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August 19, 2016 CapitalPress.com 5 Washington Farm Bureau rips Puget Sound plan Federal report understates farmland loss By DON JENKINS Capital Press Don Jenkins/Capital Press File Containers are stacked Jan. 28 at the Port of Tacoma. Chinese Zika rules threaten farm exports Containers must be quarantined, treated for mosquitoes By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Chinese regulations aimed at stopping the Zika virus from entering its bor- ders threaten to impede U.S. agricultural exports. The U.S. was recently added to a list of countries covered by Chinese rules that require shipping con- tainers to be quarantined and treated for mosquitoes, which transmit the birth de- fect-causing virus. “It is going to be bur- densome. It’s going to add a lot of cost and burden to U.S. exports,” said Abigail Struxness, program manag- er of the Agriculture Trans- portation Coalition. Last year, total U.S. ag- ricultural exports to China topped $20 billion. At this point, it appears that Chinese customs offi- cials are offering to fumi- gate incoming containers for a fee, or accept certifi- cates stating that contain- ers were fumigated prior to shipping, Struxness said. It’s unclear whether the regulations will apply to re- frigerated cargo, which of- ten travels at temperatures low enough to kill the in- sects, she said. Agricultural exporters are also unsure which fumi- gation methods are required by the Chinese, or which U.S. agency is responsible for the certification, she said. The Agriculture Trans- portation Coalition is still trying to assess the added costs and delays resulting from the rules, as well as Don Jenkins/Capital Press File Dockworkers unload containers from the OOCL Rotterdam, a Hong Kong-registered vessel. how they will impact U.S. competitiveness, Struxness said. Agricultural shippers are concerned about how fu- migation will affect food- grade commodities and organic crops, she said. “That’s another thing we need to figure out.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention, the only state to experience lo- cally transmitted cases of Zika through mosquitoes is Florida. Locally transmitted cases of Zika have also oc- curred in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a notice stating agency officials are discussing the regulations and acceptable documenta- tion with their counterparts in China. The notice states that Zika is a human health issue, not a phytosanitary prob- lem, which means APHIS officials cannot validate mosquito treatments on phy- tosanitary certificates. USDA’s position is trou- bling for John Szczepanski, director of the U.S. Forage Export Council, because it will likely delay a compre- hensive U.S. response to the Chinese Zika regulations. “The people who could help us are saying mosqui- toes aren’t under their juris- diction,” he said. The notice put out by APHIS would indicate that USDA’s Foreign Agricul- tural Service is the appro- priate agency to deal with the problem — except that it doesn’t employ any en- tomologists, Szczepanski said. “It adds to the frustra- tion of agricultural export- ers.” China is an export mar- ket for alfalfa grown in Oregon, Washington, Ida- ho and California, he said. The risk is that without uniformity, agricultural ex- porters will come up with their own individual treat- ment methods and certifi- cations, adding to the con- fusion, he said. “Exporters want to do the right thing, but they don’t know exactly what to do.” The Washington Farm Bu- reau has broadly criticized a state and federal plan to breach dikes and inundate hundreds of acres of farmland in Whatcom and Skagit coun- ties to create ish habitat. The Farm Bureau says a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under- states the loss of farmland in Skagit County and underval- ues agriculture in both coun- ties. “Our opposition rests on the principle that preserving farmable ground should be the single greatest priority of our state and our nation,” the organization’s director of government relations, Tom Davis, said in written com- ments submitted Aug. 12. The Corps and the Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife have been work- ing for more than a decade on a plan to roll back “ecological degradation” in Puget Sound. The Corps and WDFW propose to convert into ish habitat 1,807 acres in What- com County, 256 acres in Skagit County and 38 acres in Jefferson County. Collectively known as the Puget Sound Nearshore Eco- system Restoration Projects, the three would cost an esti- mated $452 million. Funding has not been approved by 12-month waiver HAY PRESS SUPPORT: • Hay Sleeves • Strap • Totes • Printed or Plain • Stretch Film (ALL GAUGES) WAREHOUSE PACKAGING: • Stretch Film • Pallet Sheets • Pallet Covers LOCATIONS: Albany, Oregon (MAIN OFFICE) Ellensburg, Washington CONTACT INFORMATION: Phone: 855-928-3856 Fax: 541-497-6262 info@westernpackaging.com ....................................................... CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR TOP PRIORITY! 3 Years @ 0% cluded only 5 acres used for agriculture. A Corps spokeswoman said the report should have qualiied that the land includ- ed only 5 acres of “prime farmland,” while other land would be prime farmland if drained or irrigated. Washington State De- partment of Agriculture land surveys show that almost the entire area is being used to grow vegetables, berries, hay or other crops. “It’s all farms,” said Allen Rozema, executive director of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland. “We know it’s more than 5 acres.” The Corps reported that the acres lost in Whatcom and Skagit counties would be only a fraction of the region’s agri- cultural land. 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Congress or the Legislature. The projects in Whatcom and Skagit counties rely heav- ily on inundating farmland to return land to pre-settlement conditions. The Corps’ report calls the loss of farmland min- imal and necessary. The Farm Bureau notes that residential and industrial areas are never targeted for restoration — only farmland, the supply of which is inite. “Maintaining the ability to grow the food that sustains our nation should not be taken lightly, and yet time after time the primary focus for salmon recovery projects is prime farmland,” Davis wrote. In its report, the Corps stated the loss of 800 acres of “prime farmland” in the Nooksack River Delta in Whatcom County would be economically “minor and in- signiicant.” The Corps reported that the project along the North Fork of the Skagit River in- TRACTORS JD 965, 6-bottom switch plow, On- land, depth gauge wheels...................... .........................$6,000 Salem SX001173 COMBINES WE S P E CIA LIZE IN B U LK B AG S! Don Jenkins/Capital Press Water lows over farmland Aug. 1 in Skagit County, the day the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife breached a Skagit River dike to create ish habitat. WDFW and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers propose converting more farmland in the county into ish habitat. The Washington Farm Bureau opposes the plan. 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