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August 7, 2015 CapitalPress.com 5 Canal expansion progresses in Odessa Subarea By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Courtesy of Amanda Brack, Columbia Basin Development League Members of the media take a tour July 29 to get a closer look at construction of the Lind Coulee Siphon Project near Warden, Wash. Water deliveries from the Columbia River are already being made to some farmers in the Odessa Subarea. The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District has begun writing water service contracts with farmers in that area for irrigation water, said develop- ment coordinator Levi Johnson. Deep-well irrigation on 2,000 acres in the subarea is being replaced using surface water, Johnson said. The deliveries are the latest in a series of efforts to bring water from the Columbia Riv- er to farmers affected by rap- idly declining aquifers. Farm- ers have been forced them to drill deeper irrigation wells or watch them run dry. Overall, 87,000 acres of ir- rigated farm land are eligible to receive water from the fed- eral Columbia Basin Project. The irrigation district is de- signing a 47.5-mile delivery system on the East Low Canal. It would deliver river water to 10,000 acres of farmland. En- vironmental reviews are un- derway, Johnson said. Six pipeline systems to de- liver water from the canal to individual farms are also in the works. “The critical point is to secure tax-exempt revenue bonds to get the capital nec- essary to build that system,” Johnson said. The district hopes to begin construction on it in the winter. The project also includes an expansion of the canal, said Mike Schwisow, director of government relations for the Columbia Basin Development League. A $26 million state grant to the irrigation district covers more than 50 percent of the cost of the canal expansion, includ- ing new county road bridges, Schwisow said. How much gets done depends on the contractor bids for the various aspects of the project, Schwisow said. Once the state grant is used, the league hopes to get federal funding for the canal expan- sion portion, Schwisow said. %LGV IRU WKH ¿UVW WZR VL- phons came in below engi- neering estimates, less than $15 million compared to more than $20 million that was pro- jected, Schwisow said. The irrigation district did the excavation work in-house, Schwisow said. “We feel like we can per- IRUPWKDWZRUNPRUHHI¿FLHQWO\ and at a lower cost than a tra- ditional, federally run construc- tion project,” Johnson said. Landowners will pay for the distribution portion of the project, Schwisow said. The original estimated cost of the project was more than $700 million for the distribu- tion system and $75 million for the canal expansion. “The district’s experience and all the work they have done now, taking a hypothetical from sever- al years ago to reality, is much, much lower,” Schwisow said. Sweet corn big business in Columbia Basin By DAN WHEAT Capital Press GEORGE, Wash. — The air conditioning in the cab of Kyle Bushman’s corn combine got its workout that day. Tempera- tures exceeded 100 degrees all afternoon on July 31. It was just another long, hot day near the front end of Wash- ington’s 2 1/2-month harvest of sweet corn. Bushman, 36, of Quincy, Wash., is in his eighth year on a harvest crew for Quincy Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Norpac Foods of Stayton, Ore. It took him only 10 minutes or so to cut and collect another eight tons of corn in the hopper of the Oxbo Legacy combine and head to the truck to dump it. He saddled the big machine ever so close up to the side of the truck so no ears of corn would spill to the ground. “I try to get within 3 inches. Usually, once a season a truck tire gets punctured (from a cone of the combine cutter),” Bush- man said. Sweet corn is big business in Washington — perhaps bigger than most people realize. The state usually ranks second in processed sweet corn to Minne- sota. Processed corn is canned or frozen. In 2014, Washington har- vested 692,000 tons of pro- cessed sweet corn from 69,400 acres, valued at $74.7 million, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Minnesota harvested 749,440 tons from 109,400 acres, valued at $84.8 mil- lion. Wisconsin was third at 542,160 tons on 65,800 acres and valued at $52.2 million. Oregon rounded out the top states at 220,480 tons from 23,200 acres, valued at $27.8 million. A lot is grown in the Or- egon’s Willamette Valley. U.S. totals were 2.6 million tons, 312,280 acres and $289.6 million in value. Washington’s sweet corn is mostly grown in the upper and lower Columbia Basin, plus some in the Yakima Valley and on the west side of the state near Chehalis. Upper Columbia Basin processors are National Fro- zen Foods in Moses Lake and Quincy Foods in Quincy. Har- vest usually begins Aug. 1. But as with so many crops this year, a mild winter and warm spring moved things along early. “We started July 15. That’s our earliest ever,” said Brian 2¶6KHD ¿HOG GHSDUWPHQW PDQ- ager of Quincy Foods. “Normally, we go to the mid- dle of October. This year, we could be done a little sooner,” he said. The company is contracted to harvest sweet corn on 6,000 acres. Yield will average 11 tons Dan Wheat/Capital Press &RPELQHVGXPSVZHHWFRUQLQWRDWUXFNLQD¿HOGQHDU*HRUJH Wash., on July 31, for hauling to Quincy Foods for freezing. Wash- ington is typically second to Minnesota in processed sweet corn. to the acre. Quincy Foods pays growers an average of $95 per ton. Harvest area runs from Mo- ses Lake to Quincy and south to Royal Slope. “National probably does twice as many acres and at least double the volume in the same geographic area,” O’Shea said. Quincy Foods harvests around the clock, seven days a week. Crews work 12-hour shifts. Each crew has three com- bine operators, a mechanic, an