16 CapitalPress.com
May 6, 2016
Idaho, Wash. wheat growers seek emergency label for wireworm product
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Idaho and
Washington grain grow-
ers hope to obtain a spe-
cial-needs exemption from
the Environmental Protection
Agency allowing them to use
an insecticide labeled for po-
tatoes to protect wheat from
wireworms.
Stacey Satterlee, execu-
tive director of Idaho Grain
Producers Association, said
growers in both states hope to
have emergency approval to
use the insecticide fipronil as
a wheat seed treatment before
they plant their fall crops in
September and October.
Satterlee explained wire-
worm populations have
steadily grown throughout the
region since 2005, when the
highly effective and long-last-
Courtesy of Arash Rashed
A wireworm is seen in this photo. Wheat growers in Idaho and
Washington are pursuing a special-needs exemption to use the
insecticide fipronil as a wheat seed treatment against wireworms.
ing wireworm product Lin-
dane was restricted.
Satterlee has emailed ques-
tionnaires to all of her mem-
bers seeking information on
their economic losses to fulfill
Udderly organic:
an application requirement.
Idaho’s special-needs permit
would cover both irrigated
and dryland growers for up to
a year, and Satterlee hopes to
have the growers’ data back
by May 6 to promptly sub-
mit their request to the Idaho
State Department of Agricul-
ture. ISDA officials said they
would spend a few weeks pre-
paring the application to sub-
mit to EPA.
Washington’s application,
which is farther along in the
process, covers only dryland
wheat.
“We’ve been hearing about
wireworms for years now, and
really they’re a problem with-
out a very good solution,” Sat-
terlee said.
Ririe grower Clark Hamil-
ton said wireworms have cut
grain yields in half in some
of his fields, but he’s had lit-
Cold Springs Dairy fills increasing
demand for organic milk
EO Media Group
Chad Shelton, the company’s
Washington-based
global
proprietary product manag-
er, said Albaugh will pursue
a full amendment to the label
permanently covering both
barley and wheat.
After losing Lindane,
which killed wireworms,
Shelton explained the re-
gion’s
cereal
growers
switched to neonicotinoid
insecticides that sickened the
pest but didn’t prevent their
propagation. Yield losses
have gradually mounted as
wireworm populations have
grown, and residual Lindane
has worm off in fields, he
said.
Shelton said fipronil also
kills wireworms, and testing
showed it enhanced perfor-
mance by up to 50 percent
compared with neonicoti-
noids alone.
Fruit packing wastewater
permit being updated
UNION GAP, Wash. — A
general wastewater permit for
the fresh fruit packing indus-
try is being updated for 191
facilities across Washington
by the state Department of
Ecology.
The National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination Sys-
tem, or NPDES, permit is
updated every five years
and assures fruit packers are
protecting lakes, rivers and
groundwater when managing
wastewater.
The draft permit outlines
uniform treatment and dispos-
al methods and is available for
review and comment through
June 17. It includes handling
measures for discharge of
By GEORGE PLAVEN
From the moment cows
arrive at Cold Springs Dairy
outside Hermiston, they are
given the organic treatment.
That means they eat noth-
ing but organic feed, receive
no additional growth hor-
mones or antibiotics and get
at least 120 days out of the
year to graze on open pasture.
Only organically raised ani-
mals provide certified organic
milk, which racked up more
than $1 billion in sales across
the U.S. in 2014.
Driven by rising consumer
demand, Threemile Canyon
Farms launched its first all-or-
ganic dairy at Cold Springs in
August. The operation now
includes 2,000 cows which
produce 120,000 pounds of
milk every day, or just shy of
14,000 gallons. The milk is
mostly sold to Kroger, which
runs Fred Meyer stores in Or-
egon.
Threemile Canyon Farms
is easily the largest dairy pro-
ducer in Oregon, and one of
the largest in the country. The
main farm in Boardman sup-
plies a whopping 255,000 gal-
lons of conventional milk ev-
ery day to Tillamook Cheese.
But organic dairies take on a
whole different set of regula-
tions, and one slip-up could
cause a major setback.
Virtually everything that
comes in to Cold Springs is
inspected, from the animal
feed down to the cleaning sup-
plies. Even the trucks must be
cleaned thoroughly to avoid
possibly mixing non-organic
materials. The Washington
State Department of Agricul-
ture certifies the dairy, and is
in charge of making sure all
requirements are met.
