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February 5, 2016 17 CapitalPress.com Oregon farm regulators overrule judge on pesticide inding Legal dispute pertains to fines and license suspension for applicator By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Oregon farm regulators have proposed overruling an administrative judge’s indings that the emer- gency suspension of an aerial pesticide applicator’s license was unwarranted. The looming decision marks the latest turn of events in the legal battle between the Oregon Department of Agri- culture and Applebee Aviation, which faces steep ines for al- legedly ignoring the agency’s order to stop spraying pesti- cides. If ODA does overrule the administrative judge — who recently found that the emer- gency suspension wasn’t based on suficient evidence — the dispute may end up before the Oregon Court of Appeals. In September 2015, ODA yanked the pesticide license of Applebee Aviation after ind- ing the company improperly trained its workers, didn’t pro- vide them with the appropriate protective gear and otherwise “performed pesticide applica- tion activities in a faulty, care- less or negligent manner.” Ordinarily, pesticide appli- cators can continue operating while challenging a license suspension through the ad- ministrative process, but in this case, ODA found that an emergency suspension was warranted, which allowed the agency to yank the license be- fore a hearing was held. The emergency suspension is signiicant because ODA al- leges that Applebee Aviation continued spray operations without a license, which led to the agency issuing $180,000 in civil penalties to the com- pany and its owner, Mike Ap- plebee. In January, Senior Admin- istrative Law Judge Monica Whitaker found that ODA did not prove that Applebee’s con- duct posed a “serious danger to the public’s safety or health,” and thus the emergency sus- pension was unjustiied. The administrative judge said the agency’s indings were based solely on the testi- mony of one former Applebee employee, Darryl Ivy, whose photos and other testimony were not veriied. Ivy was admitted to a hos- pital after quitting his job in April 2015 and then went pub- lic with allegations of hazard- ous spraying practices against his former employer. The ODA has now amend- ed the judge’s proposed or- der, deleting paragraphs that questioned the authenticity of Ivy’s accusations and remov- ing the recommendation that the emergency suspension be revoked. Instead, the agency’s proposed order finds that license suspension was jus- tified between Sept. 25 and Otter requests more aquifer stabilization funding will likely take the legal ight to the Oregon Court of Ap- peals if ODA insists the emer- gency license suspension was justiied. The suspension has forced Applebee Aviation to cease spraying operations, which has cost 30 people their jobs, Ire- land said. Applebee Aviation believes that Ivy’s testimony was not credible, which is why the ODA did not call him as a wit- ness under oath, he said. Ireland said the ODA had the legal right to overrule the administrative law judge’s indings, but the extent of the changes was an abuse of its authority. “They’re covering their tracks on a poor investiga- tion,” he said. U.S. cattle inventory, Jan. 1 Item Cattle and calves Beef cows and heifers that have calved Replacement beef heifers Replacement beef heifers expected to calve By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has increased his funding request for Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer stabiliza- tion efforts, after leaders with- in the Legislature and state ir- rigation managers questioned if his original proposal was suficient to meet state goals. Under the revised terms of Otter’s Fiscal 2017 budget request, the state would make a $16.5 million one-time pay- ment — up from his prior re- quest of $10 million — toward aquifer stabilization efforts. He also proposed $5 mil- lion in annual payments to- ward reversing a trend of de- clining groundwater levels, up from his prior request of $2 million. His proposal would pro- vide revenue from the state’s general fund to replace the $5 million in cigarette tax revenue the state has allocated for aqui- fer stabilization efforts, such as managed recharge, during each of the past two years. The state has committed to averaging 250,000 acre-feet of annual recharge — intentional- ly injecting surface water into the aquifer — to help make a recent water call settlement between junior groundwater users and surface users repre- sented by the Surface Water Coalition a success. The groundwater users have agreed to reduce their well consumption, or offset it through their own recharge projects, by about 240,000 acre-feet per year, hoping to stop groundwater declines and gradually rebuild depleted aquifer levels. Oficials with the Idaho Department of Water Resourc- es estimated in October that it would take $30 million to cover construction of infra- structure needed for Idaho to increase its recharge capacity and meet its goal, plus anoth- er $3 million in ongoing funds to inance maintenance and “wheeling fees” paid to canal companies that run the state’s water through their unlined ca- nals or into special spill basins to bolster the aquifer. In his Jan. 25 letter to the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Fi- nance-Appropriations Com- mittee, Otter wrote, “After additional discussions with the IDWR on the funding neces- sary to meet the state’s com- mitment under the settlement agreement for the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, I am re- vising my budget recommen- dation to fully fund its