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July 8, 2016 CapitalPress.com 11 Support slips in Oregon for international trade pacts By JIM REDDEN Capital Bureau Support for international trade slipped in Oregon while the major candidates for pres- ident criticized the Trans-Pa- ciic Partnership agreement that Congress could consider later this year. According to two polls conducted by DHM Research, the percentage of Oregonians who believe foreign trade is an opportunity for economic growth dropped from 65 per- cent in March 2014 to 53 per- cent in April 2016. During that time, the per- centage of Oregonians who believe trade is more of a threat to the economy in- creased from 19 percent to 36 percent. “Our polling data reveal that Oregonians are less cer- tain that international trade is a good deal for our state and our country in 2016 than they were two years prior,” says DHM Research founding partner Adam Davis. The drop in support fol- lowed repeated attacks on international trade treaties by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential can- didates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. All three can- Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Cargo containers are shown being loaded on ships at the Port of Portland in this ile photo. Container lines no longer call at the port. According to polls conducted by DHM Research, the percentage of Oregonians who believe trade is an opportunity for economic growth dropped from 65 percent in March 2014 to 53 percent in April 2016. didates came out against the TPP, even though Clinton had previously called it the “gold standard” of such treaties. “The seemingly 24-7 cov- erage of Trump and Sanders this past year has taken its toll on public understanding and appreciation of the bene- its of trade,” Davis says. “It’s been a constant drumbeat of Americans losing jobs and big companies being the only ben- eiciaries of policies like the Trans-Paciic Partnership.” Doug Badger, executive di- rector of the Paciic Northwest International Trade Associa- tion, deplores the criticisms. Although Trump, Sanders and, to a lesser extent, Clinton have all claimed such treaties have reduced the number of Amer- ican jobs, Badger says the opposite is true, especially in Oregon. “Trade is creating jobs in the country and the region, which is especially depen- dent on trade. And they are good-paying jobs,” says Bad- ger, whose organization is aligned with the Portland Busi- ness Alliance and is pushing for approval of the TPP. Badger notes that support for international trade is still above 50 percent in Oregon, which he says is a good thing. But he worries the criticisms by the presidential candidates will make it harder to win ap- proval of the TPP and future trade agreements. “The politicians are saying one thing but the economy is saying another when it comes to trade,” he says. Davis agrees there’s little public understanding of the beneits of trade. “Like we see in our research about public understanding of the basics of governance and public inance, there’s a great deal of ignorance about international trade. And the Trans-Paciic Partnership agreement? You got to be kid- ding; there’s next to no facts- based understanding of what it is and how it affects Oregon’s economy — positively or neg- atively,” Davis says. TPP opponent Michael Shannon of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign argues that just the opposite is true. “The public isn’t respond- ing to the politicians, the pol- iticians are responding to the public,” Shannon says. “People are tired of stag- nant wages and increasing inequality, and previous trade deals have shipped good pay- ing jobs with beneits over- seas,” says Shannon, whose organization includes labor, environmental and social jus- tice organizations. Shannon and other oppo- nents point to a recent study by the United States Interna- tional Trade Commission that says some manufacturing jobs would be lost because of the TPP, although other sectors of the economy, like agriculture, would beneit. Davis conirms his com- pany’s polls are inding deep public dissatisfaction with the economy. “Nearly half of Oregonians believe that America has got- ten the short end of the stick, perhaps in a nod of agreement with Trump and Sanders about the exportation of manufactur- ing and other blue-collar jobs that once served as the back- bone of our economy. Many of these same people are not considering, because they’re not aware, the beneits of in- ternational trade such as lower prices and the availability of a wider range of goods and ser- vices,” he says. A 2013 study by the Value of Jobs Coalition found that $20 billion worth of Oregon goods and services were ex- ported in 2012. There were 490,000 jobs tied directly or indirectly to internation- al trade that year, up 20,000 from 2010. And the amount of Oregon’s trade-related employment grew 7.5 times faster than total employment between 2004 and 2011, said the study, which was support- ed by such business groups as the Portland Business Alliance and the Port of Portland. The TPP is an agreement between the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Ac- cording to Badger, seven of Oregon’s top 11 export mar- kets were on this list in 2015, and they accounted for nearly half of all of Oregon’s export value that year. “The export of Oregon goods and services will only increase if we can reform the rules and reduce the tariffs with our major trading part- ners,” Badger says. Shannon counters that the biggest companies, such as Nike, beneit most from such deals, not average workers. Because of