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June 24, 2016 CapitalPress.com 5 Washington formally proposes new dairy rules Ecology exempts small dairies By DON JENKINS Capital Press Many Washington dair- ies will need a new govern- ment permit and will face higher operating costs under a long-awaited regulatory scheme proposed Wednesday by the state Department of Ecology. The proposal comes after a yearlong debate involving regulators, the dairy industry and environmental groups over how to manage manure from confi ned livestock, par- ticularly at the state’s some 425 dairies. Ecology proposes to issue general permits to dairies, bringing to agriculture an ap- proach already used to min- imize pollution from thou- sands of stationary sources of wastewater. One permit based on fed- eral and state laws will au- thorize discharges to ground- Don Jenkins/Capital Press Cows gather under cover June 14 at a Whatcom County diary. The Washington Department of Ecology has proposed that large and mid-sized dairies that discharge pollutants to water obtain a permit. water and surface water. The other permit, expected to have broader application, will apply only to groundwa- ter and will be based on state law only, precluding federal lawsuits challenging whether dairies are following the per- mit. The permits will be a ma- jor change in how dairies are regulated, Washington State Dairy Federation policy di- rector Jay Gordon said. Gordon said Thursday the federation was still reviewing Judge refuses to overturn Oregon grazing plans Ranching families relieved by decision, attorney says By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Area in detail operators. Ecology’s permit manager Bill Moore said the small- dairy exemption should ex- clude about one-fourth of the state’s dairies, but only about 5 percent of the dairy cows. Large and mid-sized dair- ies that discharge pollutants to groundwater will need a CAFO permit. Ecology assumes that ma- nure seeps from even the best clay-lined lagoons, a position challenged by the dairy indus- try. Ecology’s special assis- tant on water quality Kelly Susewind said he believes that in the vast majority of cases, manure seeping from lagoons will reach ground- water, triggering the need for a permit. The permit will outline industry-wide standards for assessing manure-storage fa- cilities, testing nutrient levels in fi elds before and after ap- plying manure, and submit- ting reports to Ecology. Under Ecology’s proposal, dairy farmers will have to test soils more often and at deeper By ERIC MORTENSON La Pine 58 Ongoing lawsuit over grazing rights on public land 97 138 FREMONT- WINEMA NATIONAL FOREST R 140 97 N 25 miles Ore. Calif. 139 395 Capital Press graphic grazing,” he said. Last year, Oregon Wild, Friends of Living Oregon Wa- ters and the Western Water- sheds Project fi led a complaint against the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approving the graz- ing plans in the Fremont-Wine- ma National Forest. The plaintiffs argued that bull trout, a federally protect- ed threatened species, wasn’t occupying its “critical habitat” in the area due to degradation caused by grazing. Clarke said the environ- mental groups raised “legit- imate concerns” about the future of bull trout popula- tions because of higher water temperatures and sediment in streams. However, he said the feder- al agencies adequately studied whether grazing would ad- versely affect the fi sh’s critical habitat. depths to minimize the risk of excess manure seeping into groundwater. The amount of testing likely will be a major discussion point between now and the end of the comment period Aug. 17. A permit would cost 50 cents per animal unit, an adult cow and calf, up to a maxi- mum of $1,670 a year in 2017. Ecology has yet to fi nish an analysis of other costs to dairies. Ecology disappointed en- vironmentalists by offering the dairies a groundwater dis- charge permit based solely on state law. Moore said Ecology con- cluded that federal lawsuits by environmentalists weren’t necessary. “Ecology is committed to fi rmly and fairly enforcing the permit,” he said. Since surface waters fall under the jurisdiction of the federal Clean Water Act, the permit will be based on federal and state laws, leav- ing open the possibility of third-party lawsuits to en- force the permit. Center hosts Latin American and Caribbean wheat buyers conference Capital Press Capital Press A federal judge has rejected environmentalists’ arguments that grazing along Oregon’s Sprague and Sycan rivers un- lawfully harms bull trout habi- tat where the fi sh doesn’t live. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke has held that grazing plans for 10 federal land allotments comply with the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws. Several ranching families, who had intervened in the case to defend the grazing plans, are relieved by the judge’s ruling, said Scott Horngren, an attorney with the Western Resources Legal Center, who represented them. “An adverse decision would have been very disrup- tive and harmful to their graz- ing plans this year,” Horngren said. If the judge had found the grazing plans were unlawfully approved, the environmental plaintiffs likely would have sought to curtail grazing at a time when the ranchers are preparing to release cattle onto public land, he said. Horngren noted that ranch- ers already face restrictions on grazing duration and grass stubble height, among other factors. “This isn’t uncontrolled the proposal. Although Ecolo- gy’s decision to offer dairies a permit based solely on state law was a positive develop- ment, the permit could mean more bureaucracy and dupli- cation of regulations, he said. “We’re already regulated, and my concern is still the sheer volume of regulations this is going to add,” he said. “It is an addition to what we’ve already been doing.” Heather Bartlett, Ecology’s water quality program man- ager, said the agency hopes its proposal will protect water and allow