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CapitalPress.com
October 23, 2015
New Christmas tree checkoff prepares for fee collection
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
As the Christmas tree har-
vest gets underway, leaders of
a new promotional program
are preparing to collect check-
off fees from farmers for the
first time.
While slumping partic-
ipation doomed voluntary
programs in the past, board
members of the nationwide
Christmas Tree Promotion
Board expect most growers
will comply with the manda-
tory assessment of 15 cents
per tree.
“It’s backed up by the
USDA, so I think most peo-
ple will take it seriously,” said
Mark Arkills, a board member
and production manager for
Holiday Tree Farms, a major
tree grower based in Corval-
lis, Ore.
The program’s staff has
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Workers load Christmas trees onto a truck in this Capital Press file
photo. Farmers will be assessed 15 cents per tree after the 2015
harvest to fund a national checkoff program aimed at promoting the
crop, which competes with fake trees from China.
been compiling a database of
contact information for eligible
tree growers around the U.S.
and will soon send instruc-
tions for paying the checkoff
fee, said Tim O’Connor, the
board’s executive director.
“We’ve been scouring the
industry to get every name we
can get,” he said.
Most farmers will hopefully
view the payments — which
will be due by mid-February
2016 — as an investment in the
industry, which is competing
with artificial trees from China,
board members said.
“It just seems absolutely
necessary for the long-term
lifetime of our industry,” said
Betty Malone, a board mem-
ber and owner of Sunrise Tree
Farm near Philomath, Ore.
The board will conduct
random and targeted audits
to ensure growers are proper-
ly paying their fees, since the
program has the authority to
subpoena and review business
records, O’Connor said.
“We have a lot to learn yet
because we’ve never gone
through our collection pro-
cess,” he said.
Farmers who don’t pay their
fees are subject to civil penal-
ties, though the exact amounts
have yet to be determined, he
said.
The goal is to ensure every-
one in the industry is paying
their fair share, which is what
distinguishes the mandato-
ry program from past efforts,
O’Connor said. “Free riders
always bring down a voluntary
program.”
The board expects to raise
about $2 million a year for re-
search and promotion, but it’s
currently operating on a line
of credit and pre-payments of
checkoff fees from some grow-
ers, said Jim Heater, a board
member and owner of Silver
Mountain Christmas Trees in
Sublimity, Ore.
“We have to watch our pen-
nies, because we’re not going
to be a real big checkoff,” he
said.
Once the checkoff funds
begin coming in, the board
will begin reviewing proposals
from advertising agencies for
the most effective ways of pro-
Colleagues rebut GMO critic’s arguments
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
Retired Purdue University pro-
fessor Don Huber describes a
growing health crisis he attri-
butes to genetically engineered
crops and overuse of glypho-
sate herbicide during his fre-
quent speeches.
Lately, the Melba, Ida-
ho, man has been touring his
home state, giving a dozen
talks sponsored by the Idaho
Republican Liberty Caucus.
He links the crop technol-
ogy to autism, Alzheimer’s
disease, Crohn’s disease, ce-
liac disease, obesity, sudden
infant death syndrome, cattle
abortions, bird flu, cancer, soil-
borne pathogens, super weeds
and a host of other environ-
mental and health problems.
His critics accuse Huber of
fear-mongering. To the extent
that he backs his claims with
scientific studies, they say he
relies on far-fetched and widely
discredited reports.
Huber believes research
questioning GMO crops has
been quashed by the chemical
industry, and anyone who dares
to stand up to the industry is
soon unemployed.
“I was lucky that I was at
that stage in my career that if
I published any of that infor-
mation, they couldn’t impact
what I set on my dinner table,”
Huber said before an Oct. 16
speech in Pocatello. “A young
professor could never do that.”
One of Huber’s chief critics,
University of Florida horticul-
tural sciences professor Kevin
Folta, believes stories of strong-
arm tactics by chemical compa-
nies are a cover for a lack of
evidence.
“If these people say they
have results they’re being fired
for, send me the results and I’ll
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publish them,” Folta said. “This
is where everybody hides who
has some sort of a scam.”
In 2011, Huber sent a let-
ter to Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack warning about
the discovery of a mysterious
organism, linked to glyphosate
herbicide and GMO crops, that
causes abortions in dairy cows.
Huber said he delivered the
message to protect the career of
another scientist conducting the
research and later began assist-
ing him.
