10 CapitalPress.com
June 16, 2017
Washington
Washington state dairy ambassador coronation set
The Washington state dairy
ambassador contest will take
place on June 24 in Arlington.
This program provides a
professional and educational
opportunity for young wom-
en. They serve as Washing-
ton’s ambassadors for milk
and receive a generous college
scholarship, internships and
extensive
communications
training.
“It will soon be time to
say good-bye and thank you
to our 2016-2017 State Dairy
Ambassador Alicia Smaciarz
and State Alternates Jana Pla-
german and Tiana Peterson,”
said Tammi Schoenbachler,
state ambassador adviser in a
press release. “They have done
a fantastic job representing the
Dairy Farmers of Washington
this past year and I’m sure they
will continue to be lifelong ad-
vocates of our industry.”
The 2017 Washington State
Dairy Ambassador Coronation
Juliana
LeClair
Claire
Leininger
will be June 24 at the Byrnes
Performing Arts Center, 18821
Crown Ridge Blvd., Arlington,
Wash.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with
the program beginning at 5:30.
This year dinner will not be
provided; instead there will
be light hors d’oeuvres and
refreshments served during a
short intermission.
Tickets purchased after
June 16 or at the door will be
adults $25, students $15, under
6 still free.
Organizers say they are
hoping these changes will
make it easier for families,
farmers and students to attend.
For ticket in-
formation,
contact Gloria
Edwards by
email at glo-
ria.wsdw@
hotmail.com
Anna
or 360-273-
Teachman
7313.
This year there are three
contestants.
Juliana LeClair, from
Skagit County, is the daugh-
ter of Joe and Annette LeClair
of Mount Vernon, Wash. She
will graduate from Mount
Vernon Christian School this
June.
Juliana has lived her whole
life on her family’s dairy farm
feeding calves, doing field
work and other chores.
She has been a member of
the Sunshine Dairy 4-H Club
for 9 years and has completed
14 dairy projects, held club
offices, won top showman-
ship awards and was selected
as a state delegate to the Na-
tional 4-H Dairy Conference.
In 2015, Juliana was se-
lected as the 2015-16 Wash-
ington State Jersey Queen
Alternate.
She plans to attend Wash-
ington State University to
pursue a degree in agricultural
and food business economics
with a minor in animal sci-
ences.
Juliana would like to own
a dairy and have it open to the
public to see how their food is
produced.
Claire Leininger, from
Whatcom County, is the
daughter of Erik and Paula
Leininger of Everson, Wash.
She will graduate from Nook-
sack Valley High School this
June.
As a young girl, Claire
had the opportunity help at
her grandparents’ farm where
they raised replacement heif-
ers. Her father also works at a
local dairy where she was able
to visit frequently.
Learning from these early
experiences and with a pas-
sion for dairy, Claire was able
to secure a job at a local dairy.
She has responsibilities that in-
clude milking, cleaning stalls,
moving cows, heat detecting
and herd health.
Claire plans on attending
Whatcom Community Col-
lege to attain her associate de-
gree. She then plans to attend
Trinity Western Washington
University to study Catholic
theology.
Claire would like to have her
own small farm to raise replace-
ment heifers and have a job as a
Catholic youth minister.
Anna Teachman, from
King and Pierce counties, is
the daughter of Michael and
Lorilyn Teachman of SeaTac.
She has taken classes
through Global Connections
High School and Valley View
Academy, where she will
graduate in June.
Anna did not grow up on
a dairy, but has had a deep in-
terest in dairy cows since she
was very young.
She joined the Barn Bud-
dies 4-H Club in 2012 and has
projects in dairy, rabbits, dogs,
cavies and performing arts.
She has exhibited her projects
at both county and state fairs,
winning top awards.
Anna was selected as a
state delegate to the Nation-
al 4-H Dairy Conference and
the National 4-H Dairy Con-
ference Planning Committee,
where she will help with plan-
ning the 2017 conference.
She plans to attend Wash-
ington State University to
pursue degrees in animal sci-
ences and strategic communi-
cations with a career goal of
a communications position
with a dairy company or orga-
nization.
Longtime Walla Walla sweet onion marketing
committee executive director ready to retire
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
EO Media Group File
Walla Walla sweet onion harvest began the week of June 12.
Walla Walla sweet onion
harvest now underway
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Walla Walla sweet onion
farmers began harvest the
week of June 12.
“We had a long spring, it
was kind of wet,” said Mi-
chael J. Locati, chairman of
the Walla Walla Sweet On-
ion Marketing Committee.
