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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