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14 CapitalPress.com March 25, 2016 WAFLA seeks help on H-2A delays By DAN WHEAT Capital Press OLYMPIA — The North- west farm labor association, WAFLA, is asking its mem- bers to contact their congres- sional representatives and the secretary of the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor to ask the de- partment to resolve its delays in approving H-2A foreign guestworkers. In the past month, H-2A applications across the nation have been delayed by DOL, which cites computer prob- lems and an increased work- load, according to a WAFLA email alert to its members. DOL’s labor certiication to allow the hiring of for- eign workers is the irst step in the program and federal law mandates certiicates be issued at least 30 days prior to the date workers are need- ed in order to allow for other parts of visa procurement, WAFLA said. “WAFLA has documented many cases where labor cer- tiications were issued sever- al weeks late, virtually guar- anteeing that workers will not arrive on the date they are needed,” WAFLA said. WAFLA is working with members of Congress and DOL to get applications pro- cessed quicker. There is a “massive labor shortage” and DOL delays may result in thousands of farmworkers arriving late for spring contracts in Washing- ton and nationwide, WAFLA said. It could be inancial- ly devastating to farms and crops, WAFLA said. WAFLA began experienc- ing the delay in early Feb- ruary, Dan Fazio, WAFLA director, said Feb. 18 at the organization’s annual meeting in Ellensburg. At that time, he said, about a half-dozen ap- plications for a total of about 1,000 workers, mainly for Washington tree fruit grow- ers, had been delayed. Washington growers have increasingly turned to the H-2A program to solve its labor needs in recent years. Usage has grown from 814 workers in 2006 to 11,844 in 2015. Fazio has said the number could be 15,000 this year. Growers have to provide housing and transportation to and from the U.S. for the workers, most of whom come from Mexico. The workers must be paid at least $12.69 per hour in Washington and Oregon. Many make more than that when paid piece rate for pick- ing fruit. WAFLA provided about 67 percent of the H-2A workers in Washington last season through contracts with growers. Water Board partners with irrigators for recharge By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press The Idaho Water Resource Board is investing in exist- ing irrigation systems to re- plenish the declining Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer with an ultimate goal of recharging 250,000 acre-feet of water per year. The Water Board has known about productive re- charge sites for years but hasn’t had the money to build or improve infrastructure to accomplish the recharge goal, Vince Alberdi, Water Board member and former long-time manager of the Twin Falls Canal Co., said. That changed in 2014 when the state Legislature approved an annual alloca- tion of $5 million from the state’s cigarette tax to the Water Board for statewide aquifer stabilization. Two years ago, the Wa- ter Board started develop- ing contracts with irrigation districts and canal compa- nies to compensate them for recharge and get projects moving, starting with the “low-hanging fruit” — those that are easiest to bring on- line, he said. One such project is taking place near Shoshone, where the Water Board is partnering with American Falls Reser- voir District No. 2 to convey water in the Milner-Gooding Canal to an existing recharge basin. The site was used many years ago by the Lower Snake River Aquifer Recharge Dis- trict in Hagerman to replenish lows at Thousand Springs. The recharge proved effective, but the district didn’t have money to con- tinue, Alberdi said. The Water Board calls the Milner-Gooding Canal the “workhorse” of all the re- charge sites in the ESPA area, recharging 42,000 acre-feet Courtesy of Amit Dhingra, WSU Amit Dhingra, Washington State University genomicist, is seen with a Golden Delicious apple. His company, Phytelligence, is opening facilities in Seattle and Portland. Agriculture biotech company expands to Seattle, Portland By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Lynne Harmon, manager of American Falls Reservoir District No. 2, stands beside a diversion gate that will allow water recharge of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer at a site north of Shoshone on March 9. of the total 58,000 acre-feet recharged thus far this non-ir- rigation season. But part of that system was in need of repair. Its 15,000- foot concrete channel that carries irrigation water from Milner Dam across the lava low between the Little Wood and the Big Wood rivers was deteriorating, said Lynn Har- mon, manager of American Falls Reservoir District No. 2. This winter, the concrete flume is being stripped and repaired and coated to seal cracks and waterproof the walls to guard against the effects of recharge water freezing and thawing in the winter, he said. The porous lava rock re- charge basin — which sits about midway on the lume — is a good recharge site due to its isolation, retention capa- bilities and direct effect on the