“Things didn’t really want to
grow real fast, so we didn’t
start as early as we did last
year, but this is more of a nor-
mal year for us.”
Walla Walla sweets are a
specialty onion protected by
a federal marketing order,
which designates them as a
unique variety and establishes
a federally protected growing
area, the Walla Walla Valley
of southeast Washington and
northeast Oregon.
The onions are noted for
their low pyruvic acid con-
tent — pyruvic acid is what
makes onions pungent — and
high water content, which
makes for a juicy, flavorful
product.
Harvest typically lasts
from mid-June to mid-Au-
gust.
“There should be a steady
flow that entire time,” Locati
said.
Twenty farmers raise Wal-
la Walla sweet onions on 500
acres, according to the mar-
keting committee. Yields av-
erage 650 50-pound units per
acre.
Fall-planted onions look
good, Locati said, and he ex-
pects an easy transition into
harvesting spring-planted on-
ions.
Roughly 40 percent of
the onions are usually jum-
bo-sized, about 3 to 4 inches
in diameter, with 10 percent
colossal-sized, at 4 inches in
diameter or larger. The rest
are medium-sized.
Locati expects an average
crop, although some of the
onions may be on the smaller
side.
Farmers didn’t have to put
up with a lot of disease and
insect pressure thanks to the
cold winter, Locati said.
“We didn’t see nearly the
amount of thrips we usually
see,” he said. “I think pest
pressure was down. And then
it didn’t get real hot. ... Hope-
fully everything comes out
OK.”
Just as farmers are get-
ting into their onion fields,
the Walla Walla Sweet Onion
Festival begins in downtown
Walla Walla at 9 a.m. June 17.
Highlights include chef
demonstrations, music, sever-
al dance companies and a Se-
attle Seahawks tour bus, said
Kathy Fry-Trommald, execu-
tive director of the marketing
committee.
The event is held in con-
junction with the Downtown
Walla Walla Foundation. She
estimates the festival drew
5,000 people previously.
Walla Walla sweet onions
are the Washington state veg-
etable, Fry-Trommald said.
The festival promotes aware-
ness of the onions and the his-
tory of the industry.
“We’ll be having an on-
ion-eating contest, and I don’t
know how much history those
folks are going to be focusing
on, but they’re going to have
a good time,” she said with a
laugh. “We usually have some
pretty good people sitting up
there willing to eat a raw onion.”
Several growers will sell
onions at the festival, Locati
said.
He hopes to be able to at-
tend the event.
“We’re probably going to
be in the thick of harvest,” he
said. “Sometimes it’s tough,
but there’s definitely a farm-
er presence there. There’ll
be sweet onions there,
for sure.”
Kathy Fry-Trommald, ex-
ecutive director of the Walla
Walla Sweet Onion Market-
ing Committee, is retiring af-
ter 17 years.
Her last day is June 29.
“I feel very privileged to
have been in this position to
work with the industry and
to promote the Walla Walla
sweet onion,” Fry-Trommald
said. “It’s been an awesome
job.”
Michael J. Locati, chair-
man of the marketing com-
mittee, said Fry-Trommald
has worked to maintain the
federal marketing order that
protects the variety and des-
ignated geographic growing
area, preventing copycat on-
ion producers from selling
their crop as Walla Walla
sweets.
“(She’s) really support-
ed our efforts,” he said,
noting his appreciation for
Fry-Trommald’s dedication
during her tenure.
Michael F. Locati, the
uncle of Michael J. Loca-
ti, served as chairman of
the marketing committee
for 13 years, working with
Fry-Trommald.
Fry-Trommald began as
the committee’s bookkeeper,
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File
Kathy Fry-Trommald, executive director of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, pic-
tured in May 2014, will retire June 29 after 17 years with the organization.
Michael F. Locati said.
“She took the whole indus-
try very personally and did a
very good job representing
the Walla Walla sweet on-
ions over the years,” Michael
F. Locati said. “She’s done a
real fine job. She’s defended
our industry from day one and
worked with the growers and
packers very well. It’s been a
very good relationship.”
The position is being split.
Administration of the federal
marketing order will be taken
over by Ag Association Man-
agement.
As executive director,
Fry-Trommald also organized
the Walla Walla Sweet Onion
Festival, now in its 33rd year.
The event will now be run by
the Downtown Walla Walla
Foundation.
“The sweet onion festi-
val has been near and dear
to my heart,” Fry-Trommald
said. “It’s going out much
bigger than it was when I
came in.”
The downtown founda-
tion is best-suited to take over
the festival, Michael J. Locati
said.
