Country Life Special Section • Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Preferred Freezer to open Sept. 8
Gardening • CL2 Dairy • CL4 Community • CL6
Raspberry crop suffered in local heat Quality, price were good, but tonnage was seriously down, growers say By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
WHATCOM — Because of hot dry weather, the 2015 raspberry harvest started early and went fast. For the same reasons, yield was below normal. “The crop was less for our growers,” said
The 24 loading docks at Preferred Freezer’s new Lynden facility are all climate controlled. (Tim Newcomb/Lynden Tribune)
Canadian cranberries represent 80 percent of expected 2015 product By Tim Newcomb tim@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — Dan Shuler, the new general manager for Preferred Freezer’s Lynden facility, has started planning for cranberries aplenty. The state-of-the-art 292,000 square feet of cold storage space being completed off
West Main Street on newly created Curt Maberry Road will fill 80 percent with cranberries grown in Canada. Shuler will fill the remaining space with whatever fish and berries he can scrape together. But that is this season. The plan is to embrace the cranberries, but also provide a new home for local berries. “We hope to draw local berries,” he said. “We have a state-of-the-art facility and fair rates. There is no reason to not compete.” Shuler, who has worked in cold storage management locally for years, started at the Lynden facility, the New Jersey-based company’s 36th location, about two months ago. “It
is a great company that is people-minded,” he said. “They will take care of you.” And with that mindset, Shuler said, the new facility will have a customer-first approach with everything done, from a special waiting room and restroom facilities for the truck drivers to monthly barbecues on the new outdoor patio. Construction has moved at a furious pace since spring, as the 330,000-square-foot facility has taken shape with the company’s proprietary cold storage design. Inside there are four main cold storage areas, three of See Freezer on CL4
Even blueberries are now ending early in the hot dry harvest of 2015. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)
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Country Life 2 • Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • lyndentribune.com | ferndalerecord.com
In Bloom
Plant now for fall harvest By David Vos
I love the month of August for many reasons — the upcoming Northwest Washington Fair, late-summer perennials full of color in the garden and the slight change in the air that signals a new season drawing near. This year, as we anticipate the arrival of autumn (perhaps more eagerly than usual after a long, hot season!), we have much to look forward to. As you seek to revive a summer-weary garden, here are a couple of things you can do now. It’s time to start planting your vegetable garden. Yes, you read that right. Rightly so, we often focus on planting vegetable gardens in spring, but autumn can be just as productive in the garden for cool-season crops, and August is the time to plant. Chances are, if your garden turned out like mine this year, your spinach, lettuce, peas and other cool-weather crops wilted, went to seed or simply finished out much too soon in the early-summer heat. If so, now is the time to replant. The best crops to grow for an autumn harvest are coolweather lovers. These include lettuce and spinach, “cole” crops such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and other favorites like peas, beets and radishes. Depending on what you plant, some of these crops will produce well into autumn and even beyond the first frost, which typically ar-
rives in late October or early November. Talk about extending the gardening season! Now, as with spring planting, your fall garden will only be as good as your preparation. Reinvigorate your soil before planting by amending it with Black Gold Soil Conditioner. This powerful soil amendment provides organic fertilizer, earthworm castings and peat moss to loosen hard soil and provide fresh nutrients to your plants as they grow. Spade this soil amendment into your garden before planting and revive soil that’s depleted from your spring and summer crops. When it comes time to plant — to be clear, that’s anytime yet this month — one significant difference you’ll find from spring gardening is the lack of availability of vegetable starts. While you’ll find veggie starts at every nursery, farm store and supermarket in spring, there’s not much to be found in late summer. But that’s okay. Summer’s warm garden soil makes for an ide-
al environment for growing plants from seed, so save the money you’d spend on veggie starts and visit a local nursery to pick up some packs of seed to plant. If you’re like many of the gardeners I’ve talked to, the vegetable garden isn’t the only area looking tired after a long, hot summer. Like so many things, flower pots and hanging baskets are looking worn, too. For the next few weeks, we’re in the no-man’s land of flowers — you won’t find any summer annuals for sale anymore, but it’s still too early for fall flowers. So, what to do? Echinacea has been hugely popular for the last several years, and rightly so. Commonly called coneflowers, these perennials come in a myriad of colors and sizes, and if your pots or gardens are looking tired, add some color with one or more of these great plants. Sombrero Salsa Red is a compact variety that grows just two feet tall with fiery red blooms that will spice up your summer container and blend well with fall flowers. Gaillardia is another perennial with allsummer color. At just over a foot tall, its shades of red, orange and yellow look stunning in late-summer container plantings. With just over a month left before autumn arrives, now is the time to begin planting for a bountiful and beautiful season ahead. David Vos is the general manager of VanderGiessen Nursery in Lynden.
