January 8, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
Hazelnut pricing dispute settled
Lawsuit against farmers’ cooperative dismissed
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton farmers lost at least $336
million to the drought last
summer, a preliminary esti-
mate likely to climb as more
figures on yields and prices
became available, according
to a report by the state De-
partment of Agriculture.
The report estimated spe-
cific dollar losses for only a
handful of crops — wheat,
apples, blueberries and red
raspberries.
Losses for other commod-
ities, including Washington
mainstays such as potatoes,
milk and cattle, will be tal-
lied later as information be-
comes available, according
to WSDA.
The report suggests the
drought affected most grow-
ers. Nearly two-thirds who
answered a WSDA survey
said the quality or market-
ability of their crops suffered
in the state’s first drought in
a decade.
“I suspect in the final re-
port the losses will be high-
er,” WSDA spokesman Hec-
tor Castro said. “This early
report confirms what a lot
of people knew: The drought
caused a lot of harm for
farmers around the state.”
The early look also sur-
veyed field-by-field drought
damage in the Kittitas Rec-
lamation District, a major
producer of Timothy hay in
Central Washington.
The district suffered
$11.4 million in damage, ac-
cording to the report.
The U.S. Bureau of Rec-
lamation supplied growers
with 47 percent of their nor-
mal water allotment, but that
was only part of the prob-
lem, the irrigation district’s
manager, Urban Eberhart,
said Thursday.
Record heat scorched
fields,
allowing
more
drought-tolerant grasses to
take hold. The result will be
lower-grade hay in 2016 and
2017, said Eberhart, himself
a hay farmer.
The shortage of water in
October also threw farmers
off their field rotation sched-
ules, he said.
“We had a water year
unlike any other water year
we’ve had before,” Eberhart
said. “The heat played a tre-
mendous factor.”
A field survey of damage
has not yet been completed
for the 72,000-acre Roza
Irrigation District in the
Yakima Valley, where farm-
ers also received less than
half of their normal water
supplies.
WSDA will issue a final
report one year from now
on the drought’s impact on
Washington’s farm econo-
my, which the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture calculat-
ed was worth $10.1 billion
in 2014.
“This is an incomplete
picture, and we know that
it’s an incomplete picture,”
Castro said. “We’re not
through counting yet. A lot
of commodity groups are not
counted because the infor-
mation wasn’t available.”
The report’s findings in-
clude:
• Wheat production was
particularly hard-hit. The
harvest was down 22 per-
cent from the average
yields over the previous
five years. At recent prices,
the lower yields could cost
farmers $212.4 million.
In 2014, USDA reported
Washington’s wheat crop
was worth $715 million.
• The apple industry es-
timated the drought or ex-
treme heat reduced produc-
tion by 280 million pounds.
Based on 2014 prices, the
lower yields represented
a potential loss of $86.52
million. Apples were a $1.9
billion business in 2014.
Early harvest variet-
ies were most affected by
water shortages and heat
in the Yakima Valley. Ap-
ple growing regions to the
north in Chelan, Okanogan
and Douglas counties were
hurt less by the drought.
• Blueberries, grown pri-
marily in northwest Wash-
ington, also lost production
to the heat. Based on esti-
mates from growers, the
drought reduced yields by
8 million pounds, causing a
loss in income of approxi-
mately $12 million.
• Red raspberries, also
grown in the northwest cor-
ner of the state, suffered a
26 percent decline in pro-
duction. The lower yields
cost farmers an estimated
$13.9 million.
• Cherries and pears,
two of Washington’s top
10 crops, were harvested
early because of high tem-
peratures in Central Wash-
ington and the Columbia
Basin. The crops, however,
sustained little damage.
• Some 460 growers
were asked whether the
drought and heat impacted
the quality or marketabili-
ty of their crops. About 65
percent said they had.
• One-third of growers
said they spent money for
drought-relief
measures
such as cloth shades, sprin-
klers or more efficient irri-
gation equipment.
The preliminary as-
sessment did not try to
put a figure on how much
farmers spent to cope with
drought.
