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8 CapitalPress.com April 8, 2016 Corn acres up in Northwest By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Sean Ellis/Capital Press Water flows through an irrigation ditch near Nampa in Idaho’s Treasure Valley area last July. A new study projects water demand in the valley is poised to increase in the coming decades. Treasure Valley growth projections worry Idaho water managers By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — A new analysis prepared for the Idaho Water Resource Board shows de- mand for water in the Trea- sure Valley is projected to increase substantially in the coming decades. The projections are based on current population esti- mates for the valley in south- western Idaho, the state’s main population center. Brian Patton, chief of the IWRB‘s planning bureau, said the study is intended to help plan for that growth so it doesn’t impact senior wa- ter rights, which in this area means agriculture. “We in no way want to impact the water supplies of those irrigation districts to accommodate the growth,” he told Capital Press. “We have to figure out how to bridge this gap without af- fecting those senior water rights.” The study was commis- sioned by the board and prepared by SPF Water En- gineering. Current estimates by cities and counties show the valley’s population growing from 600,000 peo- ple today to 1.57 million in 50 years. Based on that growth, current domestic, commer- cial, municipal and industri- al water demand is project- ed to increase from 110,000 acre-feet per year now to between 270,000 to 390,000 acre-feet. That’s a growth in water demand of between 245 and 357 percent. Based on those projec- tions, even looking out 10 or 15 years, water demand in the valley would grow by 50 to 70 percent, which is a concern to irrigation districts and water supply managers. Those water demand growth projections don’t in- clude agriculture, which is by far the biggest water user in the Treasure Valley. Tim Page, manager of the Boise Project Board of Con- trol, which provides water to five irrigation districts and 167,000 acres, said his main question is, “Where’s that water going to come from? Where do they intend to get it from?” The study says it will be important to increase water supplies in the valley through a combination of measures, including conservation, in- creased groundwater pump- ing, aquifer recharge, more diversions from the Boise River, reusing treated water from sewage plants, increas- ing reservoir storage capac- ity and possibly diverting water from the Snake River. Clinton Pline, a farmer and chairman of the Nam- pa and Meridian Irrigation District’s board of directors, said accommodating the new growth “will take conserva- tion measures from all who live here. But, more storage on the Boise River system will be necessary if we are going to grow to the extent projected in the (study).” Patton said additional wa- ter storage is one of the most promising options and there are parts of the valley that can withstand additional ground- water pumping. “Conservation certainly has a part to play in this and there might be some things we haven’t thought of yet,” he said. “I think what will hap- pen is there will be a mix and match of all of those things.” DECLO, Idaho — Mark Darrington plans to replace a pivot of wheat with silage corn this spring, anticipating he’ll get a better return from the crop, which isn’t always part of his rotation. The Declo grower’s son also plans to plant field corn. With commodity prices de- pressed across the board, growers say they’re aiming to make money by planting a crop that gives them the most yield per acre. Corn acres will be up this season nationwide, according to a March 31 planting inten- tions report by USDA’s Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service. According to the report, U.S. growers plan to plant more than 93.6 million acres of corn this season, up 6 per- cent from 2015. Idaho grow- ers say they’ll plant 320,000 corn acres this season, up 14 percent from 2015, but equal to the state’s 2014 acreage. Oregon growers anticipate planting 75,000 corn acres, up 15 percent. Washington’s planned 210,000 acres of corn would represent a 24 percent increase, and Cali- fornia’s 440,000 corn acres would be up 2 percent. “(Corn) is more cash flow to support the state’s dairy industry. Marshall said it’s already clear barley yellow dwarf virus will be rampant in fall grains this season. “We need to talk about barley yellow dwarf. It’s a really bad situation,” she said. “If there’s more corn, and it’s supposed to be real- ly hot temperatures this year, there’s going to be more head blight and more insect pressure.” In Idaho, the increased corn acreage apparently won’t come at the expense of wheat, barley or sugar beet plantings. Growers in Idaho, which has been the top pro- ducing barley state in recent years, will plant 560,000 bar- ley acres this season, down just 3 percent, compared with Insect-eating species at risk By DON JENKINS Capital Press White-nose syndrome, a devastating disease for bats, has made a 1,300-mile leap across the U.S., showing up in a little brown bat found by hikers 30 miles east of Seattle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service an- nounced Thursday. The surprising discovery in- troduces a disease that threatens a dozen Washington species of bats that benefit forests and agricultural crops by eating in- sects, according to the state De- partment of Fish and Wildlife. The disease was previously detected in 28 states but only as far west as the eastern edge of Nebraska. USFWS spokes- In agriculture, nothing is certain. Your interest rate should be. We offer competitive interest rates for your agricultural financing needs: • FSA Preferred Lender • Amortizations up to 25 years CONTACT: Kevin Arrien, or Joe Lodge at Joyce Capital, Inc. Agricultural Loan Agents (208) 338-1560 • Boise, ID joe@arrien.biz per acre with a little better profit margin,” Darrington