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12 CapitalPress.com March 13, 2015 Bird fl u fades in the West as virus strikes Midwest Washington state vet: Look out for returning migration By DON JENKINS Capital Press A bird fl u virus that debuted in the U.S. in early December has infected commercial turkey fl ocks in Minnesota and Missouri, illustrating the disease’s unpredictability. Until last week, highly pathogenic avian fl u had been confi ned to the Pa- cifi c Flyway. Within days, it appeared in three locations in the Mississippi Flyway. Migratory waterfowl, which carry the virus but are immune, in both fl y- ways share breeding grounds in Alaska. Washington State Veterinarian Joe Bak- er said he’s been pondering when the virus would show up in the Midwest. “I’ve been wondering that for over a month.” Less predictable is when or wheth- er the virus will show up elsewhere, including in the Central and Atlantic fl yways, and whether more fl ocks will be infected in the West. “It’s just the nature of the beast,” Baker said. The H5N2 virus, a mix of Eurasian and North American strains, infected commercial turkey farms in southwest and central Missouri, offi cials con- fi rmed Monday. Last week, the virus infected a turkey barn in western Min- nesota. H5N2 fi rst appeared in the U.S. in a northern pintail duck found dead at Wiser Lake in Whatcom County in northwest Washington on Dec. 8. The migratory duck carried the virus but actually died of another bacterial infec- tion. Between Dec. 1 and mid-February, bird fl u strains infected commercial poultry farms in California and British Columbia, Canada. A game bird farm in Washington and backyard fl ocks in Washington, Oregon and Idaho were also infected. The last case of bird fl u in poultry in the West was confi rmed Feb. 17 in a non-commercial fl ock of 90 chickens, turkeys and ducks in Deschutes County, Oregon. Confi rmation of the virus in wild birds in the West continue to trickle in, Baker said. The percentage of wild birds that carry the virus is apparently low, he said. The northern pintail collected at Wiser Lake was the only one out of 66 ducks gathered there to test positive for bird fl u, he said. Baker said the disease’s relative rar- ity in the wild helps explain why more domestic fl ocks haven’t been infected, but he said he was concerned that new cases will appear in the West as birds migrate north. “Are we going to see some in- creased potential (for new cases) over the next six weeks?” he said. “I don’t know, but I’d be worried about it be- cause these birds are on the move.” The Mississippi Flyway roughly follows the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Cases there come as quarantines in Western states are being lifted. Ore- gon’s only remaining bird fl u quaran- tine, the one in Deschutes County, may be removed this week, state Depart- ment of Agriculture spokesman Bruce Pokarney said. Washington, where bird fl u was particularly severe in December and January, has been quarantine-free since Feb. 25. Dozens of countries, including the 28 in the European Union, have in the past few days banned poultry from Minnesota, the country’s second-lead- ing turkey producing state behind only North Carolina, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Sanctions against Missouri, the country’s fi fth-leading turkey producer, are expected. The virus in Minnesota was con- fi rmed March 4 in a barn with 15,000 18-week-old breeder replacement tur- key hens, according to a report to the World Organization for Animal Health. Some 6,500 turkeys in another barn on the farm did not show increased mortality. Turkeys in both barns were to be destroyed, according to offi cials. The Missouri Department of Ag- riculture reported late Sunday that the virus had infected commercial turkey operations near Asbury in the south- west corner of the state and in Fortuna in the central part of the state. The department did not provide the number of birds impacted by the virus. Efforts to reach a department spokes- man were not successful. ‘These are areas we hike with our grandchildren’ Craft beer sector’s growth still going strong BEARS from Page 1 now have barley varieties in de- velopment that will meet craft brewers’ specifi cations. The major brewing compa- nies have also invested heavily in small, craft-style breweries because of their growing pop- ularity. A survey of AMBA’s membership, which includes large and small breweries, indi- cated respondents would like the organization to put 55 percent of its emphasis on developing and promoting malt barley varieties for adjunct brewing. But it also indicated about 45 percent of the emphasis should be on all-malt barley varieties for craft brew- ing. In addition to breeding new varieties, Davis said farming practices, such as minimizing application of nitrogen fertilizer, can also be used to better meet all-grain brewing guidelines. public comment. Instead, mul- tiple stations were set up where people could get information and interact with state and fed- eral agency employees and then put written comments in a box. “Dal Dagnon (a Tonasket rancher) took a mic and gave them a pretty good talking to,” DeTro said. “These people shove this stuff at Okanogan County as a poster child and target Okano- gan County for everything they can think of and Okanogan County is fed up,” he said. “What the hell is the NPS doing taking comments on griz- zly recovery? These agencies are in bed with or have imbed- ded greenies and are de facto fundraising for the greenies,” DeTro said, explaining federal efforts draw attention to the is- sue and helps environmentalists raise money. The federal