Washington plots spring attack against gypsy moths
Campaign to include spraying over Seattle
By DON JENKINS
of acres of forests, parks and
residential landscapes each
OLYMPIA — The Wash- year, according to the U.S.
ington State Department of Department of Agriculture.
Over the past three de-
Agriculture proposes to aeri-
al spray 10,450 acres in seven cades, Western states have
places, including 130 acres in succeeded in preventing
a densely populated Seattle gypsy moths from tak-
neighborhood, to eradicate ing hold. Washington has
gypsy moths, an invasive sprayed for gypsy moths 93
times since 1979.
pest that defoliates trees.
WSDA last summer
The campaign will be the
trapped 42 gyp-
largest against
sy moths, the
gypsy
moths
most
caught
in
Washing-
since 2007. The
ton since 1992
22
European
and the first
gypsy
moths
since 2006 to
trapped on Se-
include apply-
attle’s
Capi-
ing a pesticide
tol Hill and 10
over a portion
Asian
gypsy
of Washington’s
moths trapped
largest
city,
elsewhere
in
where previous
Western Wash-
applications
ington were par-
have been met
ticularly con-
with
protests
cerning.
and unsuccess-
WSDA found
ful court chal-
in the fall gypsy
lenges.
moth egg mass-
WSDA will
es on Capitol
send postcards,
hold open hous- Courtesy of John H. Ghent, U.S. Hill, confirm-
Forest Service ing the pests are
es and conduct
reproducing,
environmental A gypsy moth caterpillar
reviews before feeds on a tree. The Wash- Castro said. At
least one Eu-
formally final- ington State Department
ropean gypsy
izing the plan of Agriculture proposes
moth has been
to spray Bacil- to spray 10,450 acres in
trapped in the
lus thuringien- seven places in Western
sis var. kursta- Washington next spring to neighborhood
for the past four
ki, commonly eradicate the leaf-eating
summers.
known as Btk, pests.
Asian gypsy
over
mostly
urban areas. The spraying moths had not been detected
will be done in the spring as in Washington since 1999.
caterpillars emerge. WSDA Asian gypsy moths are con-
typically sprays an area sidered more dangerous to
spread because the females
three times.
“We understand there can fly, while European gypsy
would be concern given the moth females are flightless.
Besides on Capitol Hill,
nature of the application
we are proposing,” WSDA WSDA plans to spray:
• 7,000 acres around the
spokesman Hector Castro
said. “Once (gypsy moths) Port of Tacoma, northeast
are established, there’s no Tacoma and the neighboring
getting rid of them. We need cities of Fife and Milton.
• 800 acres around the
to prevent them from get-
ting established in the first Port of Vancouver. The Or-
egon Department of Agri-
place.”
European gypsy moths culture trapped two Asian
are entrenched in 20 Atlantic gypsy moths last summer on
and Great Lakes states and the other side of the Colum-
strip hundreds of thousands bia River and plans to spray
Capital Press
more than 8,000 acres next
spring in Portland.
• 640 acres in Kent.
• 640 acres in Lacey.
• 640 acres in Nisqually.
• 600 acres in Gig Harbor.
WSDA based its proposal
on recommendations from a
panel of gypsy moth experts
that included government
and university scientists.
Btk was developed in
the 1960s and 1970s as an
alternative to other insecti-
cides. Btk gained popularity
because it broke down more
quickly in the environment
and was harmless to bees,
birds, fish and mammals, ac-
cording to the USDA.
ROP-32-52-2/#17
Most farmers report
damage to their
crops in lower
quality, yields
Jeff Fox, CEO of the coop-
erative, said HGO reached a
settlement with Smith’s estate
but could not comment on the
specifics.
The disagreement arose af-
ter creditors attempted to gar-
nish the revenues of Smith’s
estate after his death, HGO
became involved in the pro-
ceedings because it had rights
to hazelnuts delivered by
Smith, Fox said.
The
estate’s
lawsuit
against HGO was the result of
confusion over the meaning
of “field price,” as the cooper-
ative eventually paid its mem-
bers more than the initial rate
set after harvest, he said.
