Growers' Guide November 2022

By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press

Cole Baerlocher wrapped up his year as National FFA president last month, marking the end of a non-stop year of meetings with members across the U.S.

A native of Colfax, he’s the first Washington FFA member to hold the National FFA’s highest office and the fifth from the state to become a national officer. He was the Washington state president in 2020-2021.

Baerlocher’s term came to an end during the organization’s national convention Oct. 26-29 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Baerlocher has put students first, said Abbie DeMeerleer, former Washington FFA executive director.

“While that’s the goal, living it can be tricky,” DeMeerleer said. “And yet, he’s made it the heartbeat of what he’s done.”

Baerlocher’s mother, Melissa, is a nurse and father, Corey, is a teacher.

His uncle and aunt, Nathan and Jessica Moore, are FFA advisors in Oakesdale, Wash.

“I truly believe that Cole is the epitome of a leader,” Nathan Moore said. “He is the kind of student and member that any agriculture teacher and FFA advisor dreams to have. ... You can never underestimate this young man, because his potential is unlimited.”

National FFA president Cole Baerlocher takes a sel e with fellow FFA members April 11 at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, during the Iowa FFA state convention.

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By Dana

Nothing says Thanksgiving like roasted turkey and bread stuffing.

Here’s a whole-bird recipe from the Iowa Turkey Federation, and a bread stuffing recipe from the folks at Butterball.

Classic Oven Roasted Turkey with Herbs

Fresh herbs and citrus build delicious flavor in this classic recipe. Plus, the herb butter rub keeps the turkey flavorful and juicy while roasting. File this simple recipe away as an automatic family favorite.

Ingredients

1 (12 to 14 lbs.) whole turkey fresh or frozen, thawed

1 large onion, quartered

1 lemon quartered

3 whole bay leaves

2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs sage

2 sprigs thyme

2 cloves garlic, crushed Herb Butter Rub

tbsp butter, room temperature

cloves garlic, minced

tbsp fresh sage, minced

2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

Salt and pepper Directions

Remove turkey from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before roasting. Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey

Preheat oven to 450° F.

In a small bowl mix together salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle on the inside cavity of the turkey to season. Place the quartered onion, lemon,

Bring the legs together and tie them together with string. Tuck the tips of the wings under the turkey.

In a small food processor mix together butter, garlic, sage, thyme, and rosemary until well blended.

Generously season the outside of the entire turkey with salt and pepper. Use your fingers to rub the butter mixture evenly over the turkey until it is well coated.

Place the turkey in a roast-

ing pan with about 1 cup of water in the bottom. Bake for 30 minutes until the skin is golden, then reduce the temperature to 350° F and cook for an additional 2 1/2 hours until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 165° F. Total cooking time will vary based on the size of your turkey but count on about 15 minutes per pound.

Remove turkey from the oven and tent with foil for 20 minutes before carving to serve.

The most influential person in my life was my grandpa and I found it very comforting recently when I was told I turned out to be just like him.

After my grandmother rodeo was my grandpa’s favorite thing, so much so that he started an RCA (forerunner to the PRCA) rodeo in our town and with the proceeds bought land for a big sports park that now bears his name.

My grandpa’s favor-

ite rodeo cowboy was Gene Rambo and he told me countless times that when Gene came to town for the rodeo he stayed in

By Lee Pitts www.leepittsbooks.com

grandpa’s “bunkhouse”, which was just a big building behind grandpa’s house for cowboys to stay.

The one thing I did in my life that most pleased my grandpa was I became friends with Gene.

I wrote a story one time about Gene’s setup where he could gather a single animal from the big country he ran in, take it to the corrals and lock the animal in the squeeze all by himself without getting off his horse through the use cowboy engineering that included several ropes and pulleys. I wrote that

Gene’s commercial cattle were so good other cattlemen bought his crossbred calves to use as herd bulls.

My grandpa let me know he thought that story was my greatest literary accomplishment. Another thing my grandpa always told me about Gene was that he always wore a cowboy tuxedo: clean Levis and a white shirt. And he competed across the board, entering every event and I still have the entry sheets to prove it.

Gene competed at a time when other contestants looked like they shopped at Goodwill,

picked out the cleanest shirt in the dirty clothes hamper and threw their clothes on with a pitchfork. So my grandpa didn’t know how to take my next rodeo hero, Larry Mahan.

For you youngsters, Larry Mahan was one of the greatest rodeo cowboys to ever straddle a horse. He won six All Around Cowboy awards and two bull riding championships riding in all three rough stock events. “Larry literally could ride anything that wore hair.”

But old-timers like grandpa didn’t know how to take Larry because they had preconceived notions of how a cowboy should look and Larry didn’t look like that. He wore his hair a little longer, looked like he just stepped off a Hollywood film set and wore his pants so tight you could

Continued from Page A5

Bread stuffing

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

• ¾ cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1½ cups diced celery

• 1½ cups diced onions

• 3 bay leaves, chopped

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme

• 10 fresh sage leaves, chopped

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 4 cups chicken broth

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3-quart covered casse role dish. Place bread cubes in single layer on large baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bread is golden brown, stirring once during baking. Cool on wire rack.**Bread can be toasted 1 day in advance. Store in large resealable food storage bag until needed.

2. Melt ¾ cup butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute. Add celery, onions and bay leaves; cook and stir 6 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper; cook and stir 1 minute.

3. Combine broth and eggs in medium bowl. Place toasted bread in large bowl; stir in parsley and cooked veg etable mixture. Add three fourths of broth mixture; stir in gently. Stuffing should be moist but not wet; add remaining broth mixture as necessary.

4. Spoon stuffing into prepared casserole dish. Cover; bake 30 minutes. Remove cover; bake 20 to 30 minutes or until top of stuffing is golden brown and crisp; center of stuffing should reach 165°F.

Bread stuffing.

Baerlocher

“He has embraced the position wholeheartedly and put so much of himself into this role because he wanted to make a difference in the organiza tion,” Jessica Moore said. ”You cannot take the leadership qualities out of him, he is revitalized by mentoring younger members.”

Baerlocher spoke with the Capital Press by phone July 1 from Syracuse, N.Y., during a rare day off. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. How busy are you as national FFA president?

Baerlocher: Very, very busy. So far it’s been one of the craziest years of my life. Trying to call my mom

See Q&A, Page A9

COLE BAERLOCHER

Title: National FFA president

Age: 21

Hometown: Colfax, Wash.

Education: Colfax High School 2020 graduate; plan ning to attend Texas A&M University in January 2023

Family: Dad Corey, mom Melissa; older brother Chase; sister Hannah

Family FFA legacy: Grandpa Gary Moore, aunt Tricia Peterson (past state officer), mom Melissa Baerlocher; uncle and aunt Nathan Moore and Jessica Moore (now FFA advisors); cousins Lane and Luke Moore (Luke is a past state officer) ; brother and sister Chase and Hannah Baerlocher

Website: https://www.ffa.org/

count the change in his pockets. In other words, he was no Gene Rambo. And guys like Gene never spent their days off in western wear stores. I don’t know if Gene Rambo was ever in a “changing room” in his life. Let’s just say that he was a man of few fashion surprises.

But then Gene Rambo never appeared in mov ies, released a record with Warner Brothers or signed big dollar deals with boot and hat labels that carried his name like Larry did.

And there was some resistance amongst old-timers because Larry didn’t exactly come from rodeo country. I mean, for gosh sakes he was born in Salem, Ore.! That’s one of the reasons I liked Larry, he was more liv ing, breathing proof that the far west could pro duce championship cow boys too. And did Larry have charisma! I got to see this from a front row seat one time when he and Les Vogt invited my wife and I to a horse camp near my house to sit around a campfire singing old cow boy songs along with an original member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Now I’m old and I can understand how my grandpa felt about guys like Larry Mahan. I was devastated the first time I saw one of my basketball heroes, Michael Jordan, wearing a diamond ear ring. And I was just get ting used to guys wear ing women’s jewelry when along came tattoos. Watching a rodeo recently I saw a “tat” wink at me from the neck of a bull rider and I have a feeling there’s a lot more of those than I’d like to think.

But I’ve learned my les son. People with style like Larry are “trendsetters” and it’s because of them we now have blunt toed cowboy boots, “formal wear” that includes shirts with advertising embroi dered all over them, and cowboys with tattoos of ex-girlfriend’s names they’ve tried desperately to have erased.

is hard sometimes, trying to find time to do that just because they keep me busy. But I love it. ...

This stretch, for example ... I’ve been gone since May 29 and I’ll be traveling until Aug. 21. I was in six states in June. Four of those were conventions.

