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14 CapitalPress.com April 8, 2016 Dairyman faces license revocation for alleged threats Oregon Department of Agriculture seeks restraining order By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A cheesemaker in Central Oregon faces the revocation of several licenses for his dairy because state farm reg- ulators have accused him of threatening inspectors. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is seeking to revoke the licenses of Patrick Sullivan, who runs Cada Dia Cheese in Prineville. The li- censes are necessary to oper- ate a fluid milk facility, a dairy products plant, a confined an- imal feeding operation and a commercial scale. The agency claims the re- vocations are warranted be- cause Sullivan has repeatedly barred inspectors from com- ing onto his property and has subjected ODA employees to “hostile, abusive, and threat- ening communications.” ODA has also filed a peti- tion for a restraining order to block Sullivan from “harass- ing or menacing” its employ- ees or entering the agency’s offices. Sullivan said he plans to contest both actions by ODA. “I want to be heard in a court of law,” he said. Inspectors must access Sullivan’s dairy and cheese- making facility to ensure he’s following laws pertaining to food safety and water pol- lution control, according to ODA’s revocation order. Sullivan first refused to al- low inspectors to collect nec- essary samples in 2010 and has since been uncooperative and intimidating on several occasions, including sending emails to ODA about his ha- tred of government officials, the document said. His conduct, as well as statements that allude to de- fending himself with a fire- arm, “are reasonably per- ceived as written threats to inflict serious physical inju- ry on ODA employees,” the agency said. In October 2015, the agen- cy obtained a warrant to enter Sullivan’s property to perform inspections and requested help from the Oregon State Police, the document said. However, OSP declined because it was unable to get assistance from additional law enforcement officials, preventing the ODA from taking necessary samples, the agency said. In 2016, Sullivan has told ODA that he will be imple- menting “anti-terrorist pro- cedures” at his farm and said he’d travel to the agency’s headquarters in Salem to discuss these “terrorist con- cerns,” according to the revo- cation order. Sullivan told Capital Press his problems with ODA are part of a broader conflict with neighbors and law enforce- ment officials. “These things don’t hap- pen in a vacuum,” he said. Sullivan said he encoun- tered complaints shortly af- ter buying the farm in 2009, when neighbors and county officials claimed that visitors to his dairy were causing traf- fic. He also said he believes a dispute with a neighbor who was formerly a police officer has resulted in harassment from law enforcement agen- cies. Sullivan said his relation- ship with ODA also soured early on, when an inspector tried to make his dairy license contingent on county inspec- tions of his family’s living quarters. Since then, Sullivan said he protested several actions by ODA, such as an inspector waiting to chill his milk sam- ples instead of putting them on ice immediately and attempt- ing to hang a milk sampling device on an unsanitary sink. Most recently, Sullivan said he objected to the frequency of water tests and to an ODA inspector entering his proper- ty unannounced to take water samples. Sullivan said he believes the U.S. is “descending into a police state” and wanted to im- plement similar procedures for government officials as peo- ple must follow before board- ing an airplane. “Why shouldn’t I do that to them when they come onto my property?” he said. New irrigation method catching on in West By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press IDAHO FALLS — A Uni- versity of Idaho researcher anticipates an irrigation meth- od he helped develop to save water and electricity in the arid West will see widespread use on farms in the region this season. Officials with the Idaho Falls office of USDA’s Nat- ural Resources Conservation Service recently confirmed they’ve received a $300,000 grant to help growers in their district convert pivots to Low Elevation Spray Application, and they expect demand will far exceed the available fund- ing. UI Extension irrigation specialist Howard Neibling, who devised LESA with Washington State University Extension irrigation special- ist Troy Peters, said interest in the method has also been strong throughout the North- west and in Wyoming, Colo- rado, Nevada and California. The researchers modeled LESA after Low Elevation Precision Application, which was developed about 25 years ago in Texas, where growers have the advantage of more natural rainfall than Southern Idaho to help germinate and maintain crops. Pivots configured for Tex- as-style LEPA dangle long hoses to ground level, where John O’Connell/Capital Press Mud Lake, Idaho, grower Steve Shively stands by a pivot span converted to LESA, a system utilizing long hoses and low-pressure nozzles to maximize water-use efficiency and minimize power. In this alfalfa field, the LESA span produced much higher yields and much deeper soil-moisture penetration than under conventional spans. water is delivered into fur- rows between rows through bubbler nozzles. LESA sprays water in a flat pattern from low-pressure nozzles dan- gling about a foot above the ground — low enough to pass below the canopy of plants and eliminate drift while