Jeff Wendler, director
of livestock operations for
Threemile Canyon Farms,
said they were afraid of do-
ing something wrong at first,
but it’s all standard procedure
now.
“We’ve been very happy
with how it’s gone. It fits well
within our system,” Wendler
said. “We’re able to give the
customer what they’re asking
for, what they’re paying for
and what they expect.”
Organic food is experi-
tle problem in grain following
spuds where he’s used fipronil.
“Myself and several
neighbors have thousands of
acres affected by wireworm,
and we’re struggling with it
big-time,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton believes fipronil
is also badly needed for
barley production. Cathy
Wilson, the Idaho Wheat
Commission’s research col-
laboration director who de-
veloped the grower survey,
explained a tolerance for
fipronil had already been es-
tablished for wheat planted in
a potato rotation, simplifying
the special-needs application
process. No such tolerance
exists in barley.
Albaugh, LLC, a supplier
of post-patent, generic farm
chemicals, is supporting
the application. If the spe-
cial-needs permit is approved,
the new fungicide, difeno-
conazole.
The draft permit, a fact
sheet, and an economic im-
pact analysis comparing com-
pliance costs for small and
large businesses are available
at www.ecy.wa.gov.
New requirements will
be reviewed and training
on how to report data on-
line will be offered from: 9
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 18 at
Ecology’s Central Region-
al Office, 1250 Alder St.,
Union Gap; and from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19 at the
Community Fire Hall, 228
Chumstick Highway, Leav-
enworth.
— Dan Wheat
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Workers attach milking unit to the utters of organic dairy cows in the milking barn at the Cold Springs
Dairy on Tuesday east of Hermiston.
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
A line of Holstein dairy cows eat in the feed barn on Tuesday at the
Cold Springs Dairy east of Hermiston.
encing a surge in popularity
nationwide, with sales in-
creasing 72 percent between
2008 and 2014, according to
the U.S. Department of Ag-
riculture. Milk topped the
list of organic best-sellers at
$1.08 billion, well ahead of
eggs, which came in second
at $420 million. The same
survey shows Oregon came
in fourth with $237 million in
organic sales, trailing Califor-
nia, Washington and Pennsyl-
vania.
Threemile Canyon Farms
has been growing organic
vegetables and forage crops
for more than 10 years, and
Wendler said business has
been improving each and ev-
ery year. Organic veggies are
processed at the company’s
own plant in Pasco, and some
of that byproduct — such as
corn husks and other parts of
the plants that aren’t edible
for humans — can be used in
organic feed for cows at Cold
Springs.
In turn, organic fertilizer
from the cows can be used
on organic fields back at the
farm, completing the circle.
Wendler said this setup gave
Threemile Canyon an advan-
tage toward starting the dairy,
and helps to keep feed costs
down which can be two or
three times as expensive as
conventional feed.
“Everything we do, we
want to be a benefit to the
whole operation,” he said.
Wendler said they’ve also
partnered with nearby JSH
Farms, of Hermiston, to grow
organic alfalfa, corn silage
and grasses on the dairy’s pas-
tures, where cows must spend
a minimum of 120 days each
year. The cows are brought in-
side for milking twice per day,
which is done by machine.
During the heat of summer,
Wendler said they will graze
the cows at night when it’s
cooler, and bring them under
covered pens for the day.
The organic operation has
gone so well the company is
already considering expan-
sion, Wendler said. He also
defended the farm’s conven-
tional dairy, saying Threemile
Canyon has one of the strict-
est animal welfare protocols
in the country. That includes
full-time veterinarians and
nutritionists on staff.
“The healthier (cows)
are, and the more comfort-
able they are, the more milk
they’re producing,” he said.
Ultimately, organic dair-
ies are limited by the amount
of land it takes to run them,
Wendler said. But he’s happy
to look out at cows relaxing
on the pasture, while filling
a consumer need on store
shelves.
“People who buy organic
have the choice. They feel the
milk is healthier, and they like
the whole system of organic
farming,” he said. “It’s great
that people have that choice.”
Lesson plans teach elementary-school students about almonds
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
MODESTO, Calif. — A growers’
group has put together a lesson plan
for elementary-school teachers to en-
lighten youngsters about almonds.
