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4 CapitalPress.com January 2, 2015 NASS to survey organic producers across U.S. By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Department of Agricul- ture is conducting a survey of organic farmers and ranchers nationwide to learn more about the production method whose popularity has exploded among consumers. The mandatory survey is a follow-up to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, which found that total organic product sales by American farms and ranches increased by 83 percent since 2007. The questionnaire will ex- amine various aspects of organ- ic farming, including produc- tion and marketing practices, income and expenses, accord- ing to a news release. “Organic farms are really a fast-growing segment of the agriculture industry,” said Vic Tolomeo, director of the Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service’s Pacific Region office here. “This is just going to pro- vide information on that indus- try, not only on how we can address their needs but how it’s changing (agriculture) itself.” The survey comes as NASS is also conducting an economic survey called Tenure, Owner- ship and Transition of Agricul- tural Land (TOTAL), which asks agricultural landowners about farm costs, improve- ments made to farmland and buildings, demographics and Sheep producer ponders wolf impacts State looking for sighting info other characteristics. While the TOTAL surveys went to selected landowners, the organic survey was sent to every known organic producer in the U.S. as of the 2012 cen- sus, Tolomeo said. That’s more than 16,000 farms nationwide, about 3,000 of which are in California, according to census data. Industry statistics show consumer demand for organ- ically produced goods con- tinues to show double-digit growth, with organic products now available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and near- ly 75 percent of conventional grocery stores, the USDA’s Economic Research Service stated in a recent report. Beekeeper group’s president buzzing about neonic ban By DON JENKINS Capital Press By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press LAMONT, Wash. — Sheep producer Art Swannack says the secret to dealing with wolves killing livestock is documentation. “It’s kind of bureaucrat- ic, but if you don’t document it, you don’t have anything to show that you had a problem,” he said. Swannack, also a Whitman County commissioner, served on the working group that helped develop the wolf man- agement plan for the state. Now he’s using that knowl- edge. Swannack keeps a flock of 1,200 sheep near Lamont, Wash. He estimates he’s lost four sheep to wolves, one con- firmed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, one con- sidered likely and two missing. He’s also missing a guard dog. The sheep were grazing a 300-acre field of wheat stub- ble surrounded by a portable electric fence. The sheep es- caped Dec. 5 when the fence shorted out. They moved into a neighbor’s stubble field, where wolves likely killed one ewe. Swannack fixed the fence, but a portable post popped out 10 days later, and wolves killed to three more. It was the first time Swan- nack was aware of wolves in the area. “We’ve had coyotes for- ever, but coyotes are always around,” he said. Neighbors and friends say they’ve spotted wolves near Lamont, Ritzville and Sprague, including a pair — a large gray wolf and a black wolf. Some calves have dis- appeared recently, increasing suspicions that wolves are in- Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Lamont, Wash., sheep producer Art Swannack talks about the impacts wolves have had to his operation Dec. 23 near the site where he found one of his sheep dead in a creek. Swannack, also a Whitman County commissioner, is concerned about the potential for increased depredations during lambing and calving season. Online http: //wdfw.wa.gov/conserva- tion/gray_wolf/ Photo courtesy of Art Swannack Art Swannack’s first dead ewe was found near Lamont, Wash. Dec. 5. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife says this was likely a wolf kill, one of four sheep Swannack suspects were killed by wolves. He is also missing a guard dog. Swannack estimates the cost to his operation so far to be about $6,000. volved, Swannack said. “We haven’t seen anything else, but it makes you suspi- cious when you have three ani- mals killed and there’s nothing left within 24 hours,” he said. Coyotes typically leave half a carcass the first few days, he noted. Joey McCanna, private lands and wildlife conflict su- pervisor for the fish and wild- life department in St. John, Wash., hopes to verify the wolf pair sighting and set out more cameras. “We’re still trying to find a good location where there’s a lot of activity from a wolf or possibly multiple wolves,” he said. “The more sightings we get from people and the quick- er they get them to us, the bet- ter.” The department