director of government relations at the Washington Farm Bureau, stresses how much more litigious water issues were before the OCR was created. “We had a lot more litigation and paralysis before this program was adopted into law. The one certainty in water is litigation. More so than drought,” Sheffels said. “Political leaders should factor in the extent to which the OCR has already resolved conflicts instead of involving lawyers.” The forecast doesn’t affect the 1964 Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the U.S., or tribal water rights. The treaty authorized the construction of dams on the Columbia River that benefit both countries. Both sides are evaluating their options. Tribal rights, on the other hand, make forecasting difficult because the legal issues involved are “beyond the scope of the forecast,” the document noted. This story is part of a series of news reports from the Washington Legislature provided through a reporting internship sponsored by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. Reach reporter Matt Spaw at matthewspaw@gmail.com.

Columbia River basin

Office of Columbia River

The Long-Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast looks at the entire basin, excluding the area below the Bonneville dam. The basin includes portions of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and British Columbia.

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Trump expects ‘big results’ from ag pick Sonny Perdue is former governor of Georgia WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said Thursday that he expects that former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, his choice to lead the Agriculture Department, will “deliver big results for all Americans who earn their living off the land.” Agriculture secretary was the final Cabinet post to be announced by Trump, who is set to take office Friday. Perdue, 70, is a farmer’s son who built businesses in grain trading and trucking before becoming the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. Perdue, from the small city of Bonaire in rural central Georgia, would be the first Southerner in the post in more than two decades. He is not related to or affiliated with the food company Perdue or the poultry producer Perdue Farms. “From growing up on a farm to being governor of a big agriculture state, he has spent his whole life understanding and solving the challenges our farmers face, and he is going to deliver big results for all Americans who earn their living off the land,” Trump said in a statement. Perdue, in a statement released

AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue smiles as he waits for an elevator in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York in November. by Trump’s transition team, said he began as “a simple Georgia farm boy,” and he pledged to “champion the concerns of American agriculture and work tirelessly to solve the issues facing our farm families.” Agriculture secretaries are often from the Midwest, where corn and soybeans dominate the markets.

U.S. farm policy has long been favorable to those crops, and congressional battles over massive farm bills every five years often divide along regional lines. Southerners have pushed for subsidy programs that are more favorable to rice and cotton, which can be more expensive to grow.

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tweeted that he was frustrated with the process. “NEED Ag leader w dirt under finger nails 4farmers,” he wrote. Perdue began his political career as a Democrat in the Georgia Legislature in the 1990s. After switching his allegiance to the Republican Party, he was elected governor in 2002. The victory over an incumbent Democrat completed Georgia’s shift to a solidly Republican state, ending generations of Democratic control of state government. Despite that political change, Perdue showed little interest in pushing big programs or signature legislation during his two terms. Instead he focused on finding ways to save money while improving customer service by state agencies. He often referred to himself as Georgia’s CEO. Critics accused Perdue of failing to tackle some of Georgia’s biggest problems, such as struggling public schools. Perdue, who was re-elected in 2006, didn’t rely only on his business acumen as governor. A devout Southern Baptist, he also found a place for faith in his administration. In 2007, when a withering drought gripped Georgia and neighboring states, he held a prayer rally in front of the Capitol in Atlanta to pray for rain. Perdue brought an end to Georgia’s conflicts over a state flag that featured the Confederate battle emblem. The flag was replaced by lawmakers under Perdue’s Democratic predecessor, but the new design proved unpopular. Perdue insisted Georgia voters should pick the flag. A referendum was held in 2004, though Southern heritage groups were outraged that the options did not include the old flag with the Confederate symbol.