acceler- ated implementation.” Brian Olmstead, manager of Twin Falls Canal Co., said his board discussed the pre- vious “light” budget request during a recent meeting, and the new proposal should pro- vide water users the means of sustaining and restoring the aquifer. In a press release, Idaho Water Resource Board Chair- man Roger Chase described the decision to step up the funding request as “monumental.” “Future generations of Ida- hoans will look at this effort to sustain and protect Idaho’s fu- ture water needs as one of the state’s most important water decisions,” Chase said. Oct. 8 of last year. Whether the emergency suspension was justiied is important to Applebee Avia- tion, as it bears on the legali- ty of spray operations during that period and the ensuing $180,000 in ines. Bruce Pokarney, commu- nications director for ODA, said he can’t comment on the substance of the dispute but said the agency will consider any objections by Applebee Aviation to the amended order before making it inal. ODA is seeking a ive- year license suspension for the company, as well as the civil penalties, which will be weighed by an administrative judge on Feb. 17-18, he said. Robert Ireland, attorney for Applebee, said the company Item Calf crop Source: USDA NASS Dan Wheat/Capital Press Workers prune fruit trees in an East Wenatchee, Wash., orchard on Jan. 14. Pruning was slowed this year by more snow than usual. Snow hampers tree-fruit pruning in Washington state By DAN WHEAT Capital Press CHELAN, Wash. — It’s cold work anyway, but this winter fruit tree pruning is slowed by more lowland snow than Central Washington has seen in years. “As snow accumulates and gets deeper, it slows things down signiicantly,” says Har- old Schell, director of ield services at the Chelan Fruit Cooperative. Still, he says, it shouldn’t be a problem because spring most likely will be a little late, giving growers more time to prune. “The past three years in a row, we’ve had abnormally warm and early springs and less lowland snow,” Schell said. “It makes things heat up sooner.” Bud development should be slowed by snow helping keep temperatures lower lon- ger. Growers in the region start pruning when trees go dor- mant in mid- to late Novem- ber and like to be done by the end of March in time for the irst delayed dormant sprays around April 1 to combat var- ious pests. Pruners normally don’t work when it’s snowing or raining because it’s pretty mis- erable and not as safe. Deep snow makes it harder to move ladders. “Guys are still out after it, trying to prune,” Schell said. “It’s just a little more effort, harder to do.” Pruning has been shut down more days because of weather, said Brent Milne, assistant manager of compa- ny orchards for McDougall & Sons Inc., Wenatchee. The industry is probably a little be- hind in pruning, he said. Snow is a bigger issue in higher elevation orchards and for McDougall & Sons that’s been at Monitor near Wenatchee and Bray’s Land- ing, between Orondo and Chelan. “From our standpoint it’s not slowed us down, but may slow down our clean up, mow- ing the prunings,” he said. For the second year in a row, McDougall & Sons is supplementing its pruning crews with H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers. The company has more than 300 domestic and foreign workers to prune about 2,900 acres from Matta- wa to Bridgeport. Bob Allen, a grower at Na- ches Heights west of Yakima, said he got a good start on pruning after harvest so he’s not as far behind as some. He has 10 workers to prune 135 acres of apples and six acres of pears. “We’re nearly on sched- ule,” he said. “I have a close associate that’s signiicantly behind because he’s had trou- ble inding workers.” Ecology: Don’t make us name informants By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — Anonymous tipsters help the Washington Department of Ecology iden- tify farmers and ranchers who are polluting water, a DOE representative said Tuesday, testifying against a bill that would force the department to reveal the names of whis- tle-blowers. Accusers could face intimi- dation and reprisals, discourag- ing on-the-ground informants that the department relies upon, DOE Special Assistant Kelly Susewind told the Sen- ate Agriculture Committee. “We’re concerned this bill will create an obstacle to achieving clean water,” he said. Senate Bill 6551 would re- quire DOE to name the accuser if the allegations led to the de- partment inding violations of water-pollution laws. The leg- islation would bar DOE from following up on tips from peo- ple who didn’t leave their name with the department. The bill’s prime sponsor, Agriculture Committee Chair- woman Judy Warnick, said farmers have been blindsided by anonymous complaints. The Moses Lake Republican said her bill was upholding a bedrock American principle. “In this country, we have a Don Jenkins/Capital Press Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, speaks Feb. 2 at a hearing in Olympia. The hearing included testimony on a bill Warnick introduced that would bar the Washington Department of Ecology from investigating anonymous com- plaints that farmers or ranchers are polluting water. right to face our accuser,” she said. The proposal received a hearing in the Republican-led Senate, but is unlikely to be embraced in the Democrat- ic-controlled House. Nevertheless, the hearing was a forum to air complaints that producers are vulnerable to anonymous complaints, including limsy accusations from disgruntled neighbors, that set off unnerving govern- ment investigations. “It’s deinitely on the mind of many people involved in agriculture,” Washington Cat- tlemen’s Association