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September 2, 2016 CapitalPress.com USDA forecasts record sugar production By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press U.S. sugar production (Thousands of U.S. tons, raw value) While U.S. sugar beet and sugarcane crops are not yet harvested — Louisiana’s looding illustrates that any- thing can happen in an other- wise excellent growing year — USDA’s Economic Re- search Service is projecting record sugar production. ERS forecasts domestic raw sugar production at 9.208 million tons for 2016/17, eclipsing the high mark of 9.05 million tons established in 1999 and 2000. The fore- cast includes 5.32 million tons of beet sugar and 3.89 million tons of cane sugar. The projections are pre- liminary and don’t include the potential effects of looding in Louisiana, said Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis for the Amer- ican Sugar Alliance. But excellent growing con- ditions could result in a record Source: USDA ERS Item 2014 2015 2016 Beet sugar Cane sugar Total 4,893 3,763 8,656 5,049 3,877 8,925 5,320 3,889 9,208 U.S. harvested acres, yield and production Source: USDA NASS Item Sugar beets Sugarcane Area harvested Yield per acre (1,000 acres) (U.S. tons) 2015 2016 2015 2016 1,145.4 1,147 887.3 921.5 30.9 36.4 31.4 36 Production (1,000 tons) 2015 2016 35,359 36,001 32,275 33,185 Capital Press graphic year, with record production driven by yields, he said. “Producers have always been aggressive in investing in improved seed varieties, capitalizing on practices in the ield … and maximizing the eficiency of beet factories and cane mills,” he said. Record production wouldn’t necessarily be bur- densome to markets because domestic sugar surpluses can be avoided through U.S. sug- ar policy, which maintains a marketing allotment system. While production might be high, the forecast is within marketing allotment amounts and doesn’t imply sugar sup- pliers will have to hold back, he said. The issue in domestic mar- kets is Mexican sugar, not so much the amount but the na- ture of those imports. Mexico is shipping more reined sugar than the U.S. needs, he said. In 2013, the U.S. sugar industry iled anti-dumping and countervailing duty cas- es with the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Inter- national Trade Commission found Mexico was guilty of dumping subsidized sugar on U.S. markets. The result was going to be prohibitive duties on Mexican sugar. In the fall of 2014, the U.S. and Mexico negotiated agreements to sus- pend those duties, but Mexico isn’t honoring the intentions of those agreements, he said. Under the suspension agreements, Mexico is not permitted to send more sugar than the U.S. needs overall. But Mexico is shipping re- ined sugar, contrary to the intention of the agreement for Mexico to export raw cane sugar to the U.S., he said. The duties were suspended as long as Mexico limits the total amount of sugar sent to the U.S. and assures a good amount of that sugar is raw sugar going to reineries, he said. Mexico’s actions are detri- mental to U.S. sugar reineries and processors, depressing re- ined sugar prices, he said. On the beet side, reined sugar prices are off 21 percent since the suspension agree- ments were negotiated. On the cane side, they’ve led to limit- ed supply and high prices for raw cane sugar, he said. An update on the issue by the Congressional Research Service in mid-August said in addition to quantitative export limits and minimum prices, Mexico agreed to limit ship- ments of reined sugar to no more than 53 percent of total volume exported to the U.S. As raw sugar is deined in the suspension agreements, a signiicant portion of Mexi- 7 co’s sugar exports qualify as raw sugar while being suf- iciently reined for human consumption. Meaningful quantities of these raw sugars have likely been delivered to producers of U.S. liquid sugar for end use in products such as beverages, ice cream and baked goods, according to the research service update. “While not a violation of the agreements, these raw sugars are bypassing tradi- tional U.S. sugar cane rein- ers, which depend on the im- ports of raw Mexican sugar to maintain an adequate level of capacity utilization,” the up- date states. The domestic market out- look depends on how the issue is sorted out, Roney said. Negotiations have been ongoing in earnest for some time, and Roney said he is optimistic the problem will be worked out in the near future and allow domestic reined sugar prices to recover. Washington ire sparks suit over federal ireighting powers Environmental group seeks curb on emergency actions By DON JENKINS Capital Press Courtesy of USDA Forest Service An infestation of non-native Japanese beetles was found this summer in a section of Northwest Port- land. Agriculture oficials say the beetles can cause heavy damage to cannabis, hops, nursery plants, and wine grapes. Japanese beetle infestation found in Portland