Food safety regs Under Perdue’s watch, Georgia adopted tough food-safety regulations after a deadly U.S. salmonella outbreak was traced to Georgia-made peanut butter. He moved the state office that issues water permits for irrigation and

other agricultural uses from Atlanta to rural south Georgia, where it would be closer to farmers. Perdue poured millions of state dollars into Go Fish, a program that aimed to lure bass fishing tournaments to the state. The ex-governor, whose full name is George Ervin Perdue III, was born in rural Perry, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia, where he played football as a walk-on and earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine. Following a stint in the Air Force, he returned to Georgia and settled in Bonaire, a city of about 14,000 people. Perdue already has family serving in Washington. A cousin, former Dollar General CEO David Perdue of Sea Island, Georgia, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Vilsack takes dairy job WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is taking a job at the U.S. Dairy Export Council. The group is a nonprofit that promotes dairy products. An announcement Tuesday said Vilsack will help “develop a long-term vision for building sales and consumer trust in U.S. dairy.”

Vilsack is entering the private sector after decades in public service. Before he was appointed agriculture secretary in 2009, he was Iowa’s governor for eight years. He also served in the Iowa state senate and as mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Vilsack was President Barack Obama’s longest-serving Cabinet secretary.

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Oregon apple grower sold to Washington business MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore. (AP) — A family-owned fruit company in Washington has purchased Oregon’s largest grower and packer of fresh apples. Wenatchee-based Foreman Fruit Company has acquired Earl Brown and Sons of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, the Capital Press reported. The deal allows the Browns to remain and manage local operations involving more than 1,000 acres of apples and 115 acres of wine grapes. Ron Brown, whose father started the company 40 years ago, says the families worked out a partnership that allows his business to keep its name and its employees. It gives the Browns access to more money for continued growth; the company is already planting another 60 acres of apples and 10 more acres of grapes. “Nobody lost their jobs. We’re moving along just like we did before,”

Brown said. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Earl Brown and Sons has also spun off several other businesses, including Blue Mountain Cider and Watermill Winery in Milton-Freewater, though Blue Mountain Cider was not included as part of the sale. Earl Brown and Sons employs about 160 people. Foreman Fruit Company was founded in the early 1980s by Dale Foreman, a Wenatchee attorney and former chairman of the Washington Apple Commission. The business started out primarily growing pears before branching into apples, cherries and grapes. Alan Groff, president and CEO of Foreman Fruit Company, said they first heard Earl Brown and Sons was up for sale in April 2016. Though Wenatchee is 200 miles away from Milton-Freewater, Groff said they drove down for a meeting, and the two families immediately

Washington expands quarantine area The Washington State Department of Agriculture expanded the apple maggot quarantine area effective Jan. 1. The expanded quarantine now includes a portion of Lincoln County to prevent further spread of the pest. The quarantine prohibits the movement of homegrown or foraged fruit from the quarantined area into a pest-free area. Recently, WSDA found apple maggot in the southeastern corner of Lincoln County. hit it off. “They’ve created a number of businesses, and a number of very excellent orchards and vineyards,” Groff said. “There’s a nice intersection of our

WSDA has held public meetings in the process of changing the quarantine boundaries and mailed postcards to residents in or near the new quarantine area to alert them to the change. The apple maggot larva looks like a tiny white worm that eats its way through an apple, leaving behind a brown mush that is not fit for human consumption. — Washington State Department of Agriculture capabilities.” Earl Brown & Sons is Foreman’s first Oregon acquisition. “We share a common set of values and purpose in business,” he said.

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State accepting proposals for innovative projects Block grants available for fruit, vegetable and nursery industry For THE DAILY RECORD The Washington State Department of Agriculture is accepting proposals for innovative projects to support the state’s fruit, vegetable and nursery industry through the federal specialty crop block grant program, according to a news release. Proposals for the grants to fund these projects are due to WSDA by 4 p.m. Feb. 15. WSDA has more than $4 million in grant funding available to support Washington’s specialty

crop industry. WSDA manages the grants, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Private and nonprofit organizations, commodity commissions and other public entities may request funds for projects ranging between $25,000 to $250,000 that benefit the competitiveness of fruit, vegetable, tree nut and nursery crop producers. Projects will be completed within one to three years. The first step in applying for grant funding is to submit a brief concept proposal at www.wsda.fluidreview.com/ and using the online