the political climate, some observers be- lieve President Obama will ask the lame-duck session of Congress to approve the TPP after the November general election. Signs help NW ag, forestry, isheries pack economic punch Animal agriculture motorists showcases ID crops By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press By KATHY HEDBERG The Lewiston Tribune GRANGEVILLE, Idaho (AP) — If you’ve ever driv- en by ripening grain ields and puzzled over what’s growing there, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Services Agency has a solution for you. This year, shortly before Me- morial Day, signs identifying the various crops that are grown in Idaho and Lewis counties began sprouting up along U.S. High- way 95, State Highway 162 between Grangeville and Nez- perce and in some spots beside U.S. Highway 12. It’s a project sponsored by the Idaho and Lewis counties’ farm agency ofices, said Julie Fowler, executive oficer for the Idaho County ofice. “It was an outreach project,” Fowler said. “We have a lot of people who will come in and ask us what crops are planted. So this lets people know this is canola or dark northern spring wheat, or whatever. “It just brings an awareness of it. A lot of people don’t know what kinds of crops are plant- ed in Idaho, so this gives us an idea of what we do in Idaho County.” Lewis County has planted the crop signs since 2014, re- ported The Lewiston Tribune. Kaci Ralstin of the county’s farm agency ofice said: “We’ve had tons of compliments on them and it’s a project we enjoy doing.” The idea came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program, Ralstin said. “The reason I started this project, I thought the signs would be a great way to show the public local crops that are growing throughout the area,” Ralstin said. Each county has produced 30 signs at a cost of about $100 per sign. Funding for the Idaho County signs comes from the agency, the Idaho Wheat Com- mission, Idaho County Soil and Water and the Idaho County Grain Producers. In Lewis County the under- writers include the agency, the Idaho Wheat Commission, Hill- co Technologies and the Nez- perce FFA chapter. Industrial technology and FFA students at Grangeville and Prairie high schools, as well as the Nezperce FFA chapter and agency employees, did the met- al work and built and distributed the signs. Fowler said the signs were erected in mid-May and proba- bly will be removed before har- vest begins. “I’d like to leave them, but I think they might get in the farmers’ way when they har- vest,” she said. A new university study inds the natural resources sector in the Northwest fu- els more than $176 billion in direct and related sales and accounts for nearly 886,000 full- and part-time jobs. The study, commissioned by Northwest Farm Credit Services and performed by extension economists at Ore- gon State University and the University of Idaho, found agriculture, forestry and ish- eries account for 10.6 percent of all jobs in the ive-state re- gion and 12.2 percent of all sales in 2015. “We knew intuitively how vital these industries are to the Northwest and wanted to quantify their contributions to the regional economy,” said Phil DiPoi, NWFCS presi- dent and CEO. “This study afirms the signiicant impact producers have on the inancial strength of our region,” he said. Agriculture is the front runner in economic impact, claiming about 70 percent of total sales and jobs within the region’s natural resources sector with more than $120.1 billion in direct and related sales and 621,518 jobs in 2015. It also accounted for 8.3 percent of total sales in the region and 7.5 percent of all jobs, the economists found. Forestry accounts for nearly 24 percent of sales in the natural resources sector and 21 percent of the jobs. Direct and related sales in the industry totaled nearly $42 billion and provided 189,000 jobs in 2015. In the entire regional economy, forestry provides 2.9 percent of all sales and 2.3 percent of all jobs. The ishing and seafood advances By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Dan Wheat/Capital Press Dust lies from a bale of alfalfa as it’s picked up in Ben Schaapman’s irst-cutting south of Quincy, Wash., May 12. A new university study inds the natural resources sector in the Northwest fuels more than $176 billion in direct and related sales and accounts for nearly 886,000 full- and part-time jobs. Economic contribution of Northwest agriculture, forestry and fisheries (Direct, indirect and induced effects) Area Full/part- Sales time jobs ($ billions) Wash. Ore. Idaho Mont. Alaska Northwest * 303,321 256,423 143,611 85,037 64,034 885,951 $58.8 48.5 31.8 11.1 8.9 176.1 *Northwest totals are larger than the sum of the states because they include economic linkages among states. Source: Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Fishing in the Northwest U.S. — An Economic Overview, 2016 Capital Press graphic manufacturing industry is the smallest in the natural re- sources sector, representing about 8 percent of sales and jobs. With $13.9 billion in sales and 75,416 jobs in 2015, it represented only 1 percent of total sales in the region and less than 1 percent of jobs. Washington and Oregon have the largest natural re- sources sector in the region and together contain about 65 percent of all econom- ic activity in that sector. Washington had 200,770 direct jobs in the sector with $42.4 billion in direct sales in 2015. Oregon had 147,591 direct jobs in the sector with $32.4 billion in direct sales. The two states also have more related economic activ- ity than the other states due to larger spillover benefits, as