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Making Hay in the heat Shane Presnell uses a self-propelled swather to harvest hay in a field at his family farm north of Craigmont earlier this summer. Presnell, of Lewiston, noted that the 60 acres of alfalfa was much better than he anticipated. Dry conditions have been hampering some crops. Page 4
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MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021
Whitman County is experiencing severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, causing potential losses for farmers who rely on annual precipitation to sustain their crops.
Wheat farmers face unprecedented lack of rainfall Drought conditions threaten yield and quality of crops on the Palouse By Angela Palermo of the Lewiston Tribune The nation’s leading wheat-producing county is in the midst of severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, causing potential losses for Palouse farmers who rely on annual precipitation to sustain their crops.
“Let’s face it, we’ve had very little moisture in the last four months,” Shawn O’Connell, chief executive officer at Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative, said. “It’s been unseasonably warm here lately, and early on it was unseasonably cool.” Whitman County, home to more than 440,000 acres of wheat, is experiencing its sixth-driest year to date, with precipitation down more than 3 inches from what it would normally be in the dry-farming region, where crops need the rain to survive. O’Connell went out to the field recent-
ly to survey soil and discuss planting with local farmers. “There’s no way this won’t affect our crops, yield and quality,” he said. “But we don’t know how bad it’s going to be until harvest starts.” Total rainfall since January amounts to roughly 6 inches, much less than the 18 inches of precipitation the Palouse welcomes in a typical year. The location and intensity of drought varies marginally across the county, with nearly 90 percent of the area listed in extreme drought. In this category, crop yields are poor,
wheat protein content is higher and an unprecedented number of wildfires may occur. “They start burning up,” O’Connell said. “The wheat crop in those shallow areas will just start dying due to the lack of moisture.” The region’s golden hills consistently produce more wheat per acre than any other county in the state of Washington, all at the mercy of nature. Farmers in eastern Washington and northern and north central Idaho don’t irrigate their dust and silt-formed fields, relying instead on an agricultural technique used in
Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021 areas with a cool wet season followed by a warm dry season. The practice has evolved based on average rainfall and timing, according to O’Connell. “We have very deep soils with a tremendous amount of water-holding capacity,” he said. “The plants typically utilize that over the course of the summer.” The National Weather Service at Spokane issued an excessive heat warning for the Palouse in late June, advising of dangerously hot conditions with limited nighttime cooling. With no signs of substantial rains on the horizon, farmers and producers will have to wait it out. “These are unprecedented times right now, because of both the lack of rainfall and the excessive heat we’re seeing,” O’Connell said. “We’re not quite sure what to expect.” The last time the county experienced a drought this extreme was six years ago, in 2015. It began near the end of July and lasted through December, according to a historical drought map from the National Weather Service. Another extreme drought occurred in 1994. Amid the dry conditions, the U.S. Geological Survey has warned streamflow sites in some areas are far below normal. “The drier regions will start to harvest in the next two weeks,” O’Connell said, in late
MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
June. “Rain, at this point, will not help them.” Although the region is lacking its usual precipitation, an unexpected hardship for the ground’s stewards, Roy Druffel says he’s not going to worry. The third-generation farmer compared this year to 1976, when an extreme drought left the next season’s crops bone dry. “From the beginning, 1977 was a disaster,” Druffel said. “It was the worst drought year we ever had. This is not even close to that harvest.” According to Mark Turner, observation program leader with the National Weather Service at Spokane, the county went through an exceptional drought beginning in January of 1977 and persisting until September. More than 4 inches of average annual precipitation came in December, when the ground was cold. That year marked one of the lowest precipitation years to date, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. Last year, the region received plenty of rain, and many farmers yielded a higher harvest than average. “It was the best year ever, in terms of production,” O’Connell said. “This year has been a complete 180-degree swing.” The lack of rainfall now could affect 2022’s harvest. But it’s hard to determine just yet. Looking across his driveway, Druffel pointed at the soil beneath his wheat crops.
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Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune
A discolored field of winter wheat shows how the lack of spring precipitation can lead to the death of the crop. “They’re surviving this year,” he said. “If you got your crops in early, they’re going to yield something this year. Maybe not a normal amount, but not worse than 1977.” Druffel recited a saying from an old wheat farmer named Harold who was once his neighbor: “Only fools and weathermen pre-
dict the weather.” “It was something he lived by,” he said. “Although, he never had a satellite image.” Palermo may be contacted at apalermo@lmtribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @apalermotweets.