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Oct. 16 now EQIP sign-up deadline SPOKANE — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced the application deadline for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in Washington State is extended to Oct. 16, 2015. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program is a voluntary, technical and financial assistance program designed to help farmers improve irrigation efficiency; manage nutrient run-off and/ or animal waste; improve the health of native plant communities; and reduce soil loss. In most instances, producers who participate in the program pay for roughly half of the costs of the conservation measures or practices. Eligible producers and entities interested will now have until Oct. 16 to submit their applications for consideration in fiscal year 2016. The original deadline was July 17. Producers should also expect to work with NRCS to write a personalized conservation plan prior to funding obligation. Conservation plans are free to producers and identify potential natural resource problems, evaluate alternatives and recommend solutions that could make use of the land more effective and sustainable. EQIP funding options include: • Local Working Group funding pool • Organic Initiative • High Tunnel Initiative • Conservation Activity Plan
• Energy Initiative While NRCS programs operate on a year-round signup basis and producers can file applications at any time, periodic ranking deadlines are established so applications on file at that time can be evaluated for the next available
funding allocation. To learn about technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www. nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or the Whatcom USDA service center at 6975 Hannegan Rd., Lynden, phone 526-2381.
Livestock raising workshop this fall in Burlington SKAGIT — A 10-week series of classes will be offered by the WSU Livestock Advisor program starting Sept. 14 and run Monday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. Classes will be held at the Skagit County Extension office in Burlington. Go to http:// skagit.wsu.edu to download an application form or call Joan DeVries at 360-428-4270 ext. 240 for more details. Western Washington’s unique ability to grow rich, healthy pasture makes it a good location for raising livestock. This can be from smaller low-line beef to larger framed cows, pastured poultry to milking goats, sheep or the family cow, meat rabbits or
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Country Life 3 • Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • lyndentribune.com | ferndalerecord.com
Community
Rodeo brothers enjoy some easier treatment in Lynden Family wedding, just Omak on docket before Aug. 18 date here By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — The three Stremler brothers from Winnemucca, Nevada — in age order Christian, Cole and Clay — along with friend and rodeo buddy Sam Harper usually have a much tighter schedule than they’re keeping right now. “We hit three to four rodeos every weekend, and sometimes we’ll set up seven or eight rodeos in a row,” said Harper, who is the main scheduler for their travels. The four work the Columbia River circuit that will bring them to the Lynden PRCA Rodeo on Aug. 18-19. Lynden is the hometown of both of the brothers’ parents, Mike and Barb. On Monday, however, in a change of pace, the four cowboys were able to go Nooksack River fishing with grandpa Lew Stremler and then in the afternoon could sit on the shaded back deck of grandparents Gord and Jan Bogaards’ place on Maberry Loop. They were at a local cousin’s wedding on Saturday. This weekend, the Stremler brothers and Harper will be in the rodeo of the Omak Stampede over the mountains. But compared to their normal schedule, this is light duty. Sometimes it’s hard for these four — to say nothing of their extended families — to remember where they have been or where they are going over several weeks’ time. With a little thinking, they can come up with these stops over about four or five weeks: Baker City and Jo-
The three Stremler brothers from Winnemucca, Nevada, were in Lynden, where both sets of grandparents live, on Monday at least. From left, back row, are Gord and Jan Bogaard, daughter Barb Stremler, and Sam Harper, the brothers’ friend and rodeo partner; front, brothers Christian, Cole and Clay Stremler. But the four young rodeo participants will be in Omak, Washington, for its saddle bronc riding this weekend before being back for the Aug. 18-19 Lynden RPCA Rodeo as part of the Northwest Washington Fair. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune) seph, Oregon; Manila and Heber City, Utah; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Plentywood, Montana; Longview, Washington; Jerome, Sandpoint, Grace and Idaho Falls, Idaho; Creston, California. “We actually did four rodeos in three days,” one said. That was possible because two rodeos were just 45 miles apart on one day. After one stretch of rodeo chasing, the foursome
split off back to Nevada to get in a few days of real paying work on a ranch they know of. Dad Mike Stremler runs about 500 cattle on 500,000 acres of mostly governmentleased land — 1,000 acres per cow in the arid Nevada terrain — as Jersey Valley Cattle Co. It helps that the Stremlers and Harper all do the saddle bronc event, and
PRCA Rodeo allows up to four like them to schedule together, knowing that many in this sport need to bunch up for travel like they do. They look ahead a few weeks and plan their choices and travel. For instance, everyone’s sign-up for the Lynden rodeo had to be done by Aug. 6. They are friends and competitors who always want each other to do well, they said.
