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SEED & ROW CROP SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE Capital Press The West’s FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016 A g Weekly VOLUME 89, NUMBER 11 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CERTIFIABLE AGRICULTURE $2.00 Washington Supreme Court rules against farm manager Advocates say ruling will change industry practices By DON JENKINS Capital Press Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Randy MacMillan, vice president of research and environmental affairs for Clear Springs Foods, looks out over trout raceways at the company’s Snake River Farms in Buhl, Idaho, and talks about the company’s sustainable production system on March 3. Farmers and processors face more scrutiny as customers demand to know how food is produced By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press R andy MacMillan and the employees at Clear Springs Food are preparing for the latest in a growing list of audits. The Buhl, Idaho, trout farm is subject- ed to six annual third-party audits of its environ- mental impact, food safety practices and how so- cially responsible it is. The audits, MacMillan said, require mountains of paperwork, and the company must pay fees based on its annual production. The audits are on top of some 1,300 regulations generated by 30 government agencies that domes- tic aquaculture operations must meet, said Mac- Millan, the company’s vice president. But the certifi cations assure retailers — and their customers — that Clear Springs Food prod- ucts meet their expectations. “Most customers don’t understand the regula- tory system in the U.S.,” MacMillan said. “They don’t understand the federal Clean Water Act. They don’t understand state standards for clean water, so we’re at a real disadvantage.” In recent years, a rising tide of audits and cer- tifi cations has swamped many producers, from those who raise trout to those who raise cattle and other crops. The audits and certifi cations assure consumers that no salmon were hurt in growing an apple, or that a cherry meets Europe’s rigorous farming standards. They signify that food has no genetically modifi ed ingredients or that chickens were well-treated. They even certify that no slaves were used. Worldwide, 463 labels in 199 nations certify that products — many relating to food — meet ecological standards. The best-known certifi ca- tions cover whether food is raised organically, but others cover a wide range of issues, qualities and concerns. OLYMPIA — The Washington Supreme Court has issued a ruling in a $1 million case that could have broad implications for any owners who hire outside managers to operate their orchards, industry representa- tives say. In its decision, which was announced March 3, the high court ruled that any on- site farm management company that hires workers must have a state farm labor con- tractor license. The 9-0 decision affi rms a federal judge’s ruling and, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries, rein- forces the department’s longtime position that anyone paid a fee to hire workers needs a farm labor contractor license. An attorney who represented the orchard manager, Northwest Management Realty Services, however, said the ruling funda- mentally changes industry practice, extend- ing the state’s Farm Labor Contractors Act to far more agricultural operations. “It’s hard to overstate the impact this will have on Washington agriculture,” said Yakima lawyer Brendan Monahan. The case, Saucedo v. John Hancock In- surance, stems from a federal class-action lawsuit fi led by Columbia Legal Services on behalf of workers at the three Yakima County orchards. John Hancock and pension fund man- ager Texas Municipal Plans Consortium owned the orchards. California-based Farmland Management Services served as a middleman and hired a local business, North- west Management Realty Services, to run the orchards. Turn to HANDCOCK, Page 12 Turn to CERTIFIABLE, Page 12 LABEL SYSTEM: Some of the best-known certii cations (at right, left) cover a wide range of issues, qualities and concerns by consumers relating to whether food meets eological standards. Don Jenkins/Capital Press An American fl ag waves over the Temple of Justice on March 3 in Olympia. The Washing- ton Supreme Court ruled an on-site farm man- ager in Yakima County should have had a la- bor contractor license, upholding the basis for a $1 million judgment against three orchards. Public meeting on new Klamath agreements set in Sacramento Agencies, groups proposing removal of four dams on river By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — After com- plaints from U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa and others that their latest agreement was being crafted in secret, agencies planning the removal of four dams from the Klamath River announced a public meeting for March 16 to discuss the plan. The Klamath Basin Coordinating Council will consider formally amend- ing a set of 2010 agreements on the fu- ture of the Klamath Basin and take pub- lic comments during a 1 p.m. meeting at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento. The meeting comes after Pacifi Corp, the states of California and Oregon and two federal agencies announced plans in February to set up a private entity to handle the four dams’ removal by seek- ing a go-ahead from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The new pact drew vocal complaints from LaMalfa, R-Calif., after two of his staff members showed up at private meetings scheduled to discuss the pro- posal and were asked to sign confi den- tiality agreements, which they refused to do. LaMalfa criticized the Klamath pro- ponents for scheduling their meeting in Sacramento rather than the Klamath Ba- sin or Yreka, Calif., which is near where three of the four dams operate. “Thanks a lot for having it six hours away from the people who are affected by it,” LaMalfa said. “It makes me fu- rious that they haven’t had any public meetings at all and now their best effort Turn to KLAMATH, Page 12 11-1/#5
