10 CapitalPress.com
January 27, 2017
Idaho
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Commission seeks to change how
winery assessment is calculated
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Courtesy of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
A farmer burns his field after harvest to clear it of pests and
disease. The Idaho Senate is taking up the issue during this year’s
legislative session.
Senate committee
votes to introduce
field burning bill
DEQ has proposed loos-
ening Idaho’s ozone stan-
dard, to 90 percent of the
federal standard, to avoid
that.
Tiffany Floyd, who man-
ages DEQ’s air quality di-
vision, told members of the
Senate Health and Welfare
Committee that the goal of
the state’s crop residue burn-
ing program is to protect
public health while allowing
farmers to continue to use
field burning as a tool.
“DEQ
believes
the
(change) will meet both of
these goals,” she said.
But
environmental
groups and public health ad-
vocates blasted the proposed
loosening of the ozone stan-
dard in public comments and
accused DEQ of ignoring
science and caving in to the
agricultural industry.
Those groups pushed for
tightening the state’s small
particulate matter standard
to offset the loosening of the
ozone standard, an idea DEQ
rejected.
A joint letter from the
groups said the change “is
irresponsibly endangering
people’s health.”
According to DEQ data,
Idaho farmers burn about
45,000 acres a year. Produc-
ers use field burning to erad-
icate and prevent pests and
diseases, maintain yields and
decrease their use of chemi-
cals and diesel fuel.
Katseanes-Satterlee said
it would be a huge hit to
grain producers if there was
a large reduction in allow-
able burn days.
“Having field burning as a
tool for grain producers is im-
portant,” she said. “The pro-
cess (DEQ has) been through
has been thorough and it’s
science-based and we support
it. We’ll be ready for the hear-
ing.”
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — A state Senate
committee voted unanimous-
ly to print a bill that would
amend Idaho’s field burning
program, a move aimed at
avoiding a large reduction
in the number of allowable
burn days for farmers.
The changes, proposed
by the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality, are
strongly supported by farm
groups but adamantly op-
posed by several environ-
mental groups and public
health advocates.
People on both sides of
the issue were at a Jan. 17
committee hearing where the
bill was introduced but they
didn’t testify, which is nor-
mal for a print hearing.
But both sides expect a
lot of debate during the pub-
lic hearing on Senate Bill
1009, which hasn’t yet been
scheduled.
“We’re glad they printed
the bill today and we’ll be
there to support it as it goes
through the process,” said
Stacey Katseanes-Satterlee,
executive director of the
Idaho Grain Producers Asso-
ciation.
She said plenty of grow-
ers will show up for the pub-
lic hearing to support the
legislation.
DEQ can only approve
a field burning request if
ozone and small particulate
matter levels aren’t expected
to exceed 75 percent of the
national standard.
But the federal ozone
standard has been tightened
and, unless Idaho’s program
is changed, that would result
in the number of allowable
burn days for Idaho farmers
being reduced by a third to
half, according to DEQ offi-
cials.
BOISE — The Idaho
Wine Commission is ask-
ing lawmakers to approve
a change in how the state’s
wine assessment is calcu-
lated, a move designed to
simplify record-keeping for
wineries.
The assessments paid by
wineries and wine grape pro-
ducers are currently calcu-
lated differently but the rule
proposed by the wine com-
mission seeks to put them on
the same page, IWC Legisla-
tive Educator Roger Batt told
lawmakers Jan. 17.
“It will provide more con-
sistency and make for better
recording when people go to
fill out the assessment form,”
he said.
Idaho wine grape growers
pay an assessment of $7 a
ton on the grapes they grow,
while wineries pay an assess-
ment of 4 cents a gallon on
Capital Press File
The Idaho Wine Commission has proposed a new way to calculate
the assessments for grapes and wine.
the wine they produce.
This can be confusing and
results in unnecessary ex-
tra calculations by wineries,
said IWC Executive Director
Moya Shatz-Dolsby.
“Wineries buy the grapes
by the ton and then we’re
asking them to recalculate
that” to figure out their assess-
ment,” she said. “The new
rule is making it (easier).”
Wineries will also pay $7
a ton on any grapes they buy
from out of state. However,
if they purchase grape juice
from out of state, they will
pay 4 cents a gallon.
That’s because in that case,
the grapes have already been
turned into juice and there is
no other way to calculate it,
Shatz-Dolsby said.
Most of the IWC’s budget
of $500,000 comes from the
state’s wine excise tax, and
the commission collects about
$44,000 a year in wine assess-
ments, which are split almost
evenly among growers and
wineries.
The change in the assess-
ment formula will result in
the wine commission collect-
ing about $2,500 more a year
from the state’s 50 wineries
based on current production,
according to IWC calcula-
tions.
The pending rule has
been approved by Senate
and House committees and is
headed to the floors of both
chambers for final approval.
Potato equipment sales remain steady
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
Farm equipment manufacturers
participating in the recent Ag-
ricultural Expo at Holt Arena
say they’re still doing plenty of
business on machinery used in
potato production, though sales
of agricultural equipment in
general has slumped.
Leaders in agricultural
equipment production such
as John Deere have reported
sharp declines in sales during
the past two years, due to de-
pressed commodity markets.
The potato market has
been no exception to low pric-
es, with current fresh-market
spud payments still well be-
low production costs, as re-
cently estimated by Universi-
ty of Idaho economists.
However, companies spe-
cializing in potato equipment,
such as the Blackfoot, Ida-
ho-based manufacturer Spud-
nik, say they’re somehow
bucking the machinery sales
trend.