still covering a wider, 15-foot di- ameter to reduce runoff while delivering a greater volume of water than LEPA. “It’s beginning to take off this year, and by next year, if growers see the success I an- ticipate, I expect it’s going to be a major conversion,” Neib- ling said. Last season, Neibling ran Idaho LESA trials in Terre- ton and Arco. LESA demon- stration pivots were set up in Northern California and Col- orado State University, and a few growers in Colorado and Eureka, Nev., experimented with it. Water savings ranged from 20 to 25 percent in last season’s trials, due to reduced drift and LESA’s ability to de- liver water below the canopy, avoiding evaporation from the tops of leaves, Neibling said. This season, Neibling said about a dozen new LESA sys- tems are planned in Nevada, several growers in Northern California plan to try LESA and growers throughout East- ern Idaho want to try LESA to meet a mandatory reduction in groundwater use through- out the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. “This is a fairly painless way to meet that cutback and maybe even have some water left over,” Neibling said. Neibling said LESA was effective last season on flat, sandy and sand-loam soils, and he intends to test it this season on sloping silt-loam and clay-loam soils. Anheus- er-Busch is sponsoring a LESA trial this season involv- ing three pivots in Idaho Falls and one in Burley to test if a drier canopy will reduce malt barley diseases, and reduce tipping of plants that can oc- cur when heads are saturated. The pivots will have conven- tional spans, LESA spans and an experimental configuration dragging 70 feet of drip tape. Proponents estimate it costs about $8,000 to con- vert a conventional pivot to LESA. NRCS district conserva- tionist Josh Miller said his of- fice has also applied for LESA funding for two more seasons. His grant helps each grower up to $7,500 toward convert- ing a single pivot to LESA. Growers can also receive up to $1,500 to install moisture sensors for LESA analysis. He anticipates the funding will cover about 30 LESA sys- tems, with moisture sensors. Applications will be accepted through at least mid-May for growers in Bonneville, Jeffer- son, Clark, Fremont, Madison and Teton counties. Idaho onion growers get big Rains put California’s strawberry boost against nutsedge weed production behind last year’s pace By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press PARMA, Idaho — Idaho onion growers have received a significant boost to their ef- forts to control the yellow nut- sedge weed, one of their top production challenges. The Idaho State Depart- ment of Agriculture has is- sued a special local need registration that will allow the herbicide Outlook to be applied through drip irrigation systems in fields where Span- ish big bulb onions are grown. Eastern Oregon onion growers are hopeful the Ore- gon Department of Agriculture will soon follow suit. Outlook, produced by BASF, is already approved for surface application in Idaho and Oregon onion fields but it wasn’t previously approved for use in drip systems in on- ion fields. Malheur County Onion Growers Association Pres- ident Paul Skeen said field trials have shown Outlook is more effective in controlling yellow nutsedge when applied through a drip system. “It’s really going to help us in a huge way,” he said. “Out- look is one of the best tools we have to control nutsedge and it works better through the drip system.” Farmers in southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon grow about 20,000 acres of Spanish bulb onions each year and yellow nutsedge is their main weed problem. Close to 60 percent of the onions in the region are grown on drip systems. In a letter approving a spe- cial registration for the herbi- cide, ISDA officials pointed to the results of field trials con- ducted near Ontario, Ore., the past two years by Oregon State University weed scientist Joel Felix. The letter said the trials showed that “application via irrigation drip tape in Spanish yellow onions is significantly more effective than surface ap- plied applications, with minor or no crop injury.” In July 2015, Outlook ap- plied through a drip system provided between 70-90 per- cent mid-season control of yel- low nutsedge in onion fields compared with 9 percent for standard foliar application, Fe- lix said. “It’s working much better in drip systems than spraying it over the top,” he said. “We’re talking much, much better.” Stuart Reitz, an OSU crop- ping systems Extension agent in Malheur County, said re- searchers can point to no de- finitive reason why the her- bicide performs better in drip systems. “We don’t really know why it works that much better when applied through a drip system, but it does,” he said. “It really worked a whole lot better.” According to OSU re- search, severe yellow nut- sedge infestations can reduce onion yields by as much as 60 percent. Felix said the special reg- istration for Outlook “is going to benefit a good number of growers. As of now, it’s our best tool for controlling yel- low nutsedge in onions.” By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press WATSONVILLE, Ca- lif. — Winter rains have put strawberry production in California well behind last year’s pace, but industry rep- resentatives aren’t concerned yet about the prospects for a down year. As of April 4, strawberry fields in the Golden State had produced nearly 26.7 million flats, well below last year’s total to date of nearly 45.4 million, according to the Na- tional Berry