Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2015)
June 5, 2015 CapitalPress.com 9 Idaho Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Group calls for overhaul of federal quarantine By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Members of the newly formed “Idaho PCN Group” called for the over- haul of a federal pale cyst nematode eradication pro- gram May 29 during a con- ference call with Idaho Potato Commission members. They also asked for the res- ignation or termination of an IPC employee who they said has worked behind the scenes to ensure the program’s con- tinuation. Eighteen potato growers and landowners in East Idaho are affected by a federal PCN quarantine, which is adminis- tered by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Members of the PCN Group, which represents growers affected by the quar- antine regulations, recently filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn the quaran- tine and eradication program. The administrative lawsuit claims the program has failed to comply with the legal re- quirements of several federal laws and that state and federal regulators have enforced the regulations in an ad hoc man- ner. During the conference call, Andrew Mickelsen told commissioners that Idaho PCN Group members are not opposed to an eradication program but that they “are op- posed to the eradication pro- gram in its current form.” Members of the group told Idaho lawmakers this year that the regulations associat- ed with the program are bur- densome, largely unnecessary and have cost growers mil- lions of dollars. PCN is considered a quar- antine pest by more than 80 nations and federal and state officials say the regulations are necessary to protect the state’s potato industry. Mickelsen, whose farm is affected by the program, said a revamped program should provide compensation to growers impacted by the reg- ulations. “We want a program that really makes it work for ev- erybody,” he said. During the call, PCN Group members also asked for the immediate resignation or termination of Pat Kole, the IPC’s vice president of legal and government affairs. The call happened during the IPC’s regular monthly meeting in Boise and that re- quest caught commissioners by surprise. “This is brand new news for me. I’d like to have some time to think about it and di- gest it before I formulate an opinion,” acting IPC chair- man Lynn Wilcox told mem- bers of the PCN Group. IPC is not named in the lawsuit but group members on the call said Kole asked an industry group to write an amicus brief in support of the eradication program. They said IPC represents growers such as themselves and shouldn’t be taking a po- sition on the eradication pro- gram when it comes to the lawsuit. About 15 minutes into the conference call, after Idaho PCN Group members pushed for commissioners’ input on the issue, Wilcox told them, “We’re uncomfortable con- tinuing this conversation without some legal advice.” After telling them he was sympathetic to their concerns, Wilcox said, “I think it’s best we terminate the call,” before hanging up. Kole declined to comment on the group’s claim follow- ing the meeting. “What you are reporting right now is new news for everybody in this room,” IPC President and CEO Frank Muir told people on the call. He said that because the issue related to the federal lawsuit, it was best that IPC members not comment with- out a lawyer present. Psyllids arrive early in some NW potato fields Franklin County irrigators limit boat access over mussels By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press PRESTON, Idaho — Franklin County irrigation companies have implement- ed new boating restrictions at their reservoirs and are partic- ipating in an Idaho State De- partment of Agriculture pilot program creating new inspec- tion stations for invasive quag- ga mussels. The precautions are aimed at keeping the fresh-water mollusks, known to block irri- gation pipelines and infrastruc- ture, out of the state. Utah officials announced last season they suspect Deer Creek Reservoir, located about 150 miles south of the Idaho border, may be infested with quagga mussels, which are also known to inhabit Lake Pow- ell along Utah’s border with Arizona. The heightened risk prompted Consolidated Irri- gation Co., Twin Lakes Canal Co. and St. Johns Irrigation Co. to start a working group with shareholders, members of the public and governmental offi- cials to identify safeguards. “If we get infested with quagga mussels, it would prob- ably bankrupt our company,” Brian Jensen, Consolidated’s president said, adding irriga- tors would go without water for a year if the company were forced to drain its reservoirs to kill mussels. Based on the companies’ concerns about out-of-state boaters bringing invasive mus- sels into Franklin County, ISDA added new inspection stations in Weston, Glendale Reser- voir, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Treasureton Reservoir, in addition to existing stations in Malad and Franklin. Additional hot, pressure washing stations were also opened to clean boats of concern. The Franklin Soil & Water Conservation District contracts to staff the inspection and cleaning stations. Lloyd Knight, ISDA’s divi- sion of plant industries admin- istrator, said Idaho has moni- tored for mussels since 2009, investing $1.3 million to $1.5 million per year in monitoring, cleaning, education and staffing 15 to 20 mussel stations, mostly along major highways into Ida- ho. Knight said the program, authorized under the Idaho In- vasive Species Act, is funded through motorboat registra- tions, and a special sticker for out-of-state and non-motorized boats. Knight said Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Wy- oming are the only states with- out invasive mussels. In 2014, he said, ISDA sta- tions inspected 48,000 boats, finding a dozen watercraft in- fested with mussels and four harboring live mussels. This season, ISDA has inspected 8,300 boats, finding seven wa- tercraft fouled with dead mus- sels. He said 800 inspections were conducted in Franklin County through Memorial Day weekend, including 11 boats that had previously been in wa- ters known to harbor mussels. Knight said the effective- ness of the Franklin County pilot program will be evaluated at the end of the season to de- termine if new stations at the reservoirs were effective. Quagga mussel This non- native freshwater mussel poses a 0.8 inches major (Actual size) threat to U.S. waterways as an invasive species. It’s similar in appearance to its more infamous cousin, the zebra mussel. Binomial name: Dreissena rostriformis