September 18, 2015
CapitalPress.com
5
Amalgamated reporting strong early sugar beet harvest
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
AMERICAN FALLS, Ida-
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gamated Sugar say they’re
on track for record yields and
good sugar content at the start
of their early harvest.
“The overall sugar at the
South Pleasant Valley receiv-
ing station is up quite a bit
from last year. Tonnage is up
slightly from last year,” said
Jim Tiede, an American Falls
farmer.
Magic Valley beet grow-
ers started digging on Sept.
7, with Eastern Idaho growers
commencing the following
day, and growers should con-
tinue harvesting through Nov.
1. Operations commenced
Sept. 10 at the Twin Falls and
Paul factories, and processing
of a large crop should con-
tinue for the next 10 months,
said Amalgamated President
and CEO John McCreedy.
“Our indication at this
point is we have a very, very
high tonnage,” McCreedy
said. “We could have a record
crop in terms of size and total
amount of sugar produced.”
McCreedy said he’s cau-
tiously optimistic about sugar
levels.
“If the trend stays consis-
tent, what we would antic-
ipate seeing is better sugar
content than we’ve seen in
the past couple of years,” Mc-
Creedy said.
According to a Sept. 1
forecast by the USDA’s Na-
tional Agricultural Statistics
Service, Idaho should pro-
duce 6.3 million tons of sugar,
with yields expected to aver-
age 37.6 tons per acre, up 0.1
tons. In Amalgamated’s Ore-
gon territory, beet production
is forecast at 495,000 tons,
with yields expected to rise 12
percent to 39 tons per acre.
Rupert, Idaho, farmer
Duane Grant, chairman of
Snake River Sugar Co., said
some of his beets have tested
at 16 percent sugar, which is
strong for so early in harvest.
“We have expectations for
an above-average crop, both
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also look to be at least aver-
age, and perhaps above aver-
age,” Grant said.
Grant noted some growers,
especially near Glenns Ferry,
were hard hit by the fungal
disease Aphanomyces.
Based on strong produc-
tion, McCreedy anticipates
Amalgamated growers will
enjoy above-average beet re-
turns. Sugar prices, however,
have been trending downward
since early 2015 and have
dropped about 6 cents per
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cents per pound.
Jack Roney, an economist
with the American Sugar Al-
liance, explained sugar prices
plummeted during 2013 due to
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ar on the U.S. market. Prices
recovered in 2014 when the
U.S. government imposed an-
ti-dumping and anti-subsidy
duties on Mexican sugar, and
the U.S. and Mexican govern-
ments reached an agreement
by the end of the year allow-
ing duty-free Mexican sugar
imports to resume, with vol-
umes limited to demands of
the U.S. market.
Romey believes price de-
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the certainty that has been
returned to the market” fol-
lowing the suspension of the
duties.
Roney said the U.S. beet
crop appears to be strong
this season. Furthermore,
he said, Australia requested
greater access to sell sugar
into the American market
during Trans-Pacific Part-
nership negotiation. U.S. ne-
gotiators have assured sugar
producers they may make
minor concessions to Aus-
tralia but won’t undermine
the nation’s sugar policy,
Roney said.
Idaho spud growers report big size, fewer tubers
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Central Washington rancher Sam Kayser talks Aug. 4 in the Teanaway Community Forest about efforts
to prevent wolf depredations on livestock. Kayser has lost two cows to wolves this summer. Most
recently, a Washington State University graduate student conducting wolf research found on Sept. 5 a
cow killed by wolves.
Rancher resigned to wolves,
but can’t afford depredations
Attacks occur despite preventive measures
By DON JENKINS
Wolves also killed a cow that
was found on the state land in
An Ellensburg ranch- mid-July.
er who has lost two cows to
The depredations occurred
Washington’s western-most even though Kayser has taken
wolf pack says he still hopes every possible step to prevent
to coexist with wolves, but them, WDFW wolf policy co-
WKDW ¿QDQFLDOO\ DQG HPRWLRQ- ordinator Donny Martorello
ally he can’t take ongoing said.
depredations.
Kayser has an agreement
“I’m not going to go for with WDFW to use non-le-
that. I don’t know what I’d do thal means to deter wolves.
about it. We’d have to cross He shares the cost of em-
that bridge when we came to ploying a range rider with an
it,” Sam Kayser said Monday. environmental group, Con-
In mid-June, Kayser turned servation Northwest. The
loose about 180 cow-calf pairs calves were kept in a fenced
on a state grazing allotment area away from wolves until
north of Cle Elum in Central they weighed more than 200
Washington. The Teanaway pounds.
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The range rider can track
members, has roamed the area the pack’s general location
since at least 2011, but it did because three members have
not have a record of attacking EHHQ¿WWHGZLWKUDGLRFROODUV
livestock until this summer.
“We have all the tools
The state Department of in place,” Martorello said.
Fish of Wildlife determined “There’s no way to take the
that a cow found dead Sept. 5 risk to zero.”
on U.S. Forest Service prop-
A second producer grazes
erty near the state grazing almost 2,000 sheep on Forest
land was killed by wolves. Service and private land in the
Capital Press
area, according to WDFW.