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Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021
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Dry conditions lead to lackluster hay crops Dismal yields mean many farmers have turned their cattle out into fields for grazing because food was running low By Kathy Hedberg of the Lewiston Tribune
This year’s drought has hammered the area’s hay crops, and farmers are looking at drastically reduced yields. “We’re below 50 percent of average,” said John Bohman, of Ridgeview Farms near Troy, Idaho. The dismal yields “are indicative of all field crops this year. We don’t know about spring crops yet, but they’ll probably suffer just like the winter crops.” Bohman grows timothy grass hay for export, as well as several cereal grain crops. He does not raise cattle. At this point in the season, he said, there’s little recourse for producers
who depend upon hay to sell. “You can’t fight Mother Nature; you just have to take what you get. We can’t overcome the shortness of rain to increase production at all,” he said. “We’ve been in the export hay business for about eight years, and this is the first drastic drop in yields that I’ve seen since I’ve been in commercial hay production.” The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported persistent warm and dry weather in Idaho, Washington and Oregon throughout the month of June that had severe consequences for nonirrigated crops. Most farmers finished cutting their hay a couple of weeks earlier than usu-
al this year. Crops and pastures continue to suffer from the precipitation deficit, NASS reported. In Asotin County, a rainstorm with hail reportedly caused some damage to crops. Whitman County has received little rainfall and remains dry overall. In northern Idaho, a few rain showers helped crops and pastureland, but the cumulative precipitation is below average statewide. Jim Church, the University of Idaho Extension educator in Idaho County, affirmed the dismal outlook for hay farmers. “I’ve talked to several producers, and people cutting hay are saying (the yield) is 50 percent or below from
You can’t fight Mother Nature; you just have to take what you get.
normal,” Church said. “It’s a little thin this year.” He said if producers can’t grow enough hay to feed their stock they’ll be forced to buy hay from southern Idaho or the Columbia Basin, where crops are irrigated. “It will be expensive, because there will be high demand for it,” he said. “Some growers try to line up hay (purchases) from the producers in southern Idaho, but (the sellers) haven’t put a price on it yet. They’re waiting to see.” Church speculated alfalfa hay prices could jump from about $150 to $175 a ton to more than $200 a ton. Costs for grass hay that normally sells for $100 to $120 a ton will also likely skyrocket. He said he has done some work in the past using straw to supplement winter cow rations, and that may become an option for some cattle producers. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re just having a dry year.”
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Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune
A farmer harvests a field of hay on an afternoon earlier this summer south of Craigmont. Yields were down significantly with the hot, dry weather.
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Farmers in central Washington with access to irrigation water are having a little better time of it, said Don Blakemore, of Walla Walla, president of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association. “Fortunately for us we have irrigation, so that has helped immensely,” Blakemore said. “But from what I understand, some yields early on got really hot and then froze, and that has impacted the yields down some. But compared to other people, we’re seeing better than that.” Farmers who do not have access to water, he said, are suffering. Because their grass yields were so miserable, many have turned their cattle onto the fields
for grazing because they were running out of food. “We don’t usually turn (cattle) out until the middle of July, and it appears that we’re going to be very short of forage,” Blakemore said. “We’ll be running out of forage early this year, which means everybody will be feeding more hay, or some are already selling their cows. “There’s no rain to bring the forage back, and they’re really struggling to find places to put the cows.” Hedberg may be contacted at
kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.
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MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021
Drought doing its part to control noxious weeds Official says hot, dry weather stresses plants and can reduce number of weeds By Garrett Cabeza of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News
MOSCOW — While the Northwest drought has brought hardship to farmers and firefighters, it has also led to fewer numbers of noxious weeds in some instances. “When there’s environmental stress like lack of moisture or heat, the plants aren’t going to be as robust, and they’re just going to concentrate on trying to do what they can to survive to next year,” said Latah County Noxious Weed Superintendent Alan Martinson. Martinson said the lack of moisture is causing the weeds to mature a little bit earlier. Perennial plants want to make seeds and keep their roots intact so they can return next year, he said.
