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July 10, 2015 CapitalPress.com 5 3DFNHUVDVVHVVGDPDJHLQPDVVLYH:HQDWFKHHZLOG¿UH Pak all reportedly lost homes in Broadview. Hundreds of homes were evacuated. WENATCHEE, Wash. — Embers blew over a wide Two tree fruit packing com- portion of town to the industri- panies continue to assess their al section, igniting Michelsen damages and plan the upcom- and the other warehouses. A ing pear and apple packing heavy rain shower the next season one week after the morning helped knock down Sleepy Hollow Fire destroyed the wildland portion of the much of their facilities. ¿UH 0DJQXVVHQ VDLG ,Q DOO Damage to the business- about 3,000 acres burned, es and dozens of homes that mostly steep, grassy hillsides ZHUH GHVWUR\HG E\ WKH ¿UH west of town. probably exceeds $100 mil- The Stemilt plant burned lion, said Rich Magnussen, Dan Wheat/Capital Press throughout June 29. State De- a specialist at the emergency )LUH¿JKWHUVGRXVHWKHURRIRIWKH6WHPLOW*URZHUV//&SHDUDQGFKHUU\SDFNLQJOLQHIDFLOLWLHVLQ partment of Ecology person- management unit of the Chel- :HQDWFKHH:DVKRQ-XQH7KHURRIZDVFORVHWRFROODSVLQJ¿UHRI¿FLDOVVDLG QHO ZRUNHG FORVHO\ ZLWK ¿UH- DQ&RXQW\6KHULII¶V2I¿FH ¿JKWHUV UHJDUGLQJ FKHPLFDOV Blue Bird Cnc.’s packing Sheriff’s office detectives the sheriff’s office said in a :LQG SXVKHG WKH ¿UH Methyl bromide was moved plant was “pretty much de- and the state Department of news release. two miles southeast into out of Blue Bird ahead of the stroyed,” and Stemilt Growers Natural Resources are in- 7KH ¿UH ZDV UHSRUWHG DW Wenatchee, destroying 30 ¿UH DQG F\OLQGHUV RI LW ZHUH LLC’s building was “heavily vestigating the cause of the 2:15 p.m. on June 28. Ct be- homes. More than 20 of them buried in sand at Stemilt to destroyed” but some of its fire. Natural causes have gan along Sleepy Hollow were in the upscale Broad- prevent rupture, Magnussen packing line is salvageable, been ruled out, Magnussen Road just northwest of Sleepy view subdivision and the rest said. Magnussen said. said. Detectives are seeking Hollow Heights subdivi- were near it, he said. Several Methyl bromide is used to Northwest Wholesale Cnc. the public’s help in identify- sion on the south side of the were million-dollar homes, fumigate cherries to kill cod- ORVWIRXURU¿YHEXLOGLQJVDQG ing anyone near the start of Wenatchee River, Magnus- he said. Upper manage- ling moth before export to a lot of product and Michelsen the fire or connected with sen said. One barn and an ment of tree fruit companies Japan. Packaging Co. lost all of its a white Toyota pickup seen outbuilding burned in Sleepy Stemilt, Columbia Marketing Burning chicken manure outside storage of apple trays, traveling westbound at or Hollow Heights but no homes, Cnternational, Oneonta Starr fertilizer at Northwest Whole- pads and pallets, he said. near the time the fire began, he said. Ranch Growers and Crunch sale created a foul smell but By DAN WHEAT Capital Press was not dangerous, he said. An ammonia leak caused a one-hour shelter-in-place alert for part of the town downwind RIWKH¿UHWKHPRUQLQJRI-XQH &RQÀXHQFH+HDOWK&HQWHU set up an ammonia decontam- ination station but there were no injuries, he said. Stemilt is still assessing its damage but much of its pear packing line appears to be functional, said Roger Pep- perl, marketing director. The company probably won’t re- lease dollar estimates of dam- age, he said. The facilities are insured. At the time Stemilt un- veiled the new pear packing line in September 2008, Pep- perl said it cost $7 million. A Rainier cherry line in the same facility, damaged in the ¿UH ZDV LQVWDOOHG IRU million in 2003. Blue Bird Cnc., a Peshast- in fruit cooperative, still esti- mates loss of its fully insured Wenatchee facility at $30 million, said Ron Gonsalves, general manager. 1LQHGD\KHDWZDYH¿QDOO\EUHDNVLQ7UHDVXUH9DOOH\ By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Barley states respond to Cdaho’s invitation to cooperate By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOCSE — Major bar- ley-producing states are re- sponding favorably to the Cdaho Barley Commission’s invita- tion to work closely on import- ant issues that affect growers in all the states. “We’ve had some excellent responses,” CBC Administrator Kelly Olson said about a letter the commission sent to other states. “Ct has yielded a lot of new engagement.” Cdaho is the nation’s top bar- ley-producing state. The letter invited the states to work together on research and market development issues and asked for input “on ideas and strategies that you believe will help our specialty grain industry zero in on untapped opportunities and tackle rising challenges.” According to the letter, some of the Cdaho barley in- dustry’s priorities include “in- vesting in more