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20 CapitalPress.com October 7, 2016 Comments pour in about big E. Oregon dairy By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group BOARDMAN, Ore. — The public will have another month to weigh in on a con- troversial new mega-dairy proposed at the former Board- man Tree Farm property. More than 2,300 com- ments have already poured in to the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality on the Lost Valley Ranch, an op- eration that would add 30,000 cows to the area and generate roughly 187 million gallons of liquid manure each year. ODA and DEQ are respon- sible for registering the dairy as a conined animal feeding operation, or CAFO. But irst, the agencies must approve a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit, which outlines how Lost Val- ley will manage wastewater and monitor for potential groundwater contamination. A public hearing was held July 28 at the Port of Morrow, where a majority of people fa- vored approving Lost Valley’s permit application. Speakers included the project designer, local contractors and Marty Myers, general manager of neighboring Threemile Can- yon Farms, which runs an even larger dairy with 70,000 cows. “Sustainable agriculture is really what we’re talking about here,” Myers said during the hearing. Capital Press File Holstein cows rest at a dairy. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is taking comments on a proposal for a large dairy in Eastern Oregon. However, the bulk of writ- ten comments oppose Lost Valley, arguing such large dairies have a negative impact on air and water quality. Wym Matthews, CAFO program manager for ODA, said the sheer number of comments they received was unprece- dented. “The agencies are bound to look at those comments and respond to them all,” Mat- thews said. The original public com- ment period ended Aug. 4, though it was reopened Monday at the request of the state Environmental Justice Task Force and will now run through 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4. Expanding operations Lost Valley Ranch is pro- posed by California dairyman Greg te Velde, who purchased 7,288 acres along the south- ern boundary of the Board- man Tree Farm east of where Homestead Lane intersects with Poleline Road. For 14 years, te Velde has run the Willow Creek Dairy on land leased from Threemile Canyon Farms, producing 70,000 gallons of milk per day for Tillamook Cheese at the Port of Morrow. Now, he wants to move and expand his operation, with more than tri- ple the number of cows. The application for Lost Valley Ranch includes an Ani- mal Waste Management Plan, describing how waste will be managed on site. The plan calls for six main lagoons, adding up to 260 acre-feet of storage. All lagoons would have a double liner with leak detection to protect against material leaching into the groundwater. The nitrogen-rich waste would then be recycled and applied at agronomic rates — based on soil testing — to irri- gate 5,900 acres growing ani- mal feed, such as corn silage and alfalfa. Whatever is left over would be used to make animal bedding or transferred off site, according to the ap- plication. A methane digester might also be considered to miti- gate air pollution, te Velde said, though that’s not in the immediate plans. He igures it will cost about $4,000 per milking cow just to get the dairy up and running. The state CAFO permit does not require any air pollution measures. Most of the environmental concerns raised by the public have already been addressed in the application, te Velde said. “I don’t think there are any new issues that came up,” he said. After some initial trepi- dation, the Morrow County Court has also come out in support of Lost Valley Ranch. Local oficials had expressed concern about the develop- ment of a second large dairy within three critical ground- water areas, as well as im- pacts to nearby irrigation ca- nals and concern for animal mistreatment. In comments iled Aug. 24, the court said it trusts those is- sues will be addressed during the permit review process. “The positive econom- ic impacts that the proposed dairy would have on our re- gion, coupled with the review and oversight provided under the ODA permitting process, brings the county court to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of the Morrow Coun- ty community to approve this application,” they wrote. Environmental concerns Other groups are pushing back against the proposal, urging the agencies to reject the Lost Valley permit over threats to the environment and public health. Tarah Heinzen, staff attor- ney for Food & Water Watch based in Washington, D.C., was the lead author for 16 pages worth of comments iled on behalf of nine orga- nizations, including Food & Water Watch, Columbia Riv- erkeeper, Friends of Family Farmers, the Northwest En- vironmental Defense Center, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Colum- bia Gorge, the U.S. Humane Society and the Center for Biological Diversity. If approved, Lost Valley Ranch would generate waste on par with a mid-size city, Heinzen said. Meanwhile, the area is home to the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, where the level of nitrates in the groundwater already exceeds the federal safe drinking wa- ter standard. The potential for further water pollution is signiicant, Heinzen said, and Lost Val- ley’s application too vague to assure the facility can handle such a large volume of waste. “The size of this facility is just staggering,” Heinzen said. “This is essentially go- ing to be a sewer-less city.” According to their com- ments, the nine groups claim that CAFOs produce more than 300 million tons of waste across the country each year, which can include things like salmonella and E. coli making their way into nearby waterways. Yet the Oregon CAFO permit lacks surface water monitoring required under the federal Clean Water Act. There are also no controls on regulating air emissions from the facility, said Lauren Goldberg, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper. “We were taken aback by the lack of critical pub- lic health, air and water pol- lution controls,” Goldberg said. In 2008, the Oregon Dairy Air Quality Task Force issued a inal report to ODA and DEQ inding that dairies have the potential to emit several kinds of harmful pollutants, such as ammonia and meth- ane. It issued a list of recom- mendations to create a dairy air quality program by 2015 — none of which have been implemented so far, Goldberg said. Grain commission ponders falling number problem By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press SPOKANE — Experts say no quick or easy answers exist for Paciic Northwest farmers taking a inancial hit from low falling number in their wheat crop. Some growers face severe discounts for their wheat as a result of the test. Arron Carter, Washington State University winter wheat breeder, said it’s dificult to pinpoint a cause for low fall- ing number in a given ield. The biggest need is to better understand the effects of the environment and the genetics, he said. Falling number doesn’t impact a ield equally. There could be a pocket of low falling number wheat in one spot, or scattered throughout a shipment of wheat. One kernel of low falling number Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Washington State University winter wheat breeder Arron Carter talks with Washington Grain Commission board member Dana Herron Sept. 28 during the commission meeting in Spokane. Carter and the board discussed falling number discounts affecting farmers across the Paciic Northwest. wheat could change a sample “dramatically,” Washington Grain Commission indus- try representative Ty Jessup said. One sample could be 50 points different from another several feet away. Jessup said the lowest fall- ing number he’s seen is 61. The lowest possible falling number is 60. Grain elevators use the Hagberg-Perten falling num- ber test to measure starch damage due to sprouting. A low falling number indicates a high level of alpha amy- lase, an enzyme that degrades starch and diminishes the quality of wheat. Grain with a falling number below 300 typically receives a discount in the Paciic Northwest. Rain and temperature luctuations are the primary cause. As farmers select varieties for fall planting, Carter rec- ommends considering falling number in addition to disease resistance and yield potential. Falling number could be a problem again next year — or not at all, he said. “If falling number’s not their biggest concern, then look at the varieties that are addressing their biggest con- cern,” he said. “If they’ve been burned for ive years on falling number, they need to consider that and think about their variety choices.” Some farmers say the cur- rent falling number test is un- reliable and believe a more accurate solution is available. The Rapid Visco Analyz- er test, which examines lour samples like the falling num- ber test and doesn’t require a correction for altitude, but re- sults can still vary by operator or laboratory, Carter said. The equivalent technolