October 16, 2015
CapitalPress.com
15
Idaho funds yellow onion
marketing push in Mexico
Comments sharpen
Wash. debate over
manure lagoons
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
PARMA, Idaho — The
Idaho-Oregon onion industry
will use a $35,000 specialty
crop grant to educate consum-
ers in Mexico about the yellow
bulb onions grown in this re-
gion.
Farmers in southwestern
Idaho and Malheur County in
Eastern Oregon grow about 25
percent of the nation’s storage
onions and 90 percent of the
onions grown here are yel-
lows.
Mexico is a promising mar-
ket for Idaho-Oregon onions
but Mexican consumers are
more familiar and comfortable
with white onions, said Candi
Fitch, executive director of the
Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion
Committee, which received
the grant from the Idaho State
Department of Agriculture.
“There is a lot of potential
in Mexico and we want their
consumers to understand how
versatile a yellow onion is,”
she said. “They’re more famil-
iar with the white onion ... and
we’re just trying to introduce
them to the yellow onion.”
The grant will help the
committee overcome the
lack of knowledge about yel-
low onions that exists in the
Mexican marketplace, said
Standage Produce CEO Joe
Standage, a member of the
IEOOC’s export committee.
“They are not accustomed
to the presentation of a yellow
onion on a plated dish; it’s
just not what they’re (used) to
looks-wise,” he said. “It’s just
a matter of educating them
that the yellow onion is still
good.”
The IEOOC received a
similar grant from the ISDA
last year that was used to pro-
mote onions at the retail level
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Yellow onions grown in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho and Oregon are sorted at the JC Watson
Co. packing facility in Parma, Idaho, Sept. 15. The region’s onion industry will use a $35,000 grant
to educate consumers in Mexico about the versatility of yellow onions.
in Mexico through in-store
promotions. This year’s grant
will be used to target Mexico’s
food-service industry.
“Anything we can do to
educate consumers in Mexico
about the yellow onion versus
the white onion is money well
spent,” Standage said. “It will
definitely help us promote our
product down there.”
The two-year project will
include cooking seminars,
menu promotions and receipt
development in several cities
in Mexico.
Some of the money will
also be used to help offset the
cost of onion industry rep-
resentatives going on trade
missions, which Fitch said
provide opportunities to meet
potential new buyers and gath-
er in-depth information and
insight into the demographics
of foreign markets.
“We want to build our
identity in other markets and
continue to create market
share for our onions in other
countries,” she said. “It’s a
global economy so we want to
try to find as many markets as
possible for our onions.”
The IEOOC will evaluate
trade missions as they become
available to determine which
ones will benefit the industry
the most, Fitch said.
UNION GAP, Wash. — The
Washington Department of
Ecology has yet to fully digest
comments on its proposal to
regulate manure lagoons, but a
few key issues are emerging.
The issues include soil-test-
ing mandates, reporting re-
quirements and whether DOE
rightly assumes unlined lagoons
pollute groundwater, Heather
Bartlett, the department’s water
quality manager, said.
Manure lagoons figure
prominently as DOE revises
water-pollution controls for
wherever livestock are gathered
to feed at least 45 days in a year.
Only 10 operations in the
state have permits for concen-
trated animal feeding opera-
tions. CAFO permits detail
what producers must do to pre-
vent surface water pollution.
DOE plans to extend the
protection to groundwater and
has tentatively proposed that
any producer with an unlined
manure lagoon obtain a CAFO
permit.
The requirement could ap-
ply to hundreds of producers.
The Washington State Dairy
Federation warns that permit
requirements would drive some
dairies out of business. The
Washington Farm Bureau has
challenged the assumption that
unlined lagoons automatically
pollute groundwater.
At a meeting at DOE’s Cen-
tral Washington regional office
Sept. 29, Bartlett outlined for
the department’s Agriculture
and Water Quality Advisory
Committee concerns that DOE
has heard so far about the pro-
posal.
