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May 13, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Idaho Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Idaho Supreme Court candidates tout ag experience By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — The four candi- dates running for an open seat on the Idaho Supreme Court all tout their strong backgrounds in agricultural issues. The election to replace re- tiring Chief Justice Jim Jones will be May 17. Two of the candidates — Twin Falls attorney Robyn Brody and Idaho Deputy At- torney General and Natural Resources Division Chief Clive Strong — have played roles in some of the state’s landmark water decisions. Attorney Curt McKenzie, a Republican state legislator from Nampa, has the endorse- ment of Idaho Farm Bureau Federation for a voting re- cord the organization consid- ers strong on private property rights. The only sitting judge of the group, Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutier- rez, has been an advocate of farm worker rights. Though candidates are lim- Photo submitted From left to right, Idaho Supreme Court candidates Clive Strong, Curt McKenzie, Robyn Brody, Sergio Gutierrez and moderator Mark Johnson participate in an April 19 panel discussion at the University of Idaho Law School building in Boise. ited in discussing issues in de- tail that could potentially come before the Supreme Court, both Brody and Strong spoke on their backgrounds before the Committee of Nine — a powerful group of state water managers. From a water perspective, Idaho Ground Water Appropri- ators Inc. Executive Director Lynn Tominaga believes the election is vital for farmers and the future of the state’s econ- omy. “You need somebody who understands that water is a lim- ited resource and needs to be managed,” Tominaga said. He noted that Jones au- thored the majority opinion on a recent 3-2 ruling in the Rangen Inc. water call, which reafirmed the validity of using a so-called trim line to conine water calls only to areas where a signiicant amount of water stands to reach a senior user from curtailment of a junior user. The minority opinion em- phasized the importance of the Idaho water law provision “irst in time, irst in right.” For the past ive years, Bro- dy has represented Rangen, a Hagerman trout farm that pre- vailed in its call against junior well users, arguing their con- sumption contributed to de- clines of Rangen’s spring. “I completely understand the importance of water to Southern Idaho and what it means to our community and state,” Brody said. Brody, who obtained her law degree from the University of Denver, has litigated sever- al agricultural cases. Her irst case before the Idaho Supreme Court was a water case involv- ing two trout farms. Strong has worked in the Attorney General’s Ofice for 33 years and helped water users reach the monumental Swan Falls Agreement in 1984, es- tablishing minimum lows for Idaho Power hydroelectric pro- duction and setting the stage for the Snake River Basin Ad- judication. Strong also helped members of the Surface Water Coalition reach a settlement last summer with IGWA to stabilize the aquifer, and his campaign has been endorsed by both IGWA attorney Randy Budge and the coalition’s attorney, John Simpson. “My career has been trying to ind settlements that resolve some of these complex prob- lems,” Strong said. Steve Howser, general man- ager of Aberdeen-Springield Canal Co., has also endorsed Strong, believing the state needs a water law expert who has “pretty much been involved in every major water decision” to replace Jones. McKenzie said he’s aided farmers in the Legislature by carrying various bills, including one requiring state agencies to carefully analyze how regula- tions may detract from the eco- nomic value of private property. McKenzie, whose law degree is from Georgetown Universi- ty, has support from Treasure Valley canal companies. Idaho Farm Bureau spokesman Russ Hendricks said his organiza- tion was comfortable endorsing McKenzie based on his voting record. “He’s been a strong support- er of private property rights, the Second Amendment, the Priority Doctrine for state water rights and the state maintaining sovereignty of Idaho water,” Hendricks said. Gutierrez initially planned to be a bilingual teacher but pursued a career in the law based on his experiences work- ing with farm laborers through an Idaho Legal Aid Services program. He obtained a law degree from University of Califor- nia, believing he could better help farm workers access their rights, and returned to work as a staff attorney for Legal Aid’s farm worker division. “It was a turning point in my life,” Gutierrez said. As a judge, Gutierrez said he’s aimed to help youths and families. Parma research station gets new Kuna FFA helps thousands of state-of-the-art cold storage unit children learn about farming By SEAN ELLIS By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Capital Press PARMA, Idaho — Re- searchers at the University of Idaho’s Parma experiment station now have access to a state-of-the-art cold storage facility. The $500,000 facility, which recently became oper- ational, will greatly increase the research capacity of scien- tists here, university oficials said. “It allows us to do more and better research on the im- pacts storage has on fruits and vegetables,” said entomolo- gist Jim Barbour, superinten- dent of the Parma station. “It opens up a whole new world for us here.” Researchers at the Par- ma station study vegetables commonly grown in the area such as onions and potatoes and fruit crops such as apples, peaches and grapes. The station’s old cold stor- age facility had limited space and it was decrepit and con- stantly breaking down, said fruit researcher Essie Fallahi, who heads the university’s pomology