Annuals and biennials reproduce only from seeds, so they have to make seeds for plant species to survive, Martinson said. When the weather is hotter or drier, those plants will make some seeds — instead of a bunch — that are viable and will germinate next year. The most common noxious weeds in the county are Canada thistle, yellow hawkweed and spotted knapweed, Martinson said. Canada thistle is a perennial with spiny leaves and purplish-pink disk flowers; it can grow up to 3 feet tall, according to “Idaho’s Noxious Weeds, 9th Edition.” The spotted knapweed is a biennial, or short-lived, perennial with branched stems that can also grow up to 3 feet tall. It has white or pink-purple disk flowers. The yellow hawkweed is a perennial that is hairy with yellow, dandelion-like flowers and contains a white, milky sap. It grows up to 2 feet tall. Canada thistle and spotted knapweed
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Martinson said mowing weeds and applying herbicides are two control methods for noxious weeds. He said there are effective biocontrol agents for spotted knapweed, and those will be deployed in the coming weeks. Landowners are responsible for controlling weeds on their property. Agencies like highway districts and transportation departments control weeds on their land, like county and state roadsides. Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@ dnews.com.
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are in Idaho’s containment category, and the yellow hawkweed is in the statewide control category. Plants in the containment category exist in the state. New or small infestations can be reduced or eliminated while established populations may be managed as determined by the weed control authority, which usually is the county weed program. Plants in the control category may already exist in some parts of the state. In some areas of the state, control or eradication is possible, and a plan must be written that will reduce infestations within five years.
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No love for the mealybug Study uses synthetic sex phermones to disrupt mating, reduce damage the insects cause to vineyards By Lauren Paterson Washington State University
The grape mealybug has plagued Washington wine grape growers for decades. Researchers at Washington State University are launching a study with synthetic sex pheromones to disrupt mealybug mating — and, hopefully, the damage mealybugs cause in vineyards. “Grape mealybug management is ranked as the No. 1 issue for wine grape growers in Washington,” said Doug Walsh, professor of entomology and agrichemical education specialist. Mealybugs are the main carrier of grapevine leafroll disease, which causes grapevines to weaken and lose their vigor. In red grape varieties, leaves of infected vines turn bright red like fall leaves, while symptoms are more subtle in white grape varieties. Grape growers are paid for their fruit based on tonnage as well as sugar content. A leafroll infection can lower the sugar content of growing grapes. “Currently there is no cure for grapevines infected with leafroll disease, but replacing infected vines with clean vines can at least slow the spread of the virus within a vineyard,” said Melissa Hansen, research program director for the Washington Wine Commission. However, growers often see mealybugs again in as little as two years, even after putting in new grapevines.
When mealybugs hatch, young nymphs known as “crawlers” spread the disease by feeding on infected vines, then moving on. Crawlers are small enough to be carried by the wind into neighboring vineyards, further spreading the disease. Walsh has worked with the wine and grape industry for more than 20 years, and has been searching for a way to contain the spread of mealybugs. Now, he is hopeful that the pest can be controlled through pheromones. “Our hope is to disrupt mating by saturating vineyards with female sex pheromones,” he said. In his experiment, scientists at- A cluster of grapes infested with grape mealybug from a vineyard on Red Mountain. tach pheromone-coated twist-ties to grapevines. They hypothesize that male mealybugs become confused by the pheromones and cannot find females, which in turn prevents mating, shrinking the next generation of BLUE MOUNTAIN AGRI-SUPPORT CO crawlers. “Mating disruption has been used for years here in Washington, notably for codling moth control in apples,” Walsh said. “It’s a tried and true technology — and just a matter of learning whether or not these pheromones will work in grape mealybug management.” Funding for the doctorate student Stephen Onayemi, who is conducting these preliminary studies, is being proMassey Ferguson 1800 Hesston Series small square balers offer benefits you won't find with conventional vided by the Washington State Grape designs. Like no side twisting on the frame or tongue, no side draft from towed wagons and equal weight distribution. It all adds up to higher-quality bales that stack like bricks, are easier to handle and easier to feed. and Wine Research Program and the WSU Department of Entomology. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is providing the test sites in their vineyard. Results from Walsh’s pilot studies 620 Thain Road, Lewiston M O U N TA I will be available in fall 2021. LUE (208) 746-6447
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Balancing act Yeasts could aid winemakers in controlling sugar during the fermentation process By Lauren Paterson Washington State University
WSU researchers are studying samples of native yeast taken from Washington vineyards.
