4
CapitalPress.com
February 12, 2016
Federal miscommunication
causes respirator confusion
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Marina Mendoza sorts Kanzi apples at Columbia Fruit Packers
in Wenatchee, Wash., on Feb. 4. Kanzi is a newer variety.
Wholesale apple prices continue to strengthen at the mid-point
of the sales season.
Apple prices do well as
sales season progresses
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
With Washington’s 2015 apple
crop approaching the halfway
point in the sales season, prices
continue to improve and grow-
er returns should be good.
“All in all, it looks like the
2015 season will have about
the same returns as 2013 and
2011, net returns of $500 mil-
lion to $600 million for grow-
ers,” said Desmond O’Rourke,
a retired Washington State
University agricultural econo-
mist and longtime observer of
the apple industry.
That’s after production,
packing-shipping and market-
ing costs have been deducted,
he said, adding that his esti-
mate is based on incomplete
data.
He estimates growers net-
ted less than $100 million on
the 2014 crop, which was the
largest on record and therefore
brought the lowest prices in
eight years.
2012 was a large crop with
good prices because of light
production in the Midwest,
East Coast, Europe, Cana-
da and Mexico. Washington
growers probably netted close
to $1 billion off the 2012 crop,
O’Rourke estimates.
Prices have improved in
the 2015-2016 sales season
and will continue to slowly
strengthen, he said.
Prices of extra-fancy grade
across all varieties averaged
$23 to $24 per 40-pound box in
October, $24 to $25 in Novem-
ber and December and in Janu-
ary are topping $25.50, he said.
“Demand is fairly sluggish
so prices probably will rise
slowly the next few months.
In July and August, they can
go up quite a bit as inventories
fall,” O’Rourke said.
An unknown, he said, is
how well quality holds up giv-
en heat damage last summer.
Tom Riggan, general man-
ager of Chelan Fresh Market-
ing, said February typically
is sluggish but that exports
to Mexico and India should
increase soon. He said he’s
pretty conident in quality, that
some Gala has been culled
out for splits but that he hasn’t
heard of any large scale failure
of apples to hold their irmness
in storage.
LEGAL
PUBLIC NOTICE OF SALE
State of Oregon Department of Forestry
OF APPROXIMATELY 115 ACRES OF IMPROVED PROPERTY KNOWN AS
THE D.L. PHIPPS FOREST NURSERY
Location:
D.L. Phipps Forest Nursery 2424 Wells Road
Elkton, Oregon 97436
Description:
Parcel No. 1 (Elkton Nursery): Beginning at a point on the property line
between Norman L. Compton and Keith Kesterson 1265.6 feet North
and 957.0 feet West of the one-quarter corner common to Sections 1
and 12, Township 23 South, Range 8 West, Willamette Meridian; thence
South 18° 14’ West 2436.7 feet along the Keith Kesterson property line;
thence North 57° 30’ West 1099.8 feet; North 65° 45’ West 1122.0 feet;
North 63° 45’ West 330.0 feet; North 73° West 48.8 feet to a point on
the Howard F. Carnes Property line; thence North 30° 54’ East 1451.8
feet along the Howard F. Carnes property line; thence North 84° 29’
East 1068.0 feet; South 48° 56’ East 572.2 feet; North 18° 14’ East 550.6
feet; South 58° 34’ East 754.0 feet to the point of beginning, all in
Douglas County, Oregon.
