LAWSUIT SEEKS RECONSIDERATION OF BLM SAGE GROUSE RULES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 51
Page 5
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Vilsack: Dems need to jump urban-rural divide
Secretary thanks farmers ‘for what they do every single day’
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
The urban-rural divide, al-
though glaringly visible during
the presidential election, is “not
so diffi cult to jump over,” out-
going U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack said.
In an exit interview with the
Capital Press, Vilsack said the
desires of people living in urban
centers are precisely what ru-
ral residents want. They want a
country they’re proud of, he said,
and they want to make a living,
give back and take part in their
communities.
Vilsack, wrapping up eight
years as USDA secretary under
President Obama, has been bang-
ing that message since Hillary
Clinton was beaten in the elec-
toral vote by Donald Trump. The
Democratic party took its worst
shellacking in rural areas, where
80 percent Trump votes weren’t
uncommon, and Vilsack main-
tains the party had it coming. The
Democrats ignored rural issues
and it cost them, he said.
“We as a party have not spent
enough time in rural areas,” he
said. If the Democrats are per-
ceived as the party of govern-
ment, he said, they need to do a
better job of explaining or mar-
keting what various agencies do
and how they can work with peo-
ple to solve problems.
The tactic might not win rural
areas for Democrats, he said, but
they wouldn’t lose so badly.
At the time of the Dec. 12 Cap-
ital Press interview, the Trump ad-
ministration had not yet chosen a
Turn to VILSACK, Page 12
Courtesy USDA
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said urban and
rural dwellers share many of the same desires for the
country and their families.
Final analysis
recommends
deregulation
of modifi ed
bentgrass
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Turn to BENTGRASS,
Page 12
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A genetically engineered
creeping bentgrass plant is
shown Oct. 10 during an out-
reach meeting in Ontario, Ore.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. experts
showed farmers and others
how to identify the plant.
A container ship departs
Seattle earlier this year.
Trade matters
U.S. farmers rely on
overseas customers
to buy their crops,
boost domestic prices
“We realize
that we have a
good product.
We’ve spent
money for
decades
building a
relationship
and
reputation. I
think we’re
pretty well-
respected.”
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
For the Capital Press
ike Miller knows how important foreign
trade is to agriculture.
For Miller and Washington state’s
1,900 other wheat farmers, exports are the
economic lifeblood. They ship more than
90 percent of their crop to overseas customers such as
bakers in Japan and noodle manufacturers in the Philip-
pines and South Korea.
The customers were hard-won.
“We realize that we have a good product. We’ve spent
money for decades building a re-
About half
lationship and reputation. I think
we’re pretty well-respected,”
of the U.S.
Miller said.
wheat crop
Those customers are vital to
the industry, said Miller, who in
is exported, addition to growing wheat near
Ritzville, Wash., is chairman of
making
the Washington Grain Commis-
international sion and vice chairman of U.S.
Associates, which pro-
markets key Wheat
motes U.S. wheat overseas.
Washington farmers are not
to wheat
alone. Overall, about half of the
growers
U.S. wheat crop is exported, mak-
international markets key to
across the ing
wheat growers across the country,
Miller said.
country
Trade is also critical to other
U.S. farmers and ranchers. U.S. agricultural exports to-
taled $133 billion last year, representing 23 percent of all
U.S. ag production and 31 percent of the gross farm in-
come for the nation’s 2.1 million farms, according to an
analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
That’s why any discussion of trade by politicians gets
farmers’ full attention. President-elect Donald Trump has
said he would scuttle the new Trans-Pacifi c Partnership
trade agreement, which includes Japan, Mexico and Can-
ada, three of the largest buyers of U.S. agricultural products.
For some states and crops, exports are the main source
of farm revenue. In Washington, for example, 90 to 95
percent of the wheat price farmers receive is attributable
M
Turn to TRADE, Page 12
Mike Miller, chairman
of the Wash. Grain
Commission and vice
chairman of U.S.
Wheat Associates
Capital Press fi le
Mike Miller stands in one of his wheat fi elds last spring. He is chairman
of the Washington Grain Commission and vice chairman of U.S. Wheat
Associates.
Northwest, California
ag exports, 2014
Total value of ag
exports by state, 2014
Regionally, California led the way with more than
$21 billion worth of agricultural commodities exported
in 2014. U.S. exports totaled $150 billion that year.
Wash.
Top 10 ag exports by state, 2014
California
Value
Rank
Item
1.
Almonds
2.
Dairy
2,425
3.
Walnuts
1,448
$4,532
Item
$21.6 billion
Calif.
$8.3 billion
Idaho
$2.2 billion
Ore.
$2.1 billion
($ millions of dollars)
Washington
Value
Idaho
Oregon
Item
Value
Item
Value
Dairy
$460
Seeds/hort. †
$955
Plant products 700
Wheat
392
P. fruit*
681
P. vegetables* 263
Wheat
209
179
Vegetables
141
Fresh fruit
$759
Fruits/nuts
366
4.
Wine
1,392
Wheat
489
Beef
5.
Pistachios
1,125
P. vegetables* 301
Feed
143
Dairy
94
138
Beef/veal
86
68
6.
Table grapes
890
Dairy
233
Vegetables
7.
P. tomatoes*
776
Vegetables
158
Hides/skins
75
Feed/fodders
56
Animal products 40
8.
Rice
714
Animal products 125
Corn
9.
Oranges
575
Feed/fodder
100
Poultry
17
Grain products 35
83
Pork
8
Hides/skins
10.
Raisins
410
Beef/veal
Sources: USDA; state departments of agriculture; University of California
*Processed
† Horticulture/related
27
products
Carol Ryan Dumas and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
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ONTARIO, Ore. — The
Center for Food Safety has
blasted a fi nal environmental
impact statement that recom-
mends deregulation of a ge-
netically engineered creeping
bentgrass that escaped fi eld
trials in 2003 and has taken
root in Malheur and Jefferson
counties in Oregon.
It was being developed by
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and
Monsanto Corp. for use main-
ly on golf courses. Since the
escapes, Scotts has been re-
sponsible for controlling and
eradicating it where possible.
Scotts and Monsanto pe-
titioned USDA to deregulate
the bentgrass, which was ge-
netically engineered to with-
stand applications of glypho-
sate, the active ingredient in
Monsanto’s popular Roundup
weed killer.
A fi nal EIS released by
USDA Dec. 7 recommends
deregulation of the genetical-
ly engineered creeping bent-
grass because it “is unlikely to
pose a plant pest risk....”
Some farmers and water
manages in the affected coun-
ties worry that because the
bentgrass is resistant to gly-
phosate and diffi cult to kill, it