July 24, 2015
CapitalPress.com
Molly Jo DelCurto serves as
Oregon’s Beef Ambassador
By ZANE SPARLING
Capital Press
7
Grasshopper, aphid numbers on the rise
WSU researchers
recommend
monitoring
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Wash. confirms
summer’s first
case of equine
West Nile virus
A 5-year-old Quarter horse
gelding in Kennewick, Wash.,
is the first equine in the state
to contract West Nile virus this
year, the state Department of
Agriculture reported Tuesday.
The horse, which was not
vaccinated for the disease, has
not left the owner’s property
recently. The horse’s status
is improving, according to
WSDA.
The Washington Animal
Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
in Pullman, operated by Wash-
ington State University, report-
ed the positive test results to the
state veterinarian Friday.
Washington had five con-
firmed cases of horses with
West Nile virus last year. The
horses were in Benton, Frank-
lin, Grant, Okanogan and Ya-
kima counties.
West Nile virus is spread by
mosquitoes that have fed on in-
fected birds. The disease sick-
ens people, horses, birds and
other animals, but it does not
spread directly from horses to
people or other animals.
The disease is fatal to horses
in about one-third of the cases
in which the illness is apparent,
although most horses do not
become ill and show no symp-
toms.
Symptoms include loss
of coordination and appetite,
confusion, fever, stiffness and
muscle weakness, particularly
in their hindquarters.
State Veterinarian Dr. Joe
Baker recommended vacci-
nating horses against West
Nile virus in the spring. Hors-
es may still benefit from first-
time vaccinations or annual
booster shots.
Besides
vaccinations,
horse owners can limit expo-
sure to mosquitoes to reduce
the risk their animals will
catch the virus.
Veterinarians who learn of
potential West Nile virus cas-
es in horses or other animals
should contact the State Vet-
erinarian’s Office at 360-902-
1881.
Last year, the USDA re-
corded 134 equine cases of
West Nile virus.
Capital Press
Courtesy of Maddee Moore
Molly Jo DelCurto, 19, of Cove, Ore., is this year’s Oregon Beef
Ambassador.
gumption — and a loan from
Mom and Dad — and soon
the junior rancher had three
flowery-named heifers: Rosy,
Daisy and Lily.
“My cattle tend to be a lit-
tle more ornery than normal.
They definitely have a mind
of her own.” DelCurto said.
“We spoiled them too much.
They got extra feed all the
time.”
DelCurto moved up the
ranks in Cove High School’s
70-member FFA contingent.
She served as chapter histo-
rian and secretary before be-
coming president in her senior
year. She also participated in
livestock judging competition
in high school and now partic-
ipates on a collegiate level.
DelCurto is pursuing a
major in agricultural business
management and a minor in
animal science. She hopes
to continue to work as an in-
dustry spokesperson after she
graduates.
During her educational
presentations, she said ex-
plaining the beef cultivation
process left the young chil-
dren “amazed.”
“They see the animals in
the field, and they see what’s
on their dinner plate, but they
have no idea how it got to that
spot,” she said.
DelCurto will vie for one
of five spots on the national
beef ambassador team in Sep-
tember. If she wins, she’ll be
in good company. In 2013,
Oregon Beef Ambassador
Jacquelyn Brown won a spot
on the traveling team.
Eastern Washington wheat
farmers should monitor their
fields for grasshoppers and
aphids, researchers say.
In the last month, aphid
and grasshopper populations
have increased, although
they’re still at relatively low
levels, said David Crowder,
assistant professor of ento-
mology at Washington State
University.
“We thought it could be
a really bad year for grass-
hoppers because it was so
dry and warm this spring,”
Crowder said. “I don’t know
if it’s just been a little bit
too hot for them. The pop-
ulation’s definitely been in-
creasing, but I don’t think
we’ve been seeing major
outbreaks.”
Crowder and other WSU
researchers survey 20 farms,
providing weekly updates
to farmers online, showing
whether pests are present
in a growing region, at low
levels or problematic densi-
ties. Surveys will continue
in Lincoln, Adams, Douglas,
Spokane and Stevens coun-
ties until harvest or there’s
no insect activity, said Diana
Roberts, regional specialist
for WSU Extension in Spo-
kane and Lincoln counties.
Crowder advises farmers
look for immature grasshop-
pers, as they are an “early
warning” sign for the more
ravenous adults, which do
more damage.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
A grasshopper perches on a stalk of wheat in Allen Druffel’s field
south of Uniontown, Wash., the morning of July 20. Washington
State University researchers are advising farmers to monitor their
fields for increased grasshopper and aphid activity.
Online
http: //smallgrains.wsu.edu/
wheat-and-barley-insect-pest-
surveys/
Grasshoppers primarily eat
wheat plants, causing major
yield losses to spring wheat
and other cereals in outbreak
years.
Aphids cause direct feed-
ing damage. They also trans-
mit diseases to wheat and oth-
er crops, particularly to young
plants. Problems have turned
up in winter wheat in the Con-
nell, Wash., area in recent
years, Crowder said.
High numbers of aphids
can produce a sugary waste
product called “honeydew,”
which can be a habitat for
fungal pathogens. Aphid pop-
ulations aren’t up to that level,
Crowder said.