Report. Imports so far are way up, as 78,885 flats from Peru and 79,996 trays from Chile have passed through American ports this year compared to 12,222 and 21,109, respec- tively, in 2015, according to the report. However, industry insid- ers believe all the rain has put fields in position to yield an abundant crop during the peak harvest season, which begins this month and usual- ly lasts through mid-summer. “It’s behind where it was this time last year, but ahead or behind are kind of rela- tive issues because we’re so dependent on weather,” Cal- ifornia Strawberry Commis- sion spokeswoman Carolyn O’Donnell said. “Since we have rain this spring, that sets us back about halfway to where we were in 2015 … but the good news is we did get rain. “We didn’t have damage or anything like that,” she said. “The plants look really healthy with the rainfall, and Tim Hearden/Capital Press Organic strawberries from Irvine, Calif.-based Orange County Produce are ready to be enjoyed. March rains put California straw- berry production behind last year’s pace, but the industry expects production numbers to be strong during the peak season, which begins this month. we’re about to start entering our peak.” Last year’s unseasonably dry and warm winter enabled strawberry production to get off to a blistering start. At the end of March 2015, Califor- nia growers had turned out 31.9 million crates compared to 28.2 million the previous year, and the Salinas-Watson- ville area — one of the state’s three prime growing regions — had produced 1.8 million flats compared to 438,969 in 2014, according to the straw- berry commission. But this winter’s El Ni- no-powered storms have given Salinas above-average rainfall this water season — 12.84 inches as of April 4, above its average of 11.44 inches, the National Weath- er Service reports. As such, the region has produced only 612,625 flats of strawberries so far this year compared to nearly 2.9 million at this point last year, according to the National Berry Report. The slow start comes as the strawberry industry has seen a period of modest decline af- ter almost a decade of record or near-record production. Production in 2015 dropped slightly for the second straight year. Growers have told the commission they’ll plant 32,515 acres in 2016 — a sizable drop from the 37,438 estimated acres last year and continuing a trend of annual declines from the 40,816 acres planted in 2013. Drought, increasing pro- duction costs and regulatory restraints have been blamed for the drop in production. The industry has phased out its use of methyl bromide and has spent millions of dollars on research into new varieties, alternatives to fu- migants and training farmers and workers in water effi- ciency and food safety. Courtesy of Washington State University Kansas State University president Kirk Schulz will take over as president of Washing- ton State University. A WSU entomology professor who sat on the presidential search ad- visory committee says Schulz’s background at a land-grant university was a consideration during the selection process. New WSU president will reach out to agriculture Schulz says he’s drawn to land- grant mission By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Washington State Uni- versity’s new president says he was drawn to the school because of its land-grant mission. “I spent my career at land-grants, they have a certain style and philosophy that I think really speaks to the state they reside in,” said Kirk Schulz, current- ly the president of Kansas State University, in a tele- phone interview with the Capital Press. Schulz expects to start at WSU in Pullman, Wash., in mid-June. Schulz’s predecessor, the late Elson Floyd, was well-regarded by farmers for his commitment to agri- culture research. Schulz said he expects to take a similar approach as WSU president, noting ma- jor agricultural endeavors at KSU include beef cattle, wheat and sorghum. “When I first became president, one of the things I did was ask some of our alumni to show me how a feedyard operated, to get out there and understand a little bit more about wheat farming,” Schulz said. “I expect to do the same sorts of things in my first year at Washington State — talk to some of the folks in the Washington ag industry and ask them, ‘What kinds of things can (WSU) be doing to help you to be success- ful? What new markets need to be there, what kind of re- search do we need to do, are you getting great students from us to work in your in- dustry?’” Schulz, a chemical engi- neer by training, grew up in Norfolk, Va. “My appreciation for agriculture has really been through working with peo- ple in the ag industry,” he said. “I don’t have much of an ag background, which means I have to ask lots of questions. I’m more than happy to get advice on things we need to be doing.” Schulz said he plans to give himself six months to get to know the universi- ty before making big deci- sions. Schulz said he was “in- trigued” by WSU’s efforts to build a publicly fund- ed medical school and the state’s decision to reduce tuition and backfill tuition dollars with state funding to make college more afford- able for residents. Those, coupled with the land-grant mission had a great deal of appeal, he said. Schulz said WSU has the potential to impact a grow- ing and thriving state econ- omy. “I’m going to ask people to educate me a little bit, but I put a strong priority on our college of agriculture here at Kansas State; I certainly intend to do the same thing as president at Washington State,” he said.
