12 CapitalPress.com
August 14, 2015
Permit will cost from $263 to $2,373 annually
LAGOONS from Page 1
The state Department of
Agriculture currently reg-
ulates how dairies manage
manure. Officials say the
WSDA program will stay in
place, though it’s unclear
how the two programs will
co-exist. Officials say they
will work to avoid dupli-
cating regulations.
Washington Cattlemen’s
Association Executive Vice
President Jack Field said beef
cattle operators with lagoons
might have to update their
CAFO permits every time
they expand their herds.
“The best thing for a cow-
calf producer is to not get un-
der the permit,” he said. “This
changes the universe in which
an operator lives.”
DOE officials stressed Tues-
day that the proposal will go
through months of public com-
ment before the agency devel-
ops a final rule.
Puget Soundkeeper Ex-
ecutive Director Chris Wilke
praised DOE for moving to reg-
ulate lagoons, but he criticized
the agency for not proposing
stronger actions. Under the pro-
posal, lagoons will not have to
be lined for at least five years.
Also during that time, DOE
would not require testing to
learn whether a lagoon is pol-
luting groundwater.
“It’s clear there’s a need for
more monitoring,” Wilke said.
“The fact we have unlined la-
goons that we know leak is un-
acceptable.”
Even more than lagoons,
DOE officials said they are con-
cerned about manure spread on
fields sinking into groundwater.
Gordon said regular testing
of fields at various depths could
be expensive.
The permit will cost from
$263 to $2,373 annually, de-
pending on the number and
size of animals on the oper-
ation. There is no minimum
number of animals before a
producer would have to ob-
tain a permit.
Drought could reduce value of Washington’s ag output
DROUGHT from Page 1
Worst since 1977
The 2015 drought is un-
usual in several ways. It is
by far the most severe since
1977, when a dry winter and
spring spread across the state.
By the time the rains finally
arrived, they quenched all of
the state except the northeast
corner, which remained in
extreme drought until win-
ter, according to the Palmer
Drought Severity Index, a
comprehensive measurement
of moisture.
This year, nearly the entire
state is gripped by extreme
drought. Farmers on the nor-
mally wet westside of the Cas-
cade Range are as short of sur-
face water as their counterparts
on the normally drier eastside.
Water regulators on both
sides of the Cascades are cut-
ting off some irrigators to pre-
serve minimum river levels
to protect fish, wildlife and
scenery.
“As a lifelong Washington
resident, I don’t think I’ve
ever prayed for rain,” said
Tom Buroker, the state De-
partment of Ecology’s North-
west Region director. The de-
partment is responsible for all
of the state’s rivers.
Washington’s
2015
drought has grown so deep
and widespread it may do
what the 2001 and 2005
droughts couldn’t — reduce
the value of the state’s agri-
cultural output.
Agricultural impact
The Washington State De-
partment of Agriculture esti-
mated three months ago that
statewide crop and livestock
losses would total $1.2 billion
because of the drought.
Since then the weather
has gotten hotter, drier and
the drought has grown more
widespread. Dry conditions
now challenge every farmer,
from cranberry growers on
the Pacific Coast to wheat
farmers in the rolling Palouse.
In the 1977 drought, Wash-
ington’s agricultural output
declined by $49 million, or
2.5 percent compared with the
year before, according to the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture. Wheat yields were down
40 percent, and because the
water outlook was so bleak in
the spring, many acres of row
crops were not planted.
Yet irrigated crops —
those for which water could
be obtained — fared better
than expected. Fruit growers
and livestock producers saw
their incomes rise.
Help from state
To help irrigation-depen-
dent farmers, state officials
responded aggressively to the
drought in 1977. The Legisla-
ture appropriated $33 million
for drought relief, roughly
equivalent to $118 million in
today’s dollars.
Lawmakers this year ap-
proved spending $16 million
over the next two years. The
money became available 3 1/2
months after Gov. Jay Inslee’s
initial drought declaration.
Individual farmers and
ranchers may have suffered in
Photos by Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Skagit County, Wash., farmer John Thulen says the drought has been another challenge to manage. His family has been farming in north-
west Washington since 1881. “There must have been some years where all the mules died,” he says. “If I thought the sky was falling, I
should get out of farming. It’s a blip.”
2001 and 2005, but droughts
in those years didn’t prevent
the total value of Washing-
ton’s crops and livestock from
increasing over the previous
years.
This year, measures such
as emergency wells and wa-
ter right transfers have helped
reduce damages. Farmers are
persevering.
“If I thought the sky was
falling, I should get out of
farming. This is a blip,” said
fifth-generation
northwest
Washington grower John Thu-
len. His family began farming
in Skagit County in 1881.
“I’m sure there were years
where all the mules died.”
Other factors
The 2015 drought has not
lent itself to a straight-for-
ward narrative. The USDA’s
weekly crop reports through-
out the summer have relayed
concerns that heat is stressing
crops, but they also say that
some irrigated crops are do-
ing well.
A spate of media reports
in July about a pending rise
in the price of craft beers was
countered by a press release
from the Washington state-
based Hop Growers of Amer-
ica that the hop supply likely
will increase this year because
of more acreage.
The state will start get-
ting a clearer picture of the
drought’s impact as prelimi-
nary yield reports are released
this month for apples, grapes,
pears, peaches and hops, said
Dennis Koong, deputy re-
gional director for the USDA
National Agricultural Statis-
tics Service.
For some producers, other
factors may trump the drought
in determining the value of
their 2015 production.
Grays Harbor County
dairyman Jay Gordon, who is
director of governmental rela-
tions for the Washington State
Dairy Federation, said falling
global dairy prices will drive
down income, regardless of
An irrigation ditch carries water from the Skagit River to northwest
Washington farmers. The river is too low this year for farmers to
draw from it continuously.
the drought’s impact. “We’re
going to see a drop in reve-
nues in 2015, but you can’t
say, ‘Oh, it’s just because of
the drought.’”
WSDA doesn’t plan to re-
vise its estimate of drought
losses, which was made be-
fore Washington’s hottest and
third-driest June ever.
The calculation was done
at the request of DOE, and
Inslee cited the figure in mid-
May when he announced the
drought had grown into a
statewide emergency.
It’s a rough estimate, as-
suming heavy losses in the
Yakima Valley and lesser
across-the board losses else-
where. The number, never-
theless, served a purpose by
drawing attention to the po-
tential economic damage of a
drought.
Ten years ago, the state
faced another drought and
illustrated the imperfect sci-
ence of forecasting losses.
WSDA projected in 2005
that agriculture would lose up
to $299 million because of the
drought, but USDA reported 1
1/2 years later that 2005 was
a record-setting year for crop
and livestock values, increas-
ing by 9 percent over the year
before to $6.41 billion.
In 2001, also consid-
ered one of the state’s worst
droughts, Washington’s total
agricultural production was
$5.53 billion, the highest in
four years.
Several factors, however,
point to 2015 being different:
• The weather grew hot-
ter and drier: Washington’s
drought began with a small
snowpack, but calling it a
“snowpack drought” only
tells part of the story. The
warm winter extended into a
hot summer. The state’s over-
all winter precipitation was
near normal, but it’s been a
dry spring and summer.
For months, climatologists
said Washington could expect
high temperatures and normal
rainfall. Now they’re saying
the next three months will be
both hot and dry.
Inslee and others warn the
drought foreshadows climate
change. This drought, howev-
er, can be linked to a weather
phenomenon unrelated to the
build-up of greenhouse gas-
es that many scientists see as
driving global climate change.
A mass of warm water
that State Climatologist Nick
Bond has nicknamed “The
Blob” lingers off the coast.
Farther out to sea, a strong
El Nino brews. Bond pre-
dicts those two factors will
combine to provide a second
straight low snowpack winter.
By comparison, the 2005
drought declaration was fol-
lowed by heavy spring rains.
blunting the drought’s impact.
The Yakima River Basin got
twice its average amount of
rain between late March and
June.
Wheat production was
down that year, but cattle and
several crops, including ap-
ples, posted record years.
Ironically, in the midst of
drought, northwest Washing-
ton strawberry growers lost a
good portion of the harvest to
June rains.
• The drought is statewide:
By late July, the entire state
was classified as being in a
“severe drought” and near-
ly one-third was in “extreme
drought,” according to the
U.S. Drought Monitor. The
percentage of the state in se-
vere drought in 2001 topped
out at 74 percent and in 2005
at 52 percent.
In 2001, only half the
state’s residents lived in se-
vere drought areas. Every-
body feels the heat this year,
including Western Washing-
ton farmers.
• River levels drop: Low
snowpacks signaled trouble
months ago for some farm-
ers, particularly in the Yakima
Valley and on the Olympic
Peninsula.
Problems, however, spread
quickly to other regions when
rivers and streams every-
where dropped dramatically
in late spring. The Western
Washington Agricultural As-
sociation, which represents
northwest Washington farm-
ers, scrambled to find water
for two irrigation districts cut
off from the Skagit River. The
association was successful
in leasing water from senior
right holders, but only partly.
