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July 8, 2016 CapitalPress.com 3 Irrigation district accused WSDA director ousts state vet leaves ‘big hole’ of cheating Oregon farmers Vacancy for livestock industry Lawsuit seeks injunction, $2.9 million in damages for lost water By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Several growers in North- east Oregon are accusing the Westland Irrigation District of cheating them out of water to beneit larger farms. A federal complaint claims the district unconstitutionally deprived the plaintiffs of water and seeks $2.9 million in dam- ages as well as an injunction re- quiring the Westland Irrigation District to enforce the plain- tiff’s water rights and properly deliver water. Plaintiffs include ELH LLC, Oregon Hereford Ranch LLC, Paul Gelissen, Maurice and Lucy Ziemer, Frank Mueller, Craig and Cynthia Parks and Richard and Kristine Carpenter. Mike Wick, the district’s general manager, said it would be premature for him to discuss the lawsuit. “Our board hasn’t had a chance to meet to discuss the complaint,” he said. The Westland Irrigation District will hold a special ex- ecutive session about the litiga- tion that’s scheduled for July 5 in Echo, Ore. According to the complaint, the district “facilitated large scale theft” over the past six years from 10 farms with se- nior water rights, which own between 58 acres and 837 acres each, to deliver water to three operations with more than 5,000 acres. The lawsuit claims those three farms with junior water rights — L&L Farms, Eagle Ranch and Amstad Farms — diverted more water than they were allowed. The district used several methods to make the over- pumping possible, including fraudulent accounting and im- proper contracts, the complaint said. “Defendant’s misappropri- ation of plaintiffs’ senior water rights has deprived plaintiffs of the opportunity to double crop their farms and shifted that lu- crative opportunity to junior water rights holders in violation of Oregon water rights law.” Capital Press was unable to reach a representative of L&L Farms as of press time. David Prior, whose family owns of Eagle Ranch, said he hadn’t heard about the litiga- tion. “We don’t have any infor- mation because we’re not in the lawsuit, so I can’t comment,” he said. Skeeter Amstad, whose family owns Amstad Farms, said it’s too early for him to comment on the lawsuit but said his company is transparent in its water use and has done nothing wrong. “We work extremely hard to get water through all the legal channels,” he said. Dixie Echeverria, co-own- er of plaintiff ELH LLC, said she was alerted to the problem when her company didn’t re- ceive all the water to which it was entitled during the spring. Westland Irrigation District didn’t provide answers to her questions and the Oregon Wa- ter Resources Department’s local watermaster refused to in- tervene in the dispute, she said. The lawsuit was iled to en- sure senior water rights in the district are protected, Echever- ria said. Litigation iled by farmers against their own irrigation district is rare, according to an Oregon water law attorney who didn’t want to be named. An irrigation district’s board of directors is supposed to ensure proper water allo- cations, but these governing bodies are often dominated by the largest landowners, the at- torney said. “That’s potentially a problem.” If the board’s directors refuse to take action or are accused of wrongdoing them- selves, farmers have few alter- natives aside from litigation, the attorney said. State watermasters regulate at the point of diversion from a public water source, but they aren’t involved in internal wa- ter distribution, the attorney said. “They leave that to the district to manage.” The same plaintiffs who iled a federal lawsuit against Westland Irrigation District have also iled a state lawsuit demanding that the Oregon Water Resources Department regulate water rights within the district. Organic premiums prone to volatility Prices for organic food higher, but how much varies By DON JENKINS Capital Press Joe Baker was dismissed Tuesday after 20 months as Washington state veterinar- ian, apparently falling short of Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison’s expectations. Sandison evaluated Bak- er and decided to make a change, a WSDA spokesman said. The department gave no other reason for Baker’s dis- missal. Efforts to reach Baker were unsuccessful. The spokesman said the department has not named an acting state veterinarian. As state veterinarian, Baker managed WSDA’s An- imal Health Program, a vital government ofice for the livestock and poultry indus- tries. During his tenure, WSDA was faced with containing bird lu, guarding against livestock diseases circulat- ing in the West and imple- menting changes in how the state traces the movement of livestock in case of a disease outbreak. Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field said he was surprised by Baker’s dis- missal. “I thought he did well,” Field said. Field, however, said he thought Baker was handi- capped in his ability to leave Olympia to meet producers because of a vacancy in the assistant state veterinarian’s position. “I think that might have been a challenge,” Field said. “Obviously, that reduces vis- ibility. Whether it’s the state Don Jenkins/Capital Press Joe Baker sits in his ofice in Olympia in this ile photo from 2015. Baker was dismissed July 5 after 20 months as Washing- ton state veterinarian. veterinarian or our own vet, when you have a chance to interact, you can build a bond and have a closer relation- ship. “I think we need both a state veterinarian and assis- tant state veterinarian, so we have the Olympia ofice cov- ered, and the ability for the state veterinarian to get out,” he said. Field said he hoped WSDA will ill the position quickly. The vacancy “leaves the industry in a big hole right now. We’ve get a lot going on,” he said. “The good news is we have a strong core of regional vets.” The Washington State Dairy Federation had a good relationship with Baker, Jay Gordon, the group’s policy director, said. “I always thought Dr. Baker did a pretty fair job, but for whatever reason, the department wants to go in a different direction,” Gordon said. Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Col- fax, said he too was sur- prised by Baker’s dismissal. Schmick and another law- maker recently asked Baker to meet with ranchers in Pull- man to talk about bluetounge virus. Schmick said Baker had valuable experience respond- ing to disease outbreaks in New Mexico. “I think his addition to that meeting was very valu- able,” Schmick said. “He brought a lot to the table.” Baker earned a bachelor’s at Washington State Univer- sity and then his doctorate from WSU in 1977. Before coming to WSDA, he had spent much of his ca- reer in New Mexico, includ- ing a stint as interim state veterinarian. He also had been a ield veterinarian; headed New Mexico’s Food Safety, Meat and Poultry Inspection Divi- sion, and had held positions with the New Mexico Live- stock Board. He joined WSDA in November 2014, hired by then-Director Bud Hover, who resigned ive months later. Baker was a strong advo- cate for vaccinating horses against West Nile virus and in a recent interview was crit- ical of the horse industry for not following health require- ments when transporting horses between states. 3 Years @ 0% 5 Years @ 0.9% By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press 12-month waiver OAC TRACTORS TRACTORS JD 6170R, 172 hours, Cab, MFWD, 20/ 20 trans., 3 remotes, loader ready, 3 mid remotes.........$147,000 Moscow 5142 JD6125M, 1967 hours, open station, MFWD, H340 loader, 2 remotes, 18.4-34 rear tires.....$72,000 Donald DA778051 JD 6125R, 380 hours, premium cab, IVT, MFWD, headland mgmt., dual PTO, 3 remotes.............$105,000 Salem 795991 JD 7230R, 508 hrs, Premium cab, MFWD, IVT trans., AT ready, 2630 Disp., Receiver, 520-46 duals .................. ............................$209,500 Salem 82541 JD 7330, 2982 hours, Open station, ROPS, PQ trans., JD 741SL loader, 3 remotes, dual speed PTO......................... ...........$70,000 McMinnville 0D021808 Case IH 500, 2612 hours, 4WD, PS trans., 1000 PTO, 4 remotes, 520/8R-42 triples.......$162,000 Salem E0104137 TRACTORS Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Workers pack organic red peppers at the Organically Grown Co.’s warehouse in Portland, Ore. Organic foods are consistently priced 20 percent or more above their conventional counterparts, though the premiums luctuate over time. conventional price. In some cases, though, there was a downward trend. The premium for spinach fell from about 55 percent to less than 10 percent while the premium for canned beans dropped from 100 percent to under 60 percent. It’s possible that farm- ers achieved a more eficient “economy of scale” with certain foods, allowing supplies to rise and sales to grow while prices declined, said Carlson. Even so, it’s unclear why the premiums for other products did not also decrease even as they became more popular, she said. Given the volatility of sup- ply and demand in fresh fruits and vegetables, prices are also prone to vary sharply, said Da- vid Lively, vice president of sales and marketing at the Or- ganically Grown Co., a produce distributor. “Our prices deinitely whip all over the joint,” said Lively. There are times when the or- ganic market is affected by con- ventional prices, such as when conventional prices for a certain crop get so high that organic farmers sell through conven- tional channels, he said. However, this type of “re-routing” can be logistically challenging and risks disap- pointing existing customers, Lively said. For the most part, though, the organic and conventional markets are essentially parallel, with their own supply and de- mand dynamics, he said. “They don’t necessarily relate to each other.” The USDA study tracked re- tail prices, but those don’t neatly square with the prices received by farmers, Lively said. Some larger grocers are will- ing to sell certain organic foods for a lower proit margin to attract customers, he said. “Retailers can really have a big impact on it.” JCB 8250, 1050 hours, Fast Trac, cab, F& R 3pt hitches, F&R PTO, CVT trans., 3 frt, 4 rear remotes.......................................... 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The organic label was asso- ciated with premiums of 20 per- cent or higher for most of the 17 products analyzed in the recent USDA Economic Research Ser- vice study, which tracked price differences between 2004 and 2010. However, the price premi- ums for most products tended to bounce up and down rather than increase or decrease over time, even as organic sales expanded. “The basic conclusion is there really isn’t a trend,” said Andrea Carlson, an ERS econo- mist who co-wrote the study. Premiums for organic prod- ucts often tended to rise and fall regardless of price changes for conventional foods, suggesting the two markets may operate independently of each other, she said. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the largest organic sector by sales and also had some of the greatest swings in price premi- ums. Potato premiums, for ex- ample, ranged from 10 to 35 percent above the conventional price, while salad mixes ranged from 40 to 60 percent above the 541-681-5363 All financing on approved credit. Financing special applies only to select pieces of equipment. See dealer for details and qualifying units. 28-4/#5