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Creating wine is a balancing act between the quality of harvested grapes and the types of microorganisms that ferment grape juice. Too much sugar during the fermentation process means too much alcohol in the final wine, which can negatively affect wine flavor. Researchers from Washington State University’s School of Food Science are working with non-Saccharomyces yeast strains native to Washington to find a way to reduce sugar content before fermentation. “We hope that if we find a way to reduce the sugar content of grape juice, winemakers can have a more predictable outcome for their wine,” said Jonathan Brumley, a rising WSU senior studying food science with an emphasis in fermentation. “A recent challenge many winemakers have been facing is the higher sugar levels found in harvested grapes,” said Heather Carbon, graduate research assistant for the WSU School of Food Science. More sugar means more food for yeast, which does not always yield better wine. Yeast creates alcohol by feeding on sugar, but too much sugar can produce too much alcohol or leave leftover sugar for spoilage microorganisms to eat. Those microorganisms can sometimes cause strange odors and other problems that compromise the wine. The hope for this study is to identify a yeast species that can consume some of the residual sugar produced during the fermentation process without damaging the quality of the product. “The secret of microorganisms is their ability to dramatically shape and change the flavors of wine, allowing producers to differentiate wines from one another,” said Charles Edwards, WSU professor
and food scientist. Brumley is researching the possible benefits of wild Washington yeast at WSU’s St. Michelle Wine Science Center. Historically, many of the native yeast species present on grapes were thought to be the cause of a spoiled batch of wine. “We now know that some of these yeasts can be used to enhance wine quality, but without spoilage issues,” Edwards said. “It’s been cool to get a look into the wine industry side of food science. Working with microbes fascinates me,” said Brumley, who plans to intern this summer with E & J Gallo Winery in Bellevue, Wash. The team is trying different combinations of native yeast to find which combinations reduce the sugar content of grape juices during fermentation. “We’re looking at what conditions are best for these yeast strains, what conditions they grow well in and how to use that to the best of our abilities,” Carbon said. Edwards said a big win for this project would be the discovery of a yeast strain that could be used like a tool, so winemakers could lower the potential alcohol content of their final wine during fermentation. This would be another way to help vintners keep the developed flavors of their wine consistent. “Many winemakers use water to lower the alcohol content of wine, but having options in the winemaking industry is crucial,” he said. This research is funded by Washington State University, Auction of Washington Wines and all Washington state wine grape growers and wineries through the Washington State Wine Commission. The team plans to do larger ferments in the fall, with research results available next spring. Paterson writes for Washington State University's College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.
Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021
Not all busy bees are bees Tiny flies account for significant amount of pollinating in study conducted by WSU researchers By Sara Zaske Washington State University PULLMAN — A tiny bee imposter, the syrphid fly, may be a big help to some
gardens and farms, new research from Washington State University shows. An observational study in western Washington found that out of more than 2,400 pollinator visits to flowers at urban and rural farms, about 35 percent were made by flies — most of which were the black-and-yellowstriped syrphid flies, also called hover flies. For a few plants, including peas, kale and lilies, flies were the only pollinators observed. Overall, bees were still the most common, accounting for about 61 percent of floral visits, but the rest were made by other insects and spiders. “We found that there really were a dramatic number of pollinators visiting flowers that were not bees,” said Rae Olsson, a WSU postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study published in Food Webs. “The majority of the nonbee pollinators were flies, and most of those were syrphid flies, which is a group that commonly mimics bees.” For the study, the researchers surveyed plants and pollinating insects and spiders on 19 rural farms and 17 urban farms and gardens along the Interstate 5 corridor in western Washington. They conducted surveys six separate times over two years. In addition to the visits by bees and syrphid flies, they also cataloged more rare visits by other arthropods, including wasps, lacewings, spiders, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles and ants — all
MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
| Saturday, July 17, 2021 | 9