Parcel No. 2 (Road to Elkton Nursery): Beginning at a point 25 feet
South of the center of the Existing County Road No. 203, said point
being 532.7 feet North and 1773.0 feet East of the Northeast corner of
the William F. Bay Donation Land Claim No. 38; Township 23 South
Range 8 West, Willamette Meridian, thence along the center line of a
road right of way 50 feet in width South 26° 01’ West 639.5 feet; South
11° 57’ East 83.5 feet; South 4° 29’ East 365.7 feet; South 39° 52’ East
446.3 feet; South 22° 34’ East 342.8 feet; South 49° 33’ East 80.9 feet;
South 25° 10’ East 449.5 feet; South 64° 10’ East 72.4 feet; South 41° 15’
East 183.7 feet; South 75°46’ East 80.0 feet; South 22° 52’ West 71.7
feet; North 89° 24’ East 97.7 feet; South 69°10’ West 104.9 feet; South
36° 44’ East 67.9 feet; South 45’ 30” West 78.2 feet; South 69° 26’ West
99.8 feet; South 0°08” East 70.5 feet; South 12°45’ East 289.2 feet; South
12° 36’ East 323.0 feet; South 72° 19’ East 71.8 feet; thence along a 70
foot right of way North 67° 27’ East 66.0 feet; South 30°19’ West 192.3
feet; thence North 56°16’ East 82.0 feet; South 19° 13’ West 81.8 feet;
South 87° 17’ East 48.4 feet; South 36° 39’ East 222.7 feet; South 13° 48’
West 71.3 feet to a point on the North boundary of the proposed Elkton
Nursery site 1370.5 feet North and 1128.8 feet South of the one-quarter
corner common to Sections 1 and 12, Township 23 South, Range 8 West,
Willamette Meridian, all in Douglas County, Oregon.
Zoning:
Some pesticide labels
require applicators to
use wrong respirators
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Pesticide applicators have
been required to use the wrong
types of protective respirators
when spraying certain chemi-
cals due to apparent miscom-
munication between federal
agencies.
The problem evidently
dates back to the 1990s, when
federal classiications for respi-
rators were changed, but it did
not come to light until an Ore-
gon workplace safety regulator
noticed the mismatch in 2014.
Garnet Cooke, pesticide
coordinator for the state’s Oc-
cupational Safety and Health
Administration, has since been
educating farmers about pick-
ing the right respirators despite
the misclassiication while
pushing for necessary revisions
to labels.
“I want people to be able
protect themselves and pick the
Oregon Department of Forestry Administrative Services Program
Facilities Section - Bldg. “F”
2600 State Street
Salem Oregon 97310
Attn: D. Chris Stewart, P.E.
Facilities Director
Phone: (503) 945-7375
Public Commentary:
The Public is invited to comment on the values of this property to the
people of the State of Oregon; including its values for fish and wildlife
habitat and public access to other property in accordance with OAR 125-
045-215(7). All such comments must be in writing and sent to the
Submittal Address described below. Comments are due no later than 3
PM (Pacific Time), Monday, March 7, 2016.
Deadline:
Proposals must be in writing and signed by a person authorized on
behalf of the Offeror in accordance with 125-045-0235(6), and received
at the following address by no later than 3 PM (Pacific Time), Monday,
March 7, 2016.
D.L. Phipps Nursery Proposal
Oregon Department of Forestry
Facilities Section - Bldg. “F”
2600 State Street
Salem Oregon 97310
Attn: D. Chris Stewart, Facilities Director
Phone: (503) 945-7375
*Reservation of Rights by ODF:Pursuant to ORS 270.130; ODF reserves
the right to accept or reject any proposal.
Pursuant to OAR 125-045-0235(3)(e): Terminal Disposition of this State
Real Property Interest may be subject to a Right of First Refusal.
legal-6-3-4/#4
However, Cooke knew that
the same chemical historical-
ly only required a simple face
mask respirator, which was
once categorized as a TC-21C
before the federal government
recycled that code to refer to
the highly sophisticated respi-
rator.
After calling the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency,
Cooke learned that the agen-
cy hadn’t increased its safety
requirements for the pesticide
— it was simply using the out-
dated respirator classiication.
While this example in-
volved a respirator that was
overly complex — and ex-
pensive — for the pesticide
in question, in another case
Cooke found that the required
respirator did not provide full
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
PULLMAN, Wash. —
Washington State University
has re-introduced an apple
variety from its breeding pro-
gram in Wenatchee that it irst
released six years ago.
Initially only known by its
breeding name, WA 2, the ap-
ple didn’t catch on with grow-
ers or marketers because it had
no name. The idea was to let
each company grow and sell it
under whatever name it chose.
That didn’t go over well.
Some 24 licenses were
granted but licensees wanted
one common name to prevent
marketplace confusion, nurs-
ery owners say. WSU picked
the name Crimson Delight but
interest didn’t grow.