program. “This increases our capaci- ty in a huge way. It’s extreme- ly exciting,” he said. “This is something that has been strongly welcomed by fruit growers and potato and onion growers.” The new facility is 5,000 square feet and has 12 walk-in units that are environmentally controlled. The operator can control temperature and hu- Sean Ellis/Capital Press Fruit researcher Essie Fallahi stands inside a new cold storage fa- cility at the University of Idaho’s Parma experiment station on May 3. Fallahi said the 5,000-square-foot facility will greatly enhance research efforts. midity as well as carbon diox- ide and sulfur dioxide, which can prolong the storage life of certain crops. Before, crops studied at the station had to be stored together, which could affect or even invalidate the results of some storage trials, Fallahi said. As an example of how the new facility will help, Falla- hi pointed to a federal grant that will enable him to study the effects that storage has on peaches. “The immediate question from growers is, ‘How long can I store them?’” he said. “In the past, I didn’t have the capacity to store them and test them for bruising to see how long. Now I can do that.” Commercial fruit grower Jerry Henggeler, who worked on behalf of the local fruit industry to help convince uni- versity leaders to build the facility, said it will greatly en- hance the station’s ability to study the effects of long-term storage on fruits and vegeta- bles. He said the fruit industry works closely with Fallahi and adopts a lot of the re- search results his program develops. “This will be a great as- set to the program out there, and when it’s an asset to the program, it’s an asset for the industry,” he said. “I’m very excited.” The Legislature this year approved Gov. Butch Otter’s budget request to provide $26,000 to cover the facility’s operating costs. A grand opening for the fa- cility will be June 2. KUNA, Idaho — About 4,000 irst- and second-grad- ers from throughout the Treasure Valley received a hands-on farming experience May 2-5 during Kuna High School’s annual agricultural expo. The school’s FFA students organize the event and guide the children through a series of farm-related experiences, teaching them simple facts about farming. “We try to educate them about what the agricultural industry does and give them an idea of what true pro- duction agriculture is,” said event co-chairman Eric Ball, an FFA student. “We want them to have a good expe- rience with farming while they’re at that impressionable age.” The kids get to see a wide variety of farm animals, in- cluding longhorn steers, dairy calves, horses, cow-calf pairs, baby chickens, sheep, pigs, goats, ish and bunnies. They also watch videos and view displays that ex- plain agriculture at a simple level and highlight its impor- tance to Idaho and the nation. They get to climb aboard large pieces of new farm equipment that local dealers loan the expo for four days. Those companies also donate the tractors that pull the stu- dents around on a hay ride and local farmers provide the trailers. Sean Ellis/Capital Press Elementary school students from southwestern Idaho learn about a swather and other farm equipment May 4 during Kuna High School’s annual agricultural expo. The school’s FFA students organize and run the four-day event, which teaches irst- and second-graders the basics about farming. “We get a lot of industry support for this event,” said Shawn Dygert, who teaches ag education classes at Kuna High School. “All it takes is a phone call and there is no hesitation.” Kuna is surrounded by farm land but many of the youngsters are from other parts of the valley that aren’t, said ag expo co-chair and FFA student Makayla Berhe- im. “A lot of these kids are from subdivisions or cities, so they never experience this before and have no idea about agriculture,” she said. “We want to help them ... have a good knowledge of agricul- ture and know the good sides of it and how it impacts our whole world.” Farmers Ending Hunger... Begins With You! Dygert said the event is a valuable experience for FFA students as well. “These high school kids have to learn agriculture well enough to teach these little kids,” he said. “It takes ev- erything we talk about do- ing in the classroom and it forces them to actually do it.” He said the expo brings out the best in some students. “Some of the students that have been possibly a little less than motivated in the classroom, they get in this environment and they become really good at these different activities,” he said. “It provides a way for them to show talents they may not otherwise have a chance to show.” • Farmers Ending Hunger donated over SIX MILLION POUNDS of food crops to Oregon Food Bank since 2006! • More than 240,000 people per month eat meals from emergency food boxes. Help End Hunger in Oregon... one acre at a time! Farmers Ending Hunger Where your donation goes begins with Oregon farmers and ranchers who raise hundreds of acres of produce, grain and cattle. With a little extra effort, each farmer donates an acre or two to feed the hungry and suddenly our network has thousands of tons of fresh food! Donated produce, grain and cattle is processed into canned (and fresh) vegetables, pancake mix and ground beef and donated to the Oregon Food Bank and their network of 20 regional food banks throughout Oregon and Clark County, WA. Farmers Ending Hunger Needs Fresh Vegetables, Potatoes, Wheat & Cattle Visit www.farmersendinghunger.com to meet our generous farmers and partners, and find out what crops and services they’re donating. farmersendinghunger.com • 33 percent of those who receive emergency food boxes are children. Please Donate Today! Contact John Burt Executive Director, Farmers Ending Hunger burtjgb@aol.com 503-931-9232 Like us on Facebook 20-1/#13