with visits of less than 4 percent. Olsson first noticed the many different nonbee pollinators while working on a bee survey project led by Elias Bloom, a recent WSU doctoral graduate. The results of this study underscore the need for researchers as well as gardeners and farmers to pay more attention to alternative pollinators, Olsson said, and hoped that similar studies would be conducted in other regions of the country. “Bee populations are declining, and we are trying to help them, but there’s room at the table for all the pollinators,” Olsson said. “There are a lot of conservation and monitoring efforts for bees, but that doesn’t extend to some of the other pollinators. I think people will be surprised to find that there are a lot more different types of pollinating insects — all we really need to do is to start paying a little more attention to them.” The study also noted pollinator differences between rural and urban spaces. Observation sites in urban arA syrphid fly, also known as a hover fly, mimics bee colors and can act as a eas showed a greater diversity of pol- pollinator. linators corresponding with the wider range of plants grown in city gardens and smaller-sized farms. Rural farms with their larger fields of plants had a greater abundance. For every grower, urban or rural, SHORTS FUNERAL CHAPEL who is interested in increasing the number and diversity of pollinators visiting their fields or gardens, Olsson We want to express our appreciation to the regional recommended increasing the variety agricultural community, the hard working people who of flowering plants. ll our nation’s pantries. Your hard work and concern Making sure that something is flowering all throughout the season, even for the environment keeps our land fertile, productive if on the edge of a field, will support and safe. It is your hard work that has enabled our the biodiversity of pollinators because proud nation not just to feed its own, but to send food their different life stages happen at abroad and ease hunger in other parts of the world. different times of the year. “Some pollinators, like certain butThank you for the vital fruit of your labor! terflies and moths, are only present in a pollinating form for a small period of time,” Olsson said. “They may only live for a few days as adults, so when they emerge and are ready to pollinate, it’s good to make sure that you have something for them to eat.” (208) 882-4534
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Zaske, WSU News and Media Relations, can be reached at (509) 335-4846 or sara.zaske@wsu.edu.
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Fungus to the rescue New strain shows promise against mites that can kill honey bees By Scott Weybright Washington State University PULLMAN — A new fungus strain could provide a chemical-free method for eradicating mites that kill honey bees, according to a study published this month in Scientific Reports. A team led by Washington State University entomologists bred a strain of Metarhizium, a common fungus found in soils around the world, to work as a control agent against varroa mites. Unlike other strains of Metarhizium, the one created by the WSU research team can survive in the warm environments common in honey bee hives, which typically have a temperature of around 35 Celsius, or 95 Fahrenheit. “We’ve known that metarhizium could kill mites, but it was expensive and didn’t last long because the fungi died in the hive heat,” said Steve Sheppard, professor in WSU’s Department of Entomology and corresponding author on the paper. “Our team used directed evolution to develop a strain that survives at the higher temperatures. Plus, Jennifer took fungal spores from dead mites, selecting for virulence against varroa.” Jennifer Han, a postdoctoral researcher at WSU, led the breeding program along with WSU assistant research professors Nicholas Naeger and Brandon Hopkins. Paul Stamets, owner and founder of Olympia-based business Fungi Perfecti, also contributed to the paper. Stamets is a fungi expert, well known for using several species in applications ranging from medicine to biocontrol. Varroa destructor mites, small parasites that live on honey bees and suck their “blood,” play a large role in Colony Collapse Disorder, which causes beekeepers to lose 30 percent to 50 percent of their hives each year. The mites feed on bees, weakening their immune systems and making them more susceptible to viruses. The main tools beekeepers use to fight varroa are chemicals, such as miticides, but
the tiny pests are starting to develop resistance to those treatments, Naeger said. Metarhizium is like a mold, not a mushroom. When spores land on a varroa mite, they germinate, drill into the mite and proliferate, killing it from the inside out. Bees have high immunity against the spores, making it a safe option for beekeepers. Stamets, who did some of the initial testing with Metarhizium that showed the fungus couldn’t survive hive temperatures, was impressed by the work done by the WSU researchers. “Science progresses through trial and error, and my technique wasn’t economical because of the hive heat,” he said. “But Jennifer did enormous amounts of culture work to break through that thermal barrier with this new strain. It’s difficult to really appreciate the herculean effort it took to get this.” Han and Naeger screened more than 27,000 mites for levels of infection to get the new strain. “It was two solid years of work, plus some preliminary effort,” Han said. “We did real-world testing to make sure it would work in the field, not just in a lab.” This is the second major finding to come from WSU’s research partnership with Stamets involving bees and fungi. The first involved using mycelium extract that reduced virus levels in honey bees. “It’s providing a real one-two punch, using two different fungi to help bees fight varroa,” Stamets said. “The extracts help bee immune systems reduce virus counts while the Metarhizium is a potentially great mite biocontrol agent.” The next step is to seek approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to use Metarhizium on hives used in agriculture. The team must also finalize delivery methods for beekeepers to apply the fungus in hives. “We hope in 10 years that, rather than chemical miticides, Metarhizium is widely used to control Varroa mites,” Sheppard said. “And that the mite problem for beekeepers has been significantly reduced.” The team thinks the methods they developed to evolve Metarhizium for varroa control could be used to improve biocontrol
Varroa mites are seen living on a honey bee. Mites weaken bees’ immune systems, transmit viruses and siphon off nutrients.
