4
CapitalPress.com
January 15, 2016
Washington AG opens probe into wage survey advice
WAFLA ordered to turn
over its records
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington attorney gener-
al has opened an investigation of a
farm labor contractor whose advice
to growers on answering a wage
survey drew the ire of unions and
workers-rights groups.
Investigators will look into
whether WAFLA, formerly known
as the Washington Farm Labor As-
sociation, violated state or federal
laws regarding unfair business prac-
tices or restraint of trade. WAFLA is
a major supplier of seasonal H-2A
farmworkers in Washington.
In a letter to WAFLA, the attor-
ney general’s office demanded a
wide range of documents related to
contacts WAFLA has had with farm-
ers about the H-2A program, the
wage survey and employing domes-
tic workers.
“We’re not apologizing for any-
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Workers pick apples in Washington
state. The state attorney general’s
office has opened an investigation
into whether a farm labor contractor
broke laws by suggesting how growers
answer a wage survey.
thing we did because we didn’t do
anything wrong,” WAFLA’s director,
Dan Fazio, said Jan. 8. “I don’t think
we broke the law with the survey,
and I don’t think we broke the law
with any other services.”
The state Employment Security
Department, in a briefing paper Dec.
22, said WAFLA biased a wage sur-
vey by advising growers to report
that they pay hourly wages instead
of piece-rates.
WAFLA defended its advice, not-
ing the survey made farmers choose
between reporting hourly wages or
piece-rates at the peak of the harvest.
WAFLA warned farmers that
reporting piece-rates paid when de-
mand for labor is highest could arti-
ficially inflate prevailing wages and
form the basis for setting mandatory
piece-rates for the entire season.
ESD concluded WAFLA’s advice
skewed lower how much workers
earn picking Granny Smith, Golden
Delicious and Fuji apples.
The survey said workers were
paid the state’s minimum wage,
$9.47 an hour, but the department
said it believes workers actually re-
ceived $28 a bin for Fujis and $23 a
bin for the other two varieties. ESD
found no evidence WAFLA’s advice
distorted wages paid for picking sev-
eral other varieties of apples.
The U.S. Department of Labor
uses the survey to set prevailing wag-
es for H-2A foreign workers, which
affects pay for domestic workers.
The Washington State Labor
Council and Columbia Legal Ser-
vices requested a probe into wheth-
er WAFLA’s advice broke laws by
artificially depressing wages. It’s
unclear whether the attorney gen-
eral launched the investigation in
response to that request. Efforts to
reach the attorney general’s office
for comment were unsuccessful.
Labor Council spokesman David
Groves said WAFLA’s guidance un-
dercut wages.
“We think it’s an alarming manip-
ulation of wages for farmworkers,”
he said. “It’s not like farmworkers
are overpaid.”
The H-2A program has been the
target of lawsuits filed by Colum-
bia Legal Services, alleging farmers
have used foreign workers to dis-
place domestic workers.
Dan Ford, a Columbia Legal Ser-
vices attorney, said the firm was fo-
cused solely on WAFLA’s suggested
answers to the survey when it com-
plained to the attorney general.
The firm was aware of WAFLA’s
advice to farmers in the fall, and
ESD’s analysis confirmed concerns
that the suggested answers altered
the survey results, he said. “The ef-
fect was to suppress workers’ wages
dramatically.”
Groves said the Labor Coun-
cil has been concerned about
guest-worker programs being used
to hold down wages in several
fields.
“We think it’s happening not
only in the agriculture industry, but
also engineering, high-tech,” he
said. “In requesting this investiga-
tion, it’s not our goal to shut down
the Farm Labor Association or its
H-2A program. The goal is to make
sure wages aren’t manipulated to
exploit both H-2A workers and do-
mestic workers.”
Fazio said WAFLA has hired
more staff to comply with the attor-
ney general’s request for records.
The investigation won’t affect WA-
FLA’s ability to supply farmers with
workers, he said.
Oregon drone maker announces sales agreement with Papé Machinery
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Yellow lines indicate the flight pattern programmed for a Honey-
Comb AgDrone at work on a farm in Uganda.
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
HoneyComb Corp. employees Steve Caldwell, left, and Ben Howard, the chief technical officer, show
an AgDrone at the company’s headquarters in Wilsonville, Ore. The blue tape on the wing indicates
the drone has been sold to a customer in Argentina.
backers believe drones even-
tually will communicate in re-
al-time with other machinery.
Caldwell, the HoneyComb
marketer, said farmers’ adop-
tion of precision ag technol-
ogy such as auto-steer and
variable rate equipment has
accelerated, and drone use is
Become the new
generation of farmer
- at the forefront of
technology and
agriculture.
Contact us today!
Lindsey Williams
(509) 524-5239
lindsey.williams@wwcc.edu
Mike Hagerman
(509) 527-4217
likely to follow. He said the
percentage of farmers using
drones — either ones they fly
themselves or ones operated
by agronomic service compa-
nies — could climb into dou-
ble digits in 2016.
“If it blows over 20 per-
cent it would not shock me,”
Caldwell said.