“We’re doing a good busi-
ness this year, maybe a little
ahead of where we were this
time last year,” said Spudnik
sales representative Phil Car-
don, based in Pasco, Wash.
“We’ll still have a strong year.
We’ve got strong orders.”
If there’s been a challenge
for Spudnik recently, it’s been
keeping up with orders, said
Cardon, whose company has
improved controls in the cabs
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Evan McEntire lifts his 4-year-old son, Apolo Boyd, into the cab of a new tractor Jan. 17 at the Agricul-
tural Expo in Holt Arena on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello.
of its latest generation of field
equipment. Cardon believes
that the potato market can turn
around more quickly than oth-
er commodities since spuds
are perishable, and he noted
Northwest fresh sheds have
been “shipping hard since the
very beginning of the year.”
Brock Mitchell, vice presi-
dent of sales with the Burley,
Idaho-based potato equip-
ment manufacturer Double
L, believes the contract mar-
ket with processors provides
some stability for the potato
industry, enabling growers to
take advantage of new prod-
uct innovations.
“Whether it’s domesti-
cally or worldwide, potato
equipment seems to still be
moving, in spite of some of
the pressure on commodity
prices,” Mitchell said. “It will
be interesting to see how it
goes throughout the year, but
it seems to be moving.”
Bruce Nyborg, with the
Rexburg, Idaho-based pota-
to machinery manufacturer
Logan Farm Equipment, said
truck-bed sales have been
strong as growers seek to har-
vest with less labor.
“Our sales have been
steady,” Nyborg said. “It’s
down a little bit this year, but
it’s still a pretty good year.”
Dan Reeves, with the
Blackfoot-based potato equip-
ment manufacturer Milestone,
highlighted his company’s
new piler at the Expo. It
should reduce bruising while
allowing growers who often
need to use side-by-side pilers
to cover their largest potato
storages to get by with a sin-
gle machine.
Reeves said his sales have
been flat.
“(Declining sales) are
something you’re seeing
across the board in the agri-
cultural industry, but we’re
staying steady with our Mile-
stone stuff,” Reeves said.
By contrast, Harvey Stush-
noff, with Agri-Service in
Twin Falls, believes hay-in-
tensive growers have been
especially hard hit by low
commodity prices and are
“hanging on to their equip-
ment.”
Idaho State University students host equipment rodeo at Agricultural Expo
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
Students in Idaho State Uni-
versity’s diesel tech program
have organized a rodeo with
a unique twist in conjunction
with the 38th Annual Agricul-
tural Expo — they’re substi-
tuting heavy equipment for
bulls and bucking broncos.
Their
heavy-equipment
rodeo Jan. 17-19 challenged
competitors to move logs us-
ing a skid steer in the fastest
time and to pick up volley-
balls from atop cones and
move them into trash cans us-
ing a mini-excavator.
Participants paid a $20 fee
and competed for the chance
to win a television or tool kit.
Proceeds will help ISU’s
Diesel Mechanics SkillsUSA
team cover the costs of attend-
ing a heavy-equipment me-
• Fertilizer and Irrigation Water Management • Crop Diseases •
• Falling Numbers • Soil Health • Precision Ag •
• Unmanned Aerial Systems • Drone Flight Demo •
chanics’ competition in Boise.
Diesel tech program officials
hope to make the rodeo an an-
nual fundraiser at the Agricul-
tural Expo.
Hailey Wynn, vice pres-
ident of the ISU SkillsUSA
team, said the competition
tests participants in areas
such as hydraulics, electrical
systems and transmissions,
involving equipment used in
agriculture, trucking, mining
and construction.
Cody Johnston, a freshman
in the program, said he’d nev-
er operated heavy equipment
before the equipment ro-
deo but was offered a “crash
course” and quickly got the
hang of it.
“Anybody who hasn’t
done it before can do it, be-
cause I did,” Johnston said.
Instructor Terro Anderson
said ISU has a nationally ac-
claimed diesel technology
program, training workers
who are badly needed to ser-
vice equipment for agricul-
ture, mining and other indus-
tries.
“There is a deficit of me-
chanics in this state, and
they’ve required us to hire
another instructor to try to get
more and more people to fill
those positions...,” Anderson
said.
At the Expo, the ISU pro-
gram also showed off a trail-
er students built last fall with
virtual-reality machines sim-
ulating the controls of heavy
equipment. Anderson said the
program has taken the trailer
to several Idaho schools as a
recruitment tool.
CROPPING SCHOOL
Best Western Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites
908 Specht Avene, Caldwell, ID 83605
Feb. 10, 2017 • 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
NO RSVP required; Cost: $20 (cash or check please)
1.5 CCA - Soil & Water Management • 4.5 CCA - Crop Management
Morning coffee/doughnuts and lunch provided
Host: Olga Walsh, University of Idaho,
Parma Research and Extension Center, owalsh@uidaho.edu, 208-722-6701
8:30-9 a.m. Registration, coffee & doughnuts/welcome
9-9:45 a.m.
Efficient irrigation methods
1-1:45 p.m.
Soil health demo
1:45-2:30 p.m.
Unmanned aerial vehicles
2:30 p.m. Adjourn
ROP-4-2-4/#17
9:45-10:30 a.m.
Crop disease update
10:30-10:40 a.m. Break
10:40-11:10 a.m.
Precision fertilizer management
11:10 a.m.-noon
Low falling numbers demo
noon-1 p.m. Lunch
4-4/#14