2
CapitalPress.com
January 2, 2015
People & Places
Building better climate change models
Chad Kruger helps
farmers grasp
what future may
hold for region
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Chad Kruger saw both ends
of the moisture spectrum as a
youngster at his two grandfa-
thers’ farms.
One was a struggling dry-
land wheat and cattle ranch
near Harrington, west of
Spokane. The other was a
high-value, high-stress, irri-
gated strawberry and raspber-
ry farm near Lynden, north of
Bellingham on the wet side of
the state.
He grew up in Othello but
“worked his tail off,” he says,
on both farms and asked lots
of questions about how things
worked and the future.
“From a very young age, I
wanted to do something in agri-
culture and also loved science,”
he said.
He wasn’t sure how the two
fit together, but realized they
did during a Washington State
University internship on potato
research trials at Othello while
he was in high school.
After receiving his mas-
ter’s degree in land resources
at the University of Wisconsin
in 2003, he was hired the next
year to manage the first climate
change agricultural project at
the WSU Center for Sustaining
Agriculture and Natural Re-
sources in Wenatchee. It was
started with a Paul Allen Foun-
dation grant of $3.75 million.
In 2011, he became direc-
tor of the center that has been
innovative in bringing multiple
disciplines and tools of those
disciplines into climate change
modeling — computerized
simulation of what might hap-
pen if other things happen like
changes in temperature and
moisture.
A lot of early climate mod-
eling was done, he said, from
just one academic discipline
and failed to get input from
farmers.
He has brought economists,
engineers and agricultural sci-
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Chad Kruger, director of Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural
Resources, is seen at the Washington State Horticultural Association’s annual meeting in Kennewick,
Wash., on Dec. 1. He spoke on climate change.
Western Innovator
Chad Kruger
Age: 40
Born: Hillsboro, Ore., raised in
Othello, Wash.
Family: Wife, Tonya; children: Zakkary,
18; Alexis, 14; Jocelyn, 12.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history and an
academic certificate in eco-intensive agriculture technologies,
Northwest College, 1998; master’s degree in land resources,
University of Wisconsin, 2003.
Occupation: Director, Washington State University Center for
Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources since 2011; interim
director, 2008 to 2011; began working at the center on its climate
change in agriculture project in 2004.
entists together in the modeling
and talks with farmers in de-
fining priorities, such as where
more water may be needed.
His original team received
USDA’s highest award to a
land grant university for Inno-
vative Program Models in Ag
Research in 2009.
More than 50 regional sci-
entists from WSU, Oregon
State University, University of
Idaho and USDA partner in the
center’s climate change work
now. Climate change has be-
come one of the largest areas
of collaborative ag science in
the Pacific Northwest over the
past decade.
Kruger has tried to leave
politics out of his work and fo-
cus on “real world” problems
facing agriculture and their
solutions. One of the goals is to
help identify and reduce risks
facing the region’s agriculture
to keep the farming industry
competitive in the future.
Climate change is high-
ly politicized over whether
carbon emissions should be
regulated and that’s resulted
in misunderstandings of the
science by both sides, he said.
In presenting research to audi-
ences he focuses on how the
science is done.
“There is a lot of uncertain-
ty on what the future climate
will look like. No one knows
for sure. There are so many
variables,” he said. It can de-
pend on how good the science
is and the fact that people may
make different decisions than
anticipated, changing equa-
tions.
“It’s kind of like forecast-
ing the stock market. We try
to make intelligent decisions
on what we think may happen
and the possible outcomes,” he
said.
For example, if only tem-
perature is considered he
would expect a slight reduc-
tion in tree fruit yields in Sun-
nyside, but elevated carbon
dioxide counters that and will
cause a slight increase in yield.
The center’s work looks
at 40 different crops, includ-
ing tree fruit, in Washington’s
Columbia Basin. The basin
may warm 1 to 9 degrees by
mid-century, he said during a
speech at the Washington State
Horticultural Association’s an-
nual meeting in Kennewick in
December.
There’s a big difference
between 1 and 9 degrees but
higher temperatures increase
risk of codling moth on apples
and powdery mildew on cher-
ries, he said.
The Yakima, Okanogan
and Walla Walla watersheds
are main areas of concern be-
cause they are at a relative-
ly low elevation and already
have light winter snowpacks.
Warming would lessen that
natural storage.
More man-made water res-
ervoirs is one answer but they
take time to build and can be
costly, he said. Another solu-
tion that is just in its infancy in
the Yakima system, he said, is
water right transfers.
For example: An alfalfa
grower may make more mon-
ey selling his water rights for
July and August to a tree fruit
grower than he makes from a
fourth cutting of alfalfa. But
this too takes time to set up the
legal framework and market,
he said.
