10 CapitalPress.com
June 10, 2016
Pacific Northwest pear crop early, light
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
PORTLAND — The Pacif-
ic Northwest pear crop looks
to be early and light for the
second year in a row, which
should keep prices strong.
The 2016 crop is forecast at
18.7 million, 44-pound boxes,
which is 2 percent greater than
the 18.4 million-box crop of
2015 but 7 percent less than
the 20.2 million-box average
of the past five years.
The record is 21.6 million
boxes packed in 2013.
The crop is light because
of heavy blossom drop and
fruitlet drop right after bloom
mostly in d’Anjou pears in
Wenatchee and Hood River,
said Kevin Moffitt, president
of The Pear Bureau Northwest
in Portland, the fresh pear in-
dustry’s promotional arm.
Hot weather during bloom
in April caused the drop,
said Jon Tall, a grower in
Dryden and Cashmere in the
Wenatchee Valley of Wash-
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Guillermo Sanchez thins Bartlett pears at Triple Tall Orchards near
Dryden, Wash., on June 3. Jon Tall, co-owner, says heat during the
April bloom resulted in a lighter crop, particularly in d’Anjou.
ington. Valley d’Anjou could
be down 15 to 20 percent from
last year, he said.
“We still have a solid crop.
The fruit is sizing well already
and that bodes well for the do-
mestic market,” Moffitt said.
The crop forecast was made at
the bureau’s annual meeting at
Portland’s Embassy Suites Ho-
tel on June 2.
Less tonnage should keep
prices strong, Moffitt said.
As of June 1, U.S. No. 1
grade d’Anjou, size 80, from
Washington were selling for
$30 to $34.90 per box, accord-
ing to USDA Market News.
The price was $26 to $30.90
on Jan. 20 and $22 to $26 a
year before that.
Smaller fruit often is ex-
ported. Larger fruit, a small
crop, high prices and continu-
ation of a strong dollar dimin-
ishing overseas buying power
means exports probably will
remain around 30 percent in
the coming season versus the
traditional norm of 36 per-
cent, Moffitt said.
As of May 31, 4.6 million
boxes of the 2015 crop had
been exported, down 21.1
percent from a year earlier.
Beside a strong dollar and
strong prices, economic is-
sues in some markets have
contributed to the reduction,
Moffitt said.
The top export market
remains Mexico at 2.2 mil-
lion boxes, down 19 percent.
Canada is second at 1 mil-
lion boxes, down 15 percent,
and United Arab Emirates
replaced China as the No. 3
market. UAE was at 258,000
boxes on May 31, down 23.8
percent. China was 124,322
boxes, down 46 percent.
U.S. fresh pears only
gained access to China in
February 2013 after years of
effort. The industry has high
hopes for the market because
of China’s huge population
and growing middle class.
China bought 185,000
boxes of PNW pears in 2013,
227,900 in 2014 and 230,207
in 2015.
Bright spots this season
have been Saudi Arabia, up
53 percent at 110,888 boxes;
Israel, up 10 percent at 43,669
boxes; and El Salvador, up 11
percent at 43,376 boxes.
The Pear Bureau renewed
grower assessments at 38.5
cents per box for promo-
tions, 3.1 cents for research
and 3.3 cents for Pear Bureau
administration and funding
the Northwest Horticultural
Council.
The bureau adopted a pre-
liminary $7.3 million domes-
tic and foreign promotions
budget, down $1 million
from a year ago because of a
smaller crop. An $8.3 million
preliminary budget a year
ago was based on a forecast
of 20.4 million boxes. That
shrank over the season to 18.4
million largely because of too
much cork, a decay brought on
by calcium deficiency caused
by too much heat early in the
growing season.
Cork was most prevalent in
d’Anjou in the Wenatchee Val-
ley and Hood River, Moffitt
said. Growers hope to avoid it
this season.
Picking is expected to start
with the Starkrimson variety in
all districts.
Hood River is estimated
to be first on July 28, fol-
lowed by Medford on July
30, Wenatchee on Aug. 1 and
Yakima on Aug. 3. Those
dates are earlier than last
year in Hood River, Med-
ford and Wenatchee and the
same for Yakima. They are
about two weeks earlier than
normal.
The Northwest grows 85
percent of the nation’s pears
and is 94 percent of exports.
California is the remainder of
production and exports.
