August 26, 2016
CapitalPress.com
5
Hood River Basin’s water Organic seed supply lags
reservations renewed
demand as industry grows
Renewal allows for
development of
new water rights
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Nearly 83,000 acre-feet of
“water reservations” in Ore-
gon’s Hood River Basin have
been renewed by state regula-
tors, opening the way for new
water rights development.
The Oregon Water Resourc-
es Commission voted in favor
of extending water reservations
in the region for another 20
years during its Aug. 18 meet-
ing in Hermiston.
Oregon lawmakers allowed
state agencies to “reserve” wa-
ter for economic development
when they established mini-
mum in-stream fl ows nearly 30
years ago.
More than 300,000 acre-
feet of water were reserved
by the Oregon Department of
Agriculture in fi ve river ba-
sins — Hood, Grande Ronde,
Powder, Malheur and Owyhee
— but few farmers used the
program to actually develop
water rights.
Lack of awareness and con-
cerns about environmental bar-
riers limited participation in the
program, but the ODA believes
there’s now a greater recogni-
tion of the need to develop wa-
ter supplies.
Most water reservations
were set to expire between
2016 and 2020, so the ODA has
been working to win approval
for their renewal by the com-
mission.
The commission renewed
a portion of the Powder River
Basin’s reservations earlier this
year — roughly 26,000 acre-
feet — but the 82,900 acre-feet
renewed in the Hood River
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Capital Press graphic
Basin was the largest chunk of
reservations up for consider-
ation.
Water supplies are a concern
in the region because some ir-
rigators rely on fl ows from
glaciers around Mt. Hood that
have been shrinking over time,
said Margaret Matter, ODA’s
water resource specialist.
Irrigation districts in the
Hood River Basin have already
made great strides in modern-
izing their systems and saving
water by piping open canals,
which prevents seepage, she
said.
“They can’t tighten up their
systems much more. If the want
water, they need new sources,”
Matter said.
In terms of fi nancing stor-
age projects, it doesn’t hurt
that the area produces several
high-value orchard crops, she
said.
John Buckley, manager of
the East Fork Irrigation Dis-
trict, said the water reserva-
tions would be useful if the dis-
trict built a reservoir to capture
fl ows in early spring.
The district doesn’t cur-
rently have any storage, which
would be useful in adding wa-
ter supplies that can be used
during the late irrigation sea-
son, when fl ows are lower, he
said.
“With snow depleting on
the mountain, we will strug-
gle,” said Buckley.
The Farmers Irrigation
District is currently planning
to raise a dam, which should
provide adequate water capac-
ity, but the renewed water res-
ervations will provide added
fl exibility, said Les Perkins, the
district’s manager.
“A lot of it has to do with
keeping the door open to future
possibilities,” he said.
Extending the water reser-
vations has not been without
controversy, however.
WaterWatch of Oregon, an
environmental nonprofi t, op-
posed the renewal proposal be-
cause it would “put in-stream
values at serious risk,” accord-
ing to a letter to the commis-
sion.
ODA also failed to provide
the commission with progress
reports for the water reserva-
tion, as required by the rules
for program renewal, the group
said.
The Confederated Tribes of
the Warm Springs Reservation,
meanwhile, urged the commis-
sion to assess the renewal’s
impacts on endangered species
due to streamfl ows declining
since the reservations were es-
tablished.
“The Tribes do not sup-
port the proposed 20-year ex-
tension unless environmental
safeguards are included in the
amended basin program,” ac-
cording to a letter to the com-
mission.
WSDA mum on where highly
contagious horse traveled
State’s fi rst equine
herpes case since 2011
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A Washington state quarter
horse euthanized Friday was
infected with a highly conta-
gious form of equine herpes
virus and had spent the pre-
ceding weeks competing in
Pacifi c Northwest rodeos, ac-
cording to animal health offi -
cials.
The 18-year-old mare
from Newport in Pend Oreille
County in northeastern Wash-
ington would have been con-
tagious for up to three weeks
while traveling to rodeos in
Washington and Idaho, said
Scott Haskell, assistant state
veterinarian at the Washington
Department of Agriculture.
Haskell declined to specify
which rodeos the horse attend-
ed. He said rodeo organizers
have been informed.
“It’s not our role to com-
municate to the public about
this,” he said.
Haskell said the horse
had been to so many events
that it’s possible the owner
couldn’t remember them all.
The horse arrived Thursday
afternoon at the Washington
State University Veterinary
Teaching Hospital in Pullman
and was immediately placed
in isolation, hospital spokes-
man Charlie Powell said.
Based on neurological
signs and laboratory tests, vet-
erinarians confi rmed the horse
had contracted equine herpes,
the fi rst such case confi rmed
in Washington since 2011.
By SEAN ELLIS
The state of the U.S. or-
ganic seed industry has im-
proved over the past fi ve
years and more organic farm-
ers are using organic seed.
But major seed supply
gaps remain and most organ-
ic farmers still use conven-
tional seed, according to the
State of Organic Seed 2016
report.
The 111-page report was
recently released by the Or-
ganic Seed Alliance, which
surveyed 1,364 organic
farmers in 47 states in 2014.
Organic certifi ers and
other industry stakeholders
were also surveyed and it
was the fi rst fi ve-year update
of the initial State of Organic
Seed report, which measures
progress in meeting the or-
ganic seed needs of farmers.
The National Organic
Program requires organic
farmers to use organic seed
when commercially avail-
able.
According to the 2016
report, 27 percent of farmers
who responded to the survey
use 100 percent organic seed,
up from 20 percent in 2009.
It also showed that pri-
vate and public investment
in organic seed plant breed-
ing and other research has
increased signifi cantly since
the last report.