“We learned from our mis-
takes and are modeling our
approach after WA 38,” said
Albert Tsui, WSU business de-
velopment specialist.
WA 38 is the breeding name
of Cosmic Crisp, a new variety
NOTICE OF SURPLUS SALE
Skamania County Noxious Weed
Board is requesting sealed bids for
the following equipment:
Item 1 -
: 4WD,
Diesel, Dual PTO, 3 point hitch,
Good rubber, 3,274 hours
Item 2 -
Item 3 -
Item 4 -
Item 5 -
Item 6 -
Exclusive Farm Use (EFU)
Compliance with RFP:
All Proposals must comply with a Request for Proposal issued by ODF. A
copy of the RFP can be obtained from:
Recycled code
protection from particulates.
In other words, the required
respirator was overkill for
some pesticides and inadequate
for others due to the label mis-
classiications.
Cooke said that the problem
was likely caused by a lack of
communication between the
three government agencies that
regulate respirators: the Na-
tional Institute of Occupation-
al Safety and Health, which
approves and classiies them;
the EPA, which assigns them
to pesticide labels; and OSHA,
which enforces their proper us-
age.
Agencies don’t talk
“These agencies do not sit
in a room and talk,” Cooke
said.
Capital Press was unable to
reach oficials from NIOSH or
EPA for comment as of press
time. In Oregon, the state gov-
ernment enforces OSHA stan-
dards.
So far, Cooke has been
contacting individual pesticide
manufacturers on a case-by-
case basis about respirator mis-
classiications as they come to
her attention.
While there’s currently no
organized system for correct-
ing the problem, there is an
opportunity for EPA to require
revisions as it implements new
worker protection standards on
pesticide labels, she said. An
EPA task force has also been
assembled to look for solu-
tions.
Seeking solutions
“There is movement in that
direction,” Cooke said.
In the meantime, Cooke has
developed a guide for farm-
ers to consult when deciding
which respirators to use for
certain pesticides.
Growers should buy res-
pirators based on the compo-
nents of the equipment needed
to spray the pesticide, she said.
The problem is that farm-
ers now face an added layer
of complexity when trying to
properly apply the chemicals.
“You’ve got a lot of restric-
tions on a label,” said Mark
Trostle, director of global reg-
istrations and regulatory affairs
for Loveland Products, a pesti-
cide company.
WSU apple gets push with new name
Sale:
This property is owned in Fee Simple by the Oregon Department of
Forestry (ODF).
Price:
Minimum asking price for the entire property in “As Is” condition is One
Million Three Hundred Sixty Five Thousand dollars (USD $1,365,000).
right one,” Cooke said.
The issue was brought to
Cooke’s attention when she
saw that one pesticide label
required applicators to wear
a respirator classiied as TC-
21C, a piece of equipment that
consists of a full helmet and
powered air puriier.
Skamania County Noxious
Weed Board Office
704 SW Rock Creek Drive,
Stevenson, Washington
prior to 12:00 P.M. on
Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
Office open M-Thur, 7:30-5:30
The bid opening for this project shall
be
during the regularly
scheduled Weed Board meeting at
the Noxious Weed Board Office, 704
SW Rock Creek Drive, Stevenson.
Any bid received after the hour
specified in the announcement will
not be considered.
Courtesy of Kate Evans/WSU
Sunrise Magic is the new
consumer-selected brand name
for WSU’s WA 2 apple, a cross
between Splendour and Gala.
notforsale
sparking high industry interest.
Proprietary Variety Manage-
ment, a variety management
company in Yakima owned by
nurseryman Lynnell Brandt, is
assisting WSU in the commer-
cial development of both vari-
eties. WSU managed the initial
release of WA 2 alone.
Consumer focus groups in
Spokane and Seattle were used
to select Sunrise Magic as the
new brand name for WA 2.
New growers obtaining WSU
licenses to grow the variety will
be required to use Sunrise Mag-
ic but prior licensees will be
allowed to use whatever name
they’d chosen or switch to the
new name, Tsui said.
