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18 CapitalPress.com January 9, 2015 Ranchers awarded for cooperative work Don and Diana Robinson go extra mile to care for fish, wildlife habitat By LEE JUILLERAT For the Capital Press LAKEVIEW, Ore. — Lake County ranchers Don and Di- ana Robinson received the Ri- ley Freeman Award at the Or- egon Cattlemen’s Association meeting in Bend last month. The award is given annual- ly by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and OCA in memory of Riley Freeman, a past chairman of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Wildlife Commit- tee. While defending private property rights, Freeman also advocated for partnerships between private landowners and state and federal natural resource agencies to promote good land stewardship. The Robinsons raise cat- tle on 3,000 acres near Adel, where his family has ranched since the 1890s. Robin- son, 77,is a third-generation rancher. Also involved are his daughter and son-in-law, Hol- ly and Kerry Way. The Robinsons raise hay and have their own herd of crossbred red and black Angus and Hereford cattle. Some of their land is leased for grazing. “The Robinsons are active- ly involved in protecting and enhancing habitat for fish and wildlife on their land,” ODFW Interim Director Curt Melcher said at the presentation. He said examples of the Robin- sons promoting stewardship of fish and wildlife habitat on their property include: • Worked with ODFW to assess the distribution, abun- dance and movements of the federally threatened Warner sucker in Twentymile Creek. • Worked with Lake Coun- ty Watershed Council, Bureau of Land Management and ODFW to replace an aging and ineffective fish ladder and pro- vide fish screening at the Dike Diversion so that sucker and redband trout upstream and downstream access to upper Twentymile and Twelvemile Creeks is restored. • Allowed ODFW Native Fish Project access to their property to assess the abun- dance, distribution and season- al movements of fish, and in- stall antennas on an irrigation canal to assess the timing and magnitude of fish movement. • Helped salvage redband trout stranded behind their Big Valley ranch head gate. Also worked with ODFW fish biologists and with the Lake County Watershed Council to improve fish passage. • Improved fish passage on another tributary on their property in collaboration with the Forest Service. • Restored habitat for mule deer and other wildlife through a 50-acre aspen stand enhance- ment project in Big Valley and a 100-acre juniper removal project with the Lake County Watershed Council. “I think it’s a win-win,” Diana Robinson said of work- ing with various agencies to improve habitat. “We don’t want to trample streams with our cattle. Just because we’re raising cattle doesn’t mean we should make another species extinct. We’re fine working with all the different agen- cies.” “Be positive, cheerful, that’s important to us,” Rob- inson said of working with the ODFW and other agencies. “We get along quite well with all of the agencies.” “The Robinsons are excep- tional people whose legacy will include a long list of ac- tions to protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat on their lands,” said ODFW native fish research biologist Paul Scheerer. “They are truly a pleasure to work with.” Lake County ranchers Diana and Don Robinson were recently honored for their coop- eration with various agencies. Submitted photo FSA offers new Researcher studies nexus between insurance buy-up nematodes and verticillium wilt in mint By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — A new insur- ance program offered by US- DA’s Farm Service Agency allows producers of eligible commodities such as hay, grass seed, fruit and honey to step up coverage for cata- strophic losses. Idaho’s FSA programs chief, Jeff Mitchell, said the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program has tra- ditionally covered up to 55 percent of the established commodity price for yield losses in excess of 50 percent. It was developed as a mirror program to cover commod- ities that aren’t eligible for a Risk Management Agency catastrophic-loss coverage option. The new NAP buy-up pro- gram allows participants to insure up to 100 percent of es- tablished commodity price for yield losses of 50, 45, 40 or 35 percent. The deadline for basic NAP coverage for grass seed and perennial forage crops was Dec. 1, but produc- ers have until Jan. 14 to enroll in buy-up coverage. The NAP deadline for spring-planted crops is March 15. “It allows a producer to ensure a greater amount of their production. Therefore, smaller losses may be eligible for payment,” he said. Mitchell said the fee for the buy-up is 5.25 percent of a grower’s coverage amount. The maximum fee is capped at $6,563, and pay-outs are capped at $125,000. Mitchell said his office has received several calls about the option since Dec. 26, when most producers re- ceived postcards notifying them about it. Mitchell said in some regions, such as Treasure Valley, hay isn’t covered by RMA and is eligible for NAP. Under basic coverage, he said, growers with at least three cuttings could lose an entire cutting without trigger- ing a payment. $100 million beef processing facility to be built near Kuna, Idaho By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press KUNA, Idaho — J.R. Sim- plot Co. announced Jan. 6 it will build a $100 million beef processing plant near Kuna in Southwestern Idaho. According to a news release, the plant could process a maxi- mum of 1,700 head per day. It will be operated in partnership with Texas-based Caviness Beef Packers under the name, CS Beef Packers, LLC. Construction of the 300,000-square-foot plant will begin in the spring and it is ex- pected to open in 2016, accord- ing to the news release. The facility will primarily harvest cull cows and bulls from Northwest dairy farms and cat- tle ranches throughout the Inter- mountain West. It will include hide and rendering processing and will also be able to process niche-fed beef programs. J.R. Simplot Co. Chairman Scott Simplot said the facility will reduce the need for ranchers and dairy operators to ship their animals out of the area for