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CapitalPress.com
March 25, 2016
Wash. irrigation district settles with Ecology
District must
fix meters
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
An southeastern Washing-
ton irrigation district will pay
a $21,271 ine and spend at
least $10,000 to correct me-
tering problems that led it to
draw water that had been allo-
cated for threatened steelhead
in the Touchet River, accord-
ing to a settlement reached
with the state Department of
Ecology.
If the metering problems
resurface in the next three
years, the Touchet Eastside
Westside Irrigation District
could face an additional
$31,271 ine.
“We’re going to work very,
very hard,” irrigation dis-
trict board chairman Stephen
Ames said Thursday. “We
have to monitor more close-
ly.”
The district irrigates 1,927
acres of hay, alfalfa, onions,
Courtesty of en.wikipedia.org
The Touchet River lows in Walla Walla County in southeast
Washington. The Touchet Eastside Westside Irrigation District has
agreed to a reduced ine for drawing too much water from the river
in 2014. Some of the ine will go toward repairing water meters.
corn and other crops in Walla
Walla County. It was original-
ly ined $73,530 by DOE for
illegally diverting 90 acre-feet
over 21 days in October 2014.
The district appealed the pen-
alty.
DOE reviewed the meter-
ing information and adjust-
ed the water withdrawal to
77 acre-feet and the ine to
$62,543, a sum roughly equal
to the district’s annual budget.
DOE spokeswoman Brook
Beeler said the department
agreed to essentially halve the
ine in return for the district
correcting the metering prob-
lems. “It’s really to put them
on a good path to be compli-
ant,” she said.
The district acknowledged
problems with its meters and
asked for leniency. Ames
called the settlement “the best
we do, with what we had.”
He said the ine and meter
repairs will cause district rates
to increase, though the district
has not calculated by how
much. He said the district will
have three years to pay the
ine, reducing the hit on the
budget.
The district’s water rights
date back to 1882. It gave up
a substantial percentage of
its water for fall irrigation in
2010 in exchange for $2.56
million to replace canals with
pipelines. Leaving more water
in the river beneits threatened
steelhead, according to DOE.
In setting the penalty, DOE
calculated the public spent
$817 on pipelines for every
acre-foot illegally diverted.
Ames said tracking water
use has been dificult as the
district transitioned from ca-
nals to pipelines. A new alarm
system should alert the dis-
trict to when it’s drawing too
much water, he said.
Courtesy of National Corn Growers Association
Brent Hostetler, chair of the National Corn Growers Association’s
production stewardship action team, presents a trophy to Board-
man, Ore., farmer Jonathon Lewis Springstead for placing irst in
the state in the irrigated category in the organization’s annual yield
contest. Several Oregon farmers say the competition allows them
to compare varieties and farming practices.
Oregon corn growers
touted for high yields
Idaho ag forum celebrates farming’s role in Canyon County
Virginia farmer tops
national contest
with 532.03 bushels
per acre
By SEAN ELLIS
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
NAMPA, Idaho — Agri-
culture’s importance to Can-
yon County’s economy was
driven home in multiple ways
March 16 during the Nam-
pa Chamber of Commerce’s
third Annual Ag Forum.
But farmers and represen-
tatives of major agribusiness
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companies also expressed
concern about how the coun-
ty’s rapid growth will affect
their industry.
Though one of Idaho’s
smaller counties in area, Can-
yon County is one of its most
important when it comes to
agriculture. There are more
than 2,330 farmers in the
county, by far the most in Ida-
ho, and the county ranks No.
5 in farmgate receipts with
$513 million.
It is also home to many
large processing and food
companies,
including
milk-processor
Darigold,
cheese-maker Sorrento Lac-
talis, applesauce producer
Materne, Amalgamated Sugar
Co. and Simplot Co.’s new
potato processing facility.
Most of the world’s major
seed companies have a large
presence here and the state’s
wine and fruit industries are
centered in Canyon County.
“Canyon County is the
most diverse county in all of
Idaho in terms of agriculture,”
said Laura Johnson, the Idaho
State Department of Agricul-
ture’s Market Development
Division bureau chief.
Johnson applauded the
local business community’s
decision to host the annual
forum. “We are very proud to
see you embrace your agricul-
tural roots,” she said.
As an example of how
important agribusiness em-
ployers are to the county,
presenters pointed out that
Amalgamated employs 500
workers and pays $20 million
in wages annually as well as
$60 million in sugar beet pay-
ments.
Sorrento Lactalis and Dari-
gold together process 7 mil-
lion pounds of milk per day,
most of it from local dairies.
Brett Lolley, Idaho pro-
duction manager for Semi-
nis Vegetable Seeds, said the
state’s seed industry, which is
centered in Canyon County,
has an economic impact of
about $500 million in Idaho.
“We are here (today) be-
cause agriculture is import-
ant; it’s a huge piece of our
community,” Debbie Kling,
president and CEO of the
chamber, told the nearly 320
attendees. “You are greatly
appreciated.”
The county is also expe-
riencing explosive growth
and during a panel discussion,
agribusiness representatives
said that was a concern.
Nate McKnight, plant
manager of Darigold’s Cald-
well facility, said he is con-
cerned about the impact of
that city’s planned downtown
plaza, which will be locat-
ed near Darigold and attract
about 250 events a year.