However, the report found
that most organic farmers still
use conventional seed and
overall investment in breed-
ing and other organic seed
research is woefully lacking
when compared with the con-
ventional seed industry.
“We have made a lot of
progress over the last fi ve
years. The fi ndings are en-
couraging,” said Kristina
Hubbard, who co-authored
the report and is OSA’s di-
rector of advocacy and com-
munications.
However, she added, a lot
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Beth Rasgorshek inspects organic watermelon seed at her farm
near Nampa, Idaho, on Aug. 19. A recently released report on
the state of the nation’s organic seed industry contains encour-
aging news but most organic farmers still use conventional seed.
of work remains to be done.
For example, while $22
million has been invested in
public and private organic
seed research in the past fi ve
years — from 1996 to 2010,
only $9 million was invest-
ed — that number pales in
comparison with funding for
conventional seed research,
Hubbard said.
The report, which can be
viewed online at stateofor-
ganicseed.org, also found
there is a lack of experienced
organic seed producers and
most large organic farms still
use comparatively little or-
ganic seed.
The report offers 30 rec-
ommendations to further
improve the organic seed in-
dustry.
The top three include
investing more public and
private dollars in organic
seed research, training more
organic farmers in seed pro-
duction and working with the
NOP and organic certifi ers to
advocate for organic seed.
Dale Coke, an organ-
ic farmer in Aromas, Ca-
lif., said the report contains
promising news but also
showed there is a lot of room
for improvement to ensure
organic farmers have access
to a reliable source of quality
seed.
“The quality of organic
seed remains a mix,” he said.
“Some of it is really good
and some of it is less (desir-
able) than you would hope
for. All in all, it’s moving in
the right direction. It’s just a
slow process.”
Idaho organic seed pro-
ducer Beth Rasgorshek said
providing better access to
quality organic seed is one
of the biggest developments
that could help organic farm-
ers succeed.
“For organic farmers
to use organic seed is just
a perfect mix because that
seed is adapted for organic
systems,” she said. “I think
we have to do a better job
of letting organic farmers
know that there are seed op-
tions. And if that seed is not
the right option for that farm
business or that farm system,
we need to fi gure out what
we can do as breeders and
growers to create those traits
that (they need).”
The virus can be spread
by an infected horse sneezing
or coughing, or touching the
nose of another horse.
The virus can be spread in-
directly through contaminated
objects, such as buckets and
blankets, that came in contact
with nasal discharges from an
infected horse.
The horse that was euth-
anized had been vaccinated
against equine herpes, Haskell
said.
“There are lots of factors
that make up how well a vac-
cination works in a given an-
imal,” he said. “We are still
very much recommending
vaccinating animals for the
control of this virus.”
Symptoms of the virus
include a high temperature,
unsteady gait, weakness and
urine dribblng.
Idaho growers pleased with spud yields, quality
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
Idaho potato growers har-
vesting early season varieties
report their 2016 crop generally
has good yields, excellent tuber
quality and an ideal size profi le.
However, industry experts
warn growers there’s an elevat-
ed threat of zebra chip, a crop
disease that causes bands in
tuber fl esh that darken during
frying. Farmers are advised to
continue protective insecticide
sprays until vine kill.
According to an alert Uni-
versity of Idaho Extension
entomologist Erik Wenninger
issued Aug. 19, the fi rst fi elds
of the season, in Western Ida-
ho, have symptoms of zebra
chip, with the incidence above
60 percent. Samples are under-
going molecular testing.
Zebra chip is spread by tiny,
winged insects called potato
psyllids and caused by the Li-
beribacter bacterium.
Wenninger said the infect-
ed fi elds were not part of the
university’s extensive psyllid
monitoring network, but he
didn’t specify details of the
growers’ insecticide programs.
“This development supports
the need to maintain an inte-
grated pest management pro-
gram targeting psyllids through
the end of the season,” Wen-
ninger said in the alert.
Sampling of sticky traps
surrounding fi elds involved in
the monitoring network pro-
duced 728 psyllids during the
week ending Aug. 13, with 643
of the psyllids coming from
Treasure Valley. One psyllid
collected that week tested posi-
tive for Liberibacter.
Jeff Miller, with Ru-
pert-based Miller Research,
suspects a mild winter helped
insects such as psyllids build up
populations. He suggests grow-
ers prioritize psyllid spraying
over late blight, which hasn’t
surfaced as a problem this sea-
son.
“The number of psyllids has
been so high and the number of
hot psyllids has been so high
the risk is pretty great,” Miller
said.
Wilder grower Doug Gross
said news of the infected fi elds
is alarming.
“In our own fi elds, we
approached it as being a
high-psyllid year and went
with the Cadillac program,”
Gross said. “We’re spraying
for the seventh time now, and
we’ve used the high-dollar in-
secticides.”
Despite his psyllid con-
cerns, Gross, who recently
concluded harvesting Russet
Norkotahs for the fresh market,
said his yields and size profi le
have both exceeded expecta-
tions. He’ll begin harvesting
processing varieties after Labor
Day.
In Eastern Idaho, Wada
Farms started digging Norko-
tahs and reds on Aug. 22 and
has been pleased by good size,
yields and quality, said Wada
offi cial Kevin Stanger.
Idaho Potato Commission
President and CEO Frank Muir
expects a “trend-line yield,”
refl ecting the natural tendency
of farmers to increase their pro-
duction a bit each season, and
a traditional size profi le, com-
pared with the smaller tubers
harvested last season.
“I think quality is going to
be above last season,” Muir
said.
Prices, however, haven’t
improved, with USDA quoting
the top four carton sizes selling
for $10.50 to $12, mostly $11
to $11.50, and fi ve 10-pound
fi lm bags of Norkotahs selling
for $4.50 to $6, mostly $5, on
Aug. 19 out of Twin Falls and
Burley.
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