16 CapitalPress.com
January 27, 2017
Events raise hopes for cherry exports to China
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
The president of Northwest
Cherry Growers says he has
new hope for cherry exports
to China after
U.S. President
Donald Trump
met recently
with Chinese
billionaire
businessman
Jack Ma.
Ma, found- B.J. Thurlby
er of Alibaba
Group Hold-
ing Ltd., met with Trump Jan.
9 at Trump Tower in New
York and said he would allow
small and medium American
companies sell goods through
Alibaba’s online shopping
platforms.
They are estimated to do
more business than eBay Inc.
and Amazon.com Inc. com-
bined and are geared toward
China’s 300-million-member
middle class.
In December, the U.S.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
The president of the Northwest Cherry Growers says he has increased hopes for cherry exports to
China after President Trump met with a prominent Chinese businessman.
Trade Representative re-listed
Alibaba as linked to signifi-
cant infringement of Amer-
ican businesses’ intellectual
property rights.
B.J. Thurlby, president
of Northwest Cherry Grow-
ers and the Washington State
Fruit Commission, told grow-
ers in Wenatchee, on Jan. 17,
that he’s been worried about
Trump “sharpening his horns
and putting his head down
toward China” over that na-
tion’s piracy of U.S. products
and ideas.
Thurlby said he doesn’t
like those practices either but
doesn’t want the cherry mar-
ket derailed.
China bought about 1.7
million, 20-pound boxes of
Northwest cherries last year,
virtually tying with Canada
as the No. 1 export market for
the fruit, and the Northwest
needs those markets, Thurlby
said.
“Two years ago, Ma got
involved in fresh produce
and the first thing he sold was
cherries,” Thurlby told sever-
al hundred growers at North-
central Washington Stone
Fruit Day at Wenatchee Con-
vention Center.
“We heard he spent half
his time (with Trump) talking
about cherries. I’m feeling
better now about our pros-
pects in China. I have hope,”
Thurlby said.
Every market is import-
ant, he said, as the Northwest
continues to expect 20-mil-
lion-box cherry crops, a
growth of 6.3 percent per year
for the past 17 years.
Washington, Oregon, Ida-
ho, Montana and Utah shipped
20.97 million, 20-pound box-
es of fresh sweet cherries in
2016, making it the third larg-
est crop in Pacific Northwest
history.
A similar amount is likely
in 2017, given bud sets grow-
ers and fieldmen are report-
ing, Thurlby said.
The region, with Washing-
ton leading, has long dominat-
ed sweet cherry production,
which was 6 million boxes
in 1999 but has been about
20 million boxes since 2009,
with a record of 23.2 million
in 2014.
That’s a “brisk growth
pace” of 6.3 percent a year
over the last 17 years, Thurl-
by said.
Prices from 2016 have not
yet been released by USDA,
but Washington’s 2015 crop
garnered $436.9 million and
averaged $19.70 per box.
Those were low values as
prices tumbled due to harvest
compression caused by hot
weather.
A few years ago, harvest
volume was lessening in May
and June and increasing in
July and August because of
cooler springs.
That’s been reversed the
last three years because of
warmer springs. That’s a good
thing, Thurlby said, because
there’s less fruit competition
on produce shelves earlier in
the season.
Records were set in 2016
of 700,000 boxes shipped in
May and 12.3 million in June.
A daily record of 651,000
boxes shipped was set June
27. But shipments have com-
pressed to 63 and 64 days the
last four years.
Government payments to Idaho farmers fell 25 percent in 2016
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
A mature juniper tree lies where it was cut. A Spray, Ore., land-
owner has been awarded the state’s first loan under a program
intended to jump-start the removal of Western juniper trees.
Oregon awards first
juniper removal loan
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
A Spray, Ore., landowner
was awarded the state’s first
loan under a program intend-
ed to jump-start the removal
of Western juniper trees.
Jim Epley, who is restor-
ing 1,500 acres of long-held
family property to be a cat-
tle operation, will use the
$39,000 loan to continue
cutting and milling juniper
trees. He’s bought saws, a
trailer, a portable mill and a
skid-steer Bobcat to move
logs. In addition, he’s hired
two people and had a third
coming on before recent bad
weather forced a temporary
shutdown.