In the last few weeks, Cole, 20, who has been out of rodeo action since April due to a broken ankle, has decided to attend Feather River College in Quincy, California, in the fall, it was reported as the brothers enjoyed their grandparents’ hospitality Monday. Clay, 18, will be starting at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, New Mexico, in the fall — after
rodeo pursuits end, that is — and Christian, 23, is finished at Sam Houston State University in Texas and will see what awaits now. All those colleges have rodeo programs in which the young men have gained some tuition discounts from their high school and proven amateur success in rodeo. They will be in the Lynden rodeo action on Tuesday evening only, then head on.
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Country Life 4 • Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • lyndentribune.com | ferndalerecord.com
Freezer: Shaping up Continued from A1 which are already earmarked for cranberries. Along with the main space, all 24 loading docks — specially designed to accommodate cranberries and other berries — are all completely climate-controlled. Shuler said he knows from the local berry growers, with whom he has worked for years, how reliant they are on their IQF crop and how crucial it is to get the berries inside as fast as possible. Preferred Freezer will have the largest climate-controlled loading area in Whatcom County. Preferred Freezer will start accepting product on Sept. 8, likely overflow fish from a strong harvest season. That product could come from Alaska, Bellingham or Seattle. The cranberry harvest will come just a couple of weeks later, bringing with it an onslaught of Canadian berries — Preferred Freezer will fly multiple flags out front, an American flag, a state flag, a company flag and a Canadian flag. Stacked six high, the 42-by-48-inch open-topped wood totes filled with cranberries will use the cold storage area until shipped out for processing. Throughout the facility, Shuler touts the ability to build new. Trucks have a dedicated entrance outside the main core of town for easy access, speeding deliveries, especially on those critical IQF runs, he said. Inside, an air tube system, for example, will send orders and paper-
work quickly. And every piece of equipment in the facility, from forklifts to the specially designed insulated flooring, is brand-new. All these items, Shuler said, offer a less stressful situation for berry growers already dealing with plenty of stress. The cranberry season will keep the facility busy with a three-week stretch bringing in 60 percent of the crop. But come winter, Shuler, with Preferred’s sales team, will start to promote the facility to local berry growers. Not only is the fourth freezer section available for seafood and berries, but the company has filed plans with the city of Lynden to add a 130,000-square-foot addition. And it would look a little different. At 75 feet tall on the north side of the property, Shuler said the addition will contain racks that can handle individual IQF berry pallets. “It is totally racked cold storage,” he said. “We don’t have to move product to get at requested product. Every pallet will be accessible.” Building that facility, though, doesn’t have a timetable and will happen if the local berry industry’s demand deems it. But while construction crews are still on site, the land for the addition is being prepped. For now, Shuler will start with a largely local 16-person crew to run Preferred Freezer, a cranberry-heavy operation that hopes to welcome local fruit to its growing operation.
Starting in September, the brand-new Preferred Freezer location in west Lynden will fill up its space 80 percent with Canadian cranberries. Above: This cold storage room — one of four — will house only cranberries in wooden totes. Right: The company’s website also shows continued construction updates with a web cam. (Tim Newcomb/Lynden Tribune)
MiElkE Market
Milk price slips lower, to stay depressed for a while The July Federal Order Class III benchmark milk price was announced Friday, Aug. 7, by USDA at $16.33 per hundredweight (cwt.), down 39 cents from June and $5.27 below July 2014. That’s $1.35 above California’s comparable 4b price, and equates to about $1.40 per gallon, down from $1.44 last month. The 2015 Class III average now stands at $16.04, down from $22.52 at this time a year ago and $17.69 in 2013. Looking ahead, the August Class III futures contract settled at $16.47; September, $16.56; October, $16.54; November, $16.27; and December, $15.95. The July Class IV price is $13.15, down 75 cents from June, $10.63 below a year ago, and the lowest Class IV price since March 2010. The Class IV average for the year stands
at $13.62, down from $23.19 a year ago and $18.27 in 2013. California’s July Class 4b cheese milk price is $14.98 cwt., down 57 cents from June. The $1.35 shortfall from the comparable Federal Order Class III price reinforces sentiment in the Golden State to form a Federal Order and the USDA, as expected, announced a hearing on the pro-
posal to open on Sept. 22. Prospects are not encouraging. This week’s Global Dairy Trade auction marked the 10th consecutive event where the weighted average for all products offered dropped. The 9.3 percent decline on Aug. 4 follows a 10.7 percent drop July 15 and 5.9 percent on July 1 and is at the lowest level since the GDT’s inception in 2008. In other trade news impacting dairy, Pacific Rim trade ministers meeting recently in Hawaii were unsuccessful in achieving the 12-nation trade deal referred to as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Reuters reports that “a dispute flared up over auto trade between Japan and North America, New Zealand dug in over dairy trade, and no agreement was reached on monopoly periods for next-generation drugs.”