It is so busy and crazy, and I love it. I’m not somebody who likes to slow down, I like to be on the go.

I look at this job as pretty much 24-7, and that’s the way I like it. Every now and then I’ll get a down day, like today.

I was just at a summer alumni camp in Oklahoma. ... They kept me and the other small group leaders very busy there. We were up until midnight working on content, to be up at 6:30 the next day to greet students. The thing I loved is not a single one of us ever complained about being tired. We were excited to be there, ready to be there, ready to do our job.

I think that’s the sort of mindset it takes to be a national officer.

The moms in our readership will want to know: You’re taking care of yourself while you’re so busy?

Baerlocher: Yes, yes I am. I take a lot of pride in the work that I do, I know that it’s to the best of my ability, but when I have a gap in my schedule, I make sure to utilize that as much as possible to sleep in, to eat good food, to drink lots and lots and lots of water and also kind of refill my cup a little bit. I’m doing my laundry today but before you called me, I was watching the new episodes of “Stranger Things.”

I think this year’s just taught me a lot about, even if it’s 15 minutes, you have to go sit in a corner and just take a deep breath. It’s OK to have time throughout the day for yourself to just recoup and refill. When you take that time for yourself, you serve the students better. ...

Do you get much time to talk with FFA members one-on-one?

Baerlocher: Whenever I’m at a convention, I always try my best to go out to dinner with a chapter to spend time with and converse with those members.

See FFA, Page A11

THE FFA CREED

I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds — achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.

I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.

I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work e ciently and think clearly, with such knowledge and skill as I can secure, and in the ability of progressive agriculturists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil.

I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so — for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed; in being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me.

I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an in uence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.

— e creed was written by E.M. Ti any and adopted at the ird National FFA Convention. It was revised at the 38th and 63rd conventions.

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Phone

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Accucon 509-534-4460 B7

Adams Tractor 509-535-1708 B4

Ag Trucks and Equipment 509-338-7346 C1

Agpro Marketing & Mfg., Inc. 208-746-2212 B8

Agri-Tool and Supply LLC 800-321-5460 C14

American Tractor 541-423-1200 C10

Andy Knapp 509-466-6153 A12

Aqua Tech 509-507-3800 C6

Bank of Eastern Oregon 541-676-9125 A9

Barnes Welding, Inc. 509-745-8588 C6

Bell Equipment, Inc. 208-937-2402 A4

Big Iron Repair 509-770-5560 C9

Bill Russell 208-651-8698 C12

Booker Auction Company 509-297-9292 B15

Blue Mountain Agri-Support 208-746-6447 B3

Burlingame Machinery Consignments 509-240-2799 A16

Class 8 Trucks 509-534-9088 A6

Correll’s Scale Service 800-572-0426 C8

D & S Tires 208-635-0700 A14

Diesel & Machine 208-743-7171 B5

Ed-Ka Manufacturing, Inc. 509-635-1521 B9

Fab-Mech 509-597-7065 B6

Farm & Home Supply 509-843-3395 B10

Farm Equipment Headquarters 541-276-6222 A7

Greyn Fertilizer Equipment 406-466-5356 A10

Harvest Solutions 541-786-2358 C14

High Mountain Horsepower 509-321-5428 A2

Hillco Technologies, Inc. 800-937-2461 A2, B4, C5

H.T. Rea Farming Corp 541-558-3776 C11

JECO Supply 208-882-6531 A3, C16

Jerry’s Farm Supply, LLC 509-879-8294 C13

Jones Truck & Implement 509-397-4371 A11, B14, C4, C9, C13

J&T Equipment Sales 406-381-3159 B9

Kincaid Real Estate 503-397-4434 A7

Leland Trailer & Equipment 509-535-0291 A10

Loomis Truck & Tractor 509-677-3449 B13

McGregor Company 509-397-4360 C6

North Frontier Farms 406-403-4600 C2

North Pine Ag Equipment 509-523-6461 B15

Northwest Farm Credit Services 800-743-2125 A13

Northwest Trailer Center 800-231-4660 B10

Nyssa Tractor & Implement Inc. 541-372-4020 A13

Odessa Trading Company 509-982-2634 A8, C8

Pacific Petroleum & Supply 509-467-3130 C7, C15

Palouse Welding & Machine, Inc. 509-878-1551 C15

Pape Machinery 503-437-6864 A15

Park Model Homes 509-443-4561 C5

Parsons Equipment 509-632-5205 C3

Randy Gust 509-660-7659 C7

Randy’s Truck, LLC 509-525-9410 B12

Rainier Seeds, Inc. 509-725-1235 C15

R&G Machining 503-829-6038 C2

R & H Machine 208-459-1507 B12

R & M Steel Co. 208-454-1800 B10

Spectrum Crop Development 509-659-1757 C9

State Bank Northwest 877-789-4335 C11

St. John Hardware & Implement 509-283-2211 B1, B16

Stockland Livestock Exchange 800-372-6845 C12

T&S Sales 509-535-1177 C2

Tankmax, Inc. 509-545-4600 B11

Walter Implement 509-982-2644 A5

Whitman County Custom 509-982-2644 B6

Whitney Land Company 541-278-4444 A9, B7, C7

Wood’s Hay & Grain 208-255-4270 A6

Younker Bros. 800-362-2387 C12

Like in Louisiana, one of the coolest experiences of my life, I went with a chapter to dinner at a little, kind of a hole in the wall Cajun-style restaurant. ... They had a crawfish boil. When they brought out the crawfish, the students sitting around the table said, “All right, Cole, we’re not going to tell you how to eat it. You just eat it how you think you would.” And everybody was laughing at me, but it was great. ... They helped me and I got pretty good at eating crawfish that night.

That’s probably the highlight of my job, is the students and the members, because I was in that position once, too. ... I just want to connect with students, hear their stories, hear their backgrounds. ...

How was it returning to Washington for the state convention?

Baerlocher: It was a blast. I was very excited to be home, I got to reunite with some of my state officer teammates, they’re some of my favorite people.

It was really cool just to see the members and students I had done chapter visits with,

and to reconnect with them. ... To see a lot of those same students at state convention again as a national officer and get photos with them ... was an absolute blast.

I knew getting national office meant so much to me and to my family, but seeing how much that meant to members, to ag teachers, to our legislators, that meant a lot to me. It was very humbling to see that my actions have really made a rippling effect for students, and not just students in Washington. Hopefully I can be that role model that encourages them: If Cole can run for national office and get elected, why not me?

What role has FFA played in your life?

Baerlocher: I went to my first state convention ever as an eighth-grader, not really knowing 100% what FFA was. I knew there were competitions, I knew students showed livestock, but the magnitude of the organization, I just didn’t really understand.

I went to watch my older cousin, Luke Moore. He was running for state office. I remember seeing him run up on stage and be elected (as state sentinel) and just

how cool it was — first, because it was my cousin but within a matter of seconds, he was like this celebrity. All the students were

excited for him and his team.

I also remember a student from Waitsburg. She won the FFA creed that year. I remember watching her present the

creed on stage and thinking, I want to do that. I want to win creed and I want to be up on that stage.

National FFA president Cole Baerlocher of Colfax, Wash., speaks to the Washington FFA state convention in May.

TyleR elsTaD nic MayeR

Life had other plans, though. I totally biffed it at the district com petition. I messed up the fourth paragraph. It was a disaster. I’m still a little bitter about it, but it’s OK, because creed is my favor ite competition of all time. ... But I think that little bit of adver sity was exactly what I needed, because it showed me that in every situation ... there’s a lesson to learn. That taught me so much more about myself than I think winning could have ever. Why is creed your favorite competition?

Baerlocher: I am probably 80%, 90% sure that is the hard est competition in all of FFA. You have one year you can do it, as a first-year member. Every single student is reciting the same five paragraphs and answering the exact same three questions. It’s so hard to set yourself apart. You can’t miss one word, because that could be the deciding factor. ...

I feel like I live my life by that phrase, “a faith born not of words, but of deeds.” That is constantly

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FFA National FFA president Cole Baerlocher, of Colfax, Wash., facilitates a workshop during the Wash ington FFA state convention in Kennewick, Wash., in May.

entering my mind, because I am a doer. I hate not stick ing to my word. If I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. ...

Plans following the convention?

Baerlocher: I’ll actually move down to College Sta tion, Texas, and I’ll be a stu dent at Texas A&M, where I’ll be majoring in agricul ture communications and journalism.

My overall goal is to work specifically within crisis communications within agriculture, so I can continue to help shape and further develop public per ception of our industry, why we do things the way we do them. I think a lot of times people misunderstand, or don’t completely know the importance of agriculture. I want to continue to be that voice and that person who uses their platform to edu cate and advocate for our industry.

