February 12, 2016
7
CapitalPress.com
U.S. surpasses Germany in hop production
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
MOXEE, Wash. — For
only the third time in the past
10 years, the United States
bested Germany to lead the
world in hop production last
year, according to a fi nal 2015
report by the Hop Growers of
America.
The U.S. — overwhelm-
ingly Washington, Oregon
and Idaho — produced 80.2
million pounds of hops, which
was 42 percent of the world
production, compared to Ger-
many at 62.2 million pounds
and 33 percent, according to
the report.
The U.S. topped Germany
in 2013 and 2009, but other-
wise Germany has led since
2006. Taken as a whole, Eu-
rope always produces about
half the world’s hops. After
Europe and the U.S., China is
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
A worker fastens trellis wire to poles about 15 feet above the
ground for a new hop planting at a farm between Prosser and Ben-
ton City, Wash., last March. The planting was postponed because
of drought. Fields like this will be planted this year.
the other main producer, rang-
ing from 6 to 16 percent.
Oil from hop cones is used
for fl avoring and stabilizing
beer.
2015 was a tough year be-
cause of drought in Europe,
where rain, not irrigation,
mostly waters the crop, said
Ann George, executive direc-
tor of Hop Growers of Amer-
ica and the Washington Hop
Commission. It was a diffi cult
year for aroma varieties in
Washington’s Yakima Valley
because of drought and ex-
treme heat early in the grow-
ing season during critical cone
development, she said.
Total world hop production
was 190.4 million pounds in
2015, down from 208.1 mil-
lion in 2014 but greater than
178.4 million in 2013. The re-
cord in the past 10 years was
245 million pounds in 2008.
Lower production in 2015
means a defi cit in alpha hops
which will be made up by
inventories from past years,
George said.
With Yakima Basin wa-
ter reservoirs at 117 percent
of normal and Washing-
ton’s snowpack at 109 per-
cent of normal, more water
for irrigation is anticipated
along with higher yields
and more acreage going
into production, she said.
“The unusually high tem-
peratures experienced this past
summer were unprecedented
and we do not anticipate a re-
peat of an early and persistent
heat wave,” George said.
Some Yakima Valley grow-
ers held off on new plantings
last spring because of drought
but likely will resume nor-
mal plantings this spring, said
Jaki Brophy, communications
director of Hop Growers of
America.
Craft brewery demand for
aroma varieties of hops contin-
ues to drive demand and India
pale ale continues to be the
clear beer style favorite, with
two times the volume in 2015
over 2011, Brophy said.
“Going through our sta-
tistics, it is clear that growers
are putting more hops in the
ground to meet the needs of
both domestic and internation-
al brewers,” George said.
It was promising, she said,
that the Brewers Association
reported, at the recent Hop
Growers of America national
convention, that about 95 per-
cent of its members are con-
tracting their hop supply.
The more contracts grow-
ers and merchants have, the
better they can serve domestic
and global brewers, and it’s “a
pretty big gamble” for brewers
to rely on the spot market, she
said.
For the second straight year,
the Hop Growers of Amer-
ica report includes acreage
harvested outside the Pacifi c
Northwest. Michigan leads at
320 acres, New York has 250,
Wisconsin 170, Colorado 125
and California has 85 acres.
Washington
harvested
32,158 acres of hops in 2015,
Oregon 6,612 acres and Idaho
4,863 acres.
Senate resolutions would bless Turnbull refuge reopens after closure
water agreement, direct recharge
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
and Senate Concurrent Reso-
lution 135 allows lawmakers to
be educated about the situation
and “to give their blessing to
the (agreement),” Bair said.
“This resolution recognizes
that the state supports the goal
of the settlement agreement to
stabilize and reverse the trend
of declining ESPA water lev-
els,” the resolution states. “This
settlement will resolve the mul-
tiple water delivery calls that
have led to protracted litiga-
tion and economic uncertainty
for all water users in the upper
Snake River basin.”
The agreement includes
the state’s promise to inject
250,000 acre-feet of recharge
water into the aquifer annually
and SCR 136 directs the water
board to begin developing in
earnest the capacity to achieve
that goal.
“It gives the participants in
the ... agreement a level of com-
fort that the legislature is direct-
ing the (Idaho Department of
Water Resources) and the water
board to do everything in their
power to recharge 250,0000
acre-feet of water into the aqui-
fer,” Bair said.
Addressing the resolutions,
Lt. Gov. Brad Little told Food
Producers of Idaho members
Feb. 3 that there is an aggres-
sive water plan to ensure the
agreement stands and partici-
pants and the state can’t take
their foot off of it because of
how important the ESPA is for
agriculture.
Drought disaster declarations
pay dividends for Idaho ranchers
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
Twin Falls County rancher
Jared Brackett had to sell some
cows and lease extra pasture
to cope with drought-related
forage shortages last spring.
But he knows help is on
the way to cover a portion of
his drought losses, thanks to
federal programs that were
triggered when Idaho coun-
ties declared drought emer-
gencies.
According to the federal
Farm Service Agency for Ida-
ho, the Livestock Forage Pro-
gram, which will help Brack-
ett, has been the “big ticket
item” lately among programs
available to aid producers af-
fected by drought. FSA paid
Idaho ranchers $21 million
to offset forage losses in FY
2015, and offi cials say they’re
on pace to eclipse that amount
in FY 2016, for losses that oc-
curred last season but are still
being claimed.
Last season, all but two
Idaho counties were classifi ed
as being in severe drought,
making them eligible for fed-
eral assistance and low-inter-
est loans. No Idaho counties
currently remain in severe
drought status.
Brackett also took advan-
tage of a drought-emergency
option allowing producers to
defer tax payments.