Access to Canadian and Japanese markets for U.S. dairy products is an issue of concern to U.S. dairy producers, as is any increased access to U.S. markets by Oceania. Sources indicate that the players are very close to a deal. A lot of eyes are on Canada and whether it will defend its quota supply management program, which has kept Canadian dairy prices high to consumers but built stable milk prices for dairy producers. Keeping this quota program could bounce Canada out of the TPP entirely. Cheddar cheese is trading in the $1.7125 to $1.75 range. Many industry contacts suggest the prices are defying the odds by holding at current levels, according to Dairy Market News. Milk production in the Midwest is declining somewhat, but without hot days
and nights, manufacturers report the decline has been slow and steady. There is plenty of milk for manufacturing and spot loads of milk can be found at or slightly above class prices. Production remains steady. Strong domestic consumer demand continues to provide a lift for cheese prices and is helping keep inventories at comfortable levels. Western producers report domestic consumer demand is strong. The spot market saw some positive movement on Grade A nonfat dry milk, but then it relapsed and closed the week at a record-low 69 cents per pound, down a penny on the week and 87 cents below a year ago. Ten train cars found new homes on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The National Dairy Products Sale Report’s surveyed powder averaged
79.98 cents per pound, down 0.2 cent, but, interestingly, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s latest surveyed nonfat dry milk price was 88.46 cents per pound ending July, up 8.1 cents. Dan McBride of the Northwest Dairy Association made these price projections for the Class III price and Pacific Northwest blend price: Month Class PNW III Blend July $16.33 $14.75 (current) Aug. $16.45 $14.95 Sept. $16.55 $15.00 Oct. $16.50 $15.05 Nov. $16.25 $15.00 Dec. $15.95 $14.60 Jan. $15.50 $14.25 Feb. $15.40 $14.20 Lee Mielke, of Lynden, is editor of the Mielke Market Weekly. Whatcom County has about 100 dairy farms.
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Country Life 5 • Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • lyndentribune.com | ferndalerecord.com
Berries: Volume could be down around 30 percent
Washington Red Raspberries (for processing)
Continued from CL1 ume was less than a normal year.” “We had growers that are up to 50 percent off,” said Haugen, who also grows raspberries of his own. “On our farm, we were about 12 percent off. I’d say the average was 25 to 30 (percent below normal).”
or mold to contend with, as nary a drop of rain fell for five weeks from harvest’s start around June 20. During that stretch, however, the average high temperature approached 80 degrees. On one Sunday, the
tistics Service. Going back to 2010, the prices across all grades of raspberries for processing has averaged 72.5 cents. The Northwest cooperative takes flat-picked berries, but does not process for the highest value IQF (individu-
Year
Acreage
Production (million lbs.) Price (per lb.)
2014
9,700
71.70
$0.784
2013
9,900
67.35
.83
2012
9,800
62.25
.59
2011
9,800
71.90
.60
2010
9,600
60.40
.82
2009
9,700
65.00
.85
2008
9,600
54.45
1.67
2007
9,500
54.55
.50
2006
9,600
56.75
.33
2005
9,500
68.90
.53
2004
9,000
57.90
.75
2003
9,200
65.80
.52
2002
9,500
68.90
.45
2001
9,500
71.50
.45
2000
9,500
67.25
.31
Whatcom County accounts for about 90 percent of the statewide crop. Source: Quick Stats, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
recent years. Already last year, the harvest of blueberries locally was at 60 million pounds, way up
from 18 million in 2005, according to the informative storymap of Whatcom agriculture at http://www.agwa-
terboard.com. Blueberries could be on a pace to eclipse raspberries in total tonnage in the county this year.