springs at Hagerman. The site has the potential to recharge 350 cubic feet per second, he said. Total cost of the cost-share project, which is nearing com- pletion, is estimated at $1.32 million, with the Water Board contributing $700,000. In addition, the Milepost 31 recharge site north of Eden and 36 miles upstream on the same canal is being expand- ed. By next winter, the Water Board could be recharging 550 cubic feet per second from the Milner-Gooding Canal, more than doubling the canal’s current recharge capacity. Other Water Board re- charge projects on the ESPA include infrastructure im- provements on the North Side Canal, Twin Falls Canal, Greater Feeder Canal, Egin Lakes and Jenson Grove. Without the cooperation of irrigation districts and canal companies and their willing- ness to allow the Water Board to use their facilities, it would take years to get recharge in- frastructure in place, Alberdi said. And it would take hun- dreds of millions of dollars, said Water Board Chairman Roger Chase. Funding from the cigarette tax is due to sunset in 2019, but two bills to continue fund- ing aquifer recharge statewide are now being discussed in the Legislature, Alberdi said. SEATTLE — Phytelli- gence, an agricultural biotech- nology company with Wash- ington State University roots, has established its headquarters in Seattle and facilities in Port- land for the advanced propaga- tion of food crops. The company was found- ed in 2012 by Amit Dhingra, associate professor of horticul- tural genomics and biotech- nology at WSU. He developed micropropagation protocols, techniques and software to pro- duce rootstocks, fruit trees and grapevines faster and cheaper than traditional nursery meth- ods and ensure their correct identity through high-resolu- tion genetic ingerprinting. Disease screening, plant repository services, securing of intellectual property and the ability to co-develop new varieties of food crops also is provided. The company also has bi- ological and compound solu- tions, including one that keeps pears from aging after they are sliced and packaged. In 2012 and 2013, mix-ups in materials for propagation of new disease-resistant apple rootstock at Washington tree fruit nurseries led to the loss of millions of dol- lars, Dhingra has said. Phytelli- gence can prevent that by test- ing the DNA of each plant, he said. The goal is not to replace Northwest fruit tree nurseries but help them become more ef- icient, cost effective and glob- ally competitive, said Ashley Ennis, Phytelligence director of marketing. C&O Nursery, Wenatchee; Van Well Nursery, East Wenatchee; Willow Drive Nursery, Ephrata; TRECO, Woodburn, Ore.; and ProTree Nursery, Brentwood, Calif., all have invested in Phytelligence. They remain supportive, Ennis said. Dhingra is the company’s controlling partner, handles sci- entiic developments and oper- ates its Pullman laboratory, she said. The company has expand- ed into production of pear and cherry trees, peaches, almonds, hops and blueberry, raspberry and strawberry plants, she said. The Seattle facilities pro- vide 118,000 square feet of greenhouse and 85,000 square feet of outdoor stor- age to meet customer demand for 3 million to 6 million plants in each of the next two years. More than 15,000 plantlets already arrive weekly from the company’s tissue culture laboratory in Pullman. The Seattle facility has a state-of- the-art, high humidity growth and acclimation building to transition plants from the tis- sue culture gel composition to the sterile greenhouse potting environment. In Portland, the compa- ny recently moved into the 12,000-square-foot PacTrust facility adjacent to the Oregon Business Park. It includes for- mer facilities of Dow Agro- Sciences and will retain most of that company’s research- ers for studying production and use of plants for food, fuel, iber and land reclama- tion. There is a tissue culture lab and plans to eventually grow up to 29 million plants annually. Idaho ag industry mourns Idaho grain growers brace for yellow dwarf problems state’s Mexico trade director to plant if they delayed. This spring, she advises By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Idaho agriculture is mourning the death of Ar- mando Orellana, who directed the state’s Mexico trade ofice for 22 years. Orellana, who died of a heart attack March 4 at the age of 64, presided over a signii- cant increase in Idaho agricul- tural exports to Mexico. Besides helping Idaho farm- ers and agribusinesses ind and take advantage of opportuni- ties in Mexico, Orellana was a friend to many people involved in the state’s agricultural sector, industry leaders told Capital Press. “Idaho agriculture lost a great friend,” Idaho State De- partment of Agriculture Di- rector Celia Gould said in an email. “He touched many lives over the years and the tragic loss of Armando will be felt throughout Idaho.” Orellana worked closely with Idaho Farm Bureau Feder- ation leaders and was a big rea- son Idaho ag exports to Mexi- co soared in recent years, said IFBF Director of Commodities Dennis Brower. Mexico last year surpassed Canada to become the top for- eign market for Idaho ag ex- ports, and $191 million worth of the