New NAWG CEO plans to Infected psyllids, late blight reported in region
iments we’ve done in the field
help wheat industry gear up
here the earlier the plants are in-
fected, the greater the incidence
for Farm Bill discussions
and severity of the disease,”
This season is shaping up
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The new CEO of the Nation-
al Association of Wheat Grow-
ers wants to make sure farmers
have a strong voice in writing
the 2018 Farm Bill.
Chandler Goule will begin
July 5 as the organization’s top
executive in Washington, D.C.
He is moving over from his pre-
vious job as senior vice presi-
dent of programs at the National
Farmers Union.
Goule said both organi-
zations are grassroots, farm-
er-driven organizations.
“Really the fact (NAWG)
is controlled by family farmers
and working with a commodi-
ty that is the third-largest in the
United States and contributes
significantly to domestic and
international food security was
very appealing,” he told the
Capital Press.
One policy difference is the
NFU opposes the Trans-Pacif-
ic Partnership, saying the trade
deal doesn’t adequately address
currency manipulation concerns
and would result in uneven trad-
ing competition overseas, but
NAWG supports it for the addi-
tional market access it offers to
such countries as Vietnam and
Japan.
“Once I move over there in
July, my objective will be to
work with Congress to get the
trade agreement passed as fast
as possible because it’s what my
membership and the board of
directors want and it’s their set
policy,” Goule said. “Trade is
neither inherently good nor bad.
We do need these additional for-
eign markets so we can do ev-
erything we can to ensure wheat
is a profitable commodity.”
Paterson, Wash., wheat
farmer Nicole Berg was on the
selection committee that chose
Goule. She also serves on the
Courtesy of NAWG
Chandler Goule is the new
CEO of the National Associa-
tion of Wheat Growers.
NAWG budget committee.
Goule’s work with strategic
planning and on three previous
farm bills made him stand out,
Berg said.
Goule has 16 years of agri-
culture policy experience.
The wheat industry will need
“some out of the box thinking,”
Berg said.
“He’s going to bring a new
perspective to the industry that
maybe they haven’t had before,”
she said. “Change can be tough
at times, but sometimes a new
perspective and breath of fresh
air is always good to take our
industry to the next level.”
“This next Farm Bill is going
to have a lot less money in it,”
Goule said. “They need some-
one who knows how to navi-
gate the legislative waters, build
coalitions and leverage our in-
fluence to make sure to get the
best farm safety net, the best risk
management tools and the best
conservation programs out there
that will benefit wheat farmers
across the United States.”
Goule said he has an open
door policy for NAWG mem-
bers and their representatives.
He said he plans to travel across
the country to meet with wheat
farmers.
“Wheat is produced dif-
ferently in every state, even if
they’re neighbors,” he said. “For
the first year, I see it as a major
learning curve for myself. I ask
for everybody’s patience, but I
am a pretty fast learner.”
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Potatoes grow near Shelley, Idaho. Potato growers in the state
face an elevated risk of late blight, given ideal conditions for the
fungal pathogen and the recent detection of infected plants in
Walla Walla, Wash., and due to the recent detection in Western
Idaho of potato psyllids infected with the bacterium that causes
zebra chip disease.
Magic Valley earlier that week.
The Magic Valley psyllid is still
being tested.
Oregon State University
Extension entomologist Silvia
Rondon said her state’s official
psyllid scouting program has
captured six psyllids, but her
laboratory has tested 168 psyl-
lids already this season, count-
ing samples sent in by growers.
No Oregon psyllids have tested
positive yet for Liberibacter,
but Rondon estimates the ar-
rival of psyllids in her state is
about a week and a half ahead
of last season.
Wenninger said the situation
is “certainly notable and mildly
concerning at this point.” He
said psyllid populations tend to
build exponentially throughout
the season, but the incidence
of the bacterium is “patchy and
hit-or-miss.”
“We do know from exper-
Wenninger said.
Complicating matters for
spud growers, late blight — the
fungal disease responsible for
the Irish potato famine that be-
gan in 1845 — has surfaced in
Walla Walla, and conditions are
also prime for the disease in Ida-
ho, said Jeff Miller, a late blight
expert with Rupert, Idaho-based
Miller Research. Miller said the
strain is still being tested, but the
strain that caused widespread in-
fections in the region last season
was US-23, which is sensitive
to the chemical mefenoxam.
