June 17, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
Apricot yields up slightly after winter chill, growers say
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
REDDING, Calif. —
Growers say that apricot
yields in California are up
slightly this year, partly
because trees got their full
amounts of chilling hours
last winter.
An official estimate is
due out next month, but
farmers and marketers ex-
pect to see an average-sized
crop in the range of 50,000
tons, the California Farm
Bureau Federation reports.
That would be an increase
from the 45,000 tons harvest-
ed last year, according to the
National Agricultural Statis-
tics Service in Sacramento.
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Fresh apricots from Burlison Fruit Stand in Dairyville, Calif., ill
a bin. Growers say this year’s apricot yields in California are up
slightly from last year.
“It’s been a good crop,”
said Aldon Burlison, owner
of Burlison Fruit Stand in
Dairyville, Calif. “They just
all of the sudden got ripe,
too.”
Not every grower has
seen the increase. At R and
K Orchards in Corning, Ca-
lif., the apricots’ size and
quality were fine but vol-
umes were light, co-owner
Karen Mills said.
“We got a quarter on
some of our varieties, and
on some we had less than
a quarter,” Mills said while
helping customers at a farm-
ers’ market in Redding.
More than 300 California
growers covering 17,000
acres produce 95 percent
of the apricots grown in
the United States, accord-
ing to the industry website
califapricots.com. Apricot
harvest will continue for the
rest of this month in the San
Joaquin Valley, the Farm
Bureau noted.
The cold nights last win-
ter helped many fruit and
nut trees in California to re-
ceive all the chilling hours
they’d need to set a good
crop by the middle of Jan-
uary. Trees need a certain
number of hours under 45
degrees before they’ll be-
gin to accumulate heat and
commence blossom.
The chill in the air
marked a contrast to the
winter of 2014-2015, when
higher-than-normal
tem-
peratures led to an uneven
bloom and disrupted devel-
opment of some crops.
Apricots are one of many
summer fruits and melons
that are hitting supermar-
ket shelves in abundance.
Among other crops, accord-
ing to NASS:
• The picking of Valencia
oranges continues. Growers
last month began to pick
what is expected to be a 21
million-carton crop, which
would be a slight increase
in production compared to
last year.
• The cherry harvest was
almost completed last week
with only a couple of sheds
still packing.
• Cantaloupes were be-
ing harvested last week, and
other melons were irrigated
and prepped for harvest.
Coba joins U.S. trade mission
headed to Ukraine, Romania
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Courtesy of Lamb Weston
The Lamb Weston potato processing plant in Richland, Wash., will expand, according to the com-
pany. The $200 million investment will give farmers another reliable customer, the state’s potato
commission says.
Lamb Weston to expand its
Wash. potato processing plant
Farmers benefit
from more demand
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Potato processor Lamb
Weston will invest $200 mil-
lion to increase the french
fry-making capacity of its
Richland, Wash., plant, creat-
ing 128 full-time jobs and tak-
ing advantage of the world’s
growing demand for easy-to-
prepare food, the company
announced June 8.
Lamb Weston cited fore-
casts by Euromonitor Inter-
national, a market research
company, that the demand for
frozen potato products will
grow by 2.6 billion pounds by
2020.
The company says its new
french fry line will produce
more than 300 million pounds
a year.
“We have a tremendous
opportunity to help our cus-
tomers realize their global
growth projects, but we need
to make more french fries to
do that,” Lamb Weston Pres-
ident Greg Schlafer said in a
written statement.
The Richland potato pro-
cessing plant was built in
1972 and employs 500 work-
ers, according to the company.
The company said it plans
to begin construction on the
east side of the current plant
immediately and expects to be
inished by fall 2017.
A company spokeswoman
said she didn’t have informa-
tion about the plant’s current
capacity or a wage range for
the new jobs.
Lamb Weston’s expan-
sion should beneit farmers
by increasing competition
among processors for pota-
toes, Washington State Potato
Commission Executive Di-
rector Chris Voigt said.
Contracts with processors
cushion farmers from relying
on sales to the more volatile
fresh potato market, he said.
“If you attract processors
to your state, it gives you
more options,” Voigt said.
“I think our industry is
excited about this,” he said.
“It means we need to supply
more potatoes.”
About 90 percent of Wash-
ington’s potatoes are pro-
cessed, Voigt said.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued
a statement saying he was
pleased Lamb Weston was re-
investing in Washington.
