November 4, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
Washington
Apple Commission warily eyes export challenges
“When we reach 100 million metric tons in
world production, it will be more difficult to
differentiate ourselves in the world market.
Organics will be one way.”
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
ELLENSBURG, Wash.
— The state’s apple industry
faces challenges around the
globe as it tries to increase ex-
ports, according to Todd Fry-
hover, president of the Wash-
ington Apple Commission.
He discussed the issue at
an Oct. 20 commission meet-
ing in Ellensburg, Wash.
Asia, including China, is
the commission’s primary tar-
get for increasing Washington
apple exports.
China produced 14 mil-
lion metric tons of apples in
1995, 24 million tons in 2005
and 43.1 million tons in 2015.
This year’s production is
pegged at 43.8 million metric
tons, compared with 4.5 mil-
lion grown by the U.S., the
No. 2 producer in the world.
With a population of 1.4
Todd Fryhover, president, Washington Apple Commission.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Todd Fryhover, president of the
Washington Apple Commission.
billion, China consumes most
of its apple production, Fry-
hover said.
However, “China will con-
tinue to be in our grill as far as
exports,” he said.
China ramped up exports
from 2002 to 2008 but since
then has increased domes-
tic consumption and slowed
exports, he said. It’s a trend
likely to continue, but China
still exports a lot of apples, he
said.
About 83 percent of Chi-
na’s apple crop goes to fresh
market versus processing, he
said.
In Europe and elsewhere,
U.S. apple exports continue to
face headwinds.
The continued Russian
ban on western produce
costs Washington 500,000,
40-pound boxes of apple ex-
ports annually and, more sig-
nificantly, blocks Polish and
European apple exports into
Russia, shifting those apples
to the Middle East and Asia.
The Russian ban is causing
“real issues” with Poland and
France, and the Italians are
“scared” of Poland, Fryhover
said.
Brexit, Britain’s vote to
leave the European Union, is
problematic in that France is
the largest supplier of apples
to Britain, he said.
France, under pressure
from the Green movement,
is slowing apple production,
Italy is stable and Poland is
increasing, he said. European
apple consumption is declin-
ing, he said.
The Food Safety Modern-
ization Act, the strong dollar
compared to some foreign
currencies, market access is-
sues and trade issues all affect
Washington apple exports,
Fryhover said.
Both major presidential
candidates say they oppose
the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
which is not good for apple
exports, and one candidate
wants to renegotiate the North
American Free Trade Agree-
ment, “which is probably the
stupidest thing I’ve heard in
my life as far as apples,” he
said.
Production in Michigan,
Canada and Mexico is up,
which competes with Wash-
ington exports, he said, and
Washington has a large crop.
“When we reach 100 mil-
lion metric tons in world pro-
duction, it will be more diffi-
cult to differentiate ourselves
in the world market. Organics
will be one way,” he said. “It’s
an advantage we need to cap-
ture.”
Organic apples are 8.7 per-
cent of the Washington fresh
crop and growing, Fryhover
said.
Club or managed varieties
and the new Cosmic Crisp va-
riety will also attract foreign
buyers, he said.
Cosmic Crisp, to be plant-
ed commercially next spring,
may reach 15 million boxes in
the next eight or nine years, he
said.
As many Cosmic Crisp
trees will be planted in 15
months as Jazz and Ambrosia
trees were planted in 15 years,
said West Mathison, president
of Stemilt Growers LLC.
Study forecasts shift in irrigation needs
Report due to
lawmakers
next month
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File
Washington State University graduate student Ryan Kowalski
feeds starch into an extruder in the food processing lab in Pullman,
Wash. WSU and the University of Idaho will offer a food extrusion
course to processing companies Nov. 30-Dec.1.
Pulses focus of extrusion
food processing course
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Processors will learn how
to use more pulses in food
products during an upcom-
ing course on the basics of
extrusion.
Extrusion is common-
ly used in the food indus-
try for items such as puffed
snack foods, cereals and pet
foods. Rotating screws force
raw ingredients through an
opening. When it comes
out, the food is cut to spec-
ified lengths, according to
Washington State Univer-
sity, which is offering the
course with the University of
Idaho.
The course will focus on
pulse ingredients such as
peas, lentils and chickpeas
as part of the United Nations
International Year of Pulses,
said Girish Ganjyal, WSU
Online
http://bit.ly/2eDVlmq
Extension food processing
specialist.
“With more awareness in
the public about pulses as a
source of nutritional ingredi-
ents, more and more people
are trying to use (them) in
extruded products,” Ganjyal
said.