The state loan program,
known as the Western Juni-
per Industry Fund, was es-
tablished by the Oregon Leg-
islature in 2015. Advocates
have long held that removing
intrusive juniper trees from
Eastern Oregon rangeland
has multiple benefits. Juni-
per is a “water thief,” as one
rancher called it, that can use
up to 30 gallons or more of
water a day and rob native
grasses of moisture.
A study by Oregon State
University showed that re-
moving juniper almost in-
stantly improved watersheds
and stream flows, and Epley
said he’s seen that on his own
property.
When he was growing
up, the property had multiple
springs that bubbled up to the
surface in springtime. He left
home to do other things, and
when he moved back in 1996,
juniper trees had crowded in
and the springs had dried up.
He decided to clear 10 to
15 acres around one of the
springs, cutting the juniper
trees and hauling them out.
“The next day, the ground
was wet,” he said. “In a week,
water was running.”
Stories like that are why
researchers, politicians, var-
ious government agency
experts and environmental
groups have pushed for ju-
niper removal. In addition to
improving rangeland, they
believe juniper logging and
milling could revitalize the
economy in parts of rural Or-
egon.
Believing it and making it
come about are two different
things, however. Juniper is
gnarly wood that is tough to
cut and mill into lumber, and
requires extensive de-limb-
ing.
Unlike fir and pine trees
in national forests, it grows
in areas of the state that of-
ten lack logging roads and
other infrastructure. In the
past, ranchers simply piled it
and burned it, because doing
more with it was time-con-
suming and expensive.
However, a small market
has emerged for juniper land-
scape timbers and posts, and
some furniture makers seek
it out as well. Juniper posts
are naturally rot-resistant and
don’t have to be treated with
preservatives, making them
attractive for use in organic
vineyards, for example, and
in playgrounds.
BOISE — Federal govern-
ment payments to Idaho farm-
ers totaled an estimated $64
million in fiscal year 2016,
a 25 percent decrease from
2015.
According to University of
Idaho agricultural economists
Ben Eborn and Garth Taylor,
federal government payments
accounted for 4 percent of to-
tal net farm income in Idaho
in fiscal 2016. They accounted
for 19 percent of total U.S. net
farm income.
“Idaho farmers do not farm
the government,” Taylor told
Idaho lawmakers recently.
Government payments to
Idaho farmers and ranchers to-
taled $162 million in 2010 but
have declined steadily since
then and reached $129 million
in 2013, $83 million in 2014
and $85 million in 2015.
In Idaho, the majority of
government payments comes
from conservation programs,
mainly the Conservation Re-
serve Program, a voluntary
program that pays producers
to set aside environmentally
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Cattle graze in a field near Notus, Idaho, in October. Government
payments to Idaho producers totaled an estimated $64 million in
fiscal year 2016, down 25 percent from fiscal 2015, according to
University of Idaho agricultural economists.
sensitive farm land for conser-
vation benefits.
Conservation
program
payments to Idaho producers
totaled $33.5 million in fiscal
2016, with $32 million of that
total going to farmers enrolled
in the CRP program.
Disaster program payments
to Idaho producers totaled
$15.9 million in 2016 and
commodity program payments
totaled $13.6 million.
Most of the disaster pro-
gram payments ($14 million)
came through the Livestock
Forage Disaster Program,
which compensates livestock
producers for grazing losses.
Most of the commodity
program payments ($12.7 mil-
lion) came under the Agricul-
ture Loss Coverage program,
which provides revenue loss
coverage at the county level.
A federal program that of-
fers financial assistance when
low yields or prevented plant-
ing occur due to natural disas-
ters provided $1.2 million to
Idaho producers.
The federal Margin Protec-
tion Program for Dairy pro-
vided Idaho dairy producers
$161,000 in 2016.
MPP, which requires dairy-
men to pay a premium based
on the amount of coverage
they choose, offers protection
when the difference between
the all-milk price and the av-
erage feed cost dips below a
certain amount.
Dairy is the state’s top farm
commodity in terms of cash
receipts.
But participation in that
program is minimal in Idaho
because the calculations used
to determine protection don’t
make sense for most producers
in this state, said Idaho Dairy-
men’s Association Director of
Operations Rick Naerebout.
Idaho’s average milk price
is below the national average
milk price that the program
uses and Idaho dairy produc-
ers also have a high feed basis
relative to the average national
feed price the program uses, he
said.
“For the average Idaho
dairyman, it does not provide
much coverage,” Naerebout
said. Unless the program is
changed to take into account
Idaho’s different price and
feed situations, “you’re not go-
ing to see much participation
from Idaho dairymen.”
