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July 17, 2015 CapitalPress.com 3 Wildlife managers report on campaign to deter wolf attacks Update coincides with season’s first depredations of livestock By DON JENKINS Capital Press Compressed crop squeezes cherry prices By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WENATCHEE, Wash. — Pacific Northwest cherry growers set another record for the most cherries harvested in June and are headed toward an early or mid-August finish of what likely will turn out to be an 18.8-million-box crop. That’s down a bit from the 19.7-million-box forecast in May and the record of 23.2 million, 20-pound boxes in 2014. As of July 12, 17.5 mil- lion boxes had been shipped so far this season. The crop was too com- pressed, with supply coming from many areas at one time, said Roger Pepperl, market- ing director of Stemilt Grow- ers LLC in Wenatchee. “Selling 12 weeks of sea- son in eight weeks this year wasn’t ideal for anyone, re- tailer or grower,” Pepperl said. Stemilt will finish ship- ping in three weeks, he said. The season started early with 500,000 boxes harvest- ed in May and reached a 12.5 million record in June, said James Michael, domestic pro- motions director of Northwest Cherry Growers, the indus- try’s promotional arm in Ya- kima. In several recent years, cool spring weather pushed more harvest from June to July and August. But a warm- er spring last year brought a record 10.1 million boxes in June. This year’s warm spring brought an even earlier sea- son. Daily shipments from packers peaked at 595,000 boxes on June 25 compared with 655,000 on July 11, 2014, Michael said. Last year, there was a 30-day streak av- eraging 500,000 boxes per day, he said. This year, there were 11 days, from June 15 to 26, of half-a-million boxes per day or greater, he said. The crop was early and growers pushed to harvest af- ter hot weather around June 8 and knowing more hot weath- er was coming, he said. They managed to get most low-el- evation fruit harvested before triple-digit temperatures hit again, he said. Demand outstripped sup- ply for Fourth of July sales, Michael said. “We had one of the best Fourth of Julys ever in adver- tising and promotions but we could have had more consis- tent supply leading up to it,” he said. Bud Riker, a Wenatchee Heights grower, said promo- tions didn’t match the crop and that buyers were not prepared for early fruit. Late June and early July heat dam- aged quality and along with oversupply from Okanogan County caused prices to fall by two-thirds to where no one could make money, Riker said. “Many warehouses were on hold because they couldn’t sell fruit and the only option was processors,” he said. Tree Top Inc., Excel Fruit Brokerage and another pro- cessor took all the fruit they could at 55 cents a pound, which was breakeven or a loss for growers, Riker said. Fresh market whole pric- es have been $10 to $20 per box when they should be $30 to $40, but hopefully prices will improve on the last of the late varieties, Riker said. Growers dealt with rain and lack of labor early in the season, then labor improved and heat became an issue, Michael said. There was also some hail, but there have been worse seasons, he said. Heat, rain and hail were not catastrophic but reduced the crop about 10 percent, Mi- chael said. “High heat increases dou- bles (a defect of two cher- ries grown together) the next season. We saw that this year from last year,” he said. Harvest is now centered in the hills above Wenatchee, Brewster and Hood River and in Montana, he said. attacks can be prevented by non-lethal means. “Wolves are opportunistic. They take what- ever they can. You want to take that opportunity away from killing anymore cows. Hope- fully that solves the problem.” The deterrence update in- cludes new information on the size and location of 15 wolf packs. The report does not cov- er the Whitestone pack, which is managed by the Confederat- ed Tribes of the Colville Reser- vation. For the current grazing sea- son, WDFW reported it has 41 agreements, up from 33 a year ago, with ranchers to share the costs of non-lethal protection measures, such as range riders, guard dogs, electrified fences and fladry, which are ribbons that flap in the wind. WDFW estimates it will spend more than $300,000. “In general, we’ve gotten a positive reaction. We’re talking with more producers in the state all the time,” Martorel- lo said. “For a few producers, signing an official contract with the state is not something they want to do.” The producer who lost cows to the Dirty Shirt pack USDA official: Women farmers have credibility By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SILVERTON, Ore. — Since women make most food-buying decisions for U.S. families, female farmers can establish strong credibili- ty with those key consumers, according to a top USDA of- ficial. “Women relate to women,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden. “Women do have a special role.” Female farmers operate in a largely male-dominat- ed world, which prompted Harden to launch a “Wom- en in Agriculture Mentoring Network” to help them con- nect with role models who experience similar hurdles. During a roundtable fo- rum on July 13 in Silverton, Ore., Harden said she was heartened by the 20 percent of principal farm operators in Oregon who are female. Women farmers who served on the panel said they didn’t feel like they faced higher barriers to success in agriculture, which Harden said was unique in her experi- ence traveling across the U.S. “This room would not be full everywhere. You’re real- ly lucky here,” Harden told the group of women gathered at the Oregon Garden Resort. Once a female demon- strates she knows what she’s talking about, there’s usual- ly no impediment to gaining “traction” in agriculture, said Molly Pearmine-McCar- gar, a Gervais, Ore., grow- er who spoke on the panel. “Once you get respect and credibility with your audi- ence, it’s not a problem,” she said. The panel participants said that Oregon farmers generally face similar chal- lenges whether they’re male or female. Shelly Boshart-Davis, whose family operates a farm and trucking business, said that the state and federal gov- ernments need to take steps to improve transportation for agriculture. Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Deputy USDA Secretary Krysta Harden speaks at a panel of women farmers during a recent stop at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton, Ore. To the left sits Barbara Boyer, of McMinnville, Ore., and to the right sits Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. For example, the Port of Portland lost two major container ocean carriers this year, which has complicated life for farmers who rely on exports, she said. If companies avoid im- porting goods along the West Coast due to labor concerns, there will be fewer empty con- tainers available for agricul- tural exporters, Boshart-Davis said. Amy Doerfler-Phelan, whose family farms multiple crops in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, said she’s concerned about the lack of economic development in the eastern and southern portions of Or- egon that are less populated. “We need to have oppor- tunities in other part of our state,” she said. Pearmine-McCargar said that insufficent labor and the need to mechanize harvest are top priorities, while Bar- bara Boyer, who farms near McMinnville, Ore., said she is concerned about farm suc- cession. Aspiring young growers often face the prospect of paying back student loans on top of the other financial burdens of running a farm, Boyer said. The federal government should examine forgiving student debt for farmers, as it does for certain other profes- sions with social value, she said. “It takes legislation, but it’s a great idea,” responded Harden. rop-6-26-5/#17 Dan Wheat/Capital Press Ivan Silva picks Rainier cherries in Mike Prey’s orchard in Orondo, Wash., on June 18. Harvest peaked in June but will continue until mid-August. The Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife has collared wolves, hired range riders and signed agreements with ranchers to prevent wolf depredations, according to a de- partment report, whose release was upstaged by the killing of two cows in northeast Wash- ington. WDFW’s update on its de- terrence activities was made public Friday, the same day WDFW investigators conclud- ed wolves from the Dirty Shirt pack had killed two adult cows on a U.S. Forest Service grazing allotment in Stevens County. The cows, in a herd of 83 cow-calf pairs, are the first livestock confirmed killed by wolves in Washington this year and the first since at least 26 sheep were killed last year by the Huckleberry pack, also in Stevens County. WDFW carnivore section manager Donny Martorello said the department is using “time-tested” methods to pre- vent such depredations, but can’t quantify how successful they are. “It’s not something we can directly measure. We know these are good measures to be doing,” he said. Until Friday, the Dirty Shirt pack, like most of the state’s 16 wolf packs, had never been known to kill livestock, accord- ing to WDFW. The pack was first docu- mented in 2013 in the Chewelah area and had six members as of April, including an adult female wearing a radio-tracking collar. “You never know where the conflicts might occur,” Mar- torello said. “Most of the time, there’s peace in the valley.” The rancher has moved the herd to a lower elevation, and WDFW has had two range rid- ers in the area since Friday in an effort to haze wolves and stop more depredations. The calves paired with the two cows that were killed have been account- ed for, Martorello said. Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Hedrick said Monday he doubt- ed non-lethal measures will stop more depredations. “None of it has worked to date,” he said. Kettle Range Conservation Group Executive Director Tim Coleman said he believes wolf did not have an agreement with WDFW. Wildlife officials say they are discussing an agree- ment with him now and provid- ing daily updates on the pack’s movements. He has not been identified by the department. WDFW has contracted with five range riders, up from three a year ago, and has 11 people assigned in areas with wolf packs to resolve conflicts be- tween wildlife and landowners. The department reports it has captured and fitted 11 wolves with radio collars in the past year and now has collars on 14 wolves in 10 packs. The collars enable wildlife manag- ers to track packs to document breeding pairs, the key mea- surement of success for the state’s wolf recovery plan. WDFW reports it has had no reports of depredations by the Huckleberry pack since last year. Although WDFW con- firmed 26 sheep depredations, rancher Dave Dashiell reported losing about 300 sheep. “I think the proactive strat- egies we’ve pursued over the past year have put us on the right path and reinforced the importance of working with livestock producers to minimize conflicts with wolves,” WDFW Director Jim Unsworth said in a written statement. Joyce Capital, Inc. In agriculture, nothing is certain. Your interest rate should be. We offer competitive interest rates for your agricultural financing needs: • Term agricultural loans (purchases & refinances) • FSA Preferred Lender • Amortizations up to 25 years CONTACT: Kevin Arrien, or Joe Lodge at Joyce Capital, Inc. Agricultural Loan Agents (208) 338-1560 • Boise, ID joe@arrien.biz 29-2/#17 29-1/#5