The
center’s
climate
change program began with
the intention of developing
technology-based strategies
for emission mitigation, car-
bon sequestration and to en-
hance the science of studying
agriculture and climate. There
was investment in various
projects like converting live-
stock manure into energy. All
of those elements have con-
tinued in one way or another,
Kruger said.
Beside his work on cli-
mate change, Kruger over-
sees numerous other center
programs, including what
he says is one of the best in
the country in helping small
farms. Elements include help-
ing people decide if they want
to get into farming, helping
migrant farmworkers move
toward farm ownership and
improving farmers’ markets
and other means of helping
small farms sell their produce.
There is an organics pro-
gram and a program that
awards more than $200,000
annually in internal grants to
WSU faculty and Extension
specialists to support diverse
projects involving sustain-
able and organic agriculture.
Eight-and-a-half
projects
were funded last year from
42 proposals in a competitive
process. Kruger expects five
out of 35 will be chosen for
2015.
“I think about the future
a lot,” Kruger said. “From a
very young age fixing fenc-
es on our ranch, I asked my
grandfathers a lot of ques-
tions. I’ve always been curi-
ous. Part of the satisfaction of
this is still asking questions
and thinking about how to
make better decisions to sus-
tain agriculture in the future.”
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Small gifts can sometimes come from big, mean cows
By RYAN M. TAYLOR
For the Capital Press
T
OWNER, N.D. — It’s
been quite a year to be
in the cattle business.
I’m not trying to brag, but I’m
sure not complaining. It’s the
kind of year where you can
update some equipment, pay
down some debt, put a little
money away and prepare for
a day when the markets aren’t
so rosy.
We had enough to donate
to our favorite causes and buy
a few gifts for our family and
others.
It was the kind of year
where I knew I owed a nice
gift to my partner who al-
ways helps me sort the cows
and keep the ranch going. For
years, my wife has asked me
to sell a half-dozen cows in the
herd who’d just as soon mash
me into the ground as let me
Cowboy
Logic
Ryan Taylor
near their calf in the spring. On
my four-point mean and nasty
rating scale, they’d consistently
get a “4.” My wife keeps telling
me that should mean “4 sale.”
‘Good’ cows
They are “good” cows,
though — always fat, always
bred, always bring in an above
average calf. And I’m always
dragging their calf underneath
the tractor so I can get it eart-
agged and vaccinated without
having my bones busted by its
4-star mother.
I figured it’d be a nice gift
to my wife to sort those cows
into the sale pen as we preg-
nancy checked the cows this
year. Even if they were bred,
and not old, and not thin. I just
consulted my little red calving
book, and if I wrote a “4” in
the cow’s not-so-docile scor-
ing column, she was getting a
ride to the sale barn.
I just sold the cows as culls.
I wouldn’t wish them into any-
one else’s herd. If someone
wanted to find out if they were
pregnant and calve them out, it
was their risk to take. They’d
get along fine until calving
time.
I came home from the sale
barn with those little pink slips
of paper they give you when
you unload your trailer and
leave the cows for the next
day’s sale. I looked at those
pink slips and decided they
would make nice wrapping
paper for a Christmas gift for
my wife.
The only problem was
that the pink slips were pretty
small. Even if I taped a couple
of slips together I’d have to
find a very small gift for my
wife. I tried to think of some-
thing small to get her. Maybe
a can of snooseK That would
sure be a surprise.
I could get her a deck of pi-
nochle cards. Small enough to
wrap in a pink sale barn slip,
but probably not a qualifier for
special or romantic.
Small and special
I decided if a person was
looking for something small
and special, I’d have to do
what jewelers have been bank-
ing on us to do for generations
— go with something small
and shiny that sits in a glass
store case and comes with its
own handy little hinged box
suitable for wrapping with a
small piece of paper.
I like to support local econ-
omies while I’m shopping. I
figured the closest shiny gem I
was going to find in my north-
ern plains neighborhood were
the “Yogo” sapphires from the
Yogo Gulch in the Little Belt
Mountains of central Montana.
I knew if I bought Montana
gems I wouldn’t have to wor-
ry about funding any bloody
civil wars or rebel warlords
like can happen if you buy
those “blood diamonds” or
“conflict diamonds” from Af-
rica like I’ve read about. Nope,
I’ve been to the Judith Basin
in Montana and it was pretty
peaceful country. I could buy
with a clean conscience from
conflict-free central Montana.
And when my wife opened
that little pink-wrapped box
our time around the Christ-
mas tree was conflict-free, too.
What’s more, the cow herd
should have a lot less conflict
next spring without those pink-
slipped cows.
Peace on earth, folks.