Any message to the ag industry about FFA kids today?

Baerlocher: Interest in agriculture is growing. I think we’ve specifically seen that because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain crisis. I look at the membership of our organization this year, with an all-time record high of over 850,000 mem bers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We’re less than 200,000 shy of a million mem bers, which is just crazy that we’ve grown so much, especially post-COVID.

The thing I find very interesting about this is a lot of these students don’t have traditional ties to agri culture, but they still want to learn more, get involved, get active and understand how agriculture’s impact ing their life. ...

What we as produc ers can do is continue

to be resources for the youth, continue to use our voice and our experiences to share with students, whether that’s going into a chapter or a school and giv ing a presentation or invit ing an FFA chapter out to your production opera tion. Or maybe it’s joining an alumni board of an FFA chapter.

Our organization needs that support from men and women in production agri culture. ... Continue to be a resource and a supporter of FFA. That’s impacting stu dents and it’s shaping their experiences and knowledge of the agricultural industry.

Anything else?

Baerlocher: I do want to talk about my teammates. I really have a fantastic sup port system around me. They’re my best friends right now, actually. They’re the people who I can rely on through thick or thin. They’re very differ ent from me, but we have these amazing connections and this amazing relation

ship. I know I have lifelong friends. ...

Any advice to that new FFA member who thinks, “I want to run for national FFA president one day?”

Baerlocher: You’ve got to start somewhere. I look back at my FFA career,

and the fact that it’s com ing to an end is really hard. But I rarely turned down an opportunity. If it was a camp or a confer ence or an event in Wash ington FFA, if I could go to that, I would. It taught me how much this organization

builds off of itself. Every experience adds to the next one. It’s not one linear path to a position or an office, whether that’s chapter, dis trict, state or national, it’s not one straight shot, it’s a journey. ...

My freshman year, when I messed up (competing in creed) ... in that moment, I felt like my FFA career was over. I was just done, all the things I wanted to achieve were just gone and out the door. How could I expect to be a state officer, how could I expect to run for national officer if I can’t even win creed?

Sometimes life throws those little hiccups at you to see how you respond. I had my cry session in high school for a little bit, but within a few months, I was back up at it. And I was ready to go to my first state convention. ...

When life knocks you down, have the courage, strength and vulnerabil ity to get back up and keep going. That’s when you really set yourself apart and start paving a path of your own. Don’t give up, dream big, keep working, because one day, all that is going to pay off.

Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File

National FFA president Cole Baerlocher of Colfax, Wash., speaks at the Washing ton FFA convention May 13 in Kennewick.

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By DON JENKINS Capital Press

A Skagit County, Wash., farm will pay $138,500 to settle allegations by the state Department of Ecology that it illegally irrigated 348 acres of vegetables in 2021.

Ecology originally fined Skagit Valley Farm $267,000. The settlement amount was arrived at through negotiations and was announced by the department Oct. 31.

The money will go to the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, a nonprofit organization, for salmon restoration. Ecology will have to approve projects.

Skagit Valley Farm manages scattered pieces of land owned by Acme Properties LLC, Junior Farms LLC and Skagit Farmland LLC, all of which have common ownership. Skagit

Valley CEO Tony Wisdom declined to comment.

The farm appealed the fine to the Pollution Control Hearings Board. The farm agreed to drop the appeal, but did not admit to any of the allegations.

Ecology did not document any impairment to other water rights or any environmental damage. The unauthorized water had the potential to harm fish in the lower Skagit and Samish watersheds, Ecology alleged.

Ecology did not quantify the amount of water involved. The department levied the fine assuming fields had been unlawfully irrigated for 150 days.

Since being fined, Skagit Valley Farm has taken steps to obtain new water rights, change existing water rights and stop illegal water use, according to Ecology.

IMPORTED FARM GOODS NARROW GAP WITH U.S. EXPORTS

A ship is loaded with North west-grown wheat at the Colum bia Grain terminal in Portland, Ore. The traditional surplus in agricul tural trade enjoyed by U.S. farmers has eroded in recent years.

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press

Though the trade surpluses enjoyed by U.S. farmers for decades have recently been eroding, experts say the trend isn’t necessarily as gloomy as it sounds.

Exports of farm goods no longer outpace imports as widely or consistently as they did traditionally, and have occasionally even fallen behind in recent years, according to federal data.

As long as shipments of U.S. agricultural products keep increasing, though, economists don’t consider a trade defi cit to be an alarming development.

Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press

Imports

“In and of itself, it’s not a negative, but the American in me says, ‘Let’s go try to sell more American products,’” said Seth Meyer, chief economist at the USDA.

Consumers now have a multitude of choices year-round at the grocery store, while historically some foods were available only seasonally, Meyer said.

“We’re able to import the things we want and export the things we’re good at producing,” he said. “It’s nice to see options for consumers and markets for producers rising all at the same time.”

Agricultural imports tend to complement the products offered in the U.S., rather than replace domestically produced farm goods, said Veronica Nigh, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Seth Meyer

By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press

PORTLAND — The Port of Portland has secured more than $24 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve and expand Terminal 6 — Oregon’s only marine shipping terminal for agricultural exporters.

Funding comes from the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program, which aims to improve supply chains by increasing port capacity and efficiency.

Curtis Robinhold, Port of Portland executive director, said the grant will boost cargo storage at Terminal 6, while making operations safer and more environmentally friendly.

“This federal investment will have positive ripple effects throughout the Pacific Northwest,” Robinhold said.

Exports

Continued from Page B6

“We know trade balances aren’t the end-all, be-all for the health of a sector,” Nigh said. “Having a negative trade balance doesn’t mean an industry isn’t healthy.”

The question, then, is whether U.S. farm exports will stay robust or will begin to falter due to a strong dollar and other factors.

The U.S. agricultural trade balance is running at a $3.5 billion deficit so far in 2022, but exports have still

Specifically, the grant will be used to:

• Replace 9 acres of pavement adjacent to Terminal 6 for flexible cargo storage, including containers.

• Upgrade 30 acres of pavement in the terminal container yard.

• Add a new stormwater treatment system to reduce the flow of pollutants into the Columbia River.

• Replace electrical components to reduce energy consumption and move toward

zero-emission operations.

• Install two emergency backup generators to provide power during outages.

“Perhaps most significantly, the grant will allow us to reduce our impact on the environment and ensure that those whose livelihood depends on trade, especially those in rural communities, will continue to have access to national and global markets,” Robinhold said.

According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Ser-

vice, the Port of Portland ranked 12th nationwide for total waterborne agricultural exports in 2017. Bulk grains made up the vast majority of volume — 89% — followed by soybeans, other grain products, wine and vegetables.

Terminal 6 handles primarily automobile, container and breakbulk cargo bound for Asia.

As of May 17, the terminal had handled approximately 24,000 containers in 2022, up nearly 60% over the same period in 2021, according to an article in the Capital Press.

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, hailed funding for the Port of Portland, which was made available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Ports are a crucial part of keeping the economies of Oregon and the Northwest moving smoothly, and we

rely on them to move goods throughout our region and export our amazing Oregon products around the world,” Merkley said.

Elsewhere on the West Coast, the Port of Seattle received more than $17 million for expansion projects at Terminal 5, including construction of a new truck gate complex and cargo container storage yard.

In Northern California, the Port of Oakland was awarded more than $36.5 million to build a roughly 25-acre off-dock container support facility.

Modernizing port infrastructure means being able to move goods more quickly, strengthening supply chain resiliency and reducing climate impacts of port operations themselves, said U.S. Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips.

increased by 16% in value compared to last year, according to Farm Bureau’s most recently compiled statistics for the calendar year.

Veronica Nigh

In other words, global demand for U.S. farm goods has been expanding but the rate of growth has been surpassed by a 19% increase in imports.

It’s somewhat surprising that exports have continued climbing despite the

U.S. dollar gaining in value against other global currencies, which effectively made American farm products more expensive overseas, Nigh said.

“Normally, we would expect to see this level of dollar strength eat into export

viability,” she said.

Eventually, the U.S. agriculture industry can expect the dollar’s appreciation to have an impact on demand, Nigh said.

“There is a limit to how much people in other countries will pay for U.S. prod-

ucts, but I don’t know what that limit is,” she said.

The worst case scenario would be if crop prices plunge due to a spike in production while the costs of fertilizer and other farm inputs keeps rising, she said.

Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File

The Port of Portland’s Terminal 6.

“Fertilizer does not necessarily fall in lockstep with commodity prices,” Nigh said.