Miller advises growers in Idaho
who didn’t apply mefenoxam
in-furrow or at the onset of tu-
ber development to implement
a weekly fungicide program for
late blight beginning at row clo-
sure, which is already occurring
in Western Idaho.
Miller warns growers that
fungicides with an additive to
help them stick to foliage and
withstand moisture, such as
Bravo Weatherstick or Man-
zate Prostick, are not com-
patible with insecticides that
may be needed for psyllid
control, as they impede the
plant’s ability to absorb them.
He also warns growers to test
out spray tank mixtures that
may include fungicides, in-
secticides and fertilizer prior
to application.
USDA streamlines producer crop acreage reporting
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
USDA agencies will share
crop acreage reports under a
new initiative aimed at saving
farmers and ranchers time.
Announced Tuesday, the
initiative will electronically
share common acreage infor-
mation between USDA’s Farm
Service Agency and the Risk
Management Agency and in-
cludes RMA-approved private
insurance agents and compa-
nies.
The focus is on efficiency
and reducing the time produc-
ers must spend in an office
providing duplicate crop-acre-
age information, said Jeremy
Nalder, ag program specialist
at the FSA’s Idaho state office.
Typically, producers will
report acreage to FSA first,
then go to RMA or their insur-
ance provider and provide the
same information, which must
be manually entered in the in-
surer’s system, he said.
Now they can go to either
office and provide that infor-
mation once, he said.
“If you file your report at
one location, the data that’s
important to both FSA and
RMA will be securely and
electronically shared with the
other location,” FSA Admin-
istrator Val Dolcini said in a
press release on Tuesday.
“This will avoid redundant
and duplicative reporting, and
we expect this to save farmers
and ranchers time,” he said.
Producers will still have to
go to both offices to check the
accuracy of the information,
possibly provide additional in-
formation and to sign papers,
but they won’t be spending
as much time in the process,
Nalder said.
The agencies aren’t yet able
to transmit information on all
crops, but they’re working on
it. Crops not yet in the system
include pulses, potatoes, tree
fruit, nuts and berries, he said.
However, more than 93
percent of all annually re-
ported acreage is eligible for
the common data reporting,
which should greatly improve
efficiencies and reduce mis-
takes that can affect insurance
premiums and claims, USDA
stated.
USDA has been working
on streamlining the crop-re-
porting process since 2009 in
response to producers’ con-
cerns with having to provide
the same basic information for
multiple locations.
In 2013, the agency consol-
idated the deadlines for acre-
age reporting to 15 dates —
down from FSA’s previous 17
and RMA’s 54, USDA stated.
In Idaho, those deadlines
are down to four — Nov. 15
for grass, pasture and forage;
Dec. 15 for fall-seeded small
grains; Jan. 15 for fruit trees;
and July 15 for spring-seeded
crops, Nalder said.
In addition to the stream-
lining efforts, producers can
now access their FSA farm
information from their home
computer.
“You can see your field
boundaries, images of your
farm, conservation status, op-
erator and owner information
and much more,” Dolcini said.
The new customer self-ser-
vice portal, known as FSAFa-
rm+, gives farmers and ranch-
ers online access to securely
view, print or export their per-
sonal farm data. To enroll in
the online service, producers
are encouraged to contact their
local FSA office for details.
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Goule offers ‘outside
the box’ thinking,
farm leader says
to be another costly one for
Northwest potato produc-
tion, given the early confir-
mations of potato psyllids
infected with the Liberibacter
bacterium, which causes zebra
chip disease, in Western Idaho
and late blight in Walla Walla,
Wash.
University of Idaho Exten-
sion entomologist Erik Wen-
ninger announced June 2 that
the first two psyllids captured
by the state’s extensive psyllid
monitoring program both tested
positive for Liberibacter. Zebra
chip, which creates bands in tu-
ber flesh that darken during fry-
ing, first surfaced in the North-
west in 2011.
The infected Idaho psyl-
lids were trapped in separate
fields in Canyon County and
discovered during an analysis
of sticky traps in late May. Not
since 2012 have the first psyllid
samples collected by the moni-
toring program tested positive,
Wenninger said.
“It’s interesting that 2012
was the year in which we found
more zebra chip than during
the following years, but we
also found a lot more psyllids
during 2012 than in the follow-
ing years,” Wenninger said.
Wenninger said a single
psyllid was detected June 3
on a sticky trap collected from