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