November 6, 2015
CapitalPress.com
Mustard expanding to Picabo area
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
Cherry farm refutes
lawsuit allegations
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
John O’Connell/Capital Press
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Meadows
anticipates
mustard prices will also be
attractive to growers. He
expects next season’s con-
tract prices will increase by
a few cents per pound due
to a short Canadian crop. He
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major crop, are also trending
upward.
“I don’t know any com-
modity right now, other
than oilseeds, showing price
strength,” Meadows said.
Meadows said his saf-
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cent in 2015, and growers
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crop in more than four de-
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up about 20 percent, with the
most dramatic increases on
dryland farms. Test weights
and oil content were also up.
Meadows said mustard
was his priority this season,
and he increased acres of the
crop by nearly 20 percent.
Mustard yields were strong
on dryland but varied from
below average to exceptional
under irrigation.
Swan Valley dryland
grower Gordon Gallup raised
his best mustard crop this
season, yielding nearly 1,200
pounds per acre. He intends
to increase his mustard acre-
age next season. Gallup said
this season’s crop was price
competitive with malt barley,
but mustard also helps break
disease cycles and improves
soil health.
“I think it’s helping with
our wireworm situation,” Gal-
lup said. “It’s got a natural
fumigation, as well as a tap-
root.”
Meadows intends to host a
meeting of mustard growers
this winter to review seed-
ing dates and other factors
that may explain the irrigat-
ed yield variability. He also
plans to invite his new Picabo
growers to learn more about
mustard.
Picabo grower Pat Purdy
anticipates planting a small
acreage of mustard next sea-
son.
“We, like most growers in
this area, have a pretty simple
rotation of barley and alfalfa,”
Purdy said. “I really like the
idea of yellow mustard for the
biodiversity it would bring to
our rotation.”
Tax panel asks for clarity on ag exemptions
will be sent to legislators, the
commission asked lawmakers
to review the purpose and ef-
fectiveness of some exemp-
tions.
The tax breaks scrutinized
included:
By DON JENKINS
• Sales tax is not collected
Capital Press
on parts and labor for repair-
OLYMPIA — Washing- ing farm equipment, saving
ton lawmakers should clarify producers $31 million a year,
what they hope to achieve by the state Department of Rev-
granting farmers and ranch- enue estimates. The exemp-
ers tax breaks, according to a tion may be necessary be-
citizens commission.
cause other states offer their
The reasons for granting farmers the same tax break,
preferential treatment were the commission concluded.
never stated or may no lon-
• Diesel, biodiesel and
ger apply because of chang- aircraft fuel used to produce
ing market conditions, the crops are exempt from sales
commission found.
taxes, saving growers rough-
The commission did not ly $26 million a year. Again,
recommend repealing any the commission observed
tax breaks and said some may growers in other states have
even need to be broadened to the same tax break.
meet legislative goals.
• Livestock medicine is
The Legislature created exempt from sales taxes, sav-
the Citizen Commission for ing producers an estimated
Performance Measure of Tax $2.7 million. The commis-
Preferences a decade ago sion said lawmakers should
to review the worthiness of state a policy objective for
hundreds of tax exemptions. tax-free livestock pharma-
The commission has rare- ceuticals.
ly recommended ending an
• The commission en-
exemption. It has been even dorsed tax-free horticulture
rarer for lawmakers to elim- services provided farmers.
inate tax exemptions, which Services such as plowing,
are popular with Republicans planting and spraying are
and Democrats.
mandatory, the commission
The commission’s review noted. The exemption saves
this year included several ag- farmers about $10.5 million
riculture-related tax breaks. a year.
Farm groups defended the
• Bedding materials for
exemptions as necessary to chickens and propane or nat-
help Washington producers ural gas to heat chicken coops
offset rising production costs are exempt from sales tax,
and compete globally.
saving poultry producers an
The exemptions emerged estimated $2.6 million a year.
largely unscathed, with nei- Other states have the same ex-
ther a clear endorsement nor emption.
rejection by the commission.
• Distributors of grain
,QVWHDG LQ D ¿QDO UHSRUW WKDW and unprocessed milk are
exempt from business taxes
on wholesale income, sav-
ing distributors an estimated
$7.4 million a year. The com-
mission suggested lawmak-
ers clarify why the exemp-
tion applies to some crops,
but not to others.
