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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
April 29, 2016 CapitalPress.com Washington, Oregon pass halfway mark in their war on gypsy moths Diminishing supply fails to lift Idaho spud prices Fine mist falls in Seattle, Portland ABERDEEN, Idaho — Idaho potato farmers say fa- vorable weather conditions have helped them get an early start to planting their 2016 crop. They’re becoming con- cerned, however, that prices of their 2015 spuds remain stagnant, despite what ap- pears to be a favorable supply situation. Growers throughout the state and Idaho Potato Com- mission President and CEO Frank Muir estimate planting started about a week ahead of the usual schedule this spring. According to the USDA’s April 1 stocks report, shippers have been steadily moving through their supply of 2015 spuds, which industry offi- cials say should translate to stronger spud prices through- out the summer, until the new crop is harvested. That hasn’t happened, yet. “Every indication would say prices should be slowly moving up,” Muir said. “All conditions favor it.” According to the report, the 13 major potato states started the month with 2.3 million hundredweight fewer spuds on hand than through the same period of the prior year. In Idaho, 35 percent of production remained on April 1. That’s down 2 percent, or 3 million hundredweight, from the previous year. USDA re- ported the average price for a hundredweight of all package types of fresh Russet Bur- banks sold in the Twin Falls and Burley district was $7.74 on April 16, just 3 cents high- er than on Jan. 2. “I think it’s confusing with the stocks on hand that we’re By DON JENKINS Capital Press The Washington State Department of Agriculture’s spring offensive against gypsy moths passed the halfway point Tuesday, with a second pesti- cide application over a densely populated Seattle neighbor- hood. Meanwhile, the Oregon De- partment of Agriculture made the second of three passes over Portland. An airplane spent 15 min- utes in the early morning spray- ing Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, commonly known as Btk, over 130 acres on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Runners, dog walkers and WSDA observers were out as a fine mist fell, department spokesman Hector Castro said, but there were no street protest- ers, unlike in 2000 and 2006, the last years the department sprayed in Seattle for gypsy moths. “We’re definitely hearing from people not happy about the spraying, but it’s not in the numbers as in the past, not even close,” Castro said. WSDA began spraying more than 10,500 acres in seven cities on April 16. It’s the state’s second-larg- est spraying campaign ever against forest-defoliating gypsy moths. Each site will sprayed three times to catch caterpillars as they emerge over several weeks. The oper- ation probably will be over by May 9, Castro said. ODA on Tuesday sprayed 8,800 acres over North Port- Courtesy of Hector Castro, Wash. State Dept. of Agriculture An airplane sprays pesticide April 18 over Gig Harbor, Wash., to eradicate gypsy moths. The Wash- ington and Oregon agriculture departments are spraying thousands of acres this spring, including in Seattle and Portland. land neighborhoods and the Port of Portland. ODA also sprayed over the Port of Van- couver on behalf of WSDA. The final application is scheduled for Sunday or Monday, ODA spokesman Bruce Pokarney said. The de- partment has heard a handful of complaints, he said. European gypsy moths are established in many East- ern and Midwestern states. Western states, which also must guard against Asian gyp- sy moths, have aggressively sprayed areas where the moths have been found. Washington and Oregon both trapped gypsy moths in urban areas last summer. To prepare residents, WSDA mailed four rounds of postcards to 38,000 address- es with information about the department’s plans. The de- partment also updates spraying schedules online. WSDA has stressed that Btk is approved for organic agriculture. “On the whole, social media has been a real benefit,” Castro said. “It allows us to share a lot of information and get infor- mation out quickly.” A streak of warm weather motivated WSDA to compress the spaying scheduled to catch early emerging caterpillars. WSDA also is spraying over Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Lac- ey, Nisqually and Kent. Most sites have now been sprayed twice. By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press 5 not seeing more strength in the fresh market,” said Ritchey Toevs, an Aberdeen IPC commissioner. Randy Hardy, an IPC commissioner from Oakley and chairman of Sun Val- ley Potatoes, is hopeful that prices will start rising when warmer weather arrives and consumers start grilling, but he’s heard from Eastern col- leagues that potatoes from Canada may be displacing some Idaho shipments. “The stock numbers are down. We need to see that de- mand increase,” Hardy said. Both Hardy and Toevs estimate they planted about a week early. Toevs planted his spud rows about an inch wid- er than normal, hoping cooler weather and wetter soil due to early planting could boost the number of tubers that set beneath each plant. But, Toevs acknowledged, “the best potatoes are often not the first planted.” James Hoff an IPC com- missioner from Idaho Falls, said growers in his area have also planted at least a week early, but he’ll start on May 1, as usual, concerned plant- ing when it’s too cool and wet could result in seed decay in fields. United Potato Growers of America President and CEO Jerry Wright said Washing- ton growers have planted the farthest ahead of schedule. He fears U.S. potato farmers will increase their acreage this season. “The models still say what they said months ago, and that is given the current status of profitability of alternative crops, there is a high likeli- hood there will be a 2 percent increase in (potato) acreage nationwide,” Wright said. March storms prompt SWP to boost allocations to 60 percent By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — With runoff from the March storms filling Northern California res- ervoirs, the state Department of Water Resources has upped its anticipated deliveries to State Water Project customers to 60 percent of requested sup- plies. In all, the 29 agencies that receive SWP water will get a little more than 2.5 million acre-feet of the nearly 4.2 mil- lion acre-feet they sought in 2016, marking the state proj- ect’s largest allocation since 65 percent of normal supplies were sent to districts in 2012. The upgrade announced April 21 was the season’s third since the DWR set its initial al- location at 15 percent in Janu- ary, later raising it to 30 percent and 45 percent. It’s also likely to be the last upgrade for the year, department spokesman Ted Thomas said in an email. “(We) never know what na- ture will do,” he said, “but in the absence of significant rain and snow, (it’s) doubtful if the allocation will increase.” The new allocation comes as the U.S. Drought Moni- tor issued new maps showing improved conditions in much of California, as part of the Central Sierra and San Joa- quin Valley emerged from the exceptional drought category — the most severe category of drought. Much of the Sacramento Valley improved from extreme to severe or moderate drought. However, a large swath of the San Joaquin Valley and Cen- tral Coast remain in exception- al drought, according to the monitor. Even with the wet winter in many places, state and federal officials caution anew that the drought is far from over. Cindy Matthews, a National Weath- er Service senior hydrologist, said in an email the D3, or extreme drought, classifica- tion still means an area is still within the worst 3 percent to 5 percent of droughts on record. State officials said that while key reservoirs are ris- ing from winter storms, some remain below average for this time of year. The San Luis Tim Hearden/Capital Press Water is released from Shasta Dam into the Sacramento River in early April. March storms raised reservoir levels throughout Northern California, prompting the State Water Project to increase allocations to 60 percent of normal supplies. Reservoir, a key storage body south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for both the SWP and federal Central Valley Project, is only at half its 2 million acre-foot capacity and 55 percent of its histori- cal average, largely because of Delta pumping restrictions to protect imperiled fish, the DWR explained. With an expected transition to La Nina oceanic conditions by next fall, the 2017 water year is too uncertain to aban- don preparations for another dry year, officials said. “Conservation is the sur- est and easiest way to stretch supplies,” DWR director Mark Cowin said in a statement. “We all need to make the spar- ing, wise use of water a daily habit.” SAGE Fact #130 Oregon grows more than 10 percent of the nation’s peas, and Umatilla and Morrow counties are the leading producers in the state. 18-1/#6 18-1/#7
