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March 13, 2015 CapitalPress.com 13 Sakuma looks outside family for CEO Ex-executive with Oregon co-op to lead berry company By DON JENKINS Capital Press The leadership of Saku- ma Brothers Farms exam- ined itself and decided to hire someone from outside the family to guide the berry grower and processor through challenging times, the compa- ny’s fourth-generation leader, Steve Sakuma, said Wednes- day. “We looked at where we are and where we want to go,” he said. “We said, ‘We can’t fix this internally.’” D a n n y Sakuma Weeden, former general manager and chief financial officer of Oregon Cherry Growers, took over from Sakuma as CEO on Feb. 23. He’s the first person from outside the Sakuma family to head the business, which traces its roots back to before World War I on Bainbridge Island. The family has been farming in the Skagit Valley since 1935, though during World War II family mem- bers were either interned with other Japanese-Americans or serving in the U.S. military. The change comes as the business continues to be em- broiled in sometimes-bitter labor battles waged on sever- al fronts. The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments March 17 on whether the company’s piece-rate workers should be paid separately for rest breaks. Farm group and labor organizations hope for different outcomes but agree a ruling will have broad im- plications for the agricultural industry. Sakuma said the labor strife didn’t influence his de- cision to retire. At age 67, he said he looks forward to spending more time with his family and, in a way, making up for lost time. He will remain chairman of the board. “I don’t know if you ever retire from a family business,” he said. He said he won’t inter- fere with Weeden. “I will make sure I won’t cross those lines,” he said. He said he expects a fam- ily member to someday lead the company. “That is our long-term vision. That’s why we made this short-term deci- sion,” he said. His son Ryan is president of farm operations, but there is no plan of succession, Steve Sakuma said. “He has the right name. He needs to get the level of experience, and he has to perform. It is a business.” Sakuma said the company searched hard for a CEO be- fore settling on Weeden, who has decades of experience in Northwest agriculture. Weed- en spent more than a decade with the cherry growers’ co- op. “He has the family values we felt were very important,” Sakuma said. “He under- stands who we are and who we are trying to be.” One issue facing Weeden will be finding enough work- ers. The company has en- countered opposition to hiring foreign seasonal workers on H-2A visas. House local food bill Consultants developing passes by slim margin PNW triticale insurance Industry reps say new federal program would reduce risk to farmers Opponent says measure downplays ag’s contributions By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — A bill hailed by supporters as a way to promote small-scale farming, but panned by critics as unneeded and a put-down of agribusiness passed the House on Friday by a 53-46 vote. House Bill 1685 would re- quire the State Conservation Commission to form a “food policy forum.” The panel would study how public agen- cies and private organizations could increase production and consumption of locally grown food. The measure passed the Democratic-controlled House with little Republican sup- port. The bill now goes to the GOP-led Senate. The bill’s prime spon- sor, SeaTac Democrat Mia Gregerson, said the forum’s recommendations could lead to slimmer and healthier res- idents. “This bill is about opportu- nity, efficiency and building a healthy Washington,” she said. “It’s about building on exist- ing public-private partner- ships and making the most out of our government resources. This forum ensures that every part of the food-related pro- cess, from farm to table, is a By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Courtesy of Washington House Republican Caucus In this file photo provided by House Republicans, Rep. Vincent Buys, R-Lynden, speaks on the House floor. Buys said March 6 that a bill passed by the House wrongly implied large-scale agriculture wasn’t producing healthful food within reach of all state residents. complete, integrated and ac- cessible system.” Without offering sugges- tions, the bill sets down sev- eral goals, such as protecting land for sustained production and ensuring everyone has access to nutritious food. It would require Washington State University to partici- pate. The bill does not specify how many people would be on the food forum, making pinpointing the cost of run- ning the group difficult, ac- cording to a report by the Of- fice Financial Management. OFM estimated the forum would cost the state $100,000 in the coming two years and maybe more later, depending on its recommendations. The State Conservation Commission is the state agen- cy that helps Washington’s 45 conservation districts preserve wildlife habitat and farmland. The ranking Republican on the House agriculture commit- tee, Vincent Buys of Lynden, disputed the idea that some residents don’t have access to healthy food grown in Wash- ington. “We have grocery stores in every area that provide high-quality foods” that come from all parts of Washington state, he said. “To somehow imply our large-scale agriculture prod- ucts are unsafe or not as of high quality as some of the locally produced agriculture products, I think does a dis- service to the state, and I think is offensive to a lot of those farmers who work those long hours and create a high-quality