Smith’s estate believed
it was owed 35 cents above
the final price, rather than the
original rate, which led to the
dispute, Fox said. “I probably
ROP-2-2-4/#4x
12th Annual
Cattleman’s Workshop
Opportunities in a
Changing Beef Cattle Industry
Saturday, January 16th, 2016
BLUE MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE CENTER
404 12th STREET, LA GRANDE, OR
9:00 - 9:15 Workshop Introductions & Overview
9:15 - 10:15 Opportunities for a Cow/Calf Operation
in a Changing Industry; Nevil Speer; VP,
U.S. Operations, AgriClear, Bowling Green, Kentucky
10:15 - 10:45 Break (provided by sponsors)
10:45 - 11:45 Current and Future Economic Outlook
for the US Beef Industry; David Anderson;
Texas A&M Livestock and Food Products Marketing
Economist, College Station, Texas
11:45 - 1:00 Lunch (provided by sponsors)
1:00 – 2:00 Sustainable Rangeland Grazing for
Western Rangelands; Chad Boyd;
Rangeland Ecologist, USDA Agricultural Research
Service, EOARC Burns Station, Burns, Oregon
2:00 – 3:00 Opportunities for More Efficient Cow/Calf
Production; Padlock Ranch Perspective;
Cody Peck; Operations Analyst, Padlock Ranch
Company, Ranchester, Wyoming
3:00 – 3:15 Break (provided by sponsors)
3:15 – 4:15 Ranching in the Presence of Wolves;
Casey Anderson; Ranch Manager, OX Ranch, Bear, Idaho
Note: For more information, please contact
Kim McKague or Tim DelCurto at (541) 562-5129
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eoarcunion
ROP-2-2-2/#6
Washington drought
losses estimated at
$336M – and counting
ROP-2-2-2/#14
Courtesy of Melissa Hansen, Washington Dept. of Ecology
Irrigation equipment sits idle on fields in the Kittitas Reclamation
District in Central Washington in early September. The Washington
State Department of Agriculture has made a preliminary assess-
ment of crop and livestock losses due to the 2015 drought.
A lawsuit over a pricing
dispute between an Oregon
hazelnut farmers cooperative
and the estate of a deceased
entrepreneur in the aviation
and agriculture industries has
been settled.
In September 2015, the Ha-
zelnut Growers of Oregon co-
operative was accused of vio-
lating a contract with the estate
of Delford Smith, the founder
of now-bankrupt Evergreen
Aviation and Evergreen Agri-
cultural Enterprises in McMin-
nville, Ore.
The complaint claimed that
HGO agreed to pay Smith,
who died in 2014, 35 cents per
pound above the field price
established by the Hazelnut
Growers Bargaining Associa-
tion, which sets
prices between
farmers
and
processors.
Smith’s es-
tate alleged it
was owed an
Fox
added $150,000
for delivering 1 million pounds
of hazelnuts to the cooperative
because the field price for ha-
zelnuts ultimately increased
from $1.15 to $1.30 per pound.
On Dec. 28, a judge in
Multnomah County Circuit
Court dismissed the lawsuit at
the behest of the plaintiffs.
The dispute could have had
implications beyond the con-
tract between HGO and the
Smith’s estate because mem-
bers of the Hazelnut Growers
Bargaining Association aren’t
allowed to pay higher prices
to individual farmers.
should have done a better job
clarifying that within the con-
tract.”
Capital Press was unable
to reach the attorney repre-
senting Smith’s estate.
As to the question about
preferential payments, Fox
said the cooperative is not
subject to the contract be-
tween farmers and the Ha-
zelnut Growers Bargaining
Association. However, a com-
pany owned by the coopera-
tive, Westnut, is a signatory,
he said.
Even so, HGO tries to
“minimize any disruption”
over prices, so the contract
with Smith was intended to
pay the same level above the
initial field price as other
growers received, Fox said.
Doug Olsen, president
of the Hazelnut Growers
Bargaining
Association,
refused to comment on the
situation.