Raspberries had good quality this year, but were smaller in size than normal. Final numbers on the 2015 harvest will be out in late October. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune) The cooperative at 1008 E. Pole Rd. certainly didn’t get its desired tonnage, “not close,” Haugen said. Grower Rob Dhaliwal of Lynden guessed volume may be down 30 to 35 percent. He said that a hard frost last November already had growers braced for some winter damage, and then the summer heat added to the picture. The gloomy assessment stands in contrast to what turned out to be a very good 2014 local commercial harvest in raspberry-rich Whatcom County. The final tally was a record 68.7 million pounds. Overall crop quality this year was good, both growers said — no threat of wetness
temperature was 92 degrees matched with a 15-mile-perhour wind, sucking moisture out of plants and berries. “That was at the peak of the season and that really took a toll on the crop,” Haugen said. Berry size was relatively small. It’s estimated that normally it takes 50 berries for a pound of fruit. This year, it was 85. The price will be “up a little to the growers,” Haugen said, although final payments have not been made by Northwest Berry Co-op. “It’s good prices compared to normal.” The price paid for red raspberries for processing in Washington in 2014 was 78.4 cents per pound, according to the National Agricultural Sta-
ally quick frozen) grade. That grade got the quality sought this year, but will absorb a lower price due to a heavy influx of Serbian IQF berries, Haugen said he has been told. The outcome this year bears out the adage that farming is all about next year, he said with a laugh. Dhaliwal said the blueberry harvest, which usually goes into September, is also winding down early. Blueberries are down in size about 10 percent, he estimated, not as bad as raspberries. The Dhaliwals’ Samson Farms are about two-thirds raspberries and one-third blueberries, as blueberry plantings have risen significantly in Whatcom County in
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Country Life 6 • Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • lyndentribune.com | ferndalerecord.com
Richly producing Hannegan garden fills local need Garden could be a model for Haiti, supporter says By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
WHATCOM — The quality of the food growing at this Hannegan Road plot is so high that even a pair of professionals like Merle Jensen and Terry Smith are enthusiastically in support — as “cheerleaders,” they say. The real credit belongs to the “devoted workers” from supporting churches who keep coming out and doing the work. And yet, more such workers are needed, say the regulars who were harvesting the impressive bounty last week: brightly colored zucchini, cucumbers, squash, sweet corn, lettuce, beets, broccoli and more. “I come out here to see Mount Baker,” joked John Williams, 67, retired from a career with IBM and now liv-
the King Community Church of Bellingham. The food distribution is in the Cascade Business Park on the Guide Meridian near Smith Road, and typically hundreds of people come to it each week. The garden — more like a small farm — is on land donated by Andy Vitaljic next to his Hannegan Seafoods operation at Hemmi Road. He also donates granulated fish fertilizer that is seeped into irrigation drip lines close to rows of plants. In fact, the irrigation water itself is free from the land owner. JoAnn Nelson, Vitaljic’s sister, of Christ the King, has been helping out at the growing site for six years now. She said she believes in the value of the food bank and appreciates the productivity of the soil here. One of her companions last week was Beth Paneak, a transplant from Alaska, who attends Garden Street Methodist Church in Bellingham. Of working in the garden, she believes anyone can do it. “You get taught — be willing
John Williams is an all-around handyman for the garden, building raised beds and greenhouses as well as weeding tiny carrot plants and keeping track of volunteer worker hours. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune) year can be raised as well. The oversupply of some produce at certain times goes to the Bellingham Food Bank. Jensen is drawn to this by his specialty in hydroponics and greenhouse gardening. A Lynden native who spends summers back here, he is wrapping up decades at the University of Arizona, but still travels the world teaching his subject. This garden absolutely does vegetable growing right, he says. The diligent, smart work of Williams and the others is evident in the volume and quality of produce. Smith is the head of Bellingham-based Smith Gardens, the thriving business of 110 years of family enterprise.
ing in Bellingham. He started volunteering with Christ the King Harvest Ministry in 2011. “I love to garden — I have my whole life.” He functions as an allaround handyman and coordinator, from building raised beds to keeping track of everyone’s hours. He was also weeding and thinning tiny carrot plants last week. The main delivery of raw food from this five-acre effort is on Tuesday afternoons to a food bank operated by Christ
to learn.” This is a multi-level, multi-faceted project, and more people who are willing to give of their time and stick with it are very welcome, Williams said. He calculates that all the time put in, even at 10 to 20 hours a week in the summer, mostly by retirees, totals up to only about 2,000 hours in a year. He would like to see the efficient, well-run involvement of workers increase, so that overall productivity in a
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“Our company does business as a mission and we’re trying to inspire other people,” Smith said. His goal for this local food bank garden is to replicate the tools and techniques here to enable a handful of trained farmers in Haiti to grow food for thousands of Haitians. “This garden is a blueprint for success,” he said. “This garden is a tool to show love.” The effort may be channeled through New Generation Ministries, of Lynden, which helps the poor and orphans in Haiti. To be involved in Christ the King Harvest Ministry, contact Williams at 389-1258 or sawdad86@gmail.com.
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