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ROP-32-52-2/#17
Commission
sends remarks to
lawmakers
A Washington state farm ac-
cused of unlawfully reneging on
a wage agreement with workers
claims it was simply paying
varying piece rates for different
varieties of cherries.
Columbia Legal Services, a
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a legal complaint alleging that
Upland Vineyards of Outlook,
Wash., “unilaterally” lowered
the piece rate per box of cherries
from $3.25 to $2.75 during the
June harvest.
When the workers objected
to the change, the farm’s own-
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deputies remove them from the
property, the complaint said.
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Ulises Alvarez, the lead plain-
tiff, and other pickers were
unlawfully retaliated against
by Upland Vineyards, which
violated a labor agreement with
them.
The complaint also claims
that the farm didn’t compensate
the pickers for rest breaks for
several years as required by law.
Brendan Monahan, attorney
for the farm, said the lawsuit’s
characterization of events is
incorrect because the workers
simply chose not to pick cher-
ries when the piece rate was
changed.
The workers initially were
paid $3.25 per box for pick-
ing Chelan cherries, which are
among the smallest fresh red
cherries grown in the area and
thus take longer to pick, he said.
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switched to Tieton cherries,
which are among the largest
varieties, which is why the
piece rate was reduced to $2.75
a box, Monahan said.
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things changed. That’s how ag-
riculture works,” he said.
The workers were told that
despite this change, they’d
earn as much money per hour,
but Alvarez and roughly 60-70
workers nonetheless refused to
pick at that rate and left, Mona-
han said.
Based on the speed at which
remaining workers picked the
Tieton cherries, the farm’s
owners decided to increase the
rate to $3 per box — this rate
equated to $18.50 per hour,
compared to $17.50 for the
Chelan cherries, he said.
“Even though it was a lower
piece rate, given the dynamics
of the variety, it was at least a
dollar an hour increase in wag-
es,” Monahan said.
Monahan said his client
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ing” the lawsuit because grow-
ers have the right to change
piece rates based on crop vol-
ume, picking conditions and
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As for the allegations that
Upland Vineyards didn’t prop-
erly compensate the workers
for rest breaks, the farm was
following rules that were con-
sidered lawful at the time, he
said.
The workers were given the
option of taking a 10-minute
break every four hours, Mona-
han said.
In July, the Washington Su-
preme Court ruled that farm-
workers should be mandated to
take breaks and paid a separate
wage during that time, apart
from the piece rate.
Whether that ruling applies
to farms retroactively will like-
ly be an issue in the Upland
Vineyards case and other law-
suits in Washington, Monahan
said.
Upland Vineyards is taking
the lawsuit at “face value” as a
dispute over wages, rather than a
broader effort to unionize work-
ers, he said. “To the best of our
knowledge, this was a sponta-
neous and legitimate dispute.
If there’s anything more to it, it
would be news to us.”
45-4/#24
AMERICAN
FALLS,
Idaho — An Eastern Idaho
oilseeds wholesaler plans to
introduce mustard as a new
rotation option in the Picabo
area to help meet rising de-
mand for the crop.
Bill Meadows, owner of
Mountain States Oilseeds,
has established new mustard
markets in the U.S., Mexico
and throughout South Amer-
ica, which he recently toured
during a trade mission led by
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter.
“Our markets in mustard
are going to demand a large
increase in acres to make
sure we have enough prod-
uct to sell,” Meadows said.
In 2015, Meadows con-
tracted for 24,000 acres of
oilseeds from Cache Valley,
Utah, to Ashton, Idaho, with
mustard representing about
20 percent of the acreage.
He said his first-year grow-
ers plan to plant mustard
again, and most want to ex-
pand their acres. He’s also
been recruiting growers near
Picabo, where he contract-
ed for some canola several
years ago.
Meadows believes the
combination of cool tem-
peratures and heavy soils in
Picabo should make mustard
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“If those people grow
mustard, they’re going to in-
crease their yields and quality
in th other crops they grow,”
Meadows said. “I think we
can access maybe a couple of
thousand acres (in Picabo),
and I think that would be re-
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