“I would be surprised if any
of them switch because the old
licenses are more favorable to
them. They pay royalties on the
tree but not the fruit,” he said.
Ray Keller, general manager
of Apple King in Yakima, said
WSU never trademarked the
name Crimson Delight so his
company did and will contin-
ue to pack the apple under that
name. It markets through L&M
Northwest Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Apple King is the largest
packer of Crimson Delight at
10,000 40-pound boxes and
one of its orchard companies is
the largest grower, Keller said.
“Our intent is to plant a lot
more and we welcome others,”
he said.
The apple was developed
by the apple breeding program
at the WSU Tree Fruit Re-
search and Extension Center
Brothers offer ag advocacy farmer-style
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SPOKANE — Three
brothers living on a Kansas
family farm found an enter-
taining way to tell agricul-
ture’s story using parodies of
popular songs, and see it as an
important way to bridge the
urban-rural divide.
The Peterson Farm Broth-
ers — Kendal, 19; Nathan,
22, and Greg, 25 — talked
about their success on the vid-
eo website YouTube Feb. 4
during the Spokane Ag Expo
and Paciic Northwest Farm
Forum.
The Petersons created farm
versions of such songs as LM-
FAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know
It,” which became “I’m Farm-
ing And I Grow It,” or Katy
Perry’s “Roar,” which turned
into an anthem to farm labor
with “Chore.”
They have created nine
parody videos so far, includ-
ing their most popular, “Farm-
er Style,” an agricultural take
on PSY’s “Gangnam Style.”
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
The Peterson Farm Brothers perform one of their agricul-
ture-themed song parodies Feb. 4 during the Spokane Ag Expo
and Paciic Northwest Farm Forum.
Oldest brother Greg got
the idea as a student at Kansas
State University, where he was
majoring in agricultural com-
munications and minoring in
music. Class discussions often
addressed the disconnect be-
tween the public and farmers
and programs such as FFA.
“I always thought to my-
self, surely there’s a more
entertaining way to be doing
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RESERVATIONS:
The Noxious Weed Board of
Skamania County, Washington
herein expressly reserves the
following rights:
• to reject any and/or all bids
• to waive any and/or all
irregularities in the bids submitted
• to base awards with due
regard to quality
• to make the award to any
bidder whose bid, in the opinion
of the Noxious Weed Board, best
serves the interest of Skamania
County
7-4/#4
in Wenatchee by Bruce Barritt,
who is now retired. The apple
is a cross between Gala and
Splendour. It has a pinkish-red
blush with conspicuous lenti-
cels, tiny pores in the skin. It
is sweet with moderate acid-
ity, stores well and is harvest-
ed about a week after Cosmic
Crisp during the Red Delicious
season.
Tom Riggan, general man-
ager of Chelan Fresh Market-
ing, said WA 2 lacks the “wow
factor” of Cosmic Crisp in
taste.
“A lot of growers are get-
ting behind Cosmic Crisp be-
cause it’s a tremendous eating
apple and stores well,” Riggan
said. “I have eaten both over
the years and Cosmic Crisp
really impresses me where
the WA 2 didn’t impress me.
It didn’t have the wow factor.
There are a lot of new varieties
and unless you have the wow
factor it can be just another ap-
ple. It has to have some serious
attributes for people to want to
make it their apple.”
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7-1/#14
this,” he said. “I knew the
power music had to get you
to listen to something you
wouldn’t otherwise listen to.”
Greg coaxed younger
brothers Nathan and Kendal
into shooting “I’m Farming
and I Grow It,” expecting to
share the video with friends.
After a few years, they
thought, the video might hit
50,000 viewers.
The brothers posted the
video on YouTube on June
25, 2012. The next day, they
had their irst of many media
interviews and the video was
up to 20,000 views. That led to
a “deer in the headlights” ap-
pearance on Fox News in New
York City several days later —
Kendal and Nathan had never
been on a plane before — and
the video received 5 million
views by July 2.
Today, the Petersons’ vid-
eos have been viewed nearly
33 million times.
The brothers do not parody
country music, the better to
reach people who are discon-
nected from farming and agri-
culture.