Washington’s small railroads seek relief from oil-spill rule
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Three small
Eastern Washington railroads
that transport vegetable oils
are again hoping to be ex-
cused from a state law that
mandates carriers drill for
worst-case spills, a rule mo-
tivated by an influx of tanker
cars carrying crude oil.
The state Department of
Ecology says spilled vege-
table oil damages the envi-
ronment and that practicing
a rapid and aggressive re-
sponse will save on clean-up
bills.
Others, however, com-
plain the agency overreached.
“It’s a bureaucratic issue that
requires common sense. We
need more common sense,”
said Patrick Boss, a lobbyist
for short-line railroads.
Canola and crude got
mixed together after legisla-
tors passed a multi-part bill
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Rail tankers sit idle on tracks in Washington state. Small railroads
hope the Legislature will exempt carriers that transport only vege-
table oils from planning requirements primarily aimed at respond-
ing to crude oil spills.
in 2015 to further regulate
trains, vessels and pipelines
moving oil. The law was mo-
tivated by more shipments of
crude oil from the Bakken
fields to Washington refin-
eries. Lawmakers said they
feared fiery derailments.
BNSF Railway, Union
Pacific Railroad and two
smaller railroads that trans-
port crude oil have submitted
spill-response plans.
The Central Washington
Railroad, Columbia Basin
Railroad and Great North-
west Railroad have until
March 30 to submit plans.
None of them carry crude oil,
but they do haul plant-based
oils manufactured in Wash-
ington or used by food pro-
cessors.
Plan requirements in-
clude twice-yearly deploy-
ment drills, plus additional
tabletop drills. Railroads
already are required to plan
for spills under federal
law.
Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pome-
roy, and Sen. Judy Warnick,
R-Moses Lake, have intro-
duced bills that would ex-
empt vegetable oils from the
rule. Some Democratic have
signed on as co-sponsors.
Sustainable farming consultants acquired by food verification firm
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SOQUEL, Calif. — A
California consulting firm
that advises growers on sus-
tainable farming methods
has been acquired by the
largest independent verifier
of food production practices
in North America.
A majority interest in
SureHarvest, which has
offices in Soquel and
Modesto, Calif., and works
with groups such as the Al-
mond Board of California
and the California Sustain-
able Winegrowing Alliance,
has been bought by the Col-
orado-based Where Food
Comes From.
That organization veri-
fies food production prac-
Courtesy of SureHarvest
Jeff Dlott, president and CEO of SureHarvest, says the company’s
acquisition by Colorado-based Where Food Comes From will en-
able more growers to tell their sustainability and production stories.
tices for more than 12,000
farmers, ranchers, vine-
yards, wineries and other
agriculture-related
busi-
nesses, according to a news
release.
The transaction was val-
ued at about $2.8 million,
including $1.1 million in
cash and 850,852 shares of
WFCF stock, according to
a news release. In addition,
WFCF has the right of first
refusal on the remaining 40
percent interest in SureHar-
vest, a privately held com-
pany.
SureHarvest is expected
to add about $1.5 million
in annual revenue to Where
Food Comes From’s portfo-
lio with no long-term debt,
according to the release.
The transaction ex-
pands WFCF’s reach into
high-value specialty crops
such as wine grapes, al-
monds and strawberries,
company
representatives
said. For SureHarvest’s
clients, it increases access
to expertise in production
management.
“This acquisition essen-
tially creates a one-stop
shop for producers fac-
ing increased pressures to
streamline operations with
resource efficiency while
meeting the needs of an
ever-more-curious
cus-
tomer base,” spokeswom-
an Katie Nieri said in an
email.
SureHarvest president
and chief executive officer
Jeff Dlott said in a state-
ment the deal will enable
more growers to tell their
sustainability and produc-
tion stories. The added ex-
pertise in verification and
traceability could help pro-
ducers and distributors “be
better managers of natural
resources and even achieve
competitive
differentia-
tion,” he said.
SureHarvest uses pat-
ented devices and systems
for helping growers cap-
ture farm-level data, record
chain of custody and guar-
antee production standards
and methods to consum-
ers, according to a news
release. Its sustainability
software supports more
than 2,200 agri-food oper-
ations, including growers,
packers, shippers, proces-
sors, wineries and trade
associations.
The 18-year-old compa-
ny has eight full-time em-
ployees who will continue
to operate in their current
offices.