agents in other crop systems as well. The majority of the funding for this work came from private donations from individuals and foundations. Additional funding came from Washington State Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant K2531 and the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch 1007314. Weybright writes for Washington State University’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.
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Steve Pointer picks a few blueberries at his farm, Red Canoe Blueberry Farm, in Hauser. The recent heat wave has forced several farms to make difficult choices with crops and irrigation in efforts to conserve water.
‘This is the worst year’: Berry growers face new challenges in wake of scorching heat By Sydney Brown The Spokesman-Review Jane Deitz reached for one of the raspberries swaying on its bush in the 97-degree weather. A dry, brown film coated nearly half the berry’s skin. “See, that’s what happens when they get sunburned,” she said. After the excessive heat warning plagued the Pacific Northwest, Deitz saw up-close the toll a worsening drought and high temperatures took on her family-run U-pick berry farm, Bodacious Berries, Fruits & Brews, in Mead. “This is the worst year,” said Deitz, who has been farming berries nfor more than 20 years. “I mean, I’ve never seen it this dusty,
this dry.” Mead reached triple-digit temperatures several days in a row during the excessive heat warning at the end of June. The area got to 111 degrees on June 29 and hovered there for the next two days, according to data from the National Weather Service. The unprecedented heat strains water availability, said Eli Deitz, who is Jane’s son and manages the farm’s brewing and irrigation processes. As they attempted to conserve water, he said they had to choose between crops. That meant sacrificing some staples at the farm, such as the Christmas trees they start growing and watering in April. Eli said they considered not planting them at all, but they See BERRIES, Page 16
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Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021
MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
Drought, wildfires could scuttle field burning schedule Farmers worry agencies won’t issue permits later this summer if air quality becomes poor By Joel Mills of the Lewiston Tribune Agricultural field burning later this summer could be thrown off schedule if drought and drought-like conditions lead to yet another dreadful wildfire season that chokes area skies with smoke. Air-quality monitoring agencies work with local fire protection districts and producers of grass seed and wheat to time field burning with the crops’ life cycles and atmospheric conditions that will sufficiently disperse smoke. But they won’t issue burn
permits if air quality is already poor. “If we get a bunch of wildfires, it will stop our burning, which could really hurt our next year’s production,” said Greg Branson, a Nezperce-Craigmont area farmer and president of the Nezperce Prairie Grass Growers Association. “It just makes it really hard to get your grass burned. You’ve got to be Johnny-on-the-spot. It’s kind of a nightmare. Farmers are all trying to get their stuff done at the same time, of course, and then it drags out the whole field burning process.” Burning is an especially crucial part of the grass seed industry, since it directly relates to yield. Branson said the relatively quick burst of heat delivered by burning stubble shocks the plant into survival mode, forcing it to produce more seed.