“This next generation of
food processing in Richland is
the perfect match of our agri-
culture and technology indus-
tries, which is why I worked
intensively with the company
to help them choose our terrif-
ic state.”
Inslee in 2015 supported
extending favorable tax rates
that state lawmakers granted
to food processors more than
a decade ago. The tax breaks
were due to expire, but the
Legislature renewed them for
another 10 years.
Lamb Weston is a sub-
sidiary of ConAgra Foods
Inc. ConAgra announced in
November that by fall 2016
it will split into two separate
companies, Lamb Weston and
Conagra Brands.
According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Economic Research Service,
U.S. consumption of frozen
potato products surpassed
fresh potato consumption in
1993.
If Congress approves the
Trans-Paciic
Partnership
trade agreement, Japan and
Vietnam will phase out tariffs
on U.S. potato products.
The potato industry es-
timates that would increase
sales to Japan by $10 million
and boost sales to Vietnam to
$10 million from $3.75 mil-
lion within ive years. French
fries would make up a major
part of those increased sales,
according to the U.S. Interna-
tional Trade Commission.
The USDA is heading a
trade mission to promote U.S.
farm goods in a couple of un-
likely locations: Ukraine and
Romania.
The Eastern European
countries rank 86th and 82nd,
respectively, as destinations
for exports of agricultural and
related products from the U.S.
Last year, the U.S. shipped
$75 million of farm goods to
Ukraine and $81 million to
Romania — collectively less
than 1 percent of the amount
purchased by Canada, the top
U.S. trade partner.
However, the two nations
have gained in geopolitical
importance due to tensions
with nearby Russia.
While the military conlict
in Ukraine has been promi-
nent, Romania has also drawn
the ire of Russia over a U.S.
missile defense system within
its borders.
The trade delegation,
scheduled for June 13-17, is
led by USDA Acting Deputy
Secretary Michael Scuse and
joined by several represen-
tatives of state governments,
companies and organizations,
including Katy Coba, director
of the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
Though Oregon doesn’t
currently ship many farm
goods to Ukraine or Romania,
Coba said the trade mission
is an opportunity to explore
those markets and show U.S.
support for the two nations in
light of their problems with
Russia.
The trade mission will in-
clude meetings with govern-
ment oficials from the host
countries and U.S. embassies,
as well as tours of facilities
owned by multinational agri-
business irms Archer Daniels
Midland Co. and Bunge.
Coba said she hopes to
learn about the state of each
country’s middle class, which
represents a potential market
for Oregon’s high-value farm
products.
Capital Press File
Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, has
joined a USDA trade mission to Ukraine and Romania.
The value of U.S. farm ex-
ports to Ukraine has plummet-
ed from its most recent high
of $321 million in 2013 to last
year’s level of $75 million, ac-
cording to USDA data.
Fish products and plant-
ing seeds are among the major
U.S. commodities shipped to
Ukraine, though they’ve de-
creased along with total exports
in recent years.
Oregon would beneit from
the demand for these products,
so it will be useful to learn
whether the drop-off was caused
by tariffs, political turbulence or
other barriers, Coba said.
Pork, poultry and eggs have
also been among the top farm
exports to Ukraine.
Exports to Romania have
luctuated widely over the past
decade, between $47 million
and $96 million, with shipments
increasing nearly 60 percent
over the prior year to $81 mil-
lion in 2015.
Soybeans, tobacco, plant-
ing seeds and distilled spirits
are among the most prominent
ag-related exports to that coun-
try. The U.S. had a trade dei-
cit in agricultural goods with
both countries in 2015, import-
ing about $158 million from
Ukraine and $154 million from
Romania.
25-1/#7
Bag needs?
Bag solutions!
SMITH PACKAGING
YOUR MAIN SUPPLIER FOR:
• Polyethylene Bags
• Polypropylene Bags
• Paper Bags
• Bulk Bags
• Stretch Films
• Hay Sleeves
• Mesh Produce Bags
• Plastic Pallet Covers
• Bag Closure Products
• General Warehouse
Supplies
Competitive pricing!
Great quality products!
Service you expect and trust!
• Halsey, Oregon: 541-369-2850
• Eastern Washington, Ed Kropf:
509-936-2652 or ed@smith-packaging.com
www.smithpackagingservices.com
25-1/#7
25-2/#5