The complete AgDrone
system sells for about
$21,000. The price includes
the drone, case, spare parts
and HoneyComb’s data pro-
cessing service.
There is concern in ag
circles about “Big Data” and
who controls the informa-
tion collected by precision
ag equipment. Caldwell said
only the drone buyer will own
the data and have access to it.
The
company
sells
stepped-down versions of
the AgDrone kit for about
$10,000 or $13,000, but Cald-
well said those prices don’t
include extras such as data
processing.
What appealed to Papé
was that the AgDrone was
“purpose built,” designed spe-
cifically for agriculture. The
data it gathered could be im-
ported directly into the man-
agement tools aboard John
Deere equipment.
“It’s not a toy,” said Barry
Peterson, Papé’s integrated
solutions manager.
In addition, HoneyComb’s
AgDrone is a fixed-wing air-
craft, more stable than com-
peting quad copters, Peterson
said. It was the only drone at
a Papé field test that carried
twin cameras and could pro-
vide two images of the same
area. It also provided faster
data processing than compet-
itors.
“They get it,” Peterson
said. “That’s the one thing
about HoneyComb we like.
They understand how import-
ant this data is.
“There’s no better tool
than to have same-day infor-
mation,” he said. “If you have
a problem, you can get on it
right away.”
HoneyComb was start-
ed by CEO Ryan Jenson and
friends Ben Howard and John
Faus, all of whom grew up in
small Oregon towns. They be-
gan business in start-up space
at Portland State University
and two years ago moved to
office, design and manufac-
turing space in Wilsonville,
20 miles south of Portland.
From the start, Honey-
Comb has positioned its
drones for agricultural use,
figuring farmers would be
early commercial adopters of
the technology.
With the Federal Avia-
tion Administration slow to
approve rules for drone use,
HoneyComb has sought out
buyers in Ecuador, Argenti-
na, Uganda and other areas
of Central America, South
America and Africa.
Direct seed workshop set for Idaho Falls
michael.hagerman@wwcc.edu
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
www.WWCC.edu
Capital Press
500 Tausick Way
Walla Walla, WA 99362
3-4/#6
The Southern Idaho Direct
Seed Workshop on Feb. 24
in Idaho Falls, will feature a
grower panel on local direct
seed systems and provide
growers with updates on vari-
ety and fertility considerations
and equipment information.
Hosted by the Idaho Wheat
Commission, the workshop
will run from 9 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. at the Shiloh Inn Con-
ference Center, 780 Lindsay
Blvd.
The workshop offers a
great place to network with
other growers and learn what
has worked and what hasn’t,
said Idaho Wheat Commis-
sioner Gordon Gallup, work-
shop organizer.
In addition to the grower
panel on the basics of direct
seeding, morning sessions
will include cropping systems
strategy with Aaron Esser,
Washington State Universi-
ty, Adams County extension
director, and resistant weeds
in no-till systems with Don
Morishita, University of Ida-
ho weed scientist and director
of the Kimberly Research and
Extension Center.
Afternoon sessions will
focus on: disease control in
no-till systems with Juliet
Marshall, University of Idaho
cereal pathologist; a panel on
crop rotation in no-till sys-
tems, including Marlon Wing-
er, Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service agronomist;
and water in no-till systems
with Howard Neibling, Uni-
versity of Idaho water man-
agement engineer.
Lunch is provided, and
sponsors will be on hand to
share information.
For more information, con-
tact the Idaho Wheat Com-
mission at (208) 334-2353.
LEGAL
ADELL LANE
MINI STORAGE AUCTION
2773-B ADELL LANE NE
SALEM, OREGON 97301
(971) 240-2755
Sat., Jan. 23rd
10AM
• Amie Keller
Unit #C-25
• James Wilbur
Unit #C-20
• Steve Holmes
Unit #B-8
ROP-2-2-4/#4x
Adell Lane Mini Storage
reserves the right to
refuse any and all bids.
3-1/#4
tors, they can spot irrigation,
fertilizer or pest problems
and upload the exact loca-
tion to farmers. Drones also
could take inventory and as-
sess yield. Drone data can be
downloaded to other equip-
ment using programs cur-
rently available, and industry
ROP-2-2-2/#14
WILSONVILLE, Ore. —
HoneyComb Corp., which in
four years has gone from start-
up tech company to marketing
its agricultural drones interna-
tionally, has announced that
Papé Machinery will begin
selling its system in the Pacif-
ic Northwest.
The agreement puts Hon-
eyComb’s AgDrone system
in 21 Papé equipment dealer-
ships in Oregon, Washington,
Idaho and California begin-
ning Jan. 25.
Papé also carries John
Deere tractors, combines and
other equipment.
HoneyComb marketing
director Steve Caldwell said
Papé personnel will be able
to train farmers in using the
drone system. The AgDrone
is a 5-pound, battery-powered
plane with a 5-foot wingspan
that can be trucked to a field
and launched by hand. The
delta-winged drone carries vi-
sual and infrared cameras en-
cased in a Kevlar exoskeleton
that company officials say is
extremely durable.
Advocates believe drone
technology could transform
agriculture. Flying over fields
in patterns set by the opera-