The USDA is projecting a $3.5 billion agricultural trade deficit in fiscal 2023, which began this autumn, compared to a surplus of more than $17.6 billion about five years ago, the most recent peak.

According to the agency, the U.S. experienced an annual trade deficit of $1.3 billion in fiscal 2019 and $3.7 billion in fiscal 2020, though the trade balance may be calculated differently according to the definition of “farm goods.”

Trade disputes with China and other partners have contributed to the U.S. trade balance narrowing or slipping into deficit after traditionally experiencing surpluses “to the tune of $20 billion-plus,” said Angela Hofmann, global trade adviser and board member of the Farmers for Free Trade nonprofit.

The gap between agricultural exports and imports has also narrowed due to heightened competition in the global agricultural market, Hofmann said.

Tariffs often impede the flow of U.S. farm goods to foreign nations that have agreed to lower them for other countries, she said.

“We haven’t been as aggressive in opening new markets,” Hofmann said. “Our competitors have been cutting deals all around us. Our competitors will look for advantages whenever the U.S. is sitting on the sidelines.”

It’s not too late for the U.S. to try regaining its market share by persuading foreign governments to come to the negotiating table, she said.

“There’s got to be a very focused effort on making that happen,” Hofmann said. “What the trade deficit tells us is we need to be looking at new customers.”

Internal economic policies have international impacts as well.

Inflation across the U.S. economy is prompting the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, indicating the dol-

lar will probably remain strong and stifle demand for American farm goods, said Jim Budzynski, managing principal of the Macrogain Partners consultancy firm.

The trade balance will likely be affected by reduced shipments to China, which sated its appetite for U.S. agricultural products during a buying spree meant to ease trade tensions with the Trump administration, Budzynski said.

“Once they’d done that, it was inevitable the market was going to drop,” since China couldn’t sustain purchases at such high levels, he said.

More broadly, the U.S. agriculture industry should now prepare for a “de-globalizing” economy as trading partners decrease their reliance on the dollar as “the world’s currency,” Budzynski said.

Low interest rates in the U.S. helped spur globalization as the dollar “greased the

skids of commerce,” he said.

That course has shifted because trading partners don’t want to be at the mercy of rising U.S. interest rates, which will make dollars more expensive for trade, Budzynski said.

“As they move away from the dollar, that complexity is going to return,” since conversion among different currencies introduces friction into global trade, he said.

Farmers and processors who’ve bet heavily on China or another export market should rethink putting all their eggs into one basket, he said.

Geopolitical conflicts can quickly impose barriers to trade, cutting off access to important sales outlets, Budzynski said. “Almost overnight, you can find yourself gasping for air.”

Agricultural companies should look for local and regional opportunities to diversify their businesses, he said. “I would move less and less of my products into export markets and more and more into domestic markets.”

Jim Budzynski

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press

A California farm has agreed to pay about $76,000 to settle allegations by federal labor regulators who claimed it violated H-2A guestworker rules.

The U.S. Department

of Labor accused Vino Farms, a grape grower in Lodi, Calif., of unlawfully favoring foreign H-2A employees over 14 domestic farmworkers.

According to the agency, the farm violated the requirement that it continue hiring domestic workers in its Sonoma

County vineyards through half the contracted H-2A time period.

Vino Farms avoided litigation and administratively settled DOL’s charges by agreeing to pay the 14 domestic workers roughly

$55,000 in lost wages as well as more than $21,000 in civil penalties.

“The agricultural community must understand that the wages and hours aff orded to migrant workers in the H-2A program cannot shortchange U.S. workers,” said Susan Blanco, district director of the agency’s wage and hour division, in a statement.

Craig Ledbetter, whose family runs Vino Farms, said the company believes it complied with H-2A rules but agreed to the payments because it doesn’t have the money or time for a prolonged court battle.

He said the third-generation family farm provides “the best employee benefi ts in the industry,” including a retirement

investment program, life insurance and a healthcare plan with no deductibles that costs workers and their relatives just $1 a month.

“We made the business decision to settle this claim so we could put this issue behind us,” Ledbetter said.

According to DOL, “violations of H-2A regulations and recovery of back wages have increased signifi cantly over the past fi ve years.”

Last year, the agency collected $5.8 million in back wages and $5.6 million in civil penalties from H-2A employers in 358 cases. That’s up from $1.45 million in back wages and $2.2 million in civil penalties in 235 cases five years ago.

NCBA: Farm bill going to be a hard sale

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press

With a new farm bill set for 2023, agriculture has a lot at stake in the midterm congressional elections, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is keeping an eye on races around the country.

NCBA is expecting Republicans to gain a cushion in the U.S. House that could be a little bigger than Democrats have now, which will bode well for a lot of cattle producers’ priorities, said

Ethan Lane, NCBA vice president of government affairs.

But the action really comes down to the Senate, he said.

“That’s where the big money game is being played,” he said in the latest “Beltway Beef” podcast.

Key races are shaping up in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada and to a lesser extent in Arizona.

Regardless of how the elections turn out, he’s expecting narrow party margins that will make for a pretty balanced Senate Agriculture Committee, he said.

Going into a farm bill, Democrats typically start to load in members from more urban districts that are focused on food assistance programs, he said.

“That’s going to be their priority going into that farm bill process,” he said.

Party control, even with a narrow margin, comes down to the agenda and what’s allowed to move forward, he said.

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., is the presumptive chairman of the House Agriculture Committee should

the Republicans take control of the House. He is a strong advocate of agriculture and the cattle industry, Lane said.

“That alone is a massive game changer, just empowering him in that position,” he said.

There are also a lot of new candidates from farm country that are looking good in their races. That’s going to bring some new helpful voices for agriculture. And they’ll all want to be on the agriculture committees, he said.

“What we try to remind people is we do business before almost every committee in Washington, so we need help everywhere as well. So we don’t want those members to think it’s Ag Committee or bust,” lane said.

As for the next Congress and the next farm bill, NCBA is expecting a high degree of fiscal conservatism due to extraordinary government spending since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“The farm bill is going

to be close to a trillion dollar package at this point. That is going to get a lot of scrutiny. I think it’s really important that we understand just what a big sale job a full farm bill will be with this new Congress,” he said. Farm bills span five years.

NCBA has heard from a lot of incoming freshman Republican members who say they have no interest in voting for a big package, even if they’re from farm states, he said.

“And remember everything in that farm bill costs more than it did the last time we did it,” he said.

Inflation is front and center, and that goes for food prices, conservation programs and disaster assistance program costs. Across the board, everything costs more, he said.

“So not only is this a big ticket anyway, it’s an even bigger ticket because of that,” he said.

It’s going to prove to be a really contentious fight, he said.

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Farm debt relief changes spur new bias controversy

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press

Changes to USDA’s debt relief programs have rendered moot a lawsuit over $4 billion allocated solely for Black and minority farmers but triggered another legal battle over racial discrimination.

The new complaint seeks damages against the federal government for eliminating debt relief provisions aimed specifically at “socially disadvantaged farmers,” or SDFs.

By reneging on the $4 billion in debt relief for such farmers, including those who faced past racial discrimination, the federal government has violated its contractual commitment to them, according to the lawsuit.

“They did not receive the benefit for which they had bargained,” the complaint said. “And they suffered financial damage in reliance on the U.S. government’s promises by making purchases they are now unable to afford.”

In 2021, Congress approved about $1.9 trillion in pandemic recovery funding under the American Rescue Plan Act, which included $4 billion in loan forgiveness for farmers of color.

The provision spurred several lawsuits filed by white farmers across the country, including a couple in Oregon, who claimed they were unlawfully excluded from debt relief based on their race.

At least four preliminary injunctions blocked disbursal of the debt relief funds and the lawsuits were ultimately consolidated as a class action in Texas.

According to the judge overseeing the case, the loan forgiveness provision threatened irreparable harm because “plaintiffs are experiencing race-based discrimination at the hand of government officials and will be barred from even being considered for funding from the program as a result of this discrimination.”

The USDA and other defenders of the debt relief program argued it wasn’t

unconstitutional because the funding was narrowly tailored to remedy past wrongs based on race, such as loan denials to Black and minority farmers.

Arguments over the loan forgiveness program’s legality were still playing out in federal court when Congress passed another major bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, in late summer.

Among many other provisions, the bill replaced the earlier debt relief program with new terms that weren’t as directly linked to race, such as $3 billion for distressed borrowers and $2.2 billion for farmers who experienced lending discrimination.

Due to those changes, attorneys for the plaintiffs and USDA jointly asked for the litigation to be dis-

missed and that case was closed.

