July 15, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
Farm groups join national effort to end Cuba trade ban
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — Major Idaho
farm groups have thrown their
support behind a national ef-
fort to convince Congress to
end U.S. trade and travel bans
on Cuba.
Doing that could open the
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portunities for several Idaho
agricultural products, leaders
of that effort said July 7 during
a press conference to introduce
the new Engage Cuba Idaho
State Council.
The 29-member council in-
cludes a large number of peo-
ple involved in the state’s agri-
cultural industry, including the
leaders of major Idaho farm
organizations. It is chaired by
Gov. Butch Otter, a rancher
and farmer.
“There are real obstacles
than from Mississippi and Ar-
kansas.”
One of the main obstacles
is that U.S. companies and
farmers that want to sell farm
products to Cuba must accept
only cash and cannot extend
credit, he said.
Another U.S. policy bars
ships that have docked in Cuba
from docking in the United
States for 120 days.
And while Cuba requires
a veterinarian to inspect
beef carcasses at stockyards
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
and slaughter houses before
People who represent several of Idaho’s largest agricultural groups they’re shipped to that nation,
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the U.S. government doesn’t
new Idaho coalition aimed at convincing Congress to loosen trade
allow Cuban veterinarians to
and travel restrictions to Cuba.
come here.
The Engage Cuba Coali-
to letting American farmers Engage Cuba Coalition, told tion, which has 11 state coun-
compete on an equal footing &DSLWDO3UHVVDIWHUWKHEULH¿QJ cils, includes private compa-
in Cuba with their counter- “That’s one of the reasons the nies and organizations that are
parts around the world,” Luke Cubans have been buying rice trying to build enough support
Albee, senior adviser of the from Vietnam and Brazil rather to convince Congress to end
this country’s trade and travel
bans.
Press conference speakers
said Idaho produces a lot of
farm commodities that could
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Cuba, including milk powder,
beef, frozen potato products,
wine, pulse crops, vegetable
seed and malt.
“It’s really quite a match-up
when you look at what Cuba
imports and what Idaho produc-
es,” said Skip Oppenheimer,
CEO of Oppenheimer Compa-
nies Inc., a food processing and
distribution company.
State Sen. Jim Patrick, a
farmer from Twin Falls and
member of the Engage Cuba
Idaho Council, said Cuba used
to be the No. 1 purchaser of
Idaho small red beans before
the U.S. trade embargo.
“For some commodities,
Cuba would be a big opportu-
nity,” he said.
Milk Producers of Idaho
Executive Director Brent Olm-
stead said powdered milk and
cheese would probably be the
most promising dairy export
possibilities to Cuba.
Albee said Engage Cuba has
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it began lobbying Congress last
fall.
“My guess is that we may
get something done on agri-
culture by the end of the year,
if possible,” he said. “But if not
by then, the writing’s on the
wall. We’ve won the war.”
Cuba, a nation of 11 million
people, is fast becoming one of
the world’s top tourist destina-
tions, according to an Engage
Cuba fact sheet, and “lifting the
travel ban will strengthen Cu-
ba’s economy and create a mas-
sive new market for U.S. agri-
culture and food producers.”
Grant pays Hermiston watermelon harvest kicks into gear
for potato
shipping
study
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
HERMISTON, Ore. —
Hermiston
watermelons,
savored by Northwesterners
for their distinctive sweet-
ness, are back in season.
Growers began harvest-
By JOHN O’CONNELL
ing last week, and Finley’s
Capital Press
Fresh Produce of Hermiston
was the first to arrive with
BOISE — The Idaho Potato melons in tow at the Pendle-
Commission plans to hire a con- ton, Ore., Farmers’ Market.
sultant to conduct a season-long
“I tried them yester-
inquiry into reducing rot in fresh day. They’re so sweet and
potatoes that are shipped over- good,” said Naomi Sanchez,
seas.
who owns Finley’s Fresh
The potato research was Produce with her husband,
among 15 projects the Idaho Ildefonso Zuniga. “We plan
State Department of Agriculture on selling out.”
recently chose to fund with $1.9
While early season wa-
million in 2016 specialty crop termelons might be a lit-
block grants. The money is pro- tle smaller than average,
vided by USDA under the Farm Sanchez said the quality
Bill.
remains consistent. She
Overall, the state’s potato credits Zuniga for knowing
industry received $405,000 in when they’re ripe for the
specialty crop grants, including picking.
$93,000 for the shipment study.
“I don’t know how, but
86'$ZLOOLVVXH¿QDODSSURYDO he always picks them when
of the projects in late September. they’re perfect,” she said.
“As we’ve been shipping
Hermiston watermelons
fresh potatoes internationally have earned their reputation
for the past several years, we’re
shipping further and further
away, including to Southeast
Asia and the Middle East,” said
Frank Muir, the potato com-
mission’s president and CEO.
“Shipping fresh potatoes cre-
ates its own unique challenges.
We’re investigating ways we
can mitigate damage to those
potatoes in transit.”
Muir said the research will
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proper temperature control to
minimize mold growth during
shipments that can take weeks
to reach foreign ports. Muir said
Idaho shippers have expressed
increasing interest in improving
quality in foreign shipments.
Muir hopes to have results for
shippers to put to use for exports
of the current crop.
University of Idaho Exten-
sion storage specialist Nora Ol-
sen will help the commission
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Mary Jo Frazier, a support
scientist for Olsen, said interna-
tional shipments can end in very
different environments than the
U.S. ports from which they orig-
inate.
“Temperature control, hu-
midity control, making sure
there’s fresh air circulation,
those are going to be the biggest
keys,” Frazier said.
Frazier anticipates the re-
search will involve placing in-
struments in actual fresh potato
shipments to gather data and
the use of growth chambers to
simulate shipments.
Kevin Stanger, of Wada
Farms in Eastern Idaho, said
most fresh potatoes export-
ed internationally are sent in
refrigerated containers but
“humidity is tough.” He said
shipments can take more than
three weeks to reach their des-
tinations, and Wada ships only
top-quality potatoes to mini-
mize the risk of rot.
“I know we’re doing more
export, and anything that can
help increase the availability to
continue moving potatoes out-
side of the market is always a
good thing,” Stanger said.
ISDA also awarded the po-
tato commission $109,000 to
continue developing potatoes
with resistance to pale cyst
nematode — a microscopic
worm found only in the U.S.
within a small area of Idaho’s
Bonneville and Bingham coun-
ties.
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
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thanks to the Columbia Ba-
sin’s unique combination of
climate and soil. Watermel-
ons are desert plants, which
take in heat during the day
to produce sugar as a source
of energy.
Not only are the days hot
enough for melons around
Hermiston,
but
cooler
nights slow the respiration
process, which allows the
plants to retain all that sug-
ar. Light, sandy soils also
allow water to filter down
deep to plant’s roots. The
result is a sweet and juicy
summertime treat.
“What isn’t good about
watermelon?” Sanchez said,
with a smile. “They’re so
good.”
Jack Bellinger, of Bell-
inger Farms in Hermiston,
said they started cutting
melons off the vines last
week. He said they’ll start
shipping to stores across
the Northwest this week,
including the Portland and
Seattle metro areas.
The growing season this
year has been hit-and-miss,
Bellinger said, with some
weeks topping out around
65 degrees and others reach-
ing triple digits. That type
of variation can interrupt
watermelons while they’re
growing, but he anticipates
the crop will fare well over
the next couple of months.
“The quality looks re-
ally good,” Bellinger said.
“We’re cutting really solid
watermelons right now.”
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