Pulses have no known
allergens, are a natural
source of protein and fiber
and are low in fat, Ganjyal
said.
Increased use of pulses
will benefit the farmers who
grow them, Ganjyal said.
This is the second year of
the course. Ganjyal plans to
offer it annually.
Eighteen of 25 slots for
the workshop were already
filled the week of Oct. 24.
Registration is $150 per
person, with a group rate of
$125 per person for compa-
nies sending three or more
people.
Courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology
The Columbia River flows past White Bluffs in Benton County, Wash. A Washington State University
study due out next month projects that summer water supplies in the Columbia River Basin will decline
by 10 percent by 2035, but spring water supplies will increase and farmers will adapt.
drafts, but is now mostly final-
ized, Jonathan Yoder, director
of the state’s WSU-based Wa-
ter Research Center, said on
Oct. 27.
Agricultural uses histor-
ically account for about 7.5
percent of the entire Colum-
bia-Snake River System’s wa-
ter supply, according to a table
in the report.
Yoder said the projection
that agriculture will demand
less water in the future already
has gotten attention. The pro-
jection is based on declining
need, not supply, he said.
“If it happens, to the extent
it happens, it will be because
of adjustments,” Yoder said.
“There certainly may be pres-
sure on agriculture in certain
areas of the state in response
to drought, but agriculture will
tend to respond to mitigate the
damage.”
Researchers project that
overall surface water supplies
will increase by 11 percent a
year across the entire Colum-
bia River Basin, a drainage
area that includes much of Or-
egon and Idaho.
The increased water supply
will be concentrated between
November and May. More pre-
cipitation will fall as rain in the
winter, and the snow that does
accumulate will melt earlier in
the spring.
In the fall and summer,
when flows are lower than
now, farmers with interrupt-
ible water rights may have
their use curtailed more often
in basins where the state has
set minimum flows to protect
fish, wildlife and scenery.
Farmers with senior wa-
ter rights may respond to
more efficient use of water by
growing two crops in a sea-
son, according to the report.
“Actual irrigation demand in
2035 may therefore not de-
crease to the extent projected
in this forecast,” the report
states.
The forecast assumes no
new projects to store water
for the summer. The state has
blueprints for increasing water
supplies, but funding for major
projects is uncertain.
“It’s very, very difficult to
anticipate what technologies
will come along and change
the game,” Kruger said. “Hu-
mans are amazingly intelligent
and amazingly creative. Our
ability to manage and adapt is
phenomenal and usually un-
der-appreciated,” he said.
The study’s findings and
conclusions include:
• Irrigation demand will
drop by 272,100 acre-feet a
year in the basin, even assum-
ing no reduction in irrigated
acreage. One acre-foot equals
1 foot of water covering an
acre.
• Even if agricultural de-
mand for surface water de-
creases, there will be a demand
for additional surface water to
replace groundwater drawn
from Eastern Washington’s de-
pleting Odessa Subarea.
• Surface water flowing
into Washington will increase
by 14 percent by 2035. Annual
surface water supplies gener-
ated within Washington are
expected to increase approxi-
mately 4 percent.
• The type of crops grown
will affect water demand. For
example, more winegrapes,
which use relatively little
water, would reduce water
use.
ROP-40-42-4/#17
More companies
using ingredients
for protein, fiber
Summer water supplies
in the Columbia River Basin
will drop by about 10 percent
by 2035, causing farmers to
plant earlier and adjust their
mix of crops to maintain pro-
duction, according to a study
to be presented to Washington
lawmakers.
The Washington State Uni-
versity report, due out next
month, attempts to weigh
complex factors to forecast
Eastern Washington’s water
supply and demand 20 years
from now.
Researchers foresee warm-
er weather making rivers high-
er in the spring and lower in
the summer.
Crops will mature earli-
er and need less water in the
summer, reducing overall de-
mand in Washington for irriga-
tion water by 7 percent, even
assuming no reduction in irri-
gated acres, according to the
projections.
“Overall, we would antic-
ipate agriculture using water
more efficiently to produce
as much or more,” said Chad
Kruger, director of WSU’s
agricultural research center in
Mount Vernon.
Researchers caution that
future demand also will be in-
fluenced by new technologies,
food markets and innovative
farmers. “We know farmers
will do things differently than
they have historically,” Kruger
said.
The report was commis-
sioned by lawmakers and will
update a 2011 forecast. The re-
port has gone through several
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