The new complaint has been filed by John Boyd, founder of the National Black Farmers Association, and several other socially disadvantaged farmers in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

According to the plaintiffs, the USDA made a contractual obligation to pay off their loans in exchange

for them waiving their right to challenge the agency’s debt calculations or eligibility decisions.

The plaintiffs also decided not to pursue racial discriminations claims against the USDA based on the agency’s loan forgiveness promise, the complaint said. Under the new terms, however, they have “no reason to believe the U.S. government or USDA will ever provide them the relief that they deserve.”

“This is a transparent attempt to rob SDFs of the compensation they are due,” the complaint said.

The plaintiffs have asked a federal judge to designate the lawsuit as a class action, which would allow other affected farmers to join the case, and to order the government to pay them damages “in amounts to be determined at trial.”

An attorney representing the federal government in the lawsuit directed questions to the U.S. Department of Justice’s public affairs office, which has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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Panel: Succession planning needs to start well before ownership transition

By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press

BOISE — The hard work of farm succession planning teaches lessons along the way that are as important as the result, Idaho Farm and Ranch Conference panelists said Oct. 24.

One farm’s next-generation owners transitioned their father out of a job as planned, only to notice how many miles he was putting on a utility vehicle as he kept working on his own.

“They had time to react,” said Shannon Ferrell, an attorney and Oklahoma State University agricultural economics professor. “They pulled Dad back into a more active role.”

A large ranch’s patriarch died and left the next generation scrambling to learn about running the business, said Dick Wittman of Wittman Consulting in north-central Idaho. After much time and many interactions, family members were able to establish formal policies, best practices

and an advisory board. Each accomplishment provided “confidence that they can do the next,” he said. “It’s complex, but its doable” with willingness

and the right roadmap.

“Farm transition is viewed as a point in time” rather than an ongoing process, said Brad Cook, a Montana-based accountant

who leads the agribusiness practice of assurance, tax and consulting firm Wipfli LLP. A farm or ranch should be viewed as a professional business “and not Grandpa’s piece of dirt.”

Succession plans work best when owners keep learning about the operation and make adjustments as family, business and other dynamics change, said Ferrell, who grew up on a farm in the challenging 1980s.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove demand for quick preparation of key documents for families and businesses and showed the value of taking more time to plan if given the opportunity, he said.

“Look at it one problem at a time,” Ferrell said. Owners can develop a clear picture of the business and their plans for its future as they draft documents, continue to assess performance and characteristics, talk to other people involved, value and protect assets and monitor progress.

Producing fundamental documents and standard operating procedures adds professionalism and momentum, Cook said. And it helps an owner

“understand what you do and know that nobody else knows,” and document it.

Compiling information that any adviser would want to know — like five years of financial statements, insurance coverage and ownership documentation — is valuable and can be done well before a succession plan is fine-tuned, Wittman said.

Land deeds, leases, fair market values and the tax basis of assets help owners and their helpers more thoroughly understand what they have and what they want to accomplish, Ferrell said.

Consulting is most effective after owners and the adviser learn how the business functions and why, and set realistic performance expectations, Wittman said.

Farmers and ranchers can also get succession help from university extension educators and others.

Peer-to-peer learning “is a great addition we can incorporate,” said moderator Ashlee Westerhold, who directs Kansas State University’s Office of Farm and Ranch Transition and is a former area economist for University of Idaho Extension.

Brad Carlson/Capital Press

Ashlee Westerhold of Kansas State University and Shannon Ferrell of Oklahoma State University speak during the Idaho Farm and Ranch Conference in Garden City Oct. 24.

Elanco chief: Animal agriculture key to world’s biggest challenges

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press

With the United Nations pushing the climate agenda and climate policies such as herd reductions in Europe coming into play, the next 24 months will be crucial for animal agriculture, according to an industry insider.

The three biggest global issues are food insecurity, the health crisis and climate change, and animals can have the biggest positive impact on all three, said Jeff Simmons, Elanco Animal Health president and CEO.

Animals can nourish the world, promote health and reduce climate warming, he said during the Ag Outlook Forum, cohosted by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City.

With 60% of the world population either not getting enough calories or getting the wrong calories, animal protein can play a big role in food insecurity and the health crisis, he said.

As for the warming climate, the cattle industry has the ability to reduce methane emissions, which are 25 times more potent in trapping heat than carbon dioxide. So reducing methane would go a long way in slowing global warming, he said.

More than ever, animal protein is a major factor in food security, improving health and slowing climate change, he said.

“You cannot disconnect climate, calories and choice,” he said.

Demand for animal protein is expected to increase 50% over the next 10 years, and meat animal protein has been the hottest food segment for the last three years, he said.

Three things always emerge in consumer food preference surveys — taste, cost and nutrition, he said.

“But there is now a new wildcard for animal protein that we’ve got to pay attention to, and it’s choice,” he said.

The number one reason people have backed away from animal protein is linked to the environment. One in 10 adults who avoid meat think livestock agriculture creates 75% to 100% of greenhouse gases. While it’s only 6%, livestock get 60% to 70% of the blame, he said.

Over the last fi ve years, there’s been a 71% increase in online searches for sustainable goods, and 72% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable brands, he said.

“I will tell you right now, we have to pay attention to Gen Zs and millennials. … They will hold the steering wheel to our agenda the next 10 to 12 years … they might not be the biggest consumers, but they’re the biggest infl uencers of consumers,” he said.

Sixty-six percent of them think the current food system is destroying the planet, 52% are willing to sacrifi ce taste for the environment and 76% have consumed alternative proteins, he said.

“They are looking for the reasons and the solutions on climate. And our simple narrative to them is this … don’t try to get rid of us, cows and livestock can actually be a big part of the solution,” he said.

“Climate-neutral farms are possible, where we can capture the greenhouse gases that we create and create no footprint. And at the same time, we can help create better nutrition, less obesity, less diabetes, feed the world and help cool the climate by 2030,” he said.

Je Simmons

By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press

Adequate funding for the next farm bill will be the biggest hurdle as lawmakers continue work on the legislation, a wheat industry leader says.

“Right now, most commodity prices are pretty good, so the government’s not making any payments,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers. “Which means we have less money to write the next farm bill with.”

The mid-term elections will determine the next steps in developing the new bill.

“If either chamber remains Democrat, I think that chamber will proceed with farm bill hearings,” Goule said. “But if one or both of the chambers should fl ip to Republican, I would see farm bill hearings stalling until the new majority is put into place” in January.

Farm bill negotiations are already six to eight months behind, Goule said. He thinks it will be “very diffi cult” to get a new bill authorized by Sept. 30, 2023.

“We should have already had 20 or 30 farm bill hearings in Washington, D.C., in both the House and Senate,” he said. “The Senate hasn’t even had any farm bill

hearings in D.C. yet.”

Part of the delay can be attributed to the COVID19 pandemic, he said.

If Republicans take back the House, Goule foresees another attempt to split the nutrition program from the farm bill, which would be a nonstarter in the Senate.

Several states represented in the Senate ag committee are the largest recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefi ts. SNAP generates support for legislation from urban members of Congress.

NAWG will fi rst focus on broad education of lawmakers about the bill, then focus on vital programs for farmers next year, Goule said.

Goule doesn’t expect the lower Snake River dams, long the target of environmental groups who say they should be breached for the benefit of salmon, to immediately be targeted by lawmakers.

A recent report on the dams from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee “said a whole lot of nothing” and “really just kicked the can down the road,” Goule said.

“Congress is the only body that can actually remove those dams,” he said. “I don’t think we should let up the pressure, but I’m feeling very confident nothing’s going to happen in this Congress.”

The Water Resources Development bill would be the most likely place to include language to remove the dams, Goule said. That bill authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out activities concerning water resource development projects, and both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have committed not to include any language about breaching, he said.

“I feel good about this year, but next year’s a new Congress and there’s always

a new fight,” he said.

Some ag stakeholders have expressed concern about environmental groups taking the dam breaching argument into courtrooms.

“The courts continue to add pressure to push for a legislative result, but the courts cannot actually take the dams out,” Goule said. “As long as we continue to have level heads and come to the table to think about the rural economy, agricultural transportation and the salmon return, we can get through this.”

Lawmakers are currently in their districts campaigning. Goule recommends farmers attend meetings and talk about the farm bill, crop insurance programs and dams.

“That’s the most important thing I think you could do for the month of October,” he said. “If you could just try to attend one of those meetings and get your voices heard by your representative.”