product. They just don’t do it on a smaller scale,” he said. Pacific Northwest farmers met last week to hear more about a federal crop insurance program that would allow them to raise more triticale. “Without that insurance, in the event of a catastrophic situation where they have total or significant loss, the capabil- ity of paying their farm loans back to the banks is greatly re- duced,” said Clif Parks, Agri- Logic consultant. AgriLogic is developing the program, for approval by the USDA Risk Management Agency. AgriLogic held meetings in Pendleton, Ore., and Almira, Wash., for growers and indus- try members to offer feedback on a proposed program. Jeff Shawver, a Connell, Wash., farmer, usually grows 1,000 acres of triticale, but said he’s taking a break from growing the crop this year because of the lack of a crop insurance program. He has a contract to raise more in the upcoming season. “It would be huge,” he said of a crop insurance program, estimating he would increase to 1,500 acres, depending on his rotations. “It’s more risky to grow without the crop in- surance. You’re really depen- dent on the weather and if the weather’s really dry or you have a freezeout, it’s really your own dollar. Too many bad years in a row, you’re probably not farming any more.” Jason Ludeman, crop in- surance agent with Crop In- surance Solutions in Spokane, said more growers in dryland areas are raising triticale as an alternative to winter wheat. It’s an area where they don’t have many crop choices, he said. “I think it is easier to grow winter triticale than it is win- ter wheat,” said Bill Schil- linger, director of Washington State University’s Dryland Research Station in Lind, Wash. “It has excellent win- ter hardiness, it doesn’t have any stripe rust problems, so you save your money on her- bicides.” Schillinger estimated a price of $136 per ton for triti- cale compared to $193 per ton for wheat. Planting in a normal year with moisture, it makes more sense to plant winter wheat, Schillinger said. But when a grower plants triticale late into low seed zone moisture, the crop produces the same amount of biomass as ear- ly planted wheat, Schillinger said. If planted into moisture, triticale produces roughly 18 percent more grain than wheat. “On those years where you can’t plant wheat early, winter triticale might be something to look at, especially with a crop insurance package,” Schillinger said. Triticale is a durum wheat- rye cross, but not related to feral rye, Schillinger said. It volunteers like wheat or bar- ley and is easily taken out, he said. Central Washington Grain Growers hedging manag- er Howard Nelson expects growers to start growing trit- icale this summer to establish their yields and production history. Pesticide worker removals down by one By DAN WHEAT Capital Press OLYMPIA — Overexpo- sure to pesticides caused eight orders for temporary work removal of pesticide handlers in Washington tree fruit or- chards in 2014, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries. That was one less than the year before and within ranges since a monitoring program began in 2004. There were nine in 2013, five in 2012, none in 2011 and 2010, 10 in 2005 and a re- cord 22 in 2004. However, the 2004 number was contested by the industry due to proce- dural problems. The department’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health began a program of testing pesticide handlers for depression of cholinesterase, a blood enzyme needed for healthy nervous systems, in 2004 after the state Supreme Court ruled the agency had to consider testing. “It’s a good program. It’s been very successful,” said Richard Fenske, director of the Pacific Northwest Agri- cultural Safety and Health Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. The percentage of handlers tested who had depressed cholinesterase dropped from 20 percent in 2004 to 7 to 8 percent in 2014, he said. Greater awareness and train- ing because of the program helped the decline, he said. He agreed with the report that 15 action level cases in 2014 were due to problems handlers have with or using protective gear. “Wearing rain gear and respirators is not perfect,” he said. “In other industries, we can use ventilation systems or restrict access to certain areas, but we don’t have those op- tions in outside work.” The program requires ag- ricultural employers to re- cord hours employees handle cholinesterase-inhibiting, toxicity class I and II or- ganophosphate and n-meth- yl-carbamate pesticides. Employers must provide cho- linesterase blood testing to employees who handle such pesticides for 30 or more hours in any consecutive 30- day period and follow health care provider recommenda- tions regarding pesticide han- dling practices and medical evaluation. Employers have to offer the blood testing, but em- ployees are free to decline it, said Pamela Cant, a depart- ment industrial hygienist. All eight temporary re- movals in 2014 were of handlers employed by five separate tree fruit growers in Central Washington, a de- partment report says. The report says toxic or- ganophosphates and n-meth- yl-carbamate pesticides were handled. Those included Lorsban, Sevin and Imidan, Fenske said. Imidan, with its active ingredient phosmet, has replaced Guthion to com- bat codling moth on apples and pears in May and June, Fenske said. The EPA banned Guthion in 2012 but allowed grow- ers to use existing supplies through September 2013. Beside eight workers temporarily removed from pesticide applications for de- pressed cholinesterase, seven others had depressions requir- ing workplace evaluations. 11-4/#4 ROP-10-6-2/#14