application system. WSDA staff will review proposals and successful applicants will be asked to submit full proposals for further review. Visit www.agr.wa.gov/Grants/SCBGP/ for application information, forms and schedules. For additional information, go to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service at www. ams.usda.gov/scbgp or contact WSDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program manager Leisa Schumaker at lschumaker@agr.wa.gov or (360) 902-2091. Based on comments from Washington’s specialty crop industries, WSDA is seeking projects that control pests and diseases, develop and enhance markets, preserve or increase water availability, improve production practices through technology, increase consumption

of specialty crops, reduce regulatory barriers, assist with food safety research, develop organic and sustainable production practices or educate consumers about specialty crops’ nutritional value and the key role specialty crops play in Washington’s ag economy. Projects that benefit Washington’s specialty crop producers and food processors in other ways, benefit Washington and other states, or that benefit new farmers or socially disadvantaged farmers are also encouraged. Washington ranks second in the nation in production of specialty crops and funded 21 projects under USDA’s specialty crop program for 2016. USDA will announce their awards this fall. WSDA grant agreements will be signed in October.

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A different type of farming Raising crickets doesn’t take much space, but there are complexities WILLISTON, Vt. (AP) — At Tomorrow’s Harvest farm, you won’t find acres of land on which animals graze, or rows of corn, or bales of hay. Just stacks of boxes in a basement and the summery song of thousands of chirping crickets. It’s one of a growing number of operations raising crickets for human consumption that these farmers say is more ecologically sound than meat but acknowledge is sure to bug some people out. Once consumers get beyond the ick factor, they say, there are a lot of benefits to consuming bugs. “We don’t need everybody to eat insects,” said Robert Nathan Allen, founder and director of Little Herds, an educational nonprofit in Austin,

Texas, that promotes the use of insects for human food and animal feed. “The point we really like to highlight with the education is that if only a small percent of people add this to their diet, there’s a huge environmental impact.” Cricket fans say if only 1 percent of the U.S. population substituted even just 1 percent of their meat consumption with insects, millions of gallons of water in drinking and irrigation would be saved, along with thousands of metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions from machinery and animals. At least one study finds the claims overstated that crickets are a viable protein source to supplement or replace meat, but bottom line, it generally takes fewer resources to raise and harvest crickets than, say, cattle.

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Interest in entomophagy — the consumption of insects — was fueled in part by a 2013 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the viability of edible insects to help curb world hunger. Since then, the number of producers of food containing crickets, from protein bars to chip, has jumped from zero to about 20, and cricket farms for human food have grown to about half a dozen in the United States, Allen said. The protein-packed food can be ground into powder and added to other foods or eaten whole, dried, sauteed and spiced. Crickets have a nutty or earthy flavor that’s masked by other flavors in protein bars. Self-described adventurous eater

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Matthew Monroe, 53, of Portland, Oregon, said he’s fond of blueberryvanilla Exo bars containing cricket flour and dines on them when he gets that “protein bar jonesing feeling.” They also taste better than other protein bars, he said. There’s no problem selling crickets as long as manufacturers ensure the food they produce for the U.S. market is safe and complies with all relevant laws and Food and Drug Administration regulations, including proper labeling. Raising crickets doesn’t take much space, but there are complexities. Stephen Swanson, proprietor of Tomorrow’s Harvest, said he constantly checks conditions — water, food, temperature, air flow and humidity

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ABOVE: Stephen Swanson of Tomorrow’s Harvest cricket farm in Williston, Vt., holds a bag of cricket protein powder he is now selling online. BELOW: A bowl of frozen crickets.

reptile feed and fish bait get up to food grade standards. “For the first couple years, you know, we always struggled with having enough supply. Now that we’re starting to be able to add some of these older farmers into our supply chain. ... It’s not quite so heavy pressure,” Bachhuber said. The first U.S. academic conference devoted to insects for food and feed was held in Detroit in May. Now the young industry is forming The North American Edible Insect Coalition , a trade group, with the priorities being research and public education. “Half the battle if not more is educating people why. You can’t just say, ‘Eat crickets, please.’ You have to tell them why,” Swanson said.

