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8 CapitalPress.com August 26, 2016 Southwestern Idaho farmers raise pay to keep workers Tight labor market pushing up wages at all skill levels By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press CALDWELL, Idaho — The southwestern Idaho labor market has tightened to the point agricultural pro- ducers are paying signii- cantly more to ind and keep farm workers. “It’s gotten really bad; it’s a tough labor market,” said Meridian farmer Rich- ard Durant. “There just ar- en’t very many workers out there.” Durant has paid common farm laborers such as pipe movers $10 to $11 an hour in the past but has had to pay them $12 to $14 an hour this year. He’s not alone. Other producers, such as Ron Bitner, who owns a vineyard and winery in Caldwell, is paying his workers about $1.50 an hour more this year, which costs him about $800 more a month in labor. He’s also had to keep people employed even when there’s no signiicant work for them to do just to ensure he has an adequate labor force when he really needs it at harvest time. If he doesn’t keep them employed, “They could easily go out and ind some- thing else,” he said. “I just go ahead and hire them and give them other things to do ... so I have a crew available when I need them.” Durant is doing the same thing. “You have to ind some- thing to keep them going all year round or they’re going to disappear and you won’t get them back,” he said. Bitner, Durant and oth- er farmers say the region’s booming economy, partic- ularly the construction sec- tor, is the major factor in the tightened labor force. The unemployment rate for the Boise metropolitan area, which includes most of southwestern Idaho, is 3.7 percent and the building sector is booming. “Anybody who can swing a hammer can get $20 an hour on the construction side,” Durant said. The region’s labor-inten- sive fruit industry has been particularly hard hit by the scarcity of workers. Michael Williamson, owner of Williamson Or- chards and Vineyards in Caldwell, one of Idaho’s three largest fruit orchards, had to raise his labor rates $1 an hour in June to attract workers and is still having dificulty inding them. Sean Ellis/Capital Press Farmworkers pick Chardonnay wine grapes Aug. 19 in a south- western Idaho vineyard. Farmers in the region say they are having to pay much more this year to attract and keep workers because of a signiicantly tighter labor market. Mormon crickets seen, but few damage reports Courtesy of Port of Seattle A ship docks at the Louis Dreyfus Co. grain terminal at the Port of Seattle. The company has settled a citizen lawsuit iled by Puget Soundkeeper Alliance that alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. Seattle grain exporter to pay $699,000 to settle lawsuit Judge rules company spilled grain into bay By DON JENKINS Capital Press A Dutch corporation that exports grain from the Port of Seattle has agreed to pay $699,000 to settle allega- tions by an environmental group that the company vi- olated the Clean Water Act by spilling grain into Elliott Bay. The Louis Dreyfus Co. also will modify its pier and conveyance system to prevent spills while un- loading rail cars and load- ing vessels, according to a consent decree that must be approved by a federal judge. The settlement would be the second-largest ever won by Puget Soundkeeper Alli- ance, which filed the citizen lawsuit in 2014. Chris Wilke, the group’s executive director, said the amount of grain spilled can’t be measured, but maintained it was enough to cause damage. “It was not a trace by any means,” he said. “We believe the environmental impact is quite significant.” ‘It was not a trace by any means. We believe the environmental impact is quite signiicant.’ Chris Wilke, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s executive director The company declined to comment. Puget Soundkeeper al- leged the company’s lack of record-keeping de- prived the environmental group’s members of hav- ing enough information to advance their mission of protecting and improving water quality. After the suit was filed, an attorney for Puget Soundkeeper obtained from the company surveil- lance video of the grain terminal. In a key pre-trial ruling in June, U.S. Dis- trict Judge Richard Jones found that the evidence showed grain had been spilled into the bay nine times since 2014. The company also failed to regularly vacu- um paved surfaces at the terminal, a violation of its state pollution-control permit, the judge ruled. Shortly after the rul- ing, Dreyfus and Puget Soundkeeper agreed to the out-of-court settle- ment. Dreyfus denies any wrongdoing. “The summary judg- ment was quite substan- tial and definitely enough to get the attention of the defendants,” Wilke said. “The Clean Water Act is clear — foreign substanc- es