Execu- tive Vice President Jack Field said. Washington Farm Bureau lobbyist Evan Sheffels called Warnick’s proposal an “excel- lent bill.” He said nobody should feel bullied. “And that’s exactly how our members feel when they get an anonymous com- plaint,” he said. Susewind said anonymous tips only start probes. “We don’t act on a com- plaint, anonymous or other- wise, without verifying the problem ourselves,” he said. Environmental lobbyist Bruce Wishart said letting tip- sters remain anonymous was “absolutely critical” because of the threat of retaliation. “It’s often neighbors and people within the community who witness, experience the harm from the water-quality who are reporting the harm,” said Wishart, representing the Sierra Club and Puget Sound- keeper Alliance. Warnick’s proposal re- ceived bipartisan sympathy from the committee. Sen. Dean Takko, a Longview Democrat, said producers can be victimized by baseless complaints. (1,000 head) 2015 2016 Percent change 89,143 29,302.1 91,988 30,330.8 3 4 6,086.4 3,712.1 6,285.2 3,924.6 3 6 (1,000 head) 2014 2015 33,522 Percent change 34,301.7 2 Capital Press graphic U.S. posts strong beef cattle numbers By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press USDA’s annual Jan. 1 cat- tle inventory report validates continued expansion in the U.S. beef herd in 2015, but signiicant revisions to last year’s tally shows growth in 2014 was not as aggressive as previously reported. The latest roll call of all beef and dairy cattle and calves, at nearly 92 million head, is up 2.845 million head and 3.2 percent year over year, according to the report. The number of dairy cows was up 8,500 and the number of dairy replacement heifers was up 114,000, leaving the bulk of the increase to the beef herd, according to the National Agricultural Statis- tics Service. While the report conirms the cattle inventory grew in 2015, the increase also relects USDA’s revisions to the Jan. 1, 2015, numbers, said Derrell Peel, extension livestock mar- keting specialist with Oklaho- ma State University. “They were pretty sig- niicant revisions and pretty comprehensive revisions. You really have to tell a two-year story now to get this report right,” he said. The magnitude of the re- visions is “really frustrating” to market analysts, who have been using one set of num- bers all year only to ind out they’re all wrong. And the agency’s revisions are becom- ing more frequent and more substantial, he said. “In the really big picture, it (revised numbers) doesn’t change things a great deal, it just shifted more of the growth into 2015 from 2014. We still had growth in 2014, but less than we said a year ago,” he said. The Jan. 1, 2015, re- port showing aggressive expansion surprised most analysts. But it turns out it wasn’t as vigorous as NASS reported, Peel said. USDA revised the total number of cattle and calves in 2014 lower by 650,000 head, implying that growth in 2014 was 0.7 percent rather than the 1.4 percent previously reported, Peel said. In the long-term picture, it showed cattle were even tighter than anyone thought, and the industry has further to go in rebuilding than peo- ple were thinking, he said. This year’s increase in to- tal inventory was larger than expected, but it takes into ac- count that downward revision. The industry still needs an ad- ditional 1 million to 1.5 mil- lion head to be where it needs to be at this point in balancing supply and demand, he said. Rounding the numbers in the latest count, NASS also reported a 3 percent increase in both beef cows and beef replacement heifers and a 6 percent increase in those heif- ers that are expected to calve in 2016. Cattle on feed in large feedlots, at 13.2 million head, were reported up 1 percent, compared with only a slight increase reported a week ear- lier. Feeder cattle supplies outside feedlots, at 29.5 mil- lion head, are up 5 percent, and the 2015 calf crop is es- timated at 34.3 million, up 2 percent. All of those numbers also relect signiicant revisions in year-earlier numbers, Peel said. The Jan. 1, 2015, beef cow number was revised down 400,000 head, putting growth in that sector in 2014 at 0.7 percent as opposed to the 2.1 percent previously reported, he said. But an even bigger surprise was in the number of beef re- placement heifers. The Jan. 1, 2015, number was revised up 300,000 head, indicating beef heifers increased 9.6 percent as opposed to the previously reported 4.1 percent increase, he said. That 9.6 percent increase is the largest year-over-year increase in beef heifers since 1974, he said. Were that number known, it probably would have had an impact on heifer and bred cow prices and set up the idea that a bigger jump in the cow herd could be ahead with an even bigger calf crop in 2016, he said. The Jan. 1, 2015, numbers on heifers other than replace- ments, steers and calves under 500 pounds were also revised, resulting in a feeder cattle supply outside feedlots that was down 1.9 percent as op- posed to being up 0.5 percent as previously reported. So NASS was saying we had a bigger feeder cattle sup- ply than we really did, Peel said. “That probably had some impact on the market, but it’s hard to go back and revise his- tory,” he said. NASS estimates the 2016 feeder supply outside feed- lots at 25.9 million head, up sharply by 5.3 percent year over year. “That sets up the idea we’ll see a signiicant increase in cattle coming into feedlots,” Peel said. The signiicant increase is likely a factor of not placing those expensive feeder cat- tle into feedlots in the fourth quarter and an indication of delayed movement, as op- posed to a lot of extra cattle out there, he said.