A lot of milk tankers are
needed to bring the facility’s
product in and out and Dari-
gold wants to make sure park-
ing, trafic and safety con-
cerns are addressed.
Capital Press
Several Boardman, Ore.,
corn growers placed highly at
the state level in the National
Corn Growers Association’s
annual yield contest.
Vern Frederickson placed
irst in Oregon in the no-till/
strip till irrigated class with
a yield of 309.28 bushels per
acre, using DeKalb DKC62-
06.
Jonathon Lewis Spring-
stead placed irst in Oregon in
the irrigated class with a yield
of 273.9 bushels per acre using
Pioneer 35K02. Springstead
did not respond to requests for
comment.
Nolan Mills placed second
in the no-till/strip-till irrigated
class with a yield of 255.29
bushels per acre using Pioneer
P1266.
Rod Taylor placed second
in the irrigated class with a
yield of 267.13 bushels per
acre using DeKalb DKC62-
08RIB. Taylor could not be
reached through the corn orga-
nization.
The contest announced
407 state winners and 18 na-
tional winners. David Hula of
Charles City, Va., won with a
yield of 532.03 bushels per
acre.
According to the organiza-
tion, the average yield among
national winners was 386.4
bushels per acre, with six na-
tional winners recording yields
of 400 bushels or more per
acre. The U.S. average corn
yield in 2015 was 169.3 bush-
els per acre.
Frederickson said his yields
are usually 280 to 290 bushels
per acre. Last year he yielded
314 bushels per acre and won
the organization’s contest in
Oregon, too.
“We farm about 5,000
acres, about 1,200 acres de-
voted to corn, so we have sev-
eral people involved in this
process,” he said. “It’s a good
team effort.”
Frederickson participates in
the contest to compare his per-
formance against other farm-
ers in the industry.
“It gives us an incentive to
continually improve our pro-
cess,” he said. “We do hope we
do well, but it’s not our prima-
ry focus.”
Mills said his winning ield
averaged ive bushels more
than his other, non-contest
corn ields averaged.
“It’s a good measure to see
how we’re doing,” he said.
“We try to pick the best ield
and the best spot.”
The contest helps growers
compare varieties and farming
practices, Mills said.
Frederickson has sever-
al ideas to further boost his
yield. He is looking for a 15-
to 20-bushel increase, he said.
“The most important thing
is, focus on the planting and
getting a good stand (and)
even emergence,” he said.
Mills also plans to enter
again this year. He expects a
similar approach to last year.
“Mostly try to stay up on
the fertilizer and water and
be timely with our inputs,” he
said. “More of the same thing
we’ve already done, just trying
to be timely on all our inputs
from planting to harvest.”
Bill requiring Legislature to OK federal land buys killed
By SEAN ELLIS
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Capital Press
BOISE — Idaho lawmak-
ers have turned back a bill that
would have required the federal
government to obtain legislative
approval before acquiring any
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additional land within the state.
The House Resources and
Environment Committee voted
10-6 March 17 to hold the bill
in committee, which means it
won’t move forward.
The bill would have rescind-
ed any past consent Idaho gave
to the federal government to
acquire additional lands within
the state, said Rep. Judy Boyle,
the Republican rancher from
Midvale who authored the leg-
islation.
Nobody knows how much
land the federal government is
acquiring in Idaho and the bill
would “shine the light of day
on what is really occurring out
there; how much private land is
being sold to the federal govern-
ment,” she said.
Boyle said her bill was
meant to prohibit a situation
where the federal government
uses its leverage to create an
unwilling seller. For example,
she said, threatening the loss of
a landowner’s grazing permits
could be used to convince them
to sell their land.
“If you lose your permit,
your private property and your
ranch is no longer viable,” she
told fellow legislators.
But several lawmakers said
requiring the Legislature to ap-
prove a land sale would violate
the owner’s property rights.
Rep. Steven Miller, a Repub-
lican farmer and rancher from
Fairield, said he agrees with
Boyle’s goal of having some
control over federal acquisition
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of land in Idaho.
“The part I’m really strug-
gling with is having my proper-
ty rights subject to the Legisla-
ture,” he said.
Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley,
said he and three other people
purchased 1,500 acres of farm
ground several years ago to hunt
geese on and then sold it later.
If the federal government
had offered to buy it, Boyle’s
bill would have required the
Legislature to approve the sale,
he said.
“That violates my property
rights, in my opinion, by having
to have one side of any transac-
tion ... come to the Legislature
and then theoretically the Leg-
islature could say ‘no,’” he said.
Boyle said nothing in the
bill would prohibit a private
landowner from selling land
to the federal government and
one of its main goals is to pro-
hibit the federal government
from creating unwilling sell-
ers.
She said the federal gov-
ernment “are the ones who
come to the Legislature, not
you as a property owner.”
If the bill became law, “It
would be easier to sell my
ground to China or Russia
than the very United States
in which we live,” said Rep.
Van Burtenshaw, a Republi-
can rancher and farmer from
Terreton.
Burtenshaw, who made the
motion to hold the bill in com-
mittee, said that if he chooses
to sell his land to the federal
government, for any reason,
“that ought to be between me
and the federal government
and not the Legislature.”