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But there is another balance to strike in that process that could be harmed by the scorching summer forecast. Branson said that burning on days of extreme temperatures can send too much heat into the “crown” of the grass plant that lies just below the surface of the soil, killing it. Fields with poor soil are even more susceptible, since they offer less protection to that crown. “I try not to burn when it’s too hot,” he said. Julie Simpson, the Nez Perce Tribe’s Air Quality Program coordinator, said it is too early in the growing and wildfire seasons to gauge impacts on the field burning schedule. Typical years see burning begin in late August and run through mid-October. But the increasing frequency of air quality
emergencies from wildfire smoke has led to consistent delays in that schedule. “That’s what we’ve seen almost every year of the last 10 years or so,” Simpson said. “Some years we don’t get a lot of wildfire smoke, but most years we are increasingly seeing more impacts from regional wildfire smoke.” On the Nez Perce Reservation, producers get their air quality burn permits from Simpson’s office. Off the reservation, permits are granted by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Between May 10 and Oct. 20, they also have to get a fire safety permit from their local fire protection district. All those agencies are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast as burning season approaches, Simpson said. But the Nation-
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Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021 al Weather Service office in Spokane recently warned that conditions are looking a lot like 2015, when wildfires swept the region. “We have a big heat wave coming in, so (the onset of field burning season) depends on fire starts on the reservation and in the Northwest as a whole,” she said. “But we’re just now at the end of June, so it’s too early to tell.” Branson said that any potential crop losses can be mitigated with good rains in the fall. That situation unfolded after burning was delayed in 2015, and producers only suffered a slight decline in production the next year, he said. “As long as we can get the rain later on, and it stays warm enough that we can get (fields) to green up, we can get it to catch up,” Branson said. “But it really works a lot better if the air is right and we can just do a lot of burning at once and get it over with.” Mills may be contacted at jmills@ lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266. Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune
A truck drives along the edge of a controlled burn on the Palouse west of Juliaetta in this September 2020 file photo.
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MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
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MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
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In this Oct. 21, 2015, file photo, cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture on the Francis Blake organic farm near Waukon, Iowa. The Biden administration plans to revive a set of rules designed to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors that the Trump administration killed four years ago.
New U.S. rules to protect animal farmers expected soon By Josh Funk Associated Press
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OMAHA, Neb.–The Biden administration plans to issue a new rule to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors as part of a plan to encourage more competition in the agriculture sector. The new rule that will make it easier for farmers to sue companies they contract with over unfair, discriminatory or deceptive practices is one of several steps that the White House plans to announce in the next few days. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also expected to tighten the definition of what it means for meat to be labeled a “Product of USA” to exclude when animals are raised in other countries and simply processed in the United States. Farmer advocacy groups have pressed for change for years but Congress and the
meat processing industry have resisted. A USDA official familiar with the White House’s plan said an executive order is expected to be announced this week that will clear the way for the new rules. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the rules are designed to “increase competition in agricultural industries to boost farmers’ and ranchers’ earnings, fight back against abuses of power by giant agribusiness corporations, and give farmers the right to repair their own equipment how they like.” The regulation will make it easier for farmers to bring complaints under the Packers and Stockyards Act and is similar to one the Trump administration killed four years ago. That rule was first proposed in 2010. Several court rulings have interpreted federal law as saying a farmer must prove a company’s actions harm competition in the entire industry before a lawsuit can move forward. The new rule would ease
Northwest Farm and Ranch | SUMMER 2021 that high burden of proof. Chicken and pork producers, for example, often must enter long-term contracts with companies such as Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride that farmers say lock them into deals that fix their compensation at unprofitably low levels and force them deep into debt. Previously, major meat companies have defended the system as fair; it calls for farmers to provide barns and labor to raise chickens while the companies provide chicks, feed and expertise. The North American Meat Institute, which represents meat processors, said the proposed rule would likely encourage “costly, specious lawsuits.” Supporters of the new rule said not to expect a flood of lawsuits from small farmers who are “working very hard for not a lot of pay.”. “The idea that they’re going to become ultimately extremely litigious and go out and hiring every lawyer they can to sue the industry is, I think, a big exaggeration on the part of some of the associations that are against this,” said Jonathan Hladik, with the nonprofit Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska, which lobbies on behalf of family farmers. Bill Bullard, who leads a trade group representing farmers and ranchers, said the change should better protect individuals in their dealings with the four major
MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
meat companies, which together control roughly 70% of U.S. beef production. “It will help to reform the marketplace and balance the tremendous disparity in power between multinational meatpackers and independent family-owned cattle farms and ranches,” said Bullard, who is CEO of the R-CALF USA trade group. Missouri farmer Darvin Bentlage, who raises crops and cattle about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) north of Joplin in the southwest corner of the state, said these new rules will help if they can boost competition. “We need more competition,” Bentlage said. “Capitalism works well with competition. But when you start consolidating everything and taking away the competition then the capitalism doesn’t work good for the smaller guys.” The USDA also plans to review the definition of what it means for meat to be labeled a “Product of USA.” Currently, companies can use that label whenever meat is processed in the United States, even if the animals were born and raised elsewhere. USDA officials say that most grass-fed beef labeled as made in the U.S. actually comes from imported cattle. AgSee ANIMALS, Page 16
M. Spencer Green/Associated Press
This June, 28, 2012, file photo shows hogs at a farm in Buckhart, Ill. The Biden administration plans to revive a set of rules designed to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors that the Trump administration killed four years ago.