Topping the list is DOE’s
stance on unlined lagoons. Only
lagoons lined with two synthet-
ic layers and with a leak-detec-
tion system between the layers
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Washington Department of
Ecology water quality manager
Heather Bartlett speaks to the
department’s Agriculture and
Water Quality Advisory Com-
mittee on Sept. 29 at DOE’s
Central Region office in Union
Gap. Bartlett outlined major is-
sues emerging as DOE moves
to regulate manure lagoons.
would be exempt from CAFO
requirements, according to
DOE’s tentative proposal.
Bartlett said after the meet-
ing that DOE believes pollution
seeping from lagoons endan-
gers groundwater, but the de-
partment remains open to other
ways to reduce risks besides lin-
ing lagoons.
She said she couldn’t say
whether DOE will alter its po-
sition on unlined lagoons. DOE
expects to make a formal pro-
posal late this year or early next
year and have a final rule in
place by summer.
“I don’t want to over prom-
ise and under deliver,” Bartlett
said. “People in the environ-
mental community are saying,
‘You’re not going far enough.’ ”
DOE released the prelim-
inary proposal in August. A
comment period ended Oct. 2.
Once DOE updates its propos-
al, another comment period will
follow.
Breast Cancer Symptoms:
What You Need to Know
By Stacy Simon
An important way to keep up
with your breast health is to be
aware of how your breasts
normally look and feel, and
know what changes to look for.
Finding breast cancer as early as
possible gives you a better
chance of successful treatment.
But knowing what to look for is
not a substitute for screening
mammograms and other tests,
which can help find breast
cancer in its early stages, even before any
symptoms appear.
Below are some common breast symptoms
and what they might mean. If you have
any of them, get checked right away.
A lump in your breast
A lump or mass in the breast is the most
common symptom of breast cancer. Such lumps are
often hard and painless, though some may be painful. Not all
lumps are cancer, though. There are a number of benign breast
conditions (like cysts) that can also cause lumps. Still, it’s important
to have your doctor check out any new lump or mass right away.
If it does turn out to be cancer, the sooner it’s diagnosed the
better.
Swelling in or around your breast, collarbone,
or armpit
Breast swelling can be caused by inflammatory breast cancer, a
particularly aggressive form of the disease.
Swelling or lumps around your collarbone or armpits can be
caused by breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes in those
areas. The swelling may occur even before you can feel a lump in
your breast, so if you have this symptom, be sure to see a doctor.
Skin thickening or redness
If the skin of your breast starts to feel like an orange peel or gets
red, have it checked right away. Often, these are caused by
mastitis, a breast infection common among women who are
breast feeding. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the
infection. If your symptoms don’t improve after a week, though,
get checked again, because these symptoms can also be caused by
inflammatory breast cancer. This form of breast cancer can look a
lot like a breast infection, and because it grows quickly it’s
important to diagnose it as soon as possible.
Breast warmth and itching
Like skin thickening and redness, breast warmth and itching may
be symptoms of mastitis – or inflammatory breast cancer. If
antibiotics don’t help, see your doctor again.
Nipple changes
Breast cancer can sometimes cause changes to how your nipple
looks. If your nipple turns inward, or the skin on it thickens or
gets red or scaly, get checked by a doctor right away. All of these
can be symptoms of breast cancer.
Nipple discharge
A discharge (other than milk) from the nipple may be alarming,
but in most cases it is caused by injury, infection, or a benign
tumor (not cancer). Breast cancer is a possibility, though, especially
if the fluid is bloody, so your doctor needs to check it out.
Pain
Although most breast cancers do not cause pain in the breast,
some do. More often, women have breast pain or discomfort that
is related to their menstrual cycle. This type of pain is most
common in the week or so before their periods, and often goes
away once menstruation begins. Some other benign breast
conditions, such as mastitis, may cause a more sudden pain. In
these cases the pain is not related to the menstrual cycle. If you
have breast pain that is severe or persists and is not related to
the menstrual cycle, you should be checked by your doctor. You
could have cancer or a benign condition that needs to be treated.
Again, while benign breast conditions are much more common
than breast cancer, it is important to let your health care team
know about any changes in your breast so they can be checked
out right away.
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