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— in the basement where he’s raising roughly half a million crickets. Swanson, who just started selling cricket protein powder online, hopes to get into a warehouse where some of the work could be automated. “The sky’s the limit. This is the stone age right now as far as insect farming,” he said. “So we have nowhere to go but up.” Kevin Bachhuber knows that firsthand. He started the first U.S. cricket farm for human food in the Youngstown, Ohio, area, according to Allen. It operated until lead in his water supply prompted him to close it, Bachhuber said. Now, Bachhuber said, he is helping new cricket farmers get started or existing farms that raise crickets for

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USDA announces stricter animal welfare rules Changes apply to organic meat and egg producers starting in 2018 By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON — Organic meat and egg producers will have to abide by stricter animal welfare standards under a new rule announced Jan. 18 by the Agriculture Department. The rule was a victory for animal rights groups two days before President Barack Obama leaves office. The regulations will ensure that organically grown livestock have enough space to lie down, turn around, stand up and fully stretch their limbs. Poultry will have enough room to move freely and spread their wings. Beaks can’t be removed and cattle tails can’t be cut. Living condi-

tions will have to include fresh air, proper ventilation and direct sunlight. The regulations were first proposed last year. Elanor Starmer, administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, says the rules are designed to help organic producers meet consumer expectations and ensure the integrity of the USDA organic seal as the industry has grown rapidly. “It ensures that everyone competes on a level field and plays by the same rules,” Starmer said. Farm-state lawmakers and some farm groups remain opposed to the rules, which they said could raise food prices and force some farmers out of business. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Agriculture Com-

mittee, said he’d work with Donald Trump’s administration after he is inaugurated Friday to try and reverse them. Trump has yet to name an agriculture secretary. “With less than 48 hours left in power, this administration has overstepped its bounds with this damaging rule,” Roberts said.

Into effect in 2018 The rules won’t go into effect until 2018, and some of the changes aren’t required for several years. That could give the next administration time to make changes. The retail market for organic food products is valued at almost $40 billion in the United States. USDA said

last year that the number of certified organic operations in the United States increased by almost 12 percent between 2014 and 2015, the highest growth rate since 2008 and an increase of nearly 300 percent since the department began counting operations in 2002. The broadest changes proposed by USDA would cover indoor and outdoor access for poultry, including minimum space requirements. Producers will have to provide birds with daily access to the outdoors and those areas will have to include vegetation or soil. Enclosed porches cannot be considered outdoors. The Agriculture Department removed language from the proposed

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rule that would have required producers to provide “suitable enrichment” to entice birds to go outside. That proposed requirement was mocked by Republican lawmakers who opposed the regulations — Roberts once joked about yoga and video games for chickens — and drew concern from food safety advocates who said more outdoor access may increase the chances of salmonella contamination. USDA said that requirement was removed because it conflicted with Food and Drug Administration rules to prevent salmonella illnesses. The National Pork Producers Council said the regulations could add com-

plexity to the organic certification process, “creating significant barriers to existing and new organic producers.” Animal welfare groups cheered the move. Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States said the lack of well-defined requirements has led to inconsistency in how organic welfare standards were applied. “The rule is a game-changer for the $40 billion organic market whose consumers often believe that organic farm animals are raised with strong animal welfare standards,” Pacelle said. The Organic Trade Association said the vast majority of organic egg producers already follow the standards.

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FARMERS/RANCHERS • • • • • • • •

Are you a self-employed (schedule F) farmer/rancher? Did you pay federal taxes in the last couple of years – self-employment taxes (SE Tax) and federal income tax? Do you live out of town? On the farm or ranch? Do you operate the farm/ranch through a corporation? Taxed as a C or S Corporation for federal income tax purposes? Are you maximizing Fringe Benefit Planning the IRS allows you to do? Do you have a son on the farm who will take over? Have you set up your succession plan the way you want it done? Do you own farm lands? • Do you want those lands held together? • Do you want to assure your son will get to farm on the lands?

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