collaborative research across state lines” and “ensuring a more competitive transportation infrastructure to move barley and malt more competitively to markets across the country and in neighboring markets in Latin America.” Cdaho’s industry also sees an opportunity to cooperate on “diversifying market channels for barley, particularly in the largely untapped domestic hu- man food market. “We look forward to work- ing with you on these and oth- er opportunities that will help boost barley production in the U.S.,” the letter concludes. Cn response, Washington Grain Commission CEO Glen Squires sent the CBC an email that said his group “is encour- aged by the opportunities to FROODERUDWH VSHFL¿FDOO\ LQ WKH area of barley research. We look forward to engaging in a strategy on how we can work WRJHWKHU WR PD[LPL]H HI¿FLHQ- cies for barley.” “We look forward to work- ing with the Cdaho crew,” stated an email response from Marv Zutz, executive director of the Minnesota Barley Research Promotion Council. Barley is a relatively small crop and it makes sense to com- bine efforts on projects that will EHQH¿WJURZHUVLQDOOWKHVWDWHV said East Cdaho farmer Scott Brown, who spearheaded the CBC’s outreach effort. “We want to take all of our resources, combine them and spend time working togeth- er instead of individually,” he said. The states “do work on a lot of the same things. Cf it’s a problem in Montana and North Dakota, it’s probably a problem in Cdaho.” Olson said the outreach effort is a priority for the CBC and has resulted in particular in a lot of new engagement with Montana, which borders Cdaho and shares a lot of the same barley cropping and ro- tation practices. the people out working in it. This cool-down, if you can call it that, will help quite a bit.” The tips of some onions in the valley are burned on the end of the leaves, which is a sign of heat stress, said Reitz. But other than that, “the crops (in the valley) made it through better than C anticipat- ed,” Skeen said. According to Clint Shock, di- rector of OSU’s Malheur County experiment station, the growing degree day index — an accu- mulation of heat used to predict when crops will bloom and ma- ture — is at a record level. There were 1,718 growing degree days from Jan. 1-July 5, far more than the typical 1,300 or fewer that could be expected by now during an average year, Shock said. Farmers said the unusually warm year has resulted in crops at a growth stage far ahead of normal. Skeen began harvest- ing wheat on June 30. “That’s absolutely unheard of around here,” he said. Middleton, Cdaho, farmer Sid Freeman said he was de- tasseling corn on July 4 for the ¿UVWWLPHHYHU “Some farmers have corn that is 8, 9 or 10 feet high. Unbelievable,” he said. “The biggest thing we’re seeing from the heat right now is that the growth stage for crops is way ahead of where we nor- mally are. Corn, sugar beets, everything is ahead of normal. There’s never been anything like this year.” BUYING 6” and UP Alder, Maple, Cottonwood Saw Logs, Standing Timber www.cascadehardwood.com ROP-27-5-4/#24 John O’Connell/Capital Press 0DOWEDUOH\JURZVLQ,GDKR)DOOV Treasure Valley farmers say their crops suffered some heat stress during a brutal nine-day heat wave but for the most part made it through OK. Researchers and growers are concerned the prolonged stretch of hot days will lead to higher insect and disease pressure. “The more heat units you have, you have more genera- tions of insects and diseases,” said Saad Hafez, professor of nematology at the University of Cdaho’s Parma research station. “We expect (we’re) going to see a lot of diseases and insects.” Stuart Reitz, an Oregon State University cropping systems ex- tension agent in Ontario, Ore., VDLG WKHUH LV VLJQL¿FDQW FRQFHUQ about spider mites, which prolif- erate in hot, dry conditions and affect several crops grown in the region. The high temperatures in Boise and in Ontario topped 100 degrees for nine straight days through July 4 and several re- cords were set during that stretch. The nine-day streak of 100-de- gree temperatures was a record in Boise, matching the previous re- cord set in 2006 and 2003. On July 5, the high tempera- ture in Ontario only reached 95 and the forecast for the region has highs mostly in the low to mid-90s for the rest of the week. “We’ve had a lot of heat for a long time,” said Nyssa, Ore., farmer Paul Skeen. “The heat’s tough on everything, including SAGE Fact #115 Between 1913 and 1922 the first modern highway in the Pacific Northwest was built along the south side of the Columbia River. The scenic Columbia River Highway connected Eastern Oregon with Portland and the Willamette Valley. Visit the SAGE Center: Sunday - Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday & Saturday 10am - 6pm 28-2/#6 28-2/#4N