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June 10, 2016 CapitalPress.com Local-food push fuels egg production boom in Nevada By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SPARKS, Nev. — As Cal- ifornia egg producers contin- ue to adapt to new cage size rules, their industry in neigh- boring Nevada is experienc- ing a boom. Poultry and egg produc- tion cash receipts in the Silver State have risen 200 percent since 2010 — from $5.32 million that year to $15.96 million in 2014, according to USDA statistics. The jump comes as the state’s overall agriculture production value rose by 50 percent during the same peri- od, from $636 million to $952 million, the Nevada Depart- ment of Agriculture reported. Driving the growth were cow- calf, milk and hay production, according to the agency. Tatjana Vukovic, an edu- cation and information offi- cer for the department, chalks up Nevada’s egg and poultry production increases to rising demand, although she didn’t rule out that California’s Proposition 2 may have en- ticed a few producers to move operations here. “It could play a certain part in it,” Vukovic said. “I could not tell you 100 percent if it’s directly related to the in- crease.” Rob Holley, whose Hol- ley Family Farms in Dayton, Nev., produces beef, eggs and other products, doubts that California’s cage size mini- mums have had anything to do with Nevada’s boom. Any gains in moving from California’s stricter regula- tions would be offset by Ne- Courtesy of Nevada Dept. of Agriculture Chickens are released onto pasture at Holley Family Farms in Dayton, Nev. Producer Rob Holley says Nevada’s growth in egg production in recent years has been mostly driven by consumer demand for fresh, local eggs. vada’s harsher winters and the fact that it is geographically isolated, requiring more die- sel and other costs, Holley said. “I think a lot of the increase in demand for local pastured eggs come … at least in part from consumer concerns about the life of warehouse chickens,” said Holley, who raises his chickens free-range as part of a pasture manage- ment program. “More than that, it comes from a desire among local farmers to support agricul- tural practices that are more along the traditional lines of a multi-species system where we integrate plants and ani- mals into soil management,” he said. “In this area, people want to support that. They be- lieve the quality of eggs is far superior to what you get out of a commercial (operation).” California voters passed Proposition 2 in 2008, requir- ing that each egg-laying hen have at least 116 square inch- es to spread its wings. The new rules have been blamed for a drop in egg production in California, as many farmers are simply raising fewer birds in their existing structures to comply. But both egg production and the number of layers in California have been re- bounding since early 2015. The state’s egg production in March totaled 297 million, up 21 million from February and up 23 million from March 2015, while the state’s 12.3 million layers in March 2016 were up 9 percent more from a year earlier, according to the USDA’s Pacific Region Poul- try Report. Nevada has no regula- tions related to hen houses for egg-laying chickens, although egg producers are required to register their operations and undergo inspections by the Nevada agriculture depart- ment, noted Marlea Stout, the agency’s producer certifica- tion program manager. However, major chain stores such as Costco, Safe- way and Walmart as well as food manufacturers such as General Mills and Nestle have made a big impact on the industry nationwide by announcing plans to source exclusively cage-free eggs. Any new large-scale egg-laying facilities built in the last three or four years have been compliant, Randy Pesciotta of the commodity reporting service Umer Barry said last month. Holley said most egg pro- duction in Nevada consists of smaller operations in the Re- no-Sparks and Las Vegas ar- eas that are filling a niche for local consumers. 9 U.S. investigating Chinese fertilizer ‘dumping’ By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Federal trade authorities are investigating whether Chinese companies are “dumping” am- monium sulfate fertilizer at be- low-market prices in the U.S. The U.S. International Trade Commission’s investi- gation is based on a complaint from PCI Nitrogen of Pasade- na, Texas, which claims that domestic manufacturers are suffering from soaring imports of the nitrogen product. “Low priced Chinese im- ports of granular product routinely undersell prices of granular product sold by U.S. producers, exerting tremendous downward pressure on U.S. prices for both granular and standard ammonium sulfate,” the complaint said. In agriculture, the product is applied on a variety of crops and is also used to improve the efficiency of herbicides. Imports of ammonium sulfate from China increased nearly eightfold between 2013 and 2015 — from about 47,000 short tons to 370,000 short tons — and are on track to rise 60 percent in 2016 over last year, PCI alleges. China now controls about 12 percent of the U.S. market for the fertilizer, up from less than 2 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, the wholesale price of Chinese ammonium sulfate has plunged rough- ly 25 percent, from $218 per short ton to $164 per short ton, forcing U.S. manufacturers to reduce their prices to remain competitive, the complaint said. PCI Nitrogen fears this trend will only strengthen in the future. China is continuing to “add capacity at an alarming rate” Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Stacked bags of ammonium sulfate fertilizer. Chinese manufacturers are accused of dumping ammonium sulfate in the U.S. at below-market prices to the detriment of U.S. manufacturers. even though it already produces much more of the fertilizer than it consumes, the company said. “Producers in China are expanding capacity to produce ammonium sulfate well be- yond any forecasted increase in global demand,” the complaint alleges. “Much of this new ca- pacity will be targeted at export markets and the U.S. market, in particular.” China is able to generate such large quantities of the fer- tilizer because it’s a byproduct of other industries that are fa- vored by its government, PCI claims. About 80 percent of the ammonium sulfate in China comes from the steel and nylon