Chandler Goule, chief executive o cer of the National Association of Wheat Growers, says work on a new farm bill is behind schedule.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY NOV. 4-5

Washington State Sheep Producers Annual Meeting: Holiday Inn Airport, Spokane. The event will focus on issues facing the industry. Website: https://www.wssp.org

FRIDAY-MONDAY NOV. 4-7

Angus Convention: Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. The convention provides industry updates, education and networking. Website: https://www.angusconvention.com

SUNDAY-TUESDAY NOV. 6-8

NFU Women’s Conference: Holiday Inn and Suites Nashville Downtown, Nashville, Tenn. The conference o ers networking, education and skill-building. Website: https://www.nfu.org

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY NOV. 9-10

Farm and Food Symposium: Centennial Hotel, 303 W. North River Drive, Spokane, Wash. Hosted by the Spokane Conservation District, the Farm and Food Symposium is a two-day, in-person event where progressive farmers, ag industry professionals, and other conservation partners will gather to gain a deeper understanding of the ecological practices and the economic incentives of regenerative farming. Website: https://bit.ly/3LOjt3k

Dairy West Annual Meeting: Boise Center. The meeting will focus on dairy promotion, exports, risk management and on-farm innovation. Website: https://www.dairywestannualmeeting.com

THURSDAY-SATURDAY NOV. 10-12

Washington Tilth Conference with Washington Organic Reycling Council: Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 West Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick, Wash. The Tilth Conference brings together hundreds of farmers, food system professionals, researchers and educators for more than 25 lectures, workshops and panel discussions that highlight Washington’s organic farmers. Website: https://bit.ly/3TLl2lC

TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY NOV. 15-17

Willamette Valley Ag Expo: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. Linn County Fair & Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road E, Albany, Ore. The Expo is put on each year by the Willamette Valley Ag Association. The WVAA is a nonpro t and proceeds go toward the association’s college scholarships. Website: https://wvaexpo.com/

Washington Farm Bureau Annual Meeting: Wenatchee, Wash., Convention Center, 121 N. Wenatchee Ave. With a theme of “Cultivating Our Future,” Washington Farm Bureau members will gather to hear about hot topics and to set the agenda for the coming year. Website: https://wfbannualmeeting.com/

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WEDNESDAY NOV. 16

Big Idaho Potato Harvest Meeting: 8 a.m. Shoshone-Bannock Hotel and Event Center, 777 Bannock Trail, Fort Hall, Idaho. Scheduled speakers and topics include Nora Olsen, University of Idaho, bruise management; Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, state a airs; Andy Hamilton, Markon CEO, foodservice; Higham, commission update; Riley Gri n, Northwest Farm Credit Services, economic outlook; Blair Richardson, CEO of marketing organization Potatoes USA, update; and Kam Quarles, CEO of advocacy organization National Potato Council, update. Website: https:// idahopotato.com

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY NOV. 16-17

Sustainable Agriculture Summit: Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa, Glendale, Ariz. The conference will focus on collaboration and innovation for a more sustainable future. Website: https://www. sustainableagsummit.org

FRIDAY NOV. 18

Denim and Diamonds Dinner and Auction: 5 p.m. Salem Convention Center, 200 Commercial St. SE, Salem, Ore. Every November, Oregon Aglink hosts Denim and Diamonds, an awards dinner and auction, which a ords us the opportunity to raise funds for the Oregon Aglink Foundation, supporting programs like Adopt a Farmer. Website: https://aglink.org/events/ denim-diamonds/

FRIDAY-SATURDAY NOV. 18-19

Oregon CattleWomen Annual Meeting and 70th Anniversary Jubilee: Sunriver, Ore. Join us at the historic Great Hall in Sunriver, Ore., to celebrate 70 years of beef promotion and education. Among the speakers will be Florida rancher Reba Mazak, president of the American National CattleWomen; Todd Nash, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association; and Tammy Dennee, executive director of the OCA. Website: http:// oregoncattlewomen.org

TUESDAY-THURSDAY NOV. 29-DEC. 1

Tri-State Grain Convention: Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second St., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The Idaho Grain Producers Association, Oregon Wheat Growers League and Washington Association of Wheat Growers host the 2022 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention. There will be opportunities to learn about critical issues producers face in today’s multi-media world and preview farming industry updates. Website: https://bit.ly/3evpUvQ

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY NOV. 30-DEC. 1

Organic Grower Summit: Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa, Monterey, Calif. The summit o ers presentation, education and networking. Website: https://www. organicproducernetwork.com

Utah Cattlemen’s Association Winter Meeting: Sheraton Hotel, 150 W 500 S, Salt Lake City, Utah.The meeting will focus on issues important to the industry. Website: https://www.utahcattlemen.org

WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY NOV. 30-DEC. 2

California Cattlemen’s Association and California Cattle Women Convention: Nugget Casino Resort, Reno, Nev. The convention will be held in conjunction with the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association annual convention. Website: https://www.calcattlemen.org

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY DEC. 5-7

Washington Dairy Conference Annual Meeting: Great Wolf Lodge, Centralia, Wash. Registration and details coming soon. Website: https://www.wastatedairy.com

Casey Jones

Eric Jones

Events

MONDAYTHURSDAY DEC. 5-8

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting : Riverside Hotel, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd., Garden City, Idaho. “Empowering Idaho Agri culture” is this year’s theme. Discussion topics to include new agricul tural technologies; farm safety; aquifer recharge; water supply and usage; and corporate environ mental, social and gov ernance standards. Annual business, pro gram updates and award presentations slated. Website: https://www. idahofb.org/events/ conferences/

TUESDAY DEC. 6

University of Idaho Sugar Beet Confer ence : Best Western Bur ley Inn and Convention Center, Burley, Idaho. The annual conference fea tures University of Idaho Extension educators and researchers focusing on production issues and grower education. Web site: https://www.mar ketplace.uidaho.edu

TUESDAYWEDNESDAY DEC. 6-7

Western Governors’ Association Winter Meeting : Phoenix, Ariz. The meeting will focus on public conversations about the most signif icant issues facing the region. Website: https:// www.westgov.org

THURSDAYSATURDAY DEC. 8-10

U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting : DoubleTree Downtown, Nashville, Tenn. The meeting will focus on policy, legisla tion and cattle markets. Website: https://www. cattlemensmeeting. square.site

TUESDAY DEC. 13

Intro to Hazard Analysis Critical Con trol Points (online) : 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Moun tain time. Hazard Anal ysis and Critical Con

trol Points (HACCP) is an internationally recog nized method of identi fying and managing food safety-related risk and, when central to an active food safety program, can provide your customers, the public, and regula tory agencies assurance that a food safety pro gram is well managed. Participants will receive an International HACCP Alliance seal and certifi cate. Website: https://bit. ly/3PJoF9U

TUESDAYTHURSDAY DEC. 13-15

Far West Agribusiness Association Annual Conference: Boise Cen ter, Boise, Idaho. The con ference will examine risks and rewards in the fer tilizer industry. Website: https://www.fwaa.org

FRIDAYWEDNESDAY

JAN. 6-11

American Farm Bureau Convention : Puerto Rico Conven tion Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico. This is your opportunity to help set the agenda for the lead ing voice of agriculture in Washington, D.C., and more. Participate in educational workshops to advance your leader ship skills, expand your business acumen, and gain deep insight into the trends and reali ties impacting food pro duction. Witness cut

ting edge innovation in agriculture, hear from powerful speakers, and explore the trade show to build a stronger net work, shop featured products, and idea-share with other state and

county Farm Bureaus. Website: https://annual convention.fb.org/

SUNDAYWEDNESDAY JAN. 18-21

American Sheep Industry Annual Con

vention: Ft. Worth, Texas.

The annual meeting bring all sectors of the industry together to set priorities, share information and conduct business. Web site: https://www.shee pusa.org

H-2A burdens expected to increase under new rule

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press

Farmers who rely on foreign guestworkers can only expect more red tape from upcoming revisions to the H-2A visa program, according to agricultural labor experts.

The stricter demands and increased costs may dissuade farmers from using H-2A or growing labor-intensive crops altogether — ultimately making the U.S. more dependent on food imports, experts say.

“We’re shipping our production off to our competition,” said Michael Marsh, president and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

Marsh said his organization is worried enough to consider filing a lawsuit against the new regulations, which become effective in mid-November.

Capital Press File

H-2A

Continued from Page C6

“We’re very concerned what the outcomes are going to be from this regulation,” he said.

Proposed revisions that would have made the H-2A program more workable were not included in the final rule, though it did have provisions opposed by agricultural employers, said Kate Tynan, senior vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council.

“We were fairly dis-

appointed,” Tynan said. “Most of the changes make the regulatory and financial burden worse on H-2A users.”

For example, the version proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2019 would have provided a more flexible time frame for the arrival of guestworkers, she said.