as- sistant mechanic and a foreman. Trucking is contracted out. The corn is hauled, 28 tons per truck, to the plant in Quincy, where it is cut off the cob and frozen or fro- zen on natural-length cobs, 5.5- inch cobs or 3-inch cobbets. It is packed and shipped throughout the year, domestic and export. “This year, we’re maturing corn faster than we ever have,” O’Shea said. “It’s the warm nights.” The nearby Washington State University AgWeatherNet station at Frenchman Hills mea- sured 1,781 heat units season-to- date on July 28. That compares with 1,376 a year earlier and about 1,250 on a 20-year aver- age, he said. “The Midwest has more acres and volume, but our yield per acre is some of the best in the nation,” O’Shea said. “Last year, we were 11 tons per acre or close to it. The Midwest averag- es about 7.” Apple, pear harvests off to early start ternational Apple Co. of Tieton. Pear harvest usually wraps up in early October and apple har- SELAH, Wash. — Wash- vest ends in early November. ington’s 2015 apple and pear “The last couple of years, harvests are starting about 10 Indian summers through Oc- days earlier than usual, and the tober have allowed us to get big questions that lie ahead are fruit off. The concern is getting the impacts of excessive heat, it off before a freeze. There’s drought and not enough labor. GH¿QLWHO\ QRW HQRXJK ODERU Fruit is expected to be out there. Even in cherries, smaller because of the heat and some warehouses were short,” drought. Smaller fruit means Alegria said. smaller crops. Sunburn damag- Many crops have been early es fruit, increasing cullage, and this year because of a light win- ¿QGLQJDQDGHTXDWHQXPEHURI ter and warm spring. But too pickers is always a concern. much summer heat can slow Matson Fruit Co. of Selah things down. began picking Ginger Gold July 2014 was the hottest apples in Mattawa on July 25. July on record in Central Wash- That compares with July 27 ington and this year’s June was two years ago and Aug. 12 in the hottest June, said Nicholas 2011, said Erin Smith, Rainier Loyd, meteorologist for WSU Fruit Co. spokeswoman. Rain- AgWeatherNet in Prosser. ier sells fruit for Matson. AgWeatherNet’s station on Bartlett pear harvest starts Whitcomb Island in the Co- soon in the Yakima Valley, and lumbia River south of Pasco the Gala apple harvest is expect- recorded 100 degrees or above ed to start Aug. 5 in Mattawa. for 14 days, June 26 through Harvests will accelerate July 9. rapidly because of the heat, “That’s a pretty impressive said Tim Smith, Washington streak,” Loyd said. State University Extension Highs were more nor- tree fruit specialist emeritus in mal, around 90, from July Wenatchee. Fruit at higher ele- 10 through 24. Temperatures vations will fare better because cooled July 25 through 28 and of lower temperatures, he said. then returned to triple digits. Harvest timing will be more The summer could still be a compressed, increasing the record for heat, depending on demand for pickers, said Jon August, Loyd said. Alegria, president of CPC In- “With all that heat, I was By DAN WHEAT Capital Press afraid fruit would ripen with no color. But the cool-down brought on some color,” said Charles Ly- all, a Mattawa grower. Apples quit growing in tri- ple-digit heat and color doesn’t develop, Lyall said. Cullage also increases, with apples scabbing from sunburn, he said. “Overhead cooling (wa- tering) helps keep sunburn at acceptable rates but when it gets that hot you’re just kind of hanging on,” Lyall said. “The concern is a lot of smaller, lower-color Gala com- ing onto the market this year,” said his brother, Frank Lyall. Growers are using sunburn protection products, including Surround, Raynox and Diffu- sion, on the more sun exposed portions of orchards. A kaolin clay and oil, Surround is used in early spring for pest control on pears. “There will be sunburn out there, but in all honesty it hasn’t been that bad. Some areas are worse than others, depending on tools to handle it,” Alegria said. “We had heat when fruit was smaller, so hopefully that’s not as bad. We’re having great nighttime temperatures so things are looking OK out there. I think we’ll have bet- ter color than last year. The million-dollar question is the weather of the next 30 to 60 days,” he said. Water panel praised for informational workshops and input on bond funds By TIM HEARDEN workshop is slated for 6 p.m. $XJ DW WKH %DNHUV¿HOG 6H- nior Center, 530 Fourth St. WILLOWS, Calif. — The Jim Watson, general manager newly hired leader of an agen- of the Sites Project Joint Powers cy trying to build a new reser- Authority, said he attended the voir in Northern California is Napa and Davis meetings and praising the state for involving was impressed by the lengths to the public as it plans to distrib- which the commission is going ute bond funds. to gather public input. The California Water Com- “Both meetings I thought mission, which is tasked with went really well,” Watson said. choosing $2.7 billion in stor- “There were some very good age projects amid the $7.5 bil- questions being asked by the lion water bond approved by public that I think will inform voters in November, recently the staff’s development of the held informational workshops regulations. ³7KLVZDVWKH¿UVWSUHVHQWD- LQ 1DSD DQG 'DYLV 7KH ¿QDO Capital Press tion of the thought process for LGHQWLI\LQJWKHSXEOLFEHQH¿WV´ the water commission will seek in proposals, he said. The workshops July 27 in Napa and July 30 in Davis sought to educate participants and gather suggestions on the timeline for selecting projects and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s and State Water Resources Control Board’s ecosystem and wa- ter-quality priorities, the com- mission’s website explained. The commission expects to have draft guidelines for review and comment later this summer. ROP-32-3-2/#4x