“When we have a bad
drought,
es-
pecially
like
we were in
last spring, it’s
important the
counties get de-
clared,” Brack-
Samson
ett said, adding
there are sever-
al programs for crops but few
for livestock. “Most ranchers
are pretty independent. We
don’t take a lot of handouts,
and it’s not like it covers 100
percent of our costs, but it
helps in tighter years.”
The deadline for payments
in the current fi scal year was
Jan. 31, but producers can ap-
ply for back losses in the next
payment cycle.
Bingham County rancher
Chris Dalley claimed for-
age assistance in FY 2015
for 2014 losses. The funding
helped him to buy bred heif-
ers to replace cows that failed
to breed due to drought stress,
and it was the fi rst time in sev-
eral years he’d taken an emer-
gency payment.
“Those drought-relief pro-
grams help a bunch,” he said.
Idaho ranchers also re-
ceived $250,000 in FY 2015
from the Livestock Indem-
nity Program, which helps
cover livestock deaths due
to adverse weather or attacks
by federally reintroduced ani-
mals. They received $500,000
in emergency loans, which
must be repaid with 1.75 per-
cent interest.
Demand for livestock
emergency programs has also
been heavy nationally, where
$2 billion was budgeted to last
the life of the Farm Bill, but
$6 billion has already been
paid, said Idaho FSA Execu-
tive Director Mark Samson.
Samson credits the emer-
gency programs with keep-
ing prices steady by enabling
growers to avoid culling their
herds.
“It has been very benefi cial
to the cattle industry overall in
the U.S. and in Idaho,” Sam-
son said.
Samson said the new
Grasslands Conservation Re-
serve Program should help
producers facing forage short-
ages in the future. It offers
land owners payments for
planting property in grasses
but allows them to graze, un-
der a specialized plan devel-
oped by USDA’s Natural Re-
sources Conservation Service.
The enrollment deadline is
Feb. 27, though payment rates
are still being established.
Idaho has 100,000 open acres
before reaching its CRP cap.
During FY 2015, Samson
said FSA paid $415 million to
Idaho farmers and ranchers,
including roughly $240 mil-
lion in sugar loans, $98 mil-
lion on other loan programs,
$24 million on disaster pro-
grams, $37 million on conser-
vation programs and $15 mil-
lion on commodity payments,
mostly for corn.
290
Spokane
2
90
Opportunity
90 Cheney
C r e ek
904
k
N
27
195
Idaho
Wash.
Courtesy of Idaho Department of Water Resources
Water fl ows through the new Milepost 28 bypass around a hydro
plant within the Milner-Gooding Canal, built to increase the state’s
aquifer recharge capacity. A concurrent resolution introduced in
the Idaho Senate would enable legislators to provide their blessing
to the 2015 settlement agreement between groundwater pumpers
and surface water users in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.
SPOKANE
an
.
e R
BOISE — A concurrent
resolution introduced in the
Idaho Senate would enable leg-
islators to bless the landmark
2015 settlement agreement be-
tween groundwater pumpers
and surface water users in the
Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.
Another related resolution
would direct the Idaho Water
Resources Board to begin de-
veloping in earnest the capacity
needed for the state to recharge
250,000 acre-feet of water into
the aquifer annually, which is a
major part of the agreement.
A third resolution encour-
ages the water board to address
declining groundwater levels in
the state’s other aquifers.
All three were introduced
by Sen. Steve Bair, R-Black-
foot, a retired farmer, and print-
ed Feb. 3.
The ESPA agreement solves
a long-running fi ght between
surface water users with senior
water rights and groundwa-
ter pumpers with more junior
rights. The seven members of
the Surface Water Coalition
have claimed in water calls that
groundwater pumping in the
ESPA has resulted in declining
spring fl ows.
The agreement prevents
curtailment of almost 1 million
acres irrigated by groundwater
pumping.
Both parties wanted to
avoid a legislative solution that
required changing Idaho law
291
ok
Turnbull
National
Wildlife
Refuge
o c
Capital Press
A wildlife refuge near
Cheney, Wash., and several
others around the West were
closed over the weekend due
to an “abundance of caution”
about the possibility of pro-
tests, a U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service spokeswoman
says.
Turnbull National Wild-
life Refuge was closed Feb.
6-7.
“Given the situation in
Eastern Oregon, we felt
it might be appropriate to
close Turnbull out of an
abundance of caution,” Fish
and Wildlife Service spokes-
woman Miel Corbett said.
“There were no specific
threats to Turnbull or to oth-
er refuges in the area, but we
simply know the situation in
Eastern Oregon has sparked
some strong feelings in the
public. We just wanted to be
sure we were appropriately
Wash.
2
Sp
By SEAN ELLIS
Area in
detail
395
R
Capital Press graphic
taking care of the public’s
safety and the safety of our
employees.”
Several refuges in Neva-
da were also closed. Corbett
said there were no specific
threats there, either.
Other refuges remained
open. Corbett said she did
not know how the agency de-
cided which refuges to keep
3 Years @ 0%
open and which to close.
Spokane County Sher-
iff Ozzie Knezovich said
he recently communicated
with an individual via email
who was calling for a protest
at Turnbull, but he doesn’t
think it was a factor in the
closure.
Knezovich said his of-
fice is watching how things
progress in Malheur County,
Ore..
“We are aware there has
been a national call from the
Oregon ranch area to try to
replicate this throughout
the United States, so we’re
keeping our eyes open,” he
said.
Corbett said there were
no protests at the refuges,
but there have been protests
in Spokane, Olympia and
Burns, Ore.
“I believe the refuge will
continue to be open,” she
said. Corbett said she is un-
aware of any plans for future
closures.
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