pro- cessing. By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press PARMA, Idaho — Mint fields irrigated with drip systems had significantly smaller populations of nem- atodes than furrow-irrigated fields, a University of Idaho researcher has found. That could be an import- ant discovery because large nematode populations are associated with more severe instances of verticillium wilt, mint growers’ main disease problem. Based on samples taken in April and August, nem- atode populations dropped drastically in every field that used drip irrigation, said UI professor Saad Hafez, who is conducting the trials at the univer- sity’s Parma experiment station. Almost all of Idaho’s 18,000 acres of mint are fur- row irrigated. Nematodes love water and their distribution is limited with a drip system, said Hafez, whose research is supported by the Idaho Mint Commission and Mint Industry Research Council. “It makes sense but I never expected that much of a reduction,” he said. “The irrigation result was surpris- ing.” Hafez’s research is shedding light on the link between nematode popula- tions and increased verti- cillium wilt severity in mint plants and he’s also trying to find ways to reduce nem- atode populations. “If you can control nem- atodes, you can minimize the damage of verticilli- um wilt somewhat. That’s the theory of his research,” said Caldwell farmer Tony Weitz. Based on 200 samples Sean Ellis/Capital Press Mint grows in a field near Nampa, Idaho, in June. A University of Idaho researcher is shedding new light on the connection between nematodes and verticillium wilt in mint. Information Growers interested in finding out more about the results of Saad Hafez’s research can contact him at shafez@uidaho.edu or (208) 722- 6701, Ext. 237. of commercial mint fields, Hafez has determined that lesion and pin nematodes are the two main nematode problems in mint fields in Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Previous research has documented the link be- tween lesion nematodes and verticillium wilt dam- age in mint but Hafez for the first time documented the damage pin nematodes can cause to mint hay and yields. “It was very obvious from the results of this re- search that the pin nema- tode can affect mint hay yield significantly,” he said. The nematodes make holes that allow the verticil- lium wilt fungus to get into the plant. The fungus can get there in other ways but the nematodes facilitate it and make the problem much worse, Hafez said. Hafez has started testing some chemicals in mint mi- cro-plots to see how effec- tive they are in controlling nematodes and verticillium wilt. The first-year results were promising, he said. “We got very, very good results and we are really excited about those (com- pounds),” he said. As mint ages, verticil- lium wilt builds up in the ground and eventually gets to the point where mint can’t be grown in that spot any more. “It’s the No. 1 killer of mint,” said IMC Adminis- trator Roger Batt. “We’re trying to ... see if we can possibly get a hold on this in the future.” Strong dollar to challenge global fertilizer demand By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The relative strength of the U.S. economy — and thus the U.S. dollar verses other cur- rencies around the world — presents a head wind for global demand for agricultural fertil- izers, which are traded in U.S. dollars. That will be one of the major market drivers in 2015, making things more chal- lenging for buyers, said Neil Fleishman, senior industry an- alyst for Green Markets, which specializes in fertilizer market research. Other market drivers in- clude weaker global economies and lower ag commodity pric- es, both of which could weaken demand, he told crop advisers during Far West Agribusiness Association’s winter confer- ence in Twin Falls Jan. 5. Another factor is the global oil price, which could reduce Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Jim Fitzgerald, left, executive director of Far West Agribusiness Association, talks with Neil Fleishman, senior industry analyst for Green Markets, before Fleishman’s presentation on fertilizer prices and demand for 2015 at the Associations winter conference in Twin Falls, Idaho, Jan. 5. investments in oil, affect econ- omies and theoretically in- crease the low price of natural gas, which is used to produce fertilizers, Fleishman said. In addition, lower ag com- modity prices will affect farm purchases and suggests fer- tilizer prices have peaked, he said. Global fertilizer demand was strong in 2014, but with falling commodity prices af- fordability is becoming chal- lenged, he said. Green Markets has a gen- erally cautious outlook for fertilizer prices into 2015 and sees downside risk to demand estimates. In general, the company ex- pects global pricing to be firm for potash, neutral for phos- phate and bearish for nitrogen. Demand growth and pric- es for potash and phosphates could be challenged by lower crop prices, but demand for ni- trogen product is likely to stay strong, Fleishman said. Potash prices dropped off in 2014, creating more global demand. That demand is ex- pected to remain strong but flat. Prices are likely to remain firm with the probable loss of Rus- sia’s Uralkali mine. That mine produces 3 percent of global capacity, but there is still plenty of global capacity if it is lost, he said. The phosphate market should be well supplied in 2015, and phosphate producers are expected to run at reduced capacity. Demand in India, one of the largest phosphate con- sumers in the world, was disap- pointing in 2014 and could be a challenge again in 2015, but modest growth is expected, he said. Seasonal price trends are anticipated for phosphate, but the price trend is likely side- ways, he said. As for nitrogen, growing global capacity in both am- monia and urea will likely cap urea prices and bring ammonia prices back in line – after rising in 2014 due primarily to global outages with the civil war in the Ukraine and gas curtailments in Trinidad and Tobago, he said. In North America alone, there are 30 potential ammo- nia projects, 25 potential urea projects and 10 UAN (urea and ammonia nitrate) proj- ects, with more of those proj- ects likely moving forward than the market expects, he said.