The producer lost at least
three sheep to cougars this
summer. In early September,
another three ewes and two
lambs were killed by pred-
ators, but the carcasses had
been scavenged, and WDFW
couldn’t identify the predator.
The sheep rancher has
used a range rider and up to
11 dogs, according to WDFW.
At times this summer, radio
collars indicated wolves were
in the immediate vicinity of
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Also this year, wolves in
northeast Washington have
killed three cows and one calf
and seriously injured a sheep
dog. Those attacks took place
where wolves are no longer
a federally protected species.
WDFW has said lethal remov-
al would be the next step if
more depredations occur.
In Central Washington,
wolves are protected by the
federal Endangered Species
Act, and shooting or relocat-
ing them are not options, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
spokeswoman Ann Froschau-
er said.
AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho
— Early in their potato harvest,
Idaho growers say they’re dig-
ging fewer spuds than last year,
but tuber sizes are much larger.
Growers — who are now
digging early maturing variet-
ies such as Russet Norkotah,
specialty types, reds and Ranger
Russets — anticipate yields will
be down from last season, but
will still be above average.
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ly bigger (tuber) size,” said Ab-
erdeen grower Doug Ruff, who
started digging chip potatoes on
Sept. 11.
Aberdeen grower Ritchie
Toevs has been happy with the
lack of rot and high percentage
of dry matter in his spuds and
anticipates bulk will make up
for reduced tuber numbers. His
quality has been variable.
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beautiful and another one that’s
course,” Toevs said. “Last year,
where they were smaller, they
were all smooth. This year, some
of our big potatoes had knobs.”
Toevs said the return to Ida-
ho growers remains well below
the cost of raising spuds.
“I don’t know why we don’t
manage shipments. It’s frustrat-
ing,” Toevs said.
Doug Gross, a Wilder grow-
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Workers clean and load red potatoes following harvest Sept. 11 in
WKH3OHDVDQW9DOOH\DUHDRIVRXWKHDVW,GDKR7KHVL]HSUR¿OHRIWKH
crop appears to be up, while the number of tubers is down.
er, said his Norkotah yields
and quality are average and his
Rangers are slightly above aver-
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about the opposite of last season,
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“The old crop is pretty well
gone and the new crop, it looks
like there’s better size,” Gross
said. “The carton sizes are start-
ing to decline (in price), and the
consumer bags are starting to
rise.”
USDA lists Norkotah pric-
es for the Twin Falls-Burley
district at $12 to $16 per hun-
dredweight for cartons and
$9 to $12 per hundredweight
for 10-pound consumer bags.
Since mid-August, University
of Idaho Extension economist
Chris McIntosh said prices of
10-pound consumer bags are
up $3 per hundredweight, but
60-count cartons have dropped
$7 per hundredweight.
Retired UI economist Paul
Patterson is hopeful that cheap-
er prices during the past season
triggered more consumption of
fresh spuds, thereby changing
consumer behavior. Though
Russet Burbank harvest won’t
commence until later this month,
Idaho Potato Commission Pres-
ident and CEO Frank Muir said
test digs indicate Idaho’s major
variety will also have larger size
but fewer tubers beneath each
plant.
Strong dollar, port slowdown reduce potato exports
problems that are still being
resolved, including foreign
buyers switching to other sup-
DENVER — A strong pliers and a mid-summer glut
dollar, a labor slowdown at caused by U.S. spud products
West Coast container ports ¿QDOO\ DUULYLQJ RQ WRS RI UH-
and a large European pota- placement purchases. He said
to crop aligned to cause U.S. USPB committed an addi-
potato exports to drop for the tional $300,000 reallocating
¿UVW WLPH LQ D GHFDGH GXULQJ some of its USDA Market
the marketing year that ended Access Program dollars, em-
June 30, according to a recent phasizing Japan and South
U.S. Potato Board report.
Korea, to win back lost U.S.
The value of U.S. spud customers.
exports, estimated at nearly
$1.625 billion, was down 7
percent from the previous year,
according to the report.
Export volume — estimat-
ed at nearly 68 million hun-
dredweight on a fresh weight
equivalent — was down about
5 percent, but still amounted
to the second highest export
volume on record, according
to USPB.
USPB Chief Marketing
2I¿FHU -RKQ 7RDVSHUQ VHHV D
rosier export outlook for the
current crop, given that the
port labor dispute has been
resolved, the Euro is strength-
ening and this year’s European
potato crop should be down
due to reduced acreage and
some weather challenges.
“I do think we will resume
growth this coming year,”
Toaspern said.
Toaspern said the port
slowdown created lingering
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
USPB reported the larg-
est export reduction occurred
in the frozen category, where
exports, estimated at $890 mil-
lion, were down by 11 percent.
Frozen export volume, with
a fresh weight equivalent of
nearly 4.7 million, was down
12 percent.
Japan, the major foreign
buyer of U.S. frozen potatoes,
cut its U.S. volume by 23 per-
cent and its global frozen pur-
chases by 13 percent.
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