“It really is a community
event,” he said.
McMorris Rodgers: Focus on results, not regulations
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
DAVENPORT, Wash. —
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rod-
gers says federal agencies
should focus on the outcome
they want instead of regulat-
ing the process farmers use to
achieve results.
“Instead of the regulatory,
top-down, prescriptive ap-
proach” she wants agencies
to focus on the results they
want, the Eastern Washington
Republican said during a lis-
tening session about the farm
bill May 30 in Davenport,
Wash.
Since the beginning of the
year, Congress has worked
to repeal many major regu-
lations, McMorris Rodgers
said.
“Unfortunately, this has
been building for decades,
where you’ve just seen more
rules and regulations that
have the impact of law that
were never voted by elected
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris
Rodgers talks with farmers and
others at a farm bill listening
session in Davenport, Wash.
representatives of the peo-
ple,” she said. “We need to
rethink a lot of the federal
government, just go through
agency by agency, program
by program, and think, ‘How
do we get this agency or pro-
gram focused on results?’”
Twelve people represent-
ing Eastern Washington agri-
culture shared their concerns
ranging from the overseas
wheat and beef markets to
grazing livestock on public
land and greater sage grouse
management.
Edwall, Wash., goat
rancher Sue Lani Madsen
spoke about moving from
process-specific programs to
focus on getting the desired
results.
“If you really just want
more sage grouse, pay farm-
ers for having more sage
grouse on their land,” Mad-
sen said. “Let the farmer
figure out what works to get
sage grouse on their land.
I think that would be more
effective and less subject to
manipulation.”
In response to President
Donald Trump’s proposed
budget, McMorris Rodg-
ers said Texas Rep. Michael
Conaway, chairman of the
House Agriculture Commit-
tee, made it clear to her that
he would not support propos-
als to cut funding for crop
insurance and market access
programs.
Eastern Washington wheat
farmers export 90 percent of
the wheat they produce, Mc-
Morris Rodgers said.
“It’s very important to me
that the market access pro-
gram and crop insurance are
protected within the farm bill
and budget moving forward,”
she said.
McMorris Rodgers urged
farmers and wheat industry
representatives to highlight
what they’re hearing from
customers overseas. She’ll
work with others in Congress
to build the necessary sup-
port, she said.
McMorris Rodgers also
spoke with Conaway about
the falling number prob-
lem in wheat that caught
farmers off guard last fall
and cost them more than
$30 million. They spoke
about looking into how the
new farm bill can help affect-
ed farmers, she said.
U.S. Wheat expresses concerns about import investigation
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A U.S. Department of
Commerce investigation into
steel imports could open the
door for other countries to
retaliate by imposing restric-
tions on their purchases of
commodities such as wheat,
U.S. Wheat Associates offi-
cials say.
“We see the possibility
that if something happens
from this investigation with
a commonly
traded
com-
modity
like
steel, then it
just opens the
doors to any
other country
Steve
who may wish
Mercer
to invoke na-
tional security
to retaliate against the Unit-
ed States,” Steve Mercer,
vice president of communi-
cations for U.S. Wheat Asso-
ciates, told the Capital Press.
“One of the possible ways to
do that is with restrictions on
wheat imports.”
The Commerce Depart-
ment announced its investi-
gation into steel imports in
April, arguing that imported
steel makes up about 26 per-
cent of the amount used in
the U.S. and could become
a national security concern.
The department will consid-
er overcapacity, dumping,
illegal subsidies and other
factors to determine whether
steel imports from other na-
tions such as China “threaten
American economic security
and military preparedness,”
according to the department.
Findings could lead to a
conclusion that protective
duties on imported steel
should be applied for nation-
al security reasons, accord-
ing to U.S. Wheat.
The World Trade Orga-
nization allows countries
to impose trade restrictions
for very few reasons, in-
cluding national security.
The national security excep-
tion is rarely used, outside
weapons and nuclear mate-
rials because “most coun-
tries understand that doing
so would open a Pandora’s
Box of competing national
security claims,” accord-
ing to a U.S. Wheat press
release.
“We’re looking at a po-
tential path that opens up
potential concern down the
road,” Mercer said.
“I’m all for challenging
unfair subsidies, but farm-
ers like me know you need
to use the right tool to fix a
problem,” Jason Scott, U.S.
Wheat chairman and a wheat
farmer from Easton, Md.,
said in a press release from
the organization. “Citing
national security to block
imports like this would be
like lighting a fire to kill a
weed. It might do the job but
you could destroy the whole
field.”