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