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Calendar
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send an email with information to
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JANUARY
NATIONAL
Jan. 7-9 — Potato Expo, Ros-
en Shingle Creek, Orlando, Fla.,
http://www.potato-expo.com/
Jan. 11-14 — American Farm
Bureau Annual Convention, San
Diego, Calif., http://annualcon-
vention.fb.org/
REGIONAL
Jan. 14-15 — Northwest Hay
Expo, Washington State Hay
Growers Association, Three Riv-
ers Convention Center, Kenne-
wick, (509) 585-5460, snolan@
agmgt.com, www.wa-hay.org
OREGON
Jan. 8-9 — Oregon Mint
Growers annual meeting, Salis-
han Resort, oregonmint.org
Jan. 12-14 — Northwest Food
Processors Expo and Confer-
ence, Oregon Convention Center,
Portland, www.nwfpa.org
Jan. 13 — Nut Growers So-
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ciety of Oregon, Washington
and British Columbia 100th an-
nual meeting, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m.,
LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon
State University Campus, Corval-
lis, http://www.oregonhazelnuts.
org
Jan. 17 — 2015 Lambing
School, co-sponsored by the
Oregon Sheep Growers Associa-
tion and Oregon State University
Extension, registration deadline
Jan. 9, 541-673-0369 or email
johnandpeggyfine @charter.net
Jan. 21 — Oregon Ryegrass
Growers Association annual
meeting, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Linn
County Fair and Expo Center, Al-
bany, 503-364-2944.
Jan. 26 — Agricultural Safety
and Pesticide Accreditation Work-
shop, sponsored by the Central
Oregon Safety and Health Asso-
ciation, Deschutes Farm Bureau
and Helena Chemical Co., 1-5
p.m. Bend, $45 ($20 for Farm Bu-
reau members), www.cosha.org
Jan. 26-27 — Mid-Oregon
Construction Safety Summit, The
Riverhouse, Bend, www.cosha.
org
Jan. 27 — Oregon Blueberry
Conference, 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m.,
Jantzen Beach Red Lion Hotel,
Portland, oregonblueberry.com/
conference
Jan. 27-29 — Northwest Ag-
ricultural Show, Portland Expo
Center,
http://www.nwagshow.
com/
WASHINGTON
Jan. 6-7 — Real Ag show,
Trac Center, Pasco, www.pasco-
realag.com
Jan. 8-9 — Yakima Ag Expo,
Sun Dome, Yakima, http://ya-
kimaagexpo.com/
CALIFORNIA
Jan. 13-15 — Associated Cali-
fornia Loggers, Reno, www.calog.
com/
IDAHO
Jan. 16 — Family Foresters
Workshop, Coeur d’Alene Inn,
208-446-1680, http://www.uidaho.
edu/extension/forestry/content/
calendarofevents
Jan. 21-23 — Idaho Horticul-
ture Expo, Boise Centre on the
Grove, inlagrow.org
FEBRUARY
NATIONAL
Feb. 1-3 — American Sugar-
beet Growers Association annual
convention, Long Beach, Calif.,
www.americansugarbeet.org
Feb. 19-20 — Family Farm
Alliance annual meeting, Monte
Carlo Resort and Casino, Las
Vegas, 707-998-9487 or ffameet-
ing@aol.com
OREGON
Feb. 3 — Focus on Weed
Management pesticide applica-
tor’s short course, 7:45 a.m.-5:30
p.m., $80, Building 19, Lane Com-
munity College, Eugene, 541-
463-6103
Feb. 19-21 — Oregon Logging
Conference, Lane County Fair-
grounds and Convention Center,
Eugene, 541-686-9191, www.ore-
gonloggingconference.com
Feb. 24-25 — Oregon Dairy
Farmers Annual Convention, Sa-
lem Conference Center, www.
dairyfarmersor.com/101-conven-
tion-general
CALIFORNIA
Feb. 5-7 — Sierra Cascade
Logging Conference, Shasta Dis-
trict Fairgrounds, Anderson, sier-
racascadeexpo.com/
Feb. 10-12 — World Ag Expo,
International Agri-Center, Tulare,
http://www.worldagexpo.com/
Feb. 25 — 2015 Walnut Day,
Veterans Hall, Yuba City, http://
cesutter.ucanr.edu
WASHINGTON
Feb. 3-5 — Spokane Ag Expo
and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum,
Spokane Convention Center, http://
www.agshow.org/ag-expo-home.html
MARCH
OREGON
March 20-22 — Northwest
Horse Fair & Expo, Linn County
Fair and Expo Center, Albany,
www.equinepromotions.net
CALIFORNIA
March 17-18 — Fruit Ripening
& Retail Handling Workshop, Uni-
versity of California-Davis, http://
postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Educa-
tion/fruitripening/
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Index
Dairy .....................................11
Livestock ..............................11
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
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