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Farmers optimistic about snowpack levels in Owyhee Basin
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through the Owyhee Irrigation
District’s 400 miles of canals,
ONTARIO, Ore. — A se- laterals and ditches in August
ries of snowstorms over the the past two years, two months
Owyhee Basin has resulted earlier than normal.
in snowpack levels more than
But as of Dec. 24, snow-
twice their normal amount for pack in the basin was at 233
this time of year.
percent of normal for that
That has given farmers date.
in Eastern Oregon who get
“I’m really pleased with
their irrigation water from the what I’m seeing so far,” said
Owyhee Reservoir a reason to dairyman and farmer Frank
EHRSWLPLVWLFIRUWKH¿UVWWLPH Ausman, a member of the
in several years.
Owyhee Irrigation District’s
The basin has experienced board of directors. “We’re
four straight years of reduced sitting quite a bit better at this
snowpack levels and the 1,800 time than we were the last
farms that depend on the res- couple of years.”
ervoir have had their annual
But Ausman and other
water allotment slashed by farmers said the snow needs
two-thirds the past two years. to keep falling in order for
By SEAN ELLIS
apital ress
growers to have an adequate
water supply next season.
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start but it’s a little early to
start counting our chickens,”
Ausman said.
OID Manager Jay Cham-
berlin said the storms have
laid down a lot of snow pro-
portionally over the whole
watershed, unlike last year
when the sparse snow the ba-
sin received was spotty.
“Keep it coming. This
feels good,” he said.
The reservoir provides wa-
ter for 118,000 irrigated acres
in Malheur County in south-
eastern Oregon and around
Homedale and Marsing in
southwestern Idaho.
Farmers in this area have
had to alter their rotations and
farming practices as a result of
drastically reduced water sup-
plies the last three years. A lot
of farm ground has been left idle
and growers have planted a lot
more crops that require less wa-
ter but also bring less income.
While farmers and water
supply managers expressed
optimism at the current snow-
pack situation in the basin,
they also cautioned that it’s
still early in the snow season
and the reservoir needs a lot
more water.
To guarantee a good wa-
ter supply year, the reservoir
needs about 450,000 acre-feet
of storage water, Chamberlin
said. It’s holding about 50,000
acre-feet right now.
“We’re going into 2016 in
a lot better shape than we did
the last three years,” Cham-
berlin said. “But we have a
whole lot of room in an empty
bucket. We can take whatever
(is sent) us.”
Farmer Paul Skeen likened
the current water situation to
being early in a football game.
While farmers are leading,
there’s a lot of ballgame left,
he said.
“Yes, things don’t look
nearly as bleak as they did
last year,” said Skeen, presi-
dent of the Malheur County
Onion Growers Association.
“But we’re a long ways from
the fourth quarter. We’re just
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the game.”
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Currency, price
fluctuations blamed
for export decline
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
apital ress
India restricts foreign
apples at some of its ports
Mateus
er ows i apital ress
or ers bale hristmas trees prior to shipment in this apital
3UHVV¿OHSKRWR([SRUWVWR0H[LFRKDYHGURSSHGEXWWKHGRPHVWLF
mar et for trees is healthy e perts say.
rejections from Mexico, said
Greg Rondeau, its sales man-
ager.
If there was a sharp spike in
overall rejections, it was prob-
ably linked to the higher cost
of trees for Mexican importers,
Rondeau said.
“They may have been in-
clined to buy lesser quality trees
to save money,” he said.
While the reasons for the
increased pest incidents are un-
clear, experts say the USDA is
correct in reporting that exports
are down.
Tree supplies are tightening,
causing domestic prices to rise,
said Bryan Ostlund, executive
GLUHFWRURIWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVW
Christmas Tree Association.
With a healthy domestic
market, farmers are less inclined
to export trees and face potential
problems at the border, Ostlund
said. “Any export comes with a
level of risk.”
Exact prices vary depend-
ing on the contract between the
farmer and buyer, but this year’s
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Mexican authorities have
reportedly doubled their re-
jections of U.S. Christmas
Dan heat apital ress trees due to pests this year,
aron arlson places a tray of ed Delicious apples into
ZKLFKLVEDIÀLQJWRVRPHGR-
a 40-pound bo at McDougall Sons pac ing plant East
mestic farmers and regulators.
enatchee ash. last April. ed Delicious are a prime e port
Overall Mexican demand
ariety to ndia hina Me ico and other countries.
for U.S. Christmas trees has
also fallen due to rising prices
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the problem isn’t a top concern
for growers as the domestic
market was strong, experts say.
“It is an improvement over
previous years,” said Rick
By DAN WHEAT
5.6 million boxes of Washing- Schaefer, whose family owns
apital ress
ton apples, mainly Red De- Holiday Specialtrees of Wood-
licious, valued at more than burn, Ore.
