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.
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