Instead of choosing a specific date, growers would set a two-week window for their arrival, Tynan said. The provision better reflected the vagaries of weather, but it was scrapped

from the final version.

Similarly, the proposal would have allowed farmers to submit a single H-2A application for groups of workers who arrive at different times, she said.

This staggered entry provision was eliminated

See Workers, Page C10

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Capital Press File

H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers from Mexico pick Fuji apples at Valico Fruit Co., Wapato, Wash.

Company develops Washington state carbon plan for free

By DON JENKINS Capital Press

A company owned by BP may not get any money for designing a plan to lock up timberland and sell forest carbon offsets, according to the Washington Depart

ment of Natural Resources.

Finite Carbon, based in Pennsylvania, volunteered to design a plan that will cancel logging on 10,000 acres of state land in West ern Washington, depart ment spokeswoman Sarah Ford said Oct. 28.

Although Finite could end up leasing the land and sharing revenue from com panies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint by buying offsets, it will have to bid for the leases, Ford said in an email.

“This is the same pro cess we utilize for renew able energy or agriculture leases on state trust land,” she said.

A Finite spokeswoman confirmed Monday that the company has not been compensated for the two years it has worked on the project. She said that’s common for carbon-offset programs.

BP, formally Brit ish Petroleum, acquired a majority stake in Finite Carbon in 2020, one year after investing $5 million in the company.

Finite calls itself North America’s top supplier of forest carbon offsets. The offsets purportedly offset a company’s contribution to global warming by leav ing forests uncut to store and take in carbon from the atmosphere.

Washington DNR

carbon credits.

Finite has participated in more than 50 forest projects, but none listed on the company’s website involve public lands.

Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz introduced Finite in April as the partner in a first-in-the-nation program to forgo timber sales on state lands and sell carbon offsets instead.

Finite Carbon planner Caitlin Guthrie said the company was the project’s developer and manager and indicated the partnership would continue. “By measuring the project over time, we will ensure the carbon offsets generated are not just estimates, but verifiable emissions reductions,” she said.

Republican legislators quickly asked questions, such as how much revenue carbon credits will raise for schools and counties, and how much DNR was spending on its partnership with Finite.

On Oct. 25, Franz answered a letter GOP lawmakers sent six months ago. She said the department will do a financial analysis once it picks the 10,000 acres, but did not mention the department’s partnership with Finite.

“She didn’t answer that question at all,” said Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia.

DNR should be able to at least estimate revenue from carbon credits before proceeding with the project, he said. “They do not have a fiscal analysis that goes with this, and that’s what I’d like,” he said.

Ford said DNR has no financial or contractural obligation to Finite, and has the ability to “ultimately not pursue a formal relationship.”

“Finite Carbon has freely advised DNR on how carbon markets work, how

assessments for carbon are calculated, and how DNR might best enter into carbon markets,” she said.

Before planning the project, the department did not issue a request for proposals, soliciting bids to develop what Franz called “a model for carbon opportunities throughout the nation.”

“We are establishing DNR at the cutting-edge of carbon-market opportunities,” she said.

Republican lawmakers, in their letter, said studies, public comments and legislative action should have come before such a big change in DNR policy.

Franz responded that a recent state Supreme Court decision gives DNR board discretion in deciding how to raise revenue from forests. The process of developing the carbon project has been “transparent and collaborative,” she wrote.

Rural counties that rely on DNR timber sales to fund public services were unaware of the project until Franz rolled it out, said Court Stanley, timber consultant for the Washington State Association of Counties.

The project was planned without the approval or knowledge of the Board of Natural Resources, ostensi-

bly the panel that sets DNR timber policies.

Finite Carbon, based in Pennsylvania, volunteered to design a plan that will cancel logging on 10,000 acres of state land in Western Washington.

Roxor

from the final regulation, so a separate time-consuming application is required

for each group of workers, Tynan said.

Farmers must also continue to hire domestic workers until half the H-2A contract period is over,

whether they’re needed or not, Tynan said. This period would have been shortened to 30 days under the proposal.

“You’re still required to

hire whoever shows up in the middle of harvest,” she said.

The final rule also didn’t include a grace period that would give farmers two weeks to adjust their payroll systems to newly required wage rates.

Steep hikes in H-2A wages may instantly render a crop uneconomical to harvest, said Marsh of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

“You get that kind of increase, you might be better off leaving the berries on the bush,” he said.

Though the final regulation approved by the Biden administration is onerous for farm employers, aspects of the Trump administration’s proposal were also troublesome, Marsh said.

“I’d refer to it as a missed opportunity to make some real improvements to the program,” he said.

The final rule relaxes the statistical requirements used to determine the “prevailing wages” paid to guestworkers in Washington state, potentially leading to unwarranted increases, he said.

When the prevailing wage rises in Washington, that in turn affects calculations of the “adverse effect wage rate” for the Pacific Northwest that’s paid by Oregon growers, Marsh said.

Under the new rule, farm labor contractors will be subject to sharply higher costs for surety bonds, which are intended to ensure H-2A workers get paid, he said.

Federal officials are uneasy about farm labor contractors using H-2A, he said. “They’re hearing from the activist community that we’ve got to take care of these farm labor contrac-

tors because they’re all bad guys.”

The negative reputation isn’t deserved but the surety bond provisions are bound to make participation in H-2A even more expensive, Marsh said.

“The farm labor contractor just passes those costs onto the grower,” he said. “It can raise expenses to the level that a small farmer can’t afford it at all.”

Growers may also be discouraged from using H-2A by the final rule’s “joint liability” provision for farmers who share guestworkers, said Enrique Gastelum, CEO of Wafla, an agricultural labor association.

Sharing guestworkers within a region is attractive for farmers who couldn’t shoulder the H-2A program’s regulatory and financial load on their own, he said. “It’s been a benefit for smaller growers because they can distribute the costs.”

Under the joint liability provision, if one grower violates H-2A regulations then civil penalties can be imposed on others who rely on the same workers, Gastelum said. “You can be held liable for the violations of another farm.”

Farmers who rely on joint employment of H-2A workers may reconsider the arrangement, or at least carefully consider whether they trust the other employers to avoid mistakes, he said.

In general, they’d be wise to start diligently vetting all their H-2A partners due to the new regulation, including attorneys, recruiters, agents and transporters, Gastelum said.

“I just see there being more scrutiny of the entire H-2A ecosystem, not less,” he said.

Tyson

By DON JENKINS Capital Press

Tyson Foods will pay $10.5 million to settle allegations by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson that it conspired with other poultry companies to infl ate chicken prices.

The Arkansas-based company, the country’s largest poultry producer, denied any wrongdoing, but settled to avoid the cost and distraction of fi ghting the claims, according to a court order.

“While Tyson does not admit any liability as part of the settlement, it believes that the settlement was in the best interests of the company and its shareholders in order to avoid the uncertainty, expense and burden of protracted litigation,” Tyson spokesman Derek Burleson said in an email Oct. 24.

Ferguson sued Tyson and 18 other poultry companies in 2021. The defendants shared inside information, limited production and rigged bids, the suit alleges.

Two other companies, Mar-Jac Poultry and Fieldale Farms Corp., had previously settled. The suit against the other defendants remains pending in King County Superior Court.

As part of its settlement, Tyson will provide the state attorney general’s offi ce with documents and make executives available for questioning.

Highly paid executives cheated “hardworking Washington families in order to satisfy their greed,” Ferguson said in a

press release Monday.

“We will do everything in our power to make Washingtonians whole for the harm done to them by this price-rigging conspiracy,” he said.

Mar-Jac Poultry paid a $725,000 settlement in May and Fieldale Farms Corp. paid $475,000 to settle in August. Both companies are based in Georgia.

The attorney general’s offi ce has now negotiated settlements totaling $11.7 million.

Some of the money will cover the state’s legal costs. A program will be set up to compensate Washington chicken consumers with funds left over, according to the attorney general.

The poultry industry has been hit with numerous federal and state lawsuits alleging price-rig-

ging. Tyson agreed to pay $221.5 million last year to settle federal suits fi led in Illinois.

A federal jury in Denver in July acquitted fi ve chicken-company executives from Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry of price-fi xing.

suit

REMAINING DEFENDANTS

The remaining defendants are the statistical service Agri Stats and poultry producers Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue Farms, Koch Foods, Sanderson Farms, Foster Farms; Mountaire Farms, Wayne Farms, Amick Farms, George’s, Peco Foods; House of Raeford Farms, Case Foods, Claxton Poultry Farms, Simmons Foods, O.K. Foods and Harrison Poultry.

Getty Images

Chickens in a barn. Tyson Foods will pay $10.5 million to settle a price- xing case with Washington state’s attorney general.