said. American Falls, Ida- ho, grower Jim Tiede will plant 150 acres of corn for high-moisture grain this sea- son. He said he’d plant more if he was closer to buyers. “All things considered, you can probably do better on corn versus $5 wheat,” Tiede said. With increased corn acreage comes in- creased disease pressure for grain growers, warned University of Idaho Exten- sion cereals pathologist Ju- liet Marshall. She said corn hosts Fusarium head blight, barley yellow dwarf virus and wheat streak mosaic virus, and disease pressure has risen in Idaho as grow- ers have planted more corn Bat disease jumps from Nebraska to Washington Joyce Capital, Inc. • Term agricultural loans (purchases & refinances) John O’Connell/Capital Press High-moisture corn grain is harvested Oct. 2 near Pocatello, Idaho. More Northwest farmers are planting corn this year because of its higher yields compared to other crops. a 12 percent national decline. Idaho’s anticipated 1.221 million wheat acres in 2016 will be up 2 percent, com- pared with a 9 percent U.S. decline, and Idaho’s planned 102,000 acres of sugar beets will be up 2 percent, while the U.S. beet acreage will remain flat. Blaine Jacobson, exec- utive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, said barley acres are down slight- ly because the malting com- panies had a strong crop in 2015 and had enough carry- over to relax their contract- ing. He said the national reduction in planted wheat acres could help strength- ened wheat prices in the fu- ture, especially if major U.S. growing areas don’t have ideal weather, and Idaho’s slight wheat acreage increase represents incremental prog- ress in returning the state to production levels prior to a 2014 season in which grow- ers experienced widespread sprout damage. Jacobson said corn is the “big story” in the crop re- port, however. “None of the crops are re- ally attractive, but if a grow- er is trying to come as close to break-even as possible, corn, with its higher yield, is more attractive than most,” Jacobson said. 15-2/#17 Courtesy of Steve Taylor, University of Illinois/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service A little brown bat exhibits signs of white-nose syndrome, a disease detected in March in a little brown bat in Western Washington. The disease had not previously been found west of Nebraska. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the disease threatens insect-eating bat species that aid agricultural crops. woman Catherine Hibbard said it’s unknown how white-nose syndrome jumped to Washing- ton and that having the disease appear without warning was unusual. Elsewhere, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome has been detected two or three years before sick bats appeared. Find- ing the diseased bat suggests the fungus has been in Washington for awhile, Hibbard said. White-nose syndrome has killed 6 million insect-eating bats in North America since it was first detected in 2007 in eastern New York, according to USFW. “We are extremely con- cerned about the confirmation of (the disease) in Washington state,” USFWS Director Dan Ashe said in a written state- ment. “Bats are a crucial part our ecology and provide essen- tial pest control for our farmers, foresters and city residents.” The disease is usually spread from bat to bat, but peo- ple can carry fungal spores on their clothing, shoes and gear, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife veterinarian Katie Haman said. Hikers found a bat on the ground that was unable to fly March 11 near North Bend and took it to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. The bat had symptoms of a skin infection common in bats with white-nose syndrome and died two days later, according to USFW. The animal society sent the bat to the U.S. Geological Sur- vey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for testing. “And boom. We found the disease,” USGS microbiologist David Biehert said. The USGS has been testing samples collected from bats west of Nebraska, but the sam- ples have been too few — in the “low thousands” — to give researchers confidence that dis- ease hadn’t spread to the West, Biehert said. The fungus may be hard- er to detect in states, such as Washington, where bats do not hibernate in large numbers in caves, he said. White-nose syndrome is not known to pose a threat to livestock, humans, wildlife or pets, but it’s nearly always fatal to many bat species, including little brown bats, a common North American species. The disease is named for the fuzzy white fungal growth sometimes seen on the muzzles of infected bats. The fungus invades the skin of hibernating bats, damaging wings, disturbing hibernation, depleting fat reserves and caus- ing dehydration and death. “The bat found near North Bend most likely had been roused from hibernation and was attempting to feed at a time of very low insect availability,” Haman said in a written state- ment. “At this point we don’t know where the infected bat may have spent the winter, but it seems likely that it was some- where in the central Cascades.” WDFW will spearhead the search for more diseased bats in the area. The department Wednesday set out devices to record bat sounds overnight to pinpoint where the depart- ment will try to catch live bats to sample, WDFW wildlife di- versity division manager Penny Becker said. WDFW also encouraged people to report — but not touch — dead bats or bats act- ing strangely, such as by flying during the day or in freezing weather. “The next couple of months will be pretty important in find- ing out the prevalence of white- nose syndrome,” Becker said. The best hope for stopping the disease rests with people who venture into bat caves. Of- ficials urged them to be careful about spreading the fungus. Biehert said a vaccine against white-nose syndrome is being tested. Researchers also are studying why some bat species are more vulnera- ble to the disease than others in hopes of finding ways to halt its spread. 15-4/#18 15-4/#5