“If there’s anything we
learned, it’s that we’ve got to
be prepared,” said Brandon
Roozen, the association’s ex-
ecutive director.
• Water is less available:
Historically, a big part of
Washington’s drought re-
sponse has been to help junior
water right holders who grow
high-value crops in the Yaki-
ma Valley lease water from
farmers with senior rights
who grow lower-value crops.
This year, not nearly as
much water was available to
lease, even at prices that were
double those in 2005. The ris-
ing price of water coincides
with the increasing value of
Washington’s
agricultural
production, which was a re-
cord $10.2 billion in 2013.
• History repeats itself:
The Department of Ecology
compiled reports after the
2001 and 2005 droughts. Both
reports recommended helping
farmers line up water-leasing
options that could be exer-
cised in dry years.
“Timing is critical. The
drought was declared in mid-
March and most crops had to
be planted by April and May.
It was a challenge to put the
buying and leasing program
in motion so quickly,” the
2001 report stated.
The 2005 report proposed
“investing about $200,000” to
purchase water rights in the
Yakima Basin to transfer to
134 junior water right holders.
“Once a drought emer-
gency is declared,” the report
stated, “competition for water
coupled with the water com-
munity’s unfamiliarity with
the state water right buying
and leasing program sig-
nificantly limited the state’s
ability to purchase water at a
less-than-premium price.”
The report also suggested
“standby bonding authority”
so that DOE didn’t have to
use “creative budgeting and
accounting approaches during
drought emergencies.”
The $16 million the Leg-
islature made available at
the beginning of July won’t
have much, if any, influence
on limiting damage from this
year’s drought.
In mid-May, Inslee praised
ecology’s director, Maia Bel-
lon, for patching together a
response without an appro-
priation. “It’s taken some cre-
ativity,” he said.
Exporters are buying significantly less hay than a year ago
HAY from Page 1
Grain, hay — you name it —
will be impacted,” he said.
Mike Hajny, vice presi-
dent of Wesco International
Inc. in Ellensburg, a big hay
exporter to Japan, said he
hopes that 2014 hay works its
way through the system with-
in 60 to 90 days.
Meanwhile, exporters are
buying significantly less than
a year ago, 40 to 50 percent
less in some areas, Hajny
said. Calaway said he’s prob-
ably down 15 to 20 percent
on purchases of the 2015
crop.
There’s 2014 product still
being held by U.S. grow-
ers and exporters and in the
yards of importers overseas,
Hajny said.
It takes time for that hay
to get consumed but some
overseas buyers “are coming
through and inspecting prod-
uct. They are pleased with
the quality,” he said.
Prices have dropped be-
cause of the backlog. Premi-
um alfalfa in the Columbia
Basin is $180 to $190 per ton,
down from $220 to $230 last
year, Hajny said. Premium
Timothy is hovering around
$200 a ton; it was closer to
$300 last year, he said.
Demand for hay from
domestic dairies is flat but
domestic beef producers are
buying more because pas-
tures are drying up from
drought, Hajny said.
“Beef guys are feeding
hay 60 to 90 days earlier than
normal. It’s all over the West
Coast and into Canada,” he
said.
Hajny owns 100 pair of
registered Black Angus cows
and calves and said he’s al-
ready feeding hay.
“We normally go out on
fall pasture Timothy stub-
ble from October to Janu-
ary. There will be virtually
none of that this year due to
drought,” he said.
Beside beef cattle needing
more hay, over supply due to
the export backlog is some-
what held in check by less
production in Washington’s
Kittitas and Yakima valleys
and in California because of
drought.
Second-cutting Timothy
is down 80 to 90 percent in
the Kittitas Valley around El-
lensburg because of drought,
Hajny said. Irrigation water
to 60,000 acres served by the
Kittitas Reclamation District
was shut off Aug. 6, 2 1/2
months ahead of normal.
Hajny has ballparked that
loss at $7.6 million, figuring
20,000 acres at 2 tons per
acre and $190 per ton.
Despite less production,
Calaway said he doesn’t fore-
see any shortage.
“You can’t have curren-
cies getting weaker — Ja-
pan’s yen and now the yuan
— without it affecting ex-
porters in the U.S. Our strong
dollar coupled with some
surplus of grain is driving
down the price of seed,” he
said. “One drought in one
area of the country won’t
stop this trend. It will take a
bigger event.”