SPOKANE AG EXPO SPECIAL SECTION
INSIDE
Capital
Press
The West s
Weekly
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 4
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
EU bans
Northwest
poultry
as bird
fl u cases
increase
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
CLIMATE
Record temperature
claim gets hot and
cold receptions
DEBATE
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
C
lair Bosen watched cattle graze on the
stubble of corn he raised for grain — a
spectacle he insists would have been
nearly impossible on his Preston, Idaho,
farm just a couple of decades ago.
It used to be, the 78-year-old farmer and ranch-
er explained, that area producers dared only to raise
silage corn in this part of the state. Even then, earli-
er frosts would often cut
into their yields.
INSIDE
Nowadays,
Bosen
Potato growers said, the area’s grow-
ing season has gotten
adjust to
markedly longer, to the
changing
point that he can con-
sistently raise corn for
conditions
grain and even count
Page 12 on an extra cutting of
alfalfa.
Bosen
raised
his fi rst short-season variety of corn for grain
about 13 years ago and switched to better-yield-
ing, 100-day maturity corn a couple of years
later.
“I don’t think our average temperatures are any
higher, but we don’t have the cold weather through
half of May,” Bosen said. “We used to think we had to
wait until May 15 to 20 to plant. Now we’re planting
on May 1.”
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Clair Bosen, of Preston, Idaho, stands in a fi eld of corn stubble while their cattle graze. He raised the corn for
grain, which he believes has become possible during the past 15 years because of a longer growing season.
58.42º F — 1.22 degrees
higher than the mean
average temperature*
59 degrees Fahrenheit
Average global
temperatures
on the rise
58
57
NASA calculates that 2014
was the hottest year on record,
based on land and ocean
temperature data dating back
to the late 19th century.
* 57.2º F (Mean avg.
temp., 1951-1980)
56.35
56.82
56
1880
Turn to CLIMATE, Page 12
Source: NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies
John O’Connell and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
’90
1900
’10
’20
’30
’40
’50
’60
’70
’80
’90
2000
The 28-member Europe-
an Union on Jan. 20 banned
poultry products from Wash-
ington, Idaho, and Douglas
County in Oregon as con-
firmed cases of bird flu have
increased.
The EU joined Japan
and Belarus, which add-
ed Idaho to their previous
bans on poultry from Wash-
ington and Oregon. China
announced Jan. 16 that it
would reject U.S. poultry
shipped after Jan. 9.
Three non-commercial
flocks in Washington, one
in Oregon and one in Ida-
ho have been infected with
highly pathogenic bird flu
since mid-December. Wild
birds with the disease have
been found in Washington,
California and Utah.
Offi cials suspect migra-
tory waterfowl are spreading
the disease. The virus has not
been detected in U.S. com-
mercial fl ocks, but its ap-
pearance in backyard fl ocks
has brought restrictions on
U.S. poultry exports.
Highly pathogenic bird
flu was detected in backyard
chickens, captive falcons
and wild ducks in western
and southern Idaho, State
Veterinarian Bill Barton said
Tuesday.
Several wild ducks infect-
ed with H5N8 avian infl uen-
za were found in Gooding
County, while the falcons and
chickens in a small non-com-
mercial fl ock were infected
with H5N2 in Canyon Coun-
ty.
The three falcons con-
fi rmed to have had the virus
were fed wild duck, Barton
said. The owner has other fal-
cons, which are under quar-
antine and are being tested,
Barton said.
The chicken fl ock was
about 20 miles away, he said.
The owner had not been mov-
ing birds off the property,
Barton said.
The premises were imme-
diately put under quarantine,
and the birds were eutha-
nized.
’10 ’14
Turn to BIRD, Page 12
DOL drops ‘hot goods’ charges against growers
Agency will return money, pay farms additional $30,000
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The U.S. Department of
Labor will return money previ-
ously paid by Oregon blueber-
ry growers and drop lawsuits
accusing them of “hot goods”
labor law violations.
The agency will also pay an
additional $30,000 to each of the
two farms — Pan-American Ber-
ry Growers and B&G Ditchen —
as part of a recent legal settlement.
The farms have agreed to
withdraw their counterclaims
against DOL and neither party is
admitting to any liability under
the deal.
Turn to DOL, Page 12
Pan-American Berry Grow-
ers produces blueberries
near Salem, Ore. The U.S.
Department of Labor will
return money previously
paid by Pan-American and
B&G Ditchen and drop law-
suits accusing them of “hot
goods” labor law violations.
Matuesz Perkowski/Capital Press
THIS WEEK IN THE CAPITAL PRESS
CALIFORNIA
Strawberry acreage to decline slightly in 2015
The prolifi c qualities of some new varieties may be
one reason California’s overall strawberry acreage is
expected to decline.
Page 5
OREGON
Stripe rust found
early in Willamette
Valley wheat
Page 11
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