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February 6, 2015 CapitalPress.com Bird fl u hits another fl ock, spreads to hawks 3 ODA approves rules for Oregon hemp production By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press OKANOGAN NAT’L FOREST 97 97 20 Riverside OKANOGAN Omak 20 N Okanogan 155 Approximate site of bird flu outbreak in 5,000-bird game flock 5 miles Alan Kenaga/Capital Press In the fi rst cases involving raptors, the USDA has con- fi rmed a Cooper’s hawk in Whatcom County and a red- tailed hawk in Skagit Coun- ty tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N2 bird fl u. The virus is a mixed of Eurasian and North American avian in- fl uenza strains. Tests are pending on at least two other raptors collected in Washington — a red-tailed hawk from Benton County and a peregrine falcon from Grays Harbor County. Washington State Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife veterinarian Kristin Mans- fi eld said raptors don’t pose the same threat as migratory waterfowl as spreaders of the virus. A raptor with bird fl u doesn’t survive long, she said. “It kills them pretty quick.” The Department of Fish and Game collected the Coo- per’s hawk Dec. 29 and the red-tailed hawk Jan. 9. The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories on Jan. 26 confi rmed that the hawks had avian infl uenza. The Cooper’s hawk was ac- tually the victim of a predator, though it surely would have died soon from the virus, Man- sfi eld said. The falcon was electrocut- ed and the hawk in Benton County was killed by some- thing that infl icted a blow, she said. Mansfi eld said there’s too little evidence to draw conclu- sions, but it’s possible the virus affects their brains and makes raptors vulnerable, hastening their deaths. “It does raise the question,” she said. Mansfi eld anticipated avi- an infl uenza striking raptors since a captive gyrfalcon in Whatcom County in De- cember died after eating an infected wild duck. The in- cident showed the virus kills raptors. Lack of snow worsening By DAN WHEAT Capital Press MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The prospect of a dry if not drought summer contin- ues to increase in Washington with the latest measurement of statewide snowpack at 39 per- cent of normal. That, as of Feb. 3, com- pared with 54 percent a year ago and is the lowest winter read since 26 percent in the drought year of 2005, said Scott Pattee, water supply spe- cialist of the Washington Snow Survey Offi ce of the USDA Natural Resources Conserva- tion Service in Mount Vernon. The Olympic Mountains, Mount St. Helens area and central Puget Sound includ- ing the west slopes of the cen- tral Cascades are setting re- cord-low and near record-low snowpack, Pattee said. “It just hasn’t snowed and temperatures have been sus- tained at 10 to 20 degrees above normal in the mountains all of the whole past month,” he said. The freezing level has been at 10,000 feet at times and the weather forecast is for a warm and wet fi rst half of February and a warm and dry second half, Pattee said. Warm air from Hawaii like- ly will prevent major snowfalls in February and March that have been the norm in recent years, he said. “It would take well above 200 percent normal snowfall between now and the fi rst of April to catch up,” he said. The upper Columbia ba- sin, mostly Okanogan County, has the best snowpack at 85 percent of normal because it received some early snow that other parts of the state did not get, he said. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is optimistic the state’s fi rst industrial hemp crops will be planted this spring. The department last week adopted administrative rules that will govern production and handling, plus licensing of growers. The process cul- minated a long struggle by hemp backers, who maintain hemp can be used for cloth- ing, food, cosmetics, oils and other purposes. State approval was hung up for years by federal drug laws, which classify industri- al hemp the same as marijua- na. Oregon voters approved hemp production last No- vember in the same measure that legalized recreational use, possession and cultiva- tion of pot. The rules defi ne produc- tion and handling require- ments while establishing a permit and licensing process for growers of industrial hemp, which includes fees associated with ODA’s pro- gram. With the adoption of the rules, ODA is expecting a File photo/Associated Press Industrial hemp is harvested in Colorado in this fi le photo. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is optimistic the state’s fi rst industrial hemp crops will be planted this spring. crop to be planted this spring as permits will soon be is- sued. Under state law, licenses to grow or handle industri- al hemp fi ber and permits to grow agricultural hemp cost $1,500 and are valid for three years. Hemp fi elds must be at least 2.5 contiguous acres, and the crop must contain less than 0.3 percent tetrahy- drocannabinol (THC) to dis- tinguish it from marijuana, which has much higher THC levels. Hemp production is still illegal under federal law, and the feds may still be a roadblock to Oregon produc- tion. Oregon ag department spokesman Bruce Pokarney said hemp seed for planting is available only in Canada, and bringing it to Oregon will re- quire approval by the federal Drug Enforcement Adminis- tration. “That’s the next hurdle we need to clear,” Pokarney said. Business still brisk for Calif. large-equipment vendors By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press COLUSA, Calif. — De- spite the drought and a na- tionwide slowdown in heavy equipment sales, vendors at a farm show here say their busi- ness has remained brisk. The continued success of key California commodities such as almonds and walnuts has helped companies such as the Yuba City-based Orchard Machinery Corp. stay busy, said Joseph Martinez, a mar- keting representative for the company. “We have essentially been running overtime for 12 years straight,” Martinez said. “The nut crops have been huge. The almonds, walnuts and pista- chios have just been going cra- zy. When farmers do well, we do well.” Erick Nielsen, who sells orchard pruning and harvest- ing equipment in Orland, Ca- lif., agrees. Business has been good, although he and other vendors worry about the im- pact that a prolonged drought will have on farmers’ ability to afford new equipment. “I think we’re OK, but we’re all worried about the water,” said Nielsen, owner of Erick Nielsen Enterprises. “It’s going to get us if it doesn’t rain.” Nielsen and the OMC salespeople were among hun- dreds of vendors of agricul- tural goods large and small at the 50th annual Colusa Farm Show Feb. 3-5 at the fair- grounds here. The event was to include workshops on crop pollina- tion, almond cultivation and new farm bill programs as well as the annual breakfast sponsored by California State University-Chico’s College of Agriculture and its supporters, set for Feb. 4. For Nielsen, who’s been coming to the farm show since 1977, the event offers a cen- tral place for his customers to come and check out his latest equipment or give him ideas on products to offer, he said. “We get a combination of business” at the show, he said. “We get some new customers and make contact with old cus- tomers. We get a little bit of both. Some of them just come and say ‘hi’ and say ‘thank you.’” The optimism among ven- dors who cater to California’s specialty crop farmers comes as slumping sales of large farm equipment in other parts of the country are expected to cre- ate bargain opportunities for growers. Tim Hearden/Capital Press Passers-by look at a tree pruner displayed by Erick Nielsen Enterprises of Orland, Calif., at the Colusa Farm Show on Feb. 3. Despite a nationwide slowdown in heavy equipment sales, Califor- nia companies are still reporting brisk business. rop-6-26-5/#17 Highly pathogenic avian infl uenza has swept through another mixed-bird backyard fl ock in Washington. Mean- while, authorities have con- fi rmed the virus is affl icting native raptors. The Washington State De- partment of Agriculture on Monday established a quar- antine zone 6 miles around where about 100 birds, raised primarily as a youth project, were infected in Okanogan County near the Canada bor- der. The virus rapidly killed about half of the birds be- fore tests confi rmed Jan. 31 that they were avian fl u vic- tims. The surviving birds will be euthanized, according to WSDA. The fl ock was in Oroville, about 40 miles from where 5,000 game birds were in- fected last week in Riverside. In that case, the virus killed 40 pheasants and 12 turkeys before it was confi rmed. The surviving game birds were eu- thanized Feb. 3. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to identify the specifi c bird fl u strain in either case, though offi cials have determined the virus was highly pathogenic. State Veterinarian Joe Bak- er said there was no known connection between the game bird farm and the backyard fl ock. “Right now, we have to chalk it up to coincidence,” he said. Baker said no commercial poultry farms are inside the quarantine zone. The Oroville fl ock is the fourth non-commercial batch of birds to be struck by avi- an infl uenza in Washington state since early January. Two fl ocks were in Benton County in south-central Washington, while the other fl ock was in Clallam County on the Olym- pic Peninsula. Single non-commerical fl ocks in Oregon and Idaho also have been infected. Baker said the Oroville fl ock, like the others, was likely infected by migratory waterfowl, which carry avian infl uenza but are immune to the virus. The virus has been found in migrating ducks in six states and at commercial poultry farms in British Columbia, Canada, and California. Approximate site of bird flu outbreak in 100-bird non- commercial flock r Capital Press Oroville Palmer Lake Ri v e By DON JENKINS Area in detail 3 British Columbia Wash. Okano n ga WSDA establishes quarantine zone near Canada border 6-5/#4N