Nearly five years later, Hu-
ber has yet to produce evidence
to back the claim, but said the
research is ongoing in China,
England, Australia and in the
U.S. At the nano-particle level,
Huber said, finding clean sam-
ples has presented a challenge.
“When he gave his talk
in Gainesville, I told him he
could give me the genetic ma-
terial and I’d sequence it, and
we could solve the crisis,”
Folta said. “I don’t like when
any scientist who has such cre-
dentials uses those credentials
in a way that’s unethical — to
scare people.”
Huber advises his audi-
ences to eat organic food, or
raise their own gardens, and to
consider testing their blood for
glyphosate contamination.
“This massive experiment
with genetic engineering is
based on false promises and
flawed science,” he said.
Huber has won converts
among the Liberty Caucus,
which is an educational arm of
the Idaho Republican Party.
“Previous to this, I wasn’t
for labeling. I was really for
the free-market solutions,” said
Karen Calisteril, the caucus
chairwoman from Northern
Idaho. “I would say I am proba-
bly leaning the other way now.”
Calisteril explained that
polling found members listed
GMO crops as their top issue
for educational presentations.
Huber gave three speeches
during the group’s Liberty
Expo in August, and Calisteril
said the talks were so popular
the caucus arranged for nine
more October speeches around
the state. Huber has spoken free
of charge.
Calisteril said the caucus
invited Monsanto to offer bal-
ance, but the company declined
the invitation.
“When we get done with
this, we’ll probably poll our
members asking them where
they stand on this,” she said.
Folta, the University of
Florida horticulture professor;
Peter Goldsbrough, head of
Purdue’s Department of Botany
and Plant Pathology; and Steve
Savage, a food and agriculture
writer and consultant, offered
their responses to some of Hu-
ber’s claims about GMO crops
and glyphosate herbicide. Hu-
ber’s claims are paraphrased:
Huber’s claim: When you
disrupt the integrity of the ge-
pathogens, which is how it
kills weakened plants, and as
a consequence diseases in both
plants and humans that were
once controlled have resurfaced
as a problem.
Savage’s response: “No,
that is not how glyphosate kills
plants. It specifically inhibits
the enzyme EPSPS. When it
comes to the human disease
claim, Huber has no data to
support what he says.”
Huber’s claim: A study
by Massachusetts Institute of
Technology computer scientist
Shiva Ayyadurai found GMO
soy contains elevated formalde-
hyde levels — which is a chief
reason squirrels and raccoons
avoid eating GMO crops if they
have the choice.
Folta’s response: “There’s
no evidence of formaldehyde
— zero. It was a single comput-
er prediction by the husband of
the woman who used to play the
Nanny on TV, who apparent-
ly wrote a computer program
that predicted you would have
formaldehyde. Any farmer
who grows (GMO crops) will
tell you they have problems
with birds, deer and raccoons.
We are currently recruiting
scientists to do a test based on
Huber’s (animal crop damage)
claim because we want to hold
him accountable. We’ve got
over 350 participants already.”
Huber’s claim: A study in
Australia shows glyphosate
harms the stomachs of pigs.
Folta’s response: “It was a
poorly done study published in
an online organic and sustain-
able journal.”
Huber’s claim: For polit-
ical reasons, glyphosate resi-
due limits are constantly being
raised to accommodate grow-
ing resistance to glyphosate.
Folta’s response: “The lev-
els have gone up, but that’s be-
cause it’s a very safe product, so
they don’t see anything wrong
with it, so they have increased
the safe residual levels.”
Huber’s claim: Glyphosate
interferes with a plant’s ability
to absorb nutrients, reducing
manganese levels by 80 percent
and iron by 50 percent, for ex-
ample.
Folta’s response: “Huber
has done some work on this that
actually wasn’t too bad. He’s
talking about experimental val-
ues that clearly don’t translate
to the field. Across the U.S. and
all over the world, millions and
millions of acres of plants are
being grown with glyphosate
spray. If they weren’t doing just
fine, farmers wouldn’t use it.”
Retired professor
warns farmers
about genetically
modified crops
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
MERIDIAN, Idaho — A
retired Purdue University pro-
fessor who has warned Agri-
culture Secretary Tom Vilsack
about the possible dangers of
genetically modified crops
has urged Ada County Farm
Bureau board members to
help change the state orga-
nization’s policy on labeling
food with GMO ingredients.