“Overall, the populations
are not at particularly alarm-
ing levels, although they are
increasing, so we’re con-
tinuing to monitor them,” he
said.
Growers who find insects
should consult their crop con-
sultant or call the research
team, Roberts said.
It’s the first year for the
project. The researchers
hope to determine econom-
ic thresholds, or the popula-
tion densities where farmers
should treat their fields.
“A lot of these questions,
we don’t have the full answers
to them right now,” Crowder
said.
“We will be putting our
heads together after the sea-
son to figure out what to do
next,” Roberts said.
BUYING 6” and UP
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The Oregon CattleWomen
have named Molly Jo DelCur-
to as the state’s official Beef
Ambassador.
The 19-year-old Linn-Ben-
ton Community College soph-
omore will serve as the public
face of the industry, inter-
acting with a consumer base
that is increasingly concerned
with everything from humane
slaughter methods to the myr-
iad uses of animal byproducts.
“A lot of people don’t
know how the process
works,” DelCurto said. “The
biggest (misconception) is
thinking that beef is grown on
factory farms, when in reality
it’s grown on family farms.”
Appointed to the position
in late March, DelCurto has
already promoted the inter-
ests of ranchers at Salem’s Ag
Fest, at Oregon State Univer-
sity’s Summer Agricultural
Institute and through presen-
tations to elementary school
children in her hometown of
Cove.
She’ll also appear at the
Oregon State Fair and the
East-West Shrine All-Star
Football Game, a fundraiser
for the Shriners Hospital for
Children, in Baker City.
DelCurto was awarded a
$500 scholarship for the am-
bassadorship after emerging
from a crowded field of ap-
plicants, according to Oregon
CattleWomen President Kath-
arine Jackson.
“I think that Molly is ready
to go,” Jackson said. “She has
a very calm presence and will
be able to say what needs to
be said.”
Growing up on a hob-
by ranch where her parents
raised registered Angus cat-
tle, DelCurto started her own
mini-herd when she was
9-years-old.
All it took was a little grit,
IN FOCUS: PRIVATE CAPITAL FOR NEW WATER SUPPLIES
Twenty-first century water resources management will be best served by engaging the power of private
sector capital and respecting viable project economics. For the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association
(CSRIA), this means acting on sound technical and financial information, and conveying honesty by not
attempting to deceive others, or worse, deceive yourself.
Two water projects affecting Eastern Washington’s future wellbeing bear witness to CSRIA’s call to advance
private sector capital and economic prudence.
First, a recent attempt to legislate new, statewide taxes to pay for the Yakima Basin Integrated Water
Supply Plan lacked targeted focus and ignored the plan’s multi-billion dollar costs — nor did legislators
place adequate responsibility on those who receive the benefits versus those paying the costs.
Two parts of the integrated plan that adhere to economic reality — district-specific water efficiency
improvements and gaining access to Upper-Basin reservoir “dead” storage — are doable via private capital
funding.
The CSRIA submitted a substitute bill requiring 50 percent of the plan component costs to be paid by the
direct beneficiaries (irrigators), and the remainder funded through permit charges by issuing new Columbia-
Snake River water rights. Combined, both funding mechanisms could access about $600 million in private
sector capital, relying on direct private lending and market-value payments for new water permits. The
private capital streams would create two new sources of water supply.
To date, the CSRIA bill has been ignored by the “new tax” priests — trained before the public funding altar
that blessed 20th century water projects.
Second, in the water-starved Odessa Subarea, the engineering and water management expertise and
financial horsepower of private irrigators is being shunned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and
the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District. Working with CSRIA, the irrigators have prepared the
engineering and economic studies to proceed with building three water distribution systems, accessing the
East Low Canal, where scarce USBR-state funding for canal modifications has already been allocated.
The irrigators have secured $42 million for immediate construction of the first water distribution system —
pumps and mainline from the canal — and have commercial lenders ready to issue about $100 million for
completion of several systems. The irrigators would pay their own direct system costs and do so with private
sector lending; and the irrigators would adopt water management practices superior to that used by the
USBR. The irrigators’ systems would be “turn-key” projects, built by the irrigators, with operational control
and operation/maintenance turned over to the district upon construction completion. Private sector capital
and experience at work.
But the private sector construction is being delayed by the USBR’s refusal to release new water service
contracts to the irrigators. This denial is vested in the USBR’s cultural inability to work directly with private
irrigators and capital, preferring the 20th century “relationship” of working with an irrigation district, even
though the district’s “plan” is illusionary, lacks irrigator support, and possesses no financial backing. The
Odessa Subarea wells are running dry, while the USBR and district fiddle away time and other people’s
resources.
The above water projects are complicated, but the dominant factor impeding both is a 20th century mindset
cursed by a zombie-like approach to sucking the financial life blood from a frail public sector body.
New water projects call for an infusion of 21st century private capital and require high-efficiency water
management practices. It is time for a culture change.
Ron Reimann is CSRIA Board President
Darryll Olsen, is CSRIA Board Representative
Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2015/04/19/3516430/in-focus-private-capital-for-new.html#
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