manufacturing processes. Not only has China’s gov- ernment encouraged the growth of these industries, but it’s also emphasized adding value to byproducts, the complaint said. Government policies that ben- efit production of the fertilizer include the elimination of ex- port tariffs, preferential loan programs, reduced taxes and better rates for freight. New farmworker housing project proposed in Morrow County By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group BOARDMAN, Ore. — Threemile Canyon Farms is looking to add a new housing development west of Board- man for 200 to 800 seasonal workers who are needed to grow more organic crops. But first, Morrow County must approve a zoning change for the property on Tower Road south of Interstate 84. The land is currently zoned Space Age Industrial, which does not allow seasonal farm- worker housing as a permit- ted use. Instead, Threemile Canyon Farms wants the land zoned for Exclusive Farm Use, which would allow the project to move forward. The Morrow County Plan- ning Commission met May 24 to review the zoning request, and continued that hearing for its next meeting on June 28. Planning director Carla McLane said the commission will make its recommendation to the county court, which has he final say on the matter. The commission will meet at 7 p.m. at the Bartholomew Building in Heppner. Threemile Canyon Farms is owned and operated by R.D. Offutt Co., which is working through its real estate branch — PROffutt Limited Partnership — on a deal to buy 66 acres from the city of Boardman to build farmwork- er housing along the east side of Tower Road. The proper- ty is outside the city’s urban growth boundary, across from the Boardman Airport. Organic farming has be- come more of an emphasis at the farm in recent years, with 7,800 acres now in organic peas, corn, onions, carrots and other vegetables. Gener- al manager Marty Myers has said they hope to expand to over 12,000 organic acres in the next two years. To do that, the farm will need to bring on a larger sea- sonal workforce. In a previous interview, Myers compared organic farming to going back 20 years in terms of farm practices, to the point of pull- ing weeds by hand. It takes more labor to grow organic, and those workers will all need somewhere to live. In its application, the lim- ited partnership said it initial- ly plans to build one housing complex with 36 units, each with three bedrooms. Ted Sanders, the compa- ny’s real estate development manager, declined to talk more about the project when contacted. McLane, the county plan- ning director, said the first step is to get the land rezoned. Space Age Industrial, or SAI, is something of a throwback, she said, created by the Ore- gon Legislature in the 1960s around the time of the Space Race. The housing site has been zoned SAI since the early 1980s in hopes of luring aero- space industries to Morrow County. Those companies never came, and since then McLane said they’ve been discussing what to do with the property. “It kind of has margin- al value as industrial land,” she said. “It really is a 1960s space race holdover here in Morrow County.” The Planning Department has recommended approving a zoning change to Exclusive Farm Use. McLane said the location is preferable for farmwork- er housing, since they’ll be closer to the farm and avoid straining sewer and water ser- vices within Boardman’s city limits. WSU dryland field day features potential new crops, climate predictions The noon lunch program a lot of niches in the low rain- The presentation is specific to New study the low-precipitation, wheat-fal- includes updates from Sen. fall region.” A private crop insurance low production zone, including Mark Schoesler, College of examines Russian package for winter triticale is climate predictions and impacts Agricultural, Human and Nat- slated to begin this fall, with fed- on crop yields, Schillinger said. ural Resource Sciences act- thistle appearance eral crop insurance expected to Researchers will discuss the ing dean Kim Kidwell and Capital Press Dryland wheat farmers in Eastern Washington will get a closer look at potential alter- native crops and strategies for stopping a problem weed. Washington State Univer- sity’s annual field day begins at 8:30 a.m. June 16 at the dryland research station in Lind, Wash. Precipitation throughout the region has been well above average, said Bill Schillinger, director of the station. Timely rains in mid- to late May were “a bushel maker,” boosting winter wheat yield in the region, Schillinger said. “We’re sort of past that critical flowering stage where it’s susceptible to frost,” he said. “These crops are looking very good all over. We’re not in the ballpark yet, but after two very tough drought years in a row ... I think everyone is looking at (them) going, ‘These are some pretty nice looking crops.’” The agenda includes infor- mation about WSU’s winter and spring wheat breeding programs, as well as up and coming crops. “Winter triticale is looked upon as a coming potential alternative crop,” Schillinger said. “We’ve had triticale out there before, but I think this year it could really have an impact. I feel it has a place in follow, Schillinger said. Winter pea trials also look good this year, Schillinger said. “We’ve got some entries that are chest-high,” he said. “That’s another crop that’s showing a lot of potential. The interest and the acres that are going in seem to be growing quite quickly. It’s got a lot of pros, and things you’ve got to watch for, too.” Representatives from RE- ACCH, a team of regional re- searchers led by the University of Idaho, offer an overview of their findings as they enter the fifth and final year of the project. appearance, of the weed Russian thistle, and how it affects their potential to be killed by herbi- cide. Some Russian thistles die completely, while others don’t die at all, Schillinger said. A WSU graduate student is study- ing the genetic traits. “This is new research that nobody in the world has done before,” Schillinger said. “It is by far the biggest broadleaf weed crop in the low-precipi- tation zone and it has been for more than 100 years. It’s a real tough weed with a real survival instinct.” associate dean Rich Koenig. For more information, contact Schillinger at 509-235-1933. ROP-23-4-2/#24 ROP-32-52-2/#17 By MATTHEW WEAVER 24-4/#5
