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VOLUME 88, NUMBER 16
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
đ
$2.00
GMO
critics,
proponents
agree on
mediation
system
đ
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
LITTLE PEST,
BIG PROBLEM
Potato growers say they need relief from regulations
aimed at eradicating pale cyst nematodes
By SEAN ELLIS
Pale cyst nematode explained
Capital Press
S
HELLEY, Idaho — Potato growers in a small federally
regulated quarantine area in Eastern Idaho say they’ve
been asked to bite the bullet for the entire Idaho potato
industry for too long.
They have turned to state legislators for help.
“We’re tired of carrying the load,” Bryan Searle recently told
members of the House Agricultural Affairs Committee. “If we’re go-
ing to carry one for the team,
we need help to continue.”
Searle and a handful of
other potato farmers told
legislators that federal and
state regulations designed
to eradicate pale cyst nem-
atode from the quarantine
area are burdensome, might
be unnecessary in some cas-
es and have cost growers
millions of dollars.
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Federal and state offi -
ABOVE: A worker at Mickelsen Farms in Firth, cials say the regulations
Idaho, fi lls a front end loader with potatoes to
designed to eradicate PCN,
load into a spud planter on April 13.
which is considered a quar-
TOP PHOTO: An Eastern Idaho potato fi eld in-
antine pest by more than 80
fested with pale cyst nematodes is prepared for a nations, are necessary to
methyl bromide fumigation. Courtesy of USDA APHIS protect the state’s $900 mil-
lion potato industry.
The PCN — a tiny worm that feeds off potato plant roots —
can cause wilting, stunted growth, poor root development and
early plant death and signifi cantly reduce yields.
Turn to PCN, Page 12
ISDA
Director
Celia Gould
It was
“hugely
frustrating
(to hear)
allegations
that they
had not
been
listened to or
had not had
any voice in
the process
because
from day
one they
had a voice.”
PCN are small, worm-like organisms, around one millimeter in
length, that feed on the roots of potatoes, tomatoes, other plants
of the Solanacease family. A serious
infestation can reduce potato yield
by as much as 80 percent.
Normal
potato
plant
Plant
with heavy
nematode
infestation
Sources:
USDA APHIS;
Minnesota Dept.
of Agriculture
Biology
1: A fertilized female breaks
through the root surface.
7
2: The female’s body swells
4
with more than 400
developing eggs.
2
3, 4, 5: The female dies.
3
Her body hardens into a
5
cyst, which undergoes
various color stages.
1
6: In the absence of a host,
6
the cyst can remain dormant
in the soil for up to 20 years.
Alan Kenaga/
7: Cross section of a cyst shows
Capital Press
eggs and hatching larvae, which invade
the root tips of a host plant to feed, starting the cycle over again. In
temperate regions, typically one generation of PCN occur each year.
SALEM — Disputes over
genetically modifi ed crops
would be mediated by Or-
egon farm regulators under
legislation that has won sup-
port from biotech critics and
proponents.
Mediators from the Or-
egon Department of Agri-
culture would help resolve
coexistence confl icts among
growers of biotech, con-
ventional and organic crops
as part of House Bill 2509,
which is headed for a vote on
the House fl oor.
A farmer who refuses to
participate in such mediation
and later loses a lawsuit in
the dispute would be required
to pay the op-
posing party’s
costs and attor-
ney fees.
In confl icts
over infring-
ing farm prac-
Bushue
tices — such
as unwanted
cross-pollination
between
crops — ODA offi cials would
also oversee the collection of
samples to establish a “chain
of custody.”
Barry Bushue, president of
the Oregon Farm Bureau, said
if passed the legislation will
cast a light on the number and
type of such disputes, which
are currently largely anecdotal.
“We feel this is highly pref-
erable to any kind of mandates
and practices that favor one
type of crop over another,”
Bushue said during an April
14 hearing before the House
Committee on Rural Commu-
nities, Land Use and Water.
Committee Chairman Bri-
an Clem, D-Salem, said the
proposal emerged from a work
group on genetically modifi ed
organisms and has not met
with any opposition from par-
ticipants.
The bill was unanimous-
ly referred for a vote on the
House fl oor with a “do-pass”
recommendation during the
April 14 work session.
“It creates an incentive for
people to mediate coexistence
Turn to GMO, Page 12
ICE: Don’t help workers with immigration programs
No safe harbor for employers who fi nd workers are illegal
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — U.S. Im-
migration and Customs En-
forcement rejected a request
from a farm
labor associ-
ation for safe
harbor for em-
ployers help-
ing employees
apply for tem-
Fazio
porary
legal
work
status
even though a sister agency
granted safe harbor for em-
ployees.
On Feb. 27, Dan Fazio,
director of the Washington
Farm Labor Federation, sent
a letter to Sarah Saldana,
INSIDE
• Immigration action
back in limelight
Page 12
AP File photo
Farmworkers pick paper trays of dried raisins off the ground and
heap them onto a trailer in the fi nal step of raisin harvest in 2013
near Fresno, Calif.
director of ICE, requesting
safe harbor for employers.
Through executive action,
the Obama administration has
created two programs to grant
certain illegal immigrants
temporary work permits and
deferral from deportation.
In preparing to apply for
two immigration programs
— Deferred Action for Par-
ents of Americans (DAPA)
or an expanded version of
Deferred Action for Child-
hood Arrivals (DACA 2.0)
— employees might seek
employment records from
employers, Fazio said. If
they admit they are in the
country illegally, or say
they need the records to
apply for DAPA or DACA
2.0, the employer has to
fire them or be liable for
audit and prosecution for
hiring ineligible workers,
Fazio said.
Workers apply for DAPA
or DACA 2.0 with U.S. Cit-
izenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) which has
said it will not disclose ap-
plicants to ICE or Customs
and Border Protection for
immigration enforcement,
Fazio said.
In a March 30 reply to
Fazio, Traci Lembke, ICE
assistant director, wrote that
employees must be autho-
rized to work at the time of
hire.
There is no special consider-
ation for unauthorized workers
who may be eligible for DAPA
or DACA 2.0, she wrote.
Turn to ICE, Page 12