state’s farm products were sold there in 2015. In recent years, “literally By JOHN O’CONNELL every (ag product from Idaho) that went into Mexico, Arman- do had something to do with it,” Brower said. Idaho Bean Commission board member Don Tolmie said Orellana was a big reason the state’s dry bean industry has been able to make major inroads into Mexico. “Armando represented the Idaho bean industry there for at least 20 years,” said Tolmie, production manager for Trea- sure Valley Seed Co. “Several Idaho bean companies bene- ited greatly from Armando’s representation.” Tolmie said Orellana’s death “was a shock to everybody who knew Armando and it’s a great loss to the Idaho ag industry.” Before taking over as di- rector of Idaho’s Mexico trade ofice in Guadalajara in 1994, Orellana, who had a master’s degree in business administra- tion, spent 18 years working for major agricultural irms in that nation. “He was dedicated to serv- ing our state and will be missed deeply,” Gould said. In an IFBF tribute to Orel- lana posted on YouTube, CEO Rick Keller said that “just about every bushel of grain in Mexi- co from Idaho would have his thumb print on it,” as well “as every mustard seed sale we had, potato processing equip- ment (and) bean seed. ...” Capital Press ABERDEEN, Idaho — Based on the volume and distribution of recent grower reports about barley yellow dwarf infections in winter wheat, University of Idaho Ex- tension cereals pathologist Ju- liet Marshall said it’s clear the disease will be rampant again this season. Last season, Southern and Eastern Idaho grain growers coped with the most wide- spread barley yellow dwarf outbreak they’d ever experi- enced. The virus is spread by aphids, causes yellowing of leaves and stunts plant roots. Though an abnormally wet May helped plants grow out of their symptoms in 2015, many growers still experienced yield losses of up to 40 percent, Marshall said. Marshall fears the disease is at least as wide- spread as last year, and absent another break from Mother Nature, yield losses could be greater. Coupled with slumping commodity prices, Marshall worries Idaho wheat and bar- ley returns could suffer. “It’s going to be wide- spread again,” Marshall said. “There are some growers who feel like it’s going to be worse, but at this point, we can’t tell.” Marshall said growers have brought half a dozen samples of infected plants to her ofice, John O’Connell/Capital Press University of Idaho Extension cereals pathologist Juliet Marshall shows a sample of winter wheat brought in by a grower with symp- toms of barley yellow dwarf virus. Marshall said the sample, found near American Falls, didn’t have an insecticidal seed treatment, which is a recommendation for limiting damage, and she antici- pates widespread infections this season. and she’s been looded with calls, conirming the disease is present in ields from the Idaho and Utah border, north to Blackfoot and west to Twin Falls County. Even before the irst snow of winter fell, Mar- shall said barley yellow dwarf cases were conirmed in fall wheat ields near Seagull Bay of the American Falls Reser- voir, Fort Hall and in the Arbon and Rockland valleys. She said growers have found infected plants throughout ields, often with the heaviest infections oc- curring along ield edges. “Barley yellow dwarf is go- ing to be pretty visible here in the next several weeks,” Mar- shall said. Marshall believes barley yellow dwarf has been present in the region for a long time but said it irst became a no- ticeable problem in 2008. She believes infection rates have risen as the state’s corn acre- age has increased. Corn sup- ports aphids until fall grains sprout and lure them away. Marshall advises farmers to use insecticidal seed treat- ments and delay planting fall grain as long as possible to reduce exposure to aphids be- fore cold weather keeps them in check. Marshall said most of the reported infections were from early planted grain, but she acknowledges some grow- ers wouldn’t have enough time growers to control volunteers to eliminate potential sourc- es of virus and aphids, and to plant spring grain as early as possible, allowing the plants to mature and be hardy when aphids arrive. Marshall said UI has no good recommendations on re- sistant varieties but has been evaluating some potentially re- sistant Kansas State University varieties in research plots in Buhl, where UI is also evaluat- ing the eficacy of insecticidal seed treatments and additional foliar sprays in the fall. She also advises growers to keep crops well watered and fertil- ized, as the virus robs plants of nutrients and moisture to repli- cate itself. UI agronomist Xi Liang is leading greenhouse and ield studies to evaluate how adding different levels of supplemen- tal nitrogen in the spring may curb yield losses. She’s also evaluating how sick plants ab- sorb moisture. “We’ll collect roots at the end of the study to see if the roots are affected by barley yellow dwarf virus and dam- age (water) uptake from the soil proile,” Liang said. UI barley agronomist Chris Rogers is overseeing simi- lar trials in barley, and plans to evaluate a new European variety, Wintmalt, for yellow dwarf tolerance.