By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press PORTLAND — Discov- ery of a Japanese beetle out- break in Northwest Portland has state ag oficials scram- bling to determine the size of the infestation. The Oregon Department of Agriculture said 265 bee- tles were caught in traps this summer in the vicinity of Northwest Saltzman Road and Northwest Thompson Road. Others were found feeding on homeowners’ ros- es, and the agency believes a localized breeding popula- tion has established itself in the area. They’ve probably been present for a year, the department said. Japanese beetles are not native to the Paciic North- west. In the past, they’ve been found near Portland International Airport, sug- gesting they hitched a ride on air cargo containers. The beetles feed on a variety of plants and pose a particular threat to crops such as canna- bis, hops, nursery plants and wine grapes, according to the department. The department does not plan an eradication campaign this year because it’s too late in the season, spokesman Bruce Pokarney said. The de- partment will monitor the sit- uation with the likely intent to do localized spraying next year, he said. The department probably would spray in two phases: Once to spray turf to get the beetles in their grub stage, and a second time to spray bushes once the beetles have emerged as adults. In the meantime, the man- ager of ODA’s Insect Pest Prevention and Management program said homeowners can best help by cooperating with ield technicians who are maintaining traps. Home- owners also should avoid moving plants, roots or soil from the infestation area be- cause that could spread the beetles elsewhere, program manager Clint Buritt said in a news release. A federal lawsuit stemming from a 65,000-acre ire in Cen- tral Washington last summer challenges the U.S. Forest Service’s authority to suspend environmental laws and take emergency actions during a wildire. A Eugene-based environ- mental group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, alleges that the agency broke the law by not analyzing the environmental effects of building a 50-mile long, 30- foot wide “community protec- tion line.” At the time, ire oficials said the line was to safe- guard rural hamlets in Chelan County from the Wolverine Fire burning in the Okano- gan-Wenatchee National For- est. The ire remained miles away, and the line was unnec- essary, destructive and violat- ed the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement to assess beforehand the impact of federal actions, according to the lawsuit, which was iled Aug. 16 in the U.S. District Court in Spokane. Andy Stahl, the environ- mental group’s executive di- rector, said his organization wants the Forest Service to re- view how it ights ires, before continuing to give incident commanders free reign to de- clare an emergency. “The Forest Service needs Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service The Wolverine Fire in 2015 burned 65,000 acres near Lake Chelan in Central Washington. An environmental group has sued the For- est Service for building a ire line to protect rural communities. to make informed, thoughtful decisions,” he said. “Obvi- ously, if you’re in the middle of a war, right in the middle of conlict, you don’t have time to make the analysis of what makes sense and what doesn’t.” The Forest Service declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for the Washington Forest Protection Association, which represents private timberland owners, said the organization was con- cerned about inhibiting the ability of ire commanders to contain blazes burning on ad- jacent federal lands “The goal is to actively manage for healthy forests so we’re not put in a position to take extreme actions, but when we have to take extreme actions, we need to have that ability to act,” the spokes- woman, Cindy Mitchell, said. “When the woods are on ire, the woods are on ire.” For authority to take emer- gency measures, the Forest Service relies on an admin- istrative rule. The lawsuit alleges the rule should be de- clared invalid because the For- est Service adopted it without assessing its environmental impact. Logging, building ire lines and setting back burns are fed- eral actions that could signii- cantly affect the environment and require an assessment, ac- cording to the lawsuit. The lightning-sparked Wolverine Fire contributed to Washington’s worst ire season ever. The ire started July 29 near the northwestern shore of Lake Chelan and burned until mid-September. Building the line required logging more than 100 acres of spotted owl habitat and de- graded scenery along forest roads enjoyed by visitors, ac- cording to the lawsuit. The ire was environmen- tally damaging too, according to a post-ire report by the For- est Service. The ire harmed 19 miles of ish-bearing streams and greatly increased the risk of sediment eroding into critical habitat for threatened and en- dangered ish species, accord- ing to the report. 36-4/#14