By DON JENKINS Capital Press

Midwest corn and soybean growers took their shot Oct. 24 at persuading a federal court to block California from phasing out gas and diesel vehicles and prevent other states, including Washington and Oregon, from following suit.

The farmers grow feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel and say they will be hurt by requirements that new vehicles be powered by electricity or hydrogen.

The ethanol industry processed more than 5.1 billion bushels of corn in 2021. Some 30% of soybean oil produced in the U.S. goes into biodiesel, according to a brief filed Oct. 24 in the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“By design, California’s greenhouse-gas standards and zero-emission-vehicle mandate reduce the demand for liquid fuels and their raw materials,” according to the brief.

The farmers sued the Environmental Protection Agency, which has the power to approve or deny California’s rules on zero-emission vehicles. The lawsuit was merged with two others.

The consolidated case involves 37 states; Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.; several automakers; many environmental groups, and a handful of producers,

distributors and retailers of fossil fuels and biofuels.

At issue is whether the Biden EPA can allow California to use the federal Clean Air Act to mandate zero-emission vehicles to fight climate change.

As California goes, so go other blue states and the auto market. Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Honda and Volvo — all investing heavily in electric vehicles — have intervened on the side of California and the Biden EPA.

The suit originally challenged California’s plan to require an increasing percentage of new cars be zero-emission. Since then, the California Air Resources Board has banned new gas and diesel cars, pickups and SUVs beginning in 2035. The board on Oct. 27 had a hearing on banning all new diesel trucks by 2040.

Because the bans conflict with federal vehicle-emission standards, the EPA must approve them. If approved, other states can choose to follow federal or California’s standards. There is no third option.

Washington, Oregon and 18 other states have intervened to support California and the Biden EPA, while 17 states argue that allowing California to effectively dictate national energy and transportation policies is unconstitutional.

Congress gave Califor-

The ethanol industry processed more than 5.1 billion bushels of corn in 2021.

nia special status under the Clean Air Act because of its Los Angeles smog problem in the 1960s. Critics contend California has abused its status to take on a global problem that should be addressed by Congress.

The farm groups add that banning gas- and diesel-powered vehicles conflicts with the Renewable Fuel Standard, a congressional mandate to produce more biofuels.

The majority of corn grown in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and

Missouri go into making ethanol, according to court declarations.

Measured by cash receipts, corn and soybeans are the second and third most-valuable crops, respectively, in the U.S.,

according to the USDA. Cattle is number one.

California should not be allowed to substantially restructure the nation’s agricultural sector, the growers argue.

“Congress did not, and

could not, authorize California, along among the 50 states, to assume a role as a junior varsity EPA and attempt to solve national and international issues like climate change,” the brief states.

Getty Images

Connecting Mexican Brewers With Farmers, Maltsters

From U.S. Grains Council

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently connected company representatives from the three largest Mexican breweries with the three largest U.S. barley-producing states—North Dakota, Montana and Idaho—to receive a crop report directly from U.S. farmers and updates on the latest in research and development for barley and malt.

“Just as we have been doing with feed producers, we are taking our buyers to hear directly from U.S. farmers and suppliers about the current year’s crop, quality and other information,” said Javier Chavez, USGC marketing specialist for Mexico. “In turn, customers can ask questions about market factors, supply and demand issues related to COVID-19 while providing their own outlook on Mexican beer production.

“By providing market information and education, we are able to better reach out to our end-users. We now have brewers asking for updated information on U.S. barley varieties and U.S. malt suppliers, as well as for help on specific trade projects.”

Mexico is the world’s largest beer exporter in terms of both value and volume—good news for U.S. barley farmers and malt producers who supply the main ingredient. Mexico dominates imports of U.S. barley and barley products, purchasing 350,000 metric tons (12.9 million bushels) in 2019/2020.

Ranchers grapple with increasing number of oregon wolf attacks

The outbreak of COVID-19 essentially shut down the brewing industry in Mexico in spring 2020 as beer produc tion was deemed a non-essential industry. Some brewers near the border and in rural areas could operate, but malt imports quickly dropped to a third of normal demand.

As these large companies have resumed production, the Council has stayed in close contact with key customers to stay tuned-in to their concerns. The shift to a virtual setting for this program meant the Council could not only answer questions, but also expand participation to include more staff from each of the companies as well as more presence from members of the U.S. barley and malt supply chain.

By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press

It has been another challenging summer for Oregon ranchers working to protect their livestock from wolves. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has con firmed 50 wolf attacks so far in 2022, killing or injuring 39 cattle, eight sheep, four goats and three guard dogs. Of those incidents, 38 have been reported since July 6, primarily in northeast and south-central Oregon. That is already one more confirmed depredation than was tallied by ODFW for all of last year, though with fewer animals harmed — 95 in 2021, versus 54 as of Oct. 20.

“This business-to-business approach takes advantage of the virtual nature of meetings to make it easy to include more participants from both sides of the border,” Chavez said. “We can go beyond procurement staff to include other individuals from these Mexican companies working in re search and development, quality control and management. At the same time, we can include a larger number of U.S. farmers, maltsters, researchers and suppliers.”

But for every carcass found in rugged, mountainous terrain, there could be as many as six or seven more that aren’t found, said John Williams, a retired Oregon State University Extension agent in Wallowa County who is wolf committee co-chairman of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

The Council has follow-up programs scheduled with each individual brewing company to address specific needs identified through this virtual meeting.

“Through these programs, we reaffirm the Council as a source of education, market information and an active part ner in enabling trade,” Chavez said. “As a result, we have more inquiries than ever from brewers, feed producers and grain importers.”

Many producers also opt not to report their livestock losses to ODFW, Williams said, having long been frus trated with the agency’s management of wolves.

See Wolves, Page C15

ODFW

Permits have been issued allowing two wolves to be culled in response to continued attacked on livestock.

“We need to get much more aggressive,” he said. “We should be acting on the management of these wolves without having to wait for disaster to strike.”

‘Lethal take’ permits

ODFW recently issued “lethal take” permits for two wolf packs that continue to prey on livestock in neighboring Union and Umatilla counties.

One of those permits allows the affected rancher to kill up to two wolves from the Horseshoe pack. It was approved Sept. 6 after wolves attacked cattle twice in three weeks on a 4,000-acre private pasture in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton.

The permit was due to expire Oct. 7, but was extended until Oct. 28 after the pack killed another calf on Sept. 26.

Since then, two more depredations were confirmed and attributed to the Horseshoe pack on Oct. 17.

Michelle Dennehy, ODFW spokeswoman, said trapping has been added as a tool to catch wolves in the pasture, with USDA Wildlife Services now acting as the producer’s agent.

A second kill permit was also granted Oct. 6 for up to two wolves from the Balloon Tree pack after ODFW confirmed four attacks on sheep Sept. 8-26 near Elgin. That permit expired Oct. 15, with no wolves killed.

Ranchers face difficulties

Williams said it is difficult for ranchers to catch and shoot wolves under restrictions written into ODFW’s permits.

First, they can only be killed on pastures where livestock depredations have already occurred. Williams said a wolf can easily traverse a 1,000-acre pasture

in just minutes.

Second, the agency may specify only a certain type of wolf may be shot to preserve certain members of a pack, such as the alpha male, female or any wolf fitted with a tracking collar. Not to mention, ranchers are already working fulltime jobs, Williams said.

“It really limits the success of going ahead and getting those wolves killed,” he said. “Once a wolf pack gets into a ‘chronic depredation’ issue like these packs are, really the only out is to reduce that pack’s size.”

Oregon’s wolf plan currently defines “chronic depredation” as two attacks in nine months for wolves east of highways 395, 78 and 95, after which ODFW may consider lethal control. Wolves in Western Oregon remain protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said evidence shows that in places such as Eastern Oregon, where government agencies can readily

kill wolves, illegal poaching also increases.

Four wolves have been poached in the region this

year, most recently OR88, a radio-collared adult female member of the Lookout Mountain pack in

Baker County.

“It’s a sad cycle that keeps repeating itself in Oregon,” Weiss said. None of the poachers have been caught.

However, Williams said that while OCA doesn’t condone poaching, he believes there would be greater tolerance of the predators locally if the state were more proactive in managing populations, and not simply reacting to livestock depredations.

Cattlemen want ODFW to adopt management zones for wolves, with population targets to prevent what Williams described as “saturation” of the animals in some areas.

“Here, you can expect to see a wolf on any ridge in Wallowa County, at any time,” he said. “You can’t really run them off. You’re just moving them to another batch of livestock. You aren’t really solving the problem.”

Holly Kuchera/Getty Images

A gray wolf.