YAKIMA, Wash. — India $100 million, Powers said. Lo-
Importers in Mexico have
has closed all but one of its gistically and given the infra- said “bah humbug” to this
seaports to imported apples, structure of the country, there’s year’s Christmas tree crop,
which may result in a 50 per- no way to get all of the volume primarily because the peso has
cent reduction in Washington through Nhava Sheva, he said. fallen in value against the dol-
apples going there in the 2015-
Apples are trucked from lar by about 18 percent since
2016 sales season.
Yakima and Wenatchee to late 2014, making U.S. prod-
³,W¶VYHU\GLI¿FXOWWRVD\´LI Washington and Oregon sea- ucts more expensive in that
the situation will be resolved ports and shipped across the country, according to a recent
any time soon, said Mark Pow- 3DFL¿F WR 6LQJDSRUH RU RWKHU USDA report.
ers, executive vice president of southeast Asian ports for re-
Mexico’s Federal Attorney
the Northwest Horticultural loading on ships bound for In- for Environmental Protection
Association in Yakima. He dia, he said.
also rejected more than 18,000
arrived home Dec. 18 after a
Shipments so far have been U.S. trees due to problems
week of meetings with govern- down 70 percent since Sep- with pests, mostly weevils,
PHQWRI¿FLDOVDQGLPSRUWHUVLQ tember but that’s been because which is twice as many as in
India trying to get restrictions of a large India apple crop, a 2014, the report said.
lifted.
smaller Washington crop and
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“Domestic politics” caused a strong U.S. dollar reducing with reports received by farm
the closure in September but India’s buying power, Powers regulators in Oregon, which
apples are still allowed into said.
is the predominant exporter of
Nhava Sheva, a main port on
“Shipments have been slow Christmas trees to Mexico.
the western side of the country because of those reasons but
Information received by the
near Mumbai, formerly known the port closures will be a sig- Oregon Department of Agricul-
as Bombay, Powers said. QL¿FDQWEDUULHULIZHFDQ¶WJHW ture indicates that rejections had
Chennai is the leading port in them resolved in the near fu- fallen since last year, said Gary
the southeast that is closed, he ture,” he said.
McAninch, manager of the
said.
Normally, half of the Wash- agency’s nursery and Christmas
Powers would not elabo- ington apples are imported tree program.
rate on the “domestic politics.” through Nhava Sheva and half
“We thought the pest pres-
It appears to be protectionism through ports in the southeast, sure was less than in years past,”
of India’s apple industry, ac- he said.
he said.
cording to reports in fruit trade
About 150,000, 40-pound
However, it is possible ODA
publications, Asiafruit and boxes of Washington apples KDVQ¶W\HWEHHQQRWL¿HGRIDOOWKH
Fresh Plaza.
have been shipped to India rejections, McAninch said.
The U.S., Chile, New Zea- from Sept. 1 through Dec. 15
The data contained in US-
land and the European Union compared with 532,000 for DA’s report also surprised Chal
complained to the World Trade the same period a year ago, he Landgren, Oregon State Univer-
Organization and were told to said.
sity’s Christmas tree specialist.
sort out the issue with India,
Europe has increased
A potential explanation is
The Hindu BusinessLine re- shipments of apples to India that the drought weakened some
ported.
because of Russia’s embargo trees this year, which may have
India has had a 50-percent against Western fruit and pro- attracted more twig weevils, he
tariff on foreign apples for duce. That increases competi- said. “They’re sort of a stress
years. India producers want tion in the region but Europe indicator.”
that increased but the govern- is also barred from delivering
Holiday Tree Farms of Cor-
ment can’t under WTO rules. apples to the same ports, he vallis, Ore., a major producer,
,QGLDLVWKHZRUOG¶V¿IWKODUJ- said.
hasn’t noticed an increase in
est apple producer but also
imports apples with about half
coming from China.
H-B SYSTEM 2000 HORIZONTAL
India has been in the top
BALE CUTTING SAW
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The
heavy
duty, hydraulically powered horizontal
port markets for several years.
Bale
Reclaim
system, with “Vertical cut positioning”
Last season, India imported
wholesale prices are in the range
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That’s a major improvement
from recent years, when prices
fell as low as $6 per Douglas
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a major glut of trees, according
to previous reports in Capital
Press.
That oversupply prompted
growers to reduce plantings,
said Tyler Stone, whose family
owns the BTN of Oregon farm
near Salem.
“We’re probably going to
be short for the next couple of
years,” he said. “There’s not as
many Christmas trees as there
used to be.”
Buyers who had grown ac-
customed to the abundance of
trees will now have to change
their habits, said Schaefer of
Holiday Specialtrees.
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