the dairy industry to prosper. Milk is Washington’s second-most valuable farm product after apples. Ecology rejected a push by environmental groups to make dairies line manure la- goons with synthetic material and drill wells to monitor pol- lution in groundwater. Washington State Depart- ment of Agriculture Deputy Director Kirk Robinson said permit conditions related to storing and applying manure shouldn’t differ much from practices now required by the state’s Dairy Nutrient Man- agement Act. “We believe that for the majority of producers, it will be pretty much status quo,” Robinson said. Currently, only 10 produc- ers hold permits for concen- trated animal feeding oper- ations, or CAFOS. Ecology estimates the new permit will apply to 150 to 200 dairies. Ecology will exempt dair- ies with fewer than 200 ma- ture cows, acknowledging the fi nancial hardship on small PORTLAND — Visitors attending the Latin American and Caribbean wheat buyers conference got some laughs along with bites of crackers and cookies when they toured the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland’s Pearl District June 21, but Idaho wheat grower Bill Flory said more may come of it. Flory, chair of the center’s board of directors, said he’d already had inquiries that may lead to additional purchases of Pacifi c Northwest wheat. The Wheat Marketing Cen- ter is crucial to that effort, Flo- ry said. The center’s pilot line machines can replicate con- ditions at any milling or bak- ery operation in the world, he said, and help processors solve problems without shutting down production lines. “Something as simple as making sure a product consis- tently fi ts in a package,” Flory said. “We can help on the tech- nical side of that. People here are looking for solutions.” In addition, the center can demonstrate how the North- Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Ricardo Vargas, center, a wheat buyer with the Mexico-based Bimbo Bakeries, and Juan Marinez, right, a baker from Colombia, taste crackers produced on the pilot line at the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland. The men were among visitors attending the Latin American and Caribbean Wheat Buyers Conference held June 21-24. west’s soft white wheat can be employed in various wheat blends to make products, he said. “This has been very pro- ductive already,” Flory said. “This is a huge opportunity to interface with our customers.” Ricardo Vargas, a buyer with the multinational Bim- bo Bakeries, based in Mexi- co, sampled a cracker made with soft white wheat. Vargas said he his product check list includes color, texture, densi- ty and smell, and he gave the cracker an approving nod. In the marketing center’s test kitchen, lab tech Kath- leen Gehring demonstrated how tortillas and fl at bread are made. The Latin American guests enjoyed the demonstra- tion, and several tried their hand at using the kitchen’s tortilla press and sliding bread into a quick-fi ring oven. Gehring said it’s important for staff to explain the center’s capabilities, which includes extensive testing equipment. “We want them to under- stand how much effort we put into providing them high-qual- ity wheat,” she said. “It’s im- portant they know we have high standards.” In addition to tours of the marketing center and the Co- lumbia Grain export elevator, the conference included two days of presentations in Port- land on topics ranging from plant breeding methods and Russian wheat competition to food trends and the freight outlook. Grain sellers were set to discuss the attributes of hard red, Desert Durum, soft white and soft red wheat varieties. On Friday, the group had the option of traveling east up the scenic Columbia Riv- er Gorge. They were sched- uled to stop at Multnomah Falls, lunch at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, and take part in a tour and barbecue dinner at the home of grower Darren Padget, chair of the Oregon Wheat Commission. Pesticide residue prohibited in organic compost By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A federal judge has thrown out a USDA policy that al- lowed organic farmers to fertilize crops with compost containing the residues of prohibited pesticides. At this point, one certain- ty of the ruling is that organic farmers will not be allowed to use contaminated compost be- ginning on Aug. 22. The order’s impact is oth- erwise murky. The plaintiffs who fi led a lawsuit against USDA’s controversial “guidance” say the ruling won’t cause seri- ous economic disruption, but some groups representing or- ganic farmers fear major up- heaval. “We are overturning the ex- isting system. We are replacing it with nothing,” said Dennis Nuxoll, vice president of fed- eral government affairs for the Western Growers Association, whose members grow roughly half of U.S. organic produce. The problem is there’s no longer a clear regulato- ry approach to dealing with compost that may have trace amounts of pesticides, he said. “That creates uncertainty and potential market chaos for us,” Nuxoll said. Opponents of USDA’s pol- icy say these claims are over- blown, since organic growers were able to cope with a pro- hibition on contaminated com- post before the agency enacted the “guidance.” “All the court ruling does is sets back the clock to what existed before the guidance,” said Amy Van Saun, an attor- ney with the Center for Food Safety, a plaintiff in the case. The legal disagreement over USDA’s contaminated pesticide policy doesn’t relate as much to health or environ- mental impacts as it does to administrative procedure. After some compost used by organic farms in California was found to be contaminated with an insecticide in 2009, the USDA enacted a “guidance” policy the next year clarifying how the industry should deal with the problem. The agency said compost may contain residues of pro- hibited substances as long as the chemicals weren’t direct- ly applied to the material and they don’t contaminate crops, soil or water. SALE PRICING! IN STOCK! 26-1/#14