NW FARM CREDIT
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MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS / LEWISTON TRIBUNE
Berries From page 11
decided to risk it. “Now we kind of wish we hadn’t,” he said. Water has been a luxury on the farm since the heat wave, Jane Deitz said. She stopped watering her front lawn, opting to use the water on the public grassy area in front of the building that houses Big Barn Brewing Company. They used tanks of water to spray their pumpkins, which normally don’t need constant watering. Berries got sunburned and ripened quickly. They rescheduled picking times for the early morning to avoid the worst of the heat. Jane Deitz gestured to the long line of raspberry bushes, which were sparsely speckled with the pink berry. “Usually, it’s completely full right here. They’re still tasty, they are still going to be sweet. But they are pretty small this year,” she said. As she spoke, wind spurred a dust devil near the hops plants they grow for brewing. Jane Deitz said springtime rains normally
moisten that area, but they did not get the rainfall they needed. “The thing is, it’s only July 3,” she said. “What’s it going to look like in August? It’s going to be a long season.” Eli Deitz said they began thinking of other ways to become more heat-resilient, including organic farming techniques. He said they would likely move away from tilling, and consider ground cover to trap moisture in the soil. As the summers get hotter and droughts become more likely, Eli Deitz said he also would like to use automated water systems so the crops can be watered regularly and at nighttime. “But we’re at our limit of what we can do right now,” he said. Farmers also have a front-row seat to the first effects of climate change, Jane Deitz said. When her father-in-law owned the land before her, Jane Deitz said they experienced lovely weather, plenty of rainfall and thriving berries that practically took care of themselves. “You know, my generation was used to having plenty,” she said. “We’re old school ... and that’s not going to work anymore.”
Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review
“These are my favorite,” says Steve Pointer about the Duke blueberries growing at the Red Canoe Blueberry farm in Hauser. The eight varieties of blueberries are surviving the extreme heat due to a two-tiered watering system comprised of overhead sprinklers and soaker hoses.
Animals From page 15
M. Spencer Green/Associated Press
This June, 27, 2012, file photo shows hogs at a farm in Buckhart, Ill. The Biden administration plans to revive a set of rules designed to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors that the Trump administration killed four years ago.
riculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said he wants that label to accurately reflect what consumers expect when they read it. Bullard said changing the label rules will help, but that even if meat producers can’t use the “Product of USA” label, they won’t be required to label the beef as foreign. Consumers may think the meat they buy is produced domestically, even if it has been imported, because it carries a USDA inspection stamp when it has been processed in the UnitedStates, he said. The Agriculture Department also plans to invest in new local and regional markets, so farmers will have more options for selling the animals and crops they raise. Critics have said the major meat processing companies dominate the market for cattle, hogs and chickens, which makes it harder for small farmers to get a fair price. This week’s expected executive order follows an announcement this spring that the USDA was planning to strengthen protections for farmers under the law and encourage more competition in livestock markets. A source familiar with the executive order said it will also encourage the Federal Trade Commission to limit the ability of agricultural equipment manufacturers to force farmers to have their equipment repaired at dealers instead of using independent repair shops or doing repairs themselves. Currently, some tractor makers use proprietary tools and software to force farmers to go to dealers for repairs.