The Almond Board of California’s
new video and activity book follow
similar lessons the organization has
worked on over the past six years with
the help of the California Foundation
for Agriculture in the Classroom, the
group’s representatives say.
The materials provide instructors
with a fun way to teach third- to
fifth-graders about the importance of
almonds in California, which produc-
es 80 percent of the world’s supply of
the nut, according to Rebecca Bailey,
the board’s program coordinator for
industry relations.
“Members of the almond indus-
try have taken the video and activity
books to schools in the Central Val-
ley, and now teachers can use these
educational tools in the classroom,”
spokeswoman Linda Romander said
in an email.
The idea for the lessons came
from two participants in the board’s
Almond Leadership Program, a year-
long series of seminars during which
people work on presentations that
they give in their final month.
The lessons instruct children how
to be aware of what’s being grown
around them and to develop a sense
of responsibility for the land. The
board believes students will be more
excited about eating nutrient-rich
foods if they feel a personal connec-
tion with growers, a news release ex-
plains.
The lessons come as the Almond
Board has tried harder in recent years
to educate the public about the in-
dustry amid criticisms of its impacts
on water and the environment. Two
years ago, the board put out a cartoon
bee video to inform consumers as
well as growers about its best-man-
agement practices for deploying bees
during bloom.
The board is trying to get schools
to incorporate the new lesson
plan before classes let out for the
summer.
Courtesy of Almond Board of California
Lessons and workbooks from the Almond
Board of California aim to teach elemen-
tary-school children about almonds in the
Golden State.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Shepherd’s Grain General Manager Mike Moran greets tour partic-
ipants and farmers May 3 during a stop at Jim Nollmeyer’s wheat
farm in Reardan, Wash.
Shepherd’s Grain brings
farmers, customers together
Company pays
growers for cost of
production
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
REARDAN, Wash. — The
best way for consumers to un-
derstand where their food comes
from is by talking with the farm-
er who grows it, the head of
Shepherd’s Grain says.
The Portland company spon-
sored a tour of Eastern Wash-
ington farms for customers this
week, including visits to opera-
tions owned by Jim Nollmeyer
in Reardan, Wash., and David
Dobbins in Cheney, Wash.
“Relationships are built on
communication, and that com-
munication has to be face-to-
face,” said Mike Moran, general
manager of the company.
The company buys from 41
farmers who grow wheat on
roughly 115,000 acres. They sell
the equivalent of nearly 650,000
bushels of wheat as flour, Moran
said.
Moran said the company
pays growers based on their cost
of production, not commodity
prices.
“We actually survey our
growers every year about what
it cost them to produce, look at
a three-year rolling average on
yield and then we use that to set
the price we pay the grower,”
he said. “It’s a guaranteed prof-
itable endeavor for them. They
will make money.”
Such an arrangement bene-
fits the farmers in a year when
wheat prices are low.
“That’s a lesson we try to
teach people — our price is sta-
ble and sometimes higher than
commodity, because you’re
actually paying what it cost to
grow your food,” Moran said.
Most consumers don’t know
what it costs to produce food,
or how the price they pay at the
cash register translates into val-
ue for the farmer, Moran said.
“We find that the bakers
and restaurateurs who are us-
ing Shepherd’s Grain flour are
shopping based on supporting
agriculture and having that con-
nection to the farm,” he said.
“They’re willing to pay a cost
of production price because they
know what they’re supporting
is the long-term health of the
farmer.”
Diane LaVonne of Diane’s
Market Kitchen in Seattle, said
all the products she uses in her
cooking school come from local
farmers.
“To see the farm is really
important,” she said. “Once
you can connect a story about a
farmer with what happens on a
plate, you can change people’s
habits.”
Kaye Wetli of the Riverview
School District in King County,
Wash., said they serve products
made from Shepherd’s Grain,
including rolls.
“I like this idea of taking
a national commodity type of
item like wheat but yet they’ve
made it into a local product we
can buy,” she said.
Shepherd’s Grain will add
new farmers only as demand
grows, Moran said. The compa-
ny has a waiting list of farmers.
Shepherd’s Grain’s annual
revenue is roughly $6 million.
The board hopes to reach $50
million within 10 years, Moran
said.
Moran would like to see the
company become a model for
wheat production and sales. He
envisions having Shepherd’s
Grain set up in other states, such
as Kansas and South Dakota.