there are more businesses buying and selling and more people earning wages and income from the production, the economists found. Idaho had 76,374 direct jobs in the natural resources sector with more than $22.7 billion in sales in 2015. Montana had 63,360 direct jobs with more than $8 bil- lion in sales in 2015. With similar employment levels, “total sales in Idaho are 2.8 times as large as sales in Montana, which indicates that the natural resources sector is less labor intensive and includes more high val- ue production in Idaho than Montana,” the economists re- ported. Alaska has the fewest sales and jobs in the sector, with about $5.9 billion direct in sales and 45,036 direct jobs in 2015. The study also found that 60 percent of all natural re- source sales in the region are exported to other states or other countries, accounting for 15 percent of all exports from the region. Total sales exported ranged from a high of 89 percent of the seafood manufacturing sector to a low of 55 percent of agricultural farm gate production. In an effort to inform the public about modern animal agriculture and dispel nega- tive myths about how it oper- ates, the Animal Agriculture Alliance has released its 2016 Advances in Animal Agricul- ture Report. The report highlights the industry’s commitment to continuing improvements in areas consumers care about. Those highlights demonstrate the industry is using less feed, water, land and energy to pro- duce safe, high-quality food while reducing environmental impacts and the use of antibi- otics, said Hannah Thompson, the Alliance’s communica- tions director. It provides a comprehen- sive overview of the positive steps animal agriculture is taking in animal care, food safety, public health and envi- ronmental sustainability, she said. The Alliance uses the re- port to communicate that message to consumers, the media, retailers, restaurants, partners in the supply chain and other influencers, she said. “There’s no doubt that raising food looks much different than it did 50, 25 even five years ago. To feed a growing population effi- ciently and to prioritize the highest standards of animal care, the entire animal agri- culture industry has worked tirelessly to identify areas for improvement and to evolve,” the report states. Fresh fruit organization’s Bedwell moves to leadership foundation By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press The executive who presided over historic advances at the California Fresh Fruit Associ- ation is taking over the Cali- fornia Agricultural Leadership Foundation. Barry Bedwell, president of what would become the Fresh Fruit Association since 2003, will take the reins of the Sali- nas, Calif., based foundation on Aug. 1. The ag leadership program, which works with four Cali- fornia universities to offer a 17-month course for people working in or around agricul- ture to become industry lead- ers, will start its 47th class in the fall. “I was a graduate of Class 13, and the fact is I had un- derstood the value of the pro- gram as it was structured then,” Bedwell said. “Over the years, I’ve become even more im- pressed with Barry how the program Bedwell has evolved into a true leadership program. They do coaching and training for leadership. “When you look at that cou- pled with the challenges we face, primarily in Sacramento, this program will be imperative for the future of California agri- culture,” he said. Bedwell will replace out- going foundation president and chief executive oficer Bob Gray, who is retiring after seven years at the helm. Gray will stay on as a consultant for a few months after Bedwell takes the position. As president, Bedwell will be responsible for directing the foundation’s ac- tivities, which raises funds for Bob the program, Gray and guiding the leadership pro- gram. The program works with California Polytechnic Uni- versity-San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly-Pomona, California State University-Fresno and the Uni- versity of California-Davis. Applicants who are chosen for classes receive all-expens- es-paid instruction at the uni- versities as well as national and international trips to learn about ag, Bedwell said. The program is considered to be one of the world’s best at preparing industry leaders, he said. “They have over 1,300 alumni now,” Bedwell said. “That’s one of the things I want to capitalize on George — that network Radanovich of prior grad- uates … who come from everywhere in Cal- ifornia.” Among Bedwell’s accom- plishments at the Fresh Fruit Association was to preside over its 2014 name change from the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, under which the organization had operated for 66 years. The name change was necessary as the group had expanded to represent about 15 different fresh fruit commodi- ties. While the more than 300-member group has for many years held a Fruit De- livery at the state Capitol, the CFFA has been more outspo- ken in recent years, supporting workers’ right to vote on union decertiication at Fresno-based Gerawan Farming and oppos- ing the minimum-wage in- crease that lawmakers passed earlier this year. Bedwell will be replaced at the CFFA by former U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, a wine- grape grower who served in Congress from 1995 to 2011. He is also a California Agri- cultural Leadership Program graduate. “With George being an eight- term congressman, he gives a lot of practical experience and ac- cess to the association,” Bedwell said. “It became a win-win. … I feel good about what I’m go- ing to do and I feel good about George coming in here.”