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.”