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$2.25 MILLION ICE FINE SHOCKS TREE FRUIT INDUSTRY Page 5 Capital Press The West s Weekly FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015 Oregon faces summer with little water to spare VOLUME 88, NUMBER 24 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 THE BIG By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press If there were any doubt, WKH ¿QDO VQRZSDFN UHSRUW RI the year from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conser- vation Service shows Oregon has little water to spare going into the height of summer. Sixty percent of the NRCS’s automated measur- ing stations, called SNOTEL for snow t e l e m e t r y, INSIDE r e c o r d e d their lowest More snowpack drought on record. stories on As of June 1, only one Page 4 of the 81 SNOTEL sites in Oregon had any snow left. Water forecasters and researchers have been re- peating the same refrain for months: While the state’s precipitation totals were near normal over the winter, it fell as rain rather than snow and won’t be available to melt and feed streams as the weather warms. In Western Oregon, the snowpack was 60 to 90 per- cent below normal. On the east side of the Cascades, the snowpack ranged from 30 to 80 percent of normal, accord- ing to NRCS. In May, NRCS reported the snowpack wasn’t just meager, it was already gone. In many streams, the peak ÀRZ IURP PHOWLQJ VQRZ RF curred in February. “Snowmelt in February is months too early to syn- chronize crop planting and irrigating,” NRCS Portland snow survey supervisor Scott Oviatt said in a news release. The melt and runoff also came too early for Oregon reservoir operators to capture and store. Reservoirs were GHVLJQHG IRU ÀRRG FRQWURO and late season irrigation, and operate under rules that govern spring water releases. By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press FALLING PRICES PUT PRESSURE ON BOTTOM LINES OF FARMERS, RANCHERS E enses s ri es re ei ed indi es From 1995 to 2014, prices paid increased at a aster rate than prices received, based on research presented by niversity o daho E tension economist Paul Patterson. 120 percent ( here 2011 prices paid and received 100) Per ent hange Period 2014 Feb. 15 2013 14 2009 14 2004 14 1995 2014 100 80 E enses 1.8 4. 30 8 115 Re ei ed 8.3 0.9 33 48 4 E penses (P T inde )* All prices received ( ncludes all crops and livestoc ) 60 Turn to WATER, Page 12 Source: niversity o daho E tension ohn OConnell and Alan enaga Capital Press *Production Production items (seed, ertilizer, chemicals, uel, machinery, etc.), interest, ta es and wages 40 1995 2000 2005 2010 Feb. 2015 I DAHO FALLS, Idaho — Paul Patterson is worried. The University of Idaho Ex- tension economist believes U.S. agriculture is at a turning point. After HLJKW SUR¿WDEOH \HDUV IRU PRVW IDUP ers, he sees a return to an all-too-fa- miliar trend that has been gaining steam. The prices farmers receive for the crops they grow aren’t keeping pace with production costs, including inputs, wages, loan interest and taxes. Economists call it the “cost-price squeeze.” And, they say, sur- viving the squeeze will require farmers and UDQFKHUV WR ¿QG PRUH HI¿FLHQFLHV RU JURZ their operations so they Patterson can spread production costs over more land. Agriculture’s recent period of abundance has been the exception to the rule. Patterson, who retires at the end of June after a 34-year career, said the cost-price squeeze has been the norm, dating back to World War II. “The last seven or eight years have been some of the best in agri- culture, certainly going back at least Turn to SQUEEZE, Page 12 Photo illustration and graphic by Alan enaga Proposed Monsanto-Syngenta merger spawns antitrust concerns Fewer biotech rivals could mean higher prices, experts say By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Syngenta has so far spurned takeover ad- vances by rival agribusiness giant Monsan- to, but the possible union has raised concerns about diminished competition, experts say. The merged company would combine Syn- genta’s powerful pesticide operations with Monsanto’s supremacy in biotech traits, likely triggering scrutiny from U.S. antitrust regula- tors, experts say. “If there were further concentration, they may dominate the market in a way that’s not desirable,” said Jean-Paul Chavas, an agricul- tural economist specializing in the biotech in- dustry at the University of Wisconsin. Monsanto is seeking to buy Syngenta in a stock-and-cash deal worth nearly $45 billion and recently upped the offer with a $2 billion break-up fee if the deal is nixed. Subject to negotiations, the new company would be re-named and registered outside the United States, perhaps in the United Kingdom, Turn to MERGER, Page 12 At a g an e Na e Monsanto Company Ty e Public (NYSE: MON) Industry Ag biotechnology, crop protection chemicals ounded 1901 H St. Louis, Mo. Chair an CEO Hugh Grant Re enue $14.9 billion* Net in o e $2.48 billion* E oyees 21,900 globally* a i ities 404 in 66 countries We site www.monsanto.com Na e Syngenta AG Ty e Public (NYSE: SYT) Industry Ag biotechnology, agrochemicals and seeds ounded Nov. 13, 2000 H Basel, Switzerland Chair an Michael Demaré Re enue $15.1 billion † Net in o e $1.62 billion † E oyees 29,340 globally † a i ities 252 in 90 countries We site www.syngenta.com *FY 2013 † FY 2014