installed Foxlights around the pas- ture and near the Swannacks’ home. Foxlights, which are battery-powered, give the impression that somebody is patrolling the area with a flash- light. “Between the electric fence and the Foxlights, we haven’t had any wolves come into the sheep to kill, but the fence isn’t 3 feet tall,” he said. The Swannacks added guard dogs, are replacing some fencing and adding night pen- ning, and will continue moni- toring. Swannack estimated his cost to be roughly $6,000 — $600 each to replace his preg- nant ewes and several thou- sand for the guard dog, plus time and labor. Swannack is concerned about county residents whose cattle will be calving during January and February. Most deer have moved south for the winter, leaving little wildlife and plenty of livestock for the wolves, he said. The de- partment may add fladry — a string of flags — during lamb- ing, he said, but fladry can be good for two to 60 days, de- pending on how the wolves react to it. Swannack said the state needs to begin making deci- sions about management as wolf problems increase. He wants the wolves delisted as an endangered species to al- low ranchers more manage- ment options. “Ideally, I’d like to not have any more problems. I don’t think that’s realistic, I expect once in a while I’ll have a problem,” he said. “But continuing, ongoing problems with wolves aren’t acceptable.” OLYMPIA — To beekeep- er Mark Emrich, Thurston County’s ban on neonicoti- noids on county property was a win in the battle against pes- ticides he blames, in part, for harming his honeybees. County commissioners in December barred “neonics” from county managed land, saying they wanted to set an example by being the first Washington county to embrace the anti-neonic movement. Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and Eugene, Ore., also have adopted policies against neon- ics. Emrich, a Thurston County resident and president of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, said local juris- dictions may be more open to regulating neonics than state or federal agencies. “I think the groundswell is going to be enough,” he said. Neonicotinoids were devel- oped in the mid-1990s in part because they showed reduced toxicity in honeybees com- pared with other pesticides, ac- cording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Neonicotinoids, however, have come under scrutiny for, at the least, contributing to colony collapse disorder. The Euro- pean Commission has banned three neonics: clothianidin, im- idacloprid and thiametoxan. A Washington State Univer- sity study in 2013 concluded that neonics have a negative effect on honeybees, bumble- bees, mason bees, and others. However, it was unclear wheth- er those pesticides have a sig- nificant effect on bees at “real- istic field levels.” The study said more re- search was needed and that in the meantime home gardeners should be educated about the importance of following labels. Also last year, the Washing- ton Department of Agriculture declined to regulate neonics. The agency noted there were “at least 61 factors” associated with colony collapse disorder and concluded there was no “documented evidence” ne- onics were harming bees in Washington. The agency’s po- sition hasn’t changed, WSDA spokesman Hector Castro said. The USDA has essentially Don Jenkins/Capital Press Washington State Beekeepers Association President Mark Emrich checks a hive Dec. 29 in Rochester. Emrich hopes more counties and cities will restrict neonicotinoids. the same position, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to study neonics over the next several years. Emrich, who has 21 hives in Rochester, just south of Olym- pia, said about one-third of his 40,000-bee hives collapse each year, unable to function as a co- hesive unit. He said other factors, in- cluding parasitic varroa mites, are likely harming bees. “It’s not all pesticides,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of moving parts effecting bees.” Nevertheless, Emrich said enough research suggests that neonics are one of those fac- tors. For now, he said he would like to see a moratorium on the unregulated use of neonics by home gardeners. “I’d like to see it benched until we have more research,” he said. The executive director of Washington Friends of Farms & Forests, which represents farm groups whose members use pesticides, said Thurston County “made a completely emotional decision.” “I do not expect either the Legislature or the state Depart- ment of Agriculture to follow that example,” Heather Hansen said. “They base their decisions on science.” Hansen said neonics con- trol pests on many state crops, including wine grapes, apples, pears, cherries, potatoes, rasp- berries, blueberries, vegetables, wheat, lentils and Christmas trees. She warned against rushing to blame neonics for colony collapse disorder and need- lessly weakening the state’s ability to ward off invasive pests. Farm