Melba, Idaho, resident
Don Huber told ACFB board
members Oct. 13 that labeling
GMO food products should
be mandatory; IFBF policy
opposes mandatory labeling.
Genetically modified crops
are variously referred to as ge-
netically modified organisms
— GMOs — or as genetically
engineered.
After hearing Huber warn
of the dangers of genetically
modified crops for 17 min-
utes, ACFB members re-
mained unconvinced.
“Absolutely not,” ACFB
President Don Sonke told
Capital Press later when
asked if the group would ask
IFBF to change its policy on
labeling. “I’m sure our policy
on GMO labeling is not going
to change.”
Huber also gave them, in
writing, a point-by-point re-
buttal of an Idaho House of
Representatives joint memo-
rial to Congress that calls for
federal standards that allow
for voluntarily labeling.
The joint memorial, which
was passed this year, also
states that foods produced
with genetically engineered
ingredients are as safe to eat
as other foods and that genet-
ic engineering offer the po-
tential for nutritional, health,
agronomic and environmental
benefits.
“Many of those claims are
wishful thinking,” Huber said.
“I beg to differ with that,”
said Doug Jones, an Idaho
farmer who is executive di-
rector of Growers for Bio-
technology and helped craft
the joint memorial.
Jones said the wording
and science behind the joint
memorial was closely vetted
with national biotechnology
and farm groups, including
American Farm Bureau Fed-
eration, as well as Idaho’s ag-
ricultural community.
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Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Retired Purdue University professor Don Huber speaks to Ada
County Farm Bureau board members about genetically engineered
crops Oct. 13 in Meridian, Idaho. ACFB members said Huber did
not convince them to help change Idaho Farm Bureau Federation
policy on the labeling of foods with genetically engineered ingredi-
ents.
netic code by inserting foreign
material, you stress the plant,
and there’s always a yield drag.
Folta’s response: “If it af-
fected yield, farmers would
not buy it. Our yields are better
than ever.”
Huber’s claim: Polling
shows 93 percent of the public
supports mandatory GMO la-
beling.
Folta’s response: “That’s
true, because guys like him go
around and scare the hell out
of people about their food, and
scientists and farmers don’t say
anything.”
Huber’s claim: GMO traits
are not something you can
wash off. Corn engineered with
Bt insecticide, for example,
contains the insecticide in every
plant cell.
Savage’s response: “Yes,
the Bt protein is expressed in
the plant’s cells, but it is an ex-
tremely specific toxin that only
affects certain insects. It has
zero toxicity to us.”
Huber’s claim: During the
summer, turkeys and chickens
that were raised on GMO feed
died of bird flu, while their
organic and wild counterparts
survived.
Goldsbrough’s response:
“More anecdotes. There is no
evidence that these bird deaths
have any connection to Round-
up Ready crops.”
Huber’s claim: The rise of
autism is strongly correlated
with the rise of glyphosate and
GMO crops.
Goldsbrough’s response:
“You can correlate lots of
things to the increase in autism,
or many other diseases, but that
doesn’t mean there is a cause-
and-effect relationship.”
Huber’s claim: A Cana-
dian study found 93 percent
of women tested had Bt tox-
in from GMO crops in their
bloodstreams.
Savage’s response: “This
study was done using an assay
system that was never designed
for use with blood serum, so it
gave false positives.”
Huber’s claim: A Moms
Across America study found
U.S. breast milk contains 76 to
166 parts per billion of glypho-
sate.
Savage’s response: “That
was not in any way a legitimate
study and a real study (present-
ed at the American Societies for
Experimental Biology Confer-
ence on July 23 by Washington
State University) found no such
presence in breast milk.”
Huber’s claim: Glypho-
sate stimulates soil-borne
moting the crop, said Arkills.
Consumer focus groups of
millennials and artificial tree
buyers show that the main chal-
lenge for real Christmas trees
is they’re perceived to be more
difficult to acquire, take home
and set up, O’Connor said.
However, real trees have an
advantage in the family expe-
rience that’s associated with
picking and cutting them, he
said.
To compare, taking an ar-
tificial tree out of the attic or
basement isn’t much of a fam-
ily event, he said. “It gives us
something the artificial tree can
never do.”
While this year has focused
on building the structure of the
checkoff program, in 2016 ex-
perts will use such information
to craft a message that will mo-
tivate consumers, said Malone.
“It’s an activity that really does
bring people together.”
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