Appearance: Shell is striped, being more pale toward the end of the hinge Diet: Filter feeder Life span: 3-5 years Origin: Dnieper River drainage of Ukraine First observed: 1989 in Lake Erie near Port Colborne, Ontario Sources: USGS; www.wikipedia.org Capital Press graphic Twin Lakes President Clair Bosen said his company has restricted access to boats with more than 10-horsepower en- gines on some reservoirs and generally banned access to wake boats with ballast com- partments, or bladders. Consol- idated has also restricted wake boats on all reservoirs and will now allow only fishing boats on Johnson and Lamont reser- voirs. Bosen said the pilot pro- gram, coupled with one-time funds from the Idaho Depart- ment of Fish and Game, should cover reservoir inspection sta- tion expenses through July. He said lakes will be closed entire- ly to boating after the funding expires, if no additional reve- nue is found. The companies also backed a proposed Franklin County ordinance that would have required inspections of all watercraft entering county waterways, but failed to pass the county commission. Three potato psyllids cap- tured on bittersweet nightshade plants growing wild in Twin Falls County, Idaho, have test- ed positive for the Liberibacter bacterium that causes zebra chip disease in potatoes, according to a University of Idaho emailed alert. In addition to eight adult psyllids captured on traps near nightshade, a single potato psyl- lid was confirmed on a sticky trap from a commercial spud field in Twin Falls County. “Given that this is the earli- est we have ever found potato psyllids in potatoes and the first time we have ever found positive psyllids from bittersweet night- shade, we strongly urge growers and crop consultants to have a (pest management) program in place and to begin local monitor- ing of fields,” UI Extension ento- mologist Erik Wenninger said in the alert. Several commercial growers in Oregon have also reported po- tato psyllids in their spud fields, about a week and a half earlier than normal, and psyllids have been captured on wild host plants in Washington. Oregon State University Ex- tension entomology specialist Courtesy of Oregon State University A potato psyllid is captured on a sticky trap. The first psyllids, which spread zebra chip disease in potatoes, have arrived in the North- west earlier than normal. Silvia Rondon said overall num- bers of the small, winged insects remain low, and testing is ongo- ing to determine if psyllid sam- ples submitted by growers are positive for Liberibacter. Zebra chip, which causes bands in tuber flesh that darken when fried and reduces yields, first arrived in the Pacific North- west in 2011. Psyllid populations and disease pressure have been low during the past two seasons — in 2014, just 0.1 percent of Oregon psyllids tested posi- tive for Liberibacter. However, Rondon is uncertain how a mild winter and a turn toward warmer weather may affect psyllid popu- lations this season. Rondon said Oregon will maintain its usual monitoring program throughout the season, surveying 70 fields in Umatilla, Morrow, Baker and Union coun- ties in Oregon and Walla Walla County, Wash. In Washington, monitoring of the host plant matrimony vine has confirmed populations throughout the winter, which are now expanding, said Joe Munya- neza, a research entomologist with USDA’s Agricultural Re- search Service in Wapato, Wash. Munyaneza said eggs, nymphs and adult psyllids have also been found on traps by bittersweet nightshade. Wenninger said Idaho has started its scouting program with light monitoring of 17 sites and intensive monitoring of four sites. The program will gradual- ly expand to include light mon- itoring of 75 sites and intensive monitoring of 13 sites, similar to last season. In recent years, many Idaho growers, such as Kevin Love- land, of Fort Hall, have avoided applying zebra chip insecticides, pending confirmation of infected psyllids in their regions through the UI scouting program. “Our agronomists pay atten- tion to it big time, but I don’t think it’s gotten too serious up this way,” Loveland said of the zebra chip threat. Jeff Miller, who will check psyllid traps on behalf of Rupert, Idaho-based Miller Research, said the monitoring program should be especially important to growers this season. Idaho live animal exports soar during 2015 first quarter By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — More than $6 million worth of live cattle were purchased from Ida- ho producers during the first quarter of 2015, a 651 percent increase over the same period in 2014. The vast majority, $5.6 million, was purchased by Sudan, a Northeastern Afri- can nation with a per capita income of $4,500. The rest of the $492,000 in live animal purchases from Idaho during the quarter went to Canada. While Canada purchases live animals from Idaho regu- larly — it purchased $442,000 worth during the first quarter of 2014 — this is the first time Sudan has bought from the Gem State. Those totals are based on quarterly Census Bureau data broken down for the Idaho State Department of Agricul- ture by Global Trade Informa- tion Services. The data doesn’t say whether the animals were beef or dairy cows, but Blair Mickelson, an Idaho livestock broker who was involved in the sale of some of those live animals to Sudan, said they were all dairy cattle. Russia went on a major buying spree of live dairy and beef cattle from Idaho and other U.S. states in 2012 and 2013 after that country com- mitted $10 billion to revitalize its beef and dairy sectors. But several dairymen and ISDA officials said they don’t know the reason for Sudan’s purchase. “I haven’t heard back from them,” Mickelson said. “As far as I know, it was a one- time load.” Peter Vitaliano, vice pres- ident of economic policy and market research for the Na- tional Milk Producers Federa- tion, said major purchases like that happen from time to time by nations or groups trying to substantially upgrade their dairy herd. “That’s big, but not un- precedented,” he said of Su- dan’s purchase of live Idaho animals. Idaho live animal exports soared for awhile during the Russian buying spree but they have come to a near halt due to the recent troubles in Russia’s economy, said Laura Johnson, who manages ISDA’s market development division. Johnson said Russia is expected to start buying live cattle again once its economy improves. Mickelson didn’t talk about specifics of the Sudan purchase, but dairy and beef cattle producers who have sold live animals to Russia and other countries say it’s likely Idaho producers were paid a good premium. 16-4/#4X