regulators increase scrutiny of water quality rop-31-53-5/#17 Capital Press LEGAL NOTICE OF SALE OF ABANDONED PERSONAL PROPERTY FORMERLY BELONGING TO ERNIE FRIES AND DIANE M. HERTE PURSANT TO ORS 90.675(10) PLEASE TAKE NOTICE, on January 27, 2015, John Sanders, as managing member of Dukes Farm, LLC, will sell by private sale a 1997 Home Builders Northwest, Inc. manufactured home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, square footage of 1,512 square feet, manufacturer ID number 1411A and 1411B. The personal property does not include the land on which the manufactured home is situated, which is at Oak Pointe Estates, 2000 Robbins Lane SE, Space 27, Salem, OR 97306. The personal property is abandoned and was formerly owned by Ernie Fries and Diane Marie Herte. The personal property has a Manufacturer Structure Ownership number of 285903. The manufactured home must remain in the Duke’s Farm manufactured home community. A successful bidder must apply for and be accepted as a tenant for the sale to finalize. A reserve for all minimum bids is $8,000.00. If the highest bid does not exceed the sum of $8,000.00, the property will not be sold. Duke’s Farm, LLC may submit a sealed bid. The Sale is by private bidding in the form of sealed bids deliv- ered to Mark B. Comstock, Attorney at Law, Garrett Hemann Robertson P.C., 1011 Commercial St NE, Salem, OR 97301, and will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. January 27, 2015. The sealed bid must state on the outside of the envelope: “SEALED BID.” The personal property will be sold to the highest bidder which shall have five (5) days in which to provide funds by cashier’s check payable to Duke’s Farm, LLC. In the event of no satisfactory bids or buyers, the property will be disposed of pursuant to ORS 90.675. The name and telephone number of the person to contact to view the property is John Sanders, Duke’s Farm, LLC, 2000 Robbins Lane SE, #48, Salem, OR 97306; telephone: (503) 585- 7111. John Sanders For: Duke’s Farm, LLC legal-52-2-5/#4 A project aimed at restor- ing riparian habitat along several creeks in Oregon’s Multnomah County has hit a roadblock. Despite numerous entreat- ies from the local soil and wa- ter conservation district, most landowners have refused free streamside tree planting that would reduce temperatures in the creek. “Some people are just not interested in having someone else working on their proper- ty,” said Julie DiLeone, rural lands program supervisor for the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Even though the trees are planted at no charge, people are reluctant to have crews come onto their land and to relinquish control over the management of streamsides, she said. Only about 25-30 percent of stream miles targeted by the district are enrolled in the restoration program, DiLeone said. “We don’t know if that’s going to be enough or not” to bring down temperatures, she said. Increased scrutiny of water quality by Oregon’s agricul- ture regulators may help the state’s soil and water conser- vation districts overcome such resistance among landowners. The Oregon Department of Agriculture plans to expand its oversight of streams and rivers that flow through agricultural lands next year, which may spur interest in voluntary ri- parian improvement projects, experts say. “If more people come in the door, at least in our district, that’s great because we have the capacity to help more peo- ple,” said Laura Masterson, an organic farmer and board member of the East Mult- nomah S&WCD. For decades, the agency’s strategy for compliance with the federal Clean Water Act on farmland was largely com- plaint-driven, said John Byers, manager of ODA’s agricultural water quality program. This method is only reli- able to a point, however, since some water quality problems — like manure piles near wa- terways or streams denuded of vegetation — may never be reported, he said. “Neighbors don’t always want to turn in neighbors,” said Byers. About two years ago, ODA decided to “self-initiate” compliance with water qual- ity rules, relying on publicly available information like aeri- al photographs and topograph- ical maps, to identify potential problem areas and notify the landowners. Since the agency doesn’t have the resources to conduct in-depth monitoring of the whole state, the new approach was first tested in Wasco and Clackamas counties. LEGAL LEGAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NOTICE is hereby given that The Odessa Public Development Authority (OPDA) will receive Proposals as established in the complete Request for Proposals for the project generally described as: Biodiesel Production Facility, Odessa, WA. 1-5/#4 By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Please obtain the full requirements for proposals at www.odessapda.com or by calling 509-982-7850 or by email at info@odessapda.com. Odessa Public Development Authority. Clark Kagele, President Legal-1-2-7/#14