are generally consid- ered pollutants.” Dreyfus also agreed to pay Puget Soundkeeper $403,000 in legal fees and other litigation expenses. If approved by the judge, the $699,000 will go into a privately man- aged fund for Puget Sound environmental projects. The fund was started with a $1.5 million settlement in 2011 between Puget Soundkeeper and BNSF Railway. A grant-making charity, the Rose Foun- dation in Oakland, Calif., oversees the fund. Puget Soundkeeper has filed citizen lawsuits and settled with several oth- er companies, including Trident Foods in Tacoma, and Total Terminals Inter- national and SSA Termi- nals, both at the Port of Seattle. Planting seed of unknown quality or origin can be costly. You could end up with a crop that bears little resemblance to the variety you intended to grow. Perhaps worse, you might plant seed that emerges poorly or is infested with noxious weeds like goatgrass or wild oats. To be sure you’re buying quality seed, you need to know its identity, purity and germination potential. That’s what the Certified Seed tag is all about. The blue tag tells you the seed you’re buying is only two generations removed from the breeder’s original seed, and that it has endured a rigorous program of field inspection, special harvesting and conditioning procedures, and is backed by an official analysis from the Washington Department of Agriculture Seed Lab to confirm purity and high germination. This Fall... Go for the quality that comes with the BLUE . d Seed Always plant Certifie • Highest Quality • Cleaner Fields • Higher Yields WASHINGTON STATE CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 2575 NE Hopkins Ct • Pullman, WA 99163 www.washingtoncrop.com For the names of the Certified Seed dealers in your area, call us at 509-334-0461. ROP-35-2-1/#14 Large insects crawl, cannibalize; ‘kind of creepy’ By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Mormon crickets have been spotted in Central Washington this summer, but there are few reports of damage, Washing- ton State University research- ers say. Mormon crickets, so-called for their early runs-in with Mormon settlers and because the males chirp, are actually a katydid, said Dale Whaley, extension specialist in Water- ville, Wash. “They’re voracious eaters, they have large mandibles — they can get into crops and just devour plants,” Whaley said. The crickets impact for- age crops, small grains and orchards, climbing trees and feeding on the fruit. The insects have been found in Okanaogan County, down by Malott, Wash., and near Nespelem, Wash., on the Colville Indian Reservation. “They were crossing the road there earlier this year, lit- erally by the hundreds,” Wha- ley said. “They’re so large, driving at 60 mph, they almost look like small mice running down the road, even though they’re not.” The crickets cannot ly, even though they have wings, so they crawl, Whaley said. “The reason they move the way they do, these guys are known to cannibalize each oth- er,” Whaley said. “That’s why the guys in the front, if they’re leading the pack, are con- stantly moving. If they stop, the guys behind them could come up and start chomping on them.” Cannibalism is evident when crickets are hit by cars, Whaley said. Living crickets will feed on the dead ones. “It’s kind of creepy,” Wha- ley said. Mormon crickets are a secondary pest not seen every year. Favorable conditions in- clude a mild winter where eggs survive, and low thresholds for predators such as small birds and small raptors. The crickets are probably always present in small num- bers, but if they start to become plentiful, then farmers begin to notice and ask questions of ex- tension personnel. “If you’re seeing one, two, three, it’s not going to be a problem,” he said. “But if you’re seeing hundreds upon thousands, that’s when you’re going to have an issue.” Elizabeth Beers, entomolo- gist with the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Cen- ter in Wenatchee, said Mor- mon crickets have been seen near or entering orchards, but she’s heard no reports of seri- ous damage. Orchards surrounded by rangeland or forested areas are more likely to see them. “It has been an intermittent pest for some time, and will probably continue to be one in the future,” Beers said. USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working to monitor the crick- ets and determine when and how they move. Whaley said. The crickets can move up to 1.5 miles per day, and up to 50 miles per season. Insecticides and bait traps can be used to control popula- tions. The best time to control the crickets is at the nymphal stage in spring. The Mormon crickets could still be a problem on a case-by-case basis, Beers said. “These are very large an- imals,” she said. “If they’re coming into your orchard, you’re going to notice them.”