effort is an end run to try to accomplish what couldn’t be accomplished through the state in the past, he said. A March 5 open house in Wenatchee was the same for- mat with no oral presentations or comments. A couple dozen people attended. This is the scoping phase from which alternative plans will be developed with a fi nal decision on whether to actively pursue restoration made jointly by NPS and USFWS in three years, said Ann Froschauer, US- FWS spokeswoman. While grizzlies are more plentiful in other parts of Canada and the U.S., a small population lives on the Canadian side of the North Cascades and ventures into Washington state, although there have been no confi rmed sightings in Washington since 1996, said Chris Servheen, US- FWS grizzly bear recovery co- ordinator from Missoula, Mont. “What we would like to do is improve their status, focusing on remote areas of the Pasayten Wilderness and North Cascades National Park,” he said. The agencies want to keep them in remote areas and bears who endanger people or live- stock would be relocated and if they re-offend a second time, destroyed, Servheen said. Prob- lem bears from other areas “ab- solutely” would not be brought Dan Wheat/Capital Press Chris Servheen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recov- ery coordinator, Missoula, Mont., at Wenatchee, Wash., grizzly recovery open house, March 5. into the North Cascades, he said. The North Cascades eco- system is about 10,000 square miles and could safely handle 200 bears, he said. The Yellow- stone ecosystem is about the same size and has 1,000 griz- zlies that largely stay away from people, he said. But Doug England, a Chel- an County commissioner, said it will be diffi cult for the same area to be used by grizzlies and hikers. “We are part of their food chain,” England said. “Hikers and sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the grizzly world.” Chelan County commission- ers sent a letter of opposition to the agencies, he said. It was interesting, he said, to see state Fish and Wildlife personnel at the meeting when state law pre- vents the state from spending money on grizzly bear recovery. Any lawsuit likely would boil down to whether the state overrides the federal govern- ment in recovery jurisdiction, he said. Evidence grizzlies lived in Washington is all anecdotal, not historical data, he said. “This is serious in Stehekin. These are areas we hike with our grandchildren,” he said, adding the concerns of people whose lives and livelihoods will be impacted should carry more weight than those who don’t. Open houses were set for Cle Elum March 9, Seattle March 10 and Bellingham March 11. Comments will be received through March 26 at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ NCEG. Wash. has not declared a drought since 2005 DROUGHT from Page 1 “I can tell you the gov- ernor’s offi ce is ready and primed to move forward with a decision, if the executive committee makes the recom- mendation tomorrow,” Marti said. Washington has not declared a drought since 2005. The DOE, based on its experiences then and in the drought year 2001, has asked lawmakers for nearly $9 million for drought re- lief. The money would go for such purposes as drilling and deepening wells, adding pumps and pipes, plugging leaks and lining canals, and buying unused water wa- ters. During the last drought, most drought-related re- sponses were in the Yakima Basin. The U.S. Bureau of Rec- lamation forecast Monday senior water rights will have full supplies, but junior water rights will have 73 percent of their normal supply. The fi ve Yakima Basin reservoirs are nearly full, but snowpacks are extremely low, according to the bureau. The same conditions — enough rain but far too little snow — prevail throughout the state. State climatologists pre- dicted spring won’t bring re- lief, with a drier and warmer than normal season expected. Reservoirs, swelled by winter rain, may blunt drought impacts in some ar- eas. The Northwest River Forecast Center predicts the Columbia River will have more than 80 percent of its normal summer fl ow. BREEDERS from Page 1 Rapid growth The craft beer sector’s recent trend of double-digit growth continued in 2014, according to Bart Watson, chief economist with the Brewers Association, which represents small brewer- ies. When his fi nal estimates for 2014 are released on March 16, Watson expects craft production will be up by about 18 percent from the previous year. He also anticipates craft brewing’s mar- ket share by volume will in- crease from 7.8 percent in 2013 to double digits, and its market share in dollars will increase well above its previous level of 14.3 percent. Watson said a 31-gallon barrel of all-malt beer requires 55 pounds of malt on average, compared with 17 pounds of malt for a typical domestic Pil- sner. Consequently, Watson said U.S. craft breweries use a dis- proportionately higher volume of malt — about 27 percent of malt used by U.S. breweries in 2014. Malt is made by moistening barley after harvest to induce sprouting and then baking it. John O’Connell/Capital Press Gongshe Hu, barley breeder with the USDA’s Aberdeen Agricultural Research Service, leads a 2013 tour of barley test plots at University of Idaho’s Teton Research and Extension Center. Hu says he’s now focusing about 10-20 percent of his breeding efforts on all-malt lines. Rank/state 1. Millions of barrels sold 2.95 million California 2. Pennsylvania 3. 1.79 Colorado 1.41 4. Ohio 5. Oregon 0.88 6. New York 0.86 7. Texas 8. Michigan 9. Wisconsin 1.1 0.85 0.58 0.44 10. Minnesota 0.37 11. Washington 0.33 Top craft beer states, 2013 (31-gallon craft barrels) Source: Brewers Association Alan Kenaga/Capital Press How beer is made The all-grain brewing process: • Steep coarsely milled malted barley, or malt, in water heated to roughly 152 degrees. At that temperature, protein enzymes cut starch strands into smaller sugar segments that are readily converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast. • The sugary water, or wort, is drained into a boil kettle, and additional hot water, called sparge water, is poured through the bed of grain to extract additional sugars and fi ll out the necessary volume. • The liquid wort is boiled, with hops added at different stages. Hops added early lend more bitterness while hops added later lend more aroma. • Yeast is added after the wort is cooled. Larger breweries force carbonate their beer, but some microbreweries add a pinch of sugar to each bottle to allow the yeast to naturally carbonate it. OSU’s tests barley lines Imported malt U.S. breweries import more than 20 percent of their malt, said Chris Swersey, the Brew- ers Association’s technical brewing products manager. Craft breweries, in particular, often look to varieties raised in Germany or England, where all-grain brewing is the norm. Bob Beckwith, of Firth, Idaho, coordinates the 80 judg- es who score more than 1,600 beers in the annual North American Beer Awards, which are hosted in Idaho Falls. Beckwith said many ribbon winners use imported Golden Promise, a Scottish malt, or Maris Otter, from England. In addition to better fi tting the all-malt brewing style, the foreign varieties are known for rich fl avor and effi cient sugar extraction, Beckwith said. “For U.S. farmers to go out and grow something like Maris Otter, they have to be careful how much nitrogen they put on it, so therefore the yield is pret- ty low on it,” Beckwith said, “so they have to get a premium price.” Beckwith said small brew- eries can boil harder and lon- ger to “blow off faults in beer,” but it reduces their output and lengthens production time. The Canadian variety Har- rington was once a favorite among craft breweries, includ- ing New Glarus, but it’s been largely supplanted by high- batches of his signature beer, Spotted Cow Farmhouse Ale, with each of Hu’s varieties. The brewery’s taste panel con- cluded three of the lines of- fered a cleaner, superior taste. “To us, that was encourag- ing,” Carey said. This summer, Hu plans to raise up to 2,000 pounds of seed of the same three brands New Glarus liked for broader evaluations by the craft indus- try. Chris Holbrook, who over- sees supply chain quality for New Belgium, said his brew- ery also made small batches with Hu’s crosses. Holbrook said New Belgium, which uses predominantly domestic malt, is evaluating additional lines from Hu’s program and some OSU lines, such as Full Pint. “Our brewmaster has said he looks forward to the day the U.S. is producing malt sought after by overseas brewers be- cause of its fl avor and qual- ities, much the same as the U.S. craft brewers are looking at traditional German and En- glish malt,” Holbrook said. Photo submitted New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin conducts a test of the brewing qualities of experimental varieties out of Aberdeen, Idaho, intended for use in all-malt brewing. er-yielding varieties. Carey buys as much Harrington as he can fi nd but resorts mostly to varieties such as Copeland and Metcalf, which are in greater demand by the big brewers. Greg Smith, plant engineer with InteGrow Malt in Idaho Falls, said Harrington is also prone to lodging — falling fl at in the fi elds, complicating har- vest. “Harrington is really on the way down,” Smith said. “We used to have a bunch of it here, and now we have hardly any. It’s down to something like 4-5 percent of the barley crop.” Brewers test lines Aberdeen ARS barley breeder Gongshe Hu estimates 10-20 percent of his barley breeding program is devoted to developing higher-yielding lines that meet the new all- grain guidelines. “In the future, it may in- crease because of demand,” Hu said. In 2013, Hu screened his program’s entire library of elite lines for their all-grain brewing potential, evaluating crosses previously rejected by the large breweries. Hu identifi ed 10 lines with promising protein and free amino nitrogen levels, among other specifi cations, and plant- ed them in small plots. North Dakota State University malt- ed seed from the plots and sent it to six craft breweries, including New Glarus and Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing, for evaluation. Carey made 10-gallon The Brewers Association is in the third year of contrib- uting funding toward the de- velopment of all-grain lines at Aberdeen and is offering new grants this year at OSU and Michigan State University. OSU has invested some of its grant dollars toward ren- ovating a room for a small- scale malting facility, which will house a “mini-malter” designed by OSU students to make 150-pound batches. The facility will enable OSU to produce small “home brew” batches to evaluate its all- grain breeding lines. Scott Fisk, an OSU fac- ulty research assistant, said his program has been mak- ing all-grain barley crosses for about three years, using mostly European barley lines as parents. “A lot of things in our ad- vanced trials could defi nitely fi t into the craft industry,” Fisk said. Idaho Falls grain farmer Matt Gelling believes grow- ers will also reap rewards from the advancement of high-yielding, all-grain barley lines. “As a grower, if I had a buyer for that out front, I’d be glad to raise it,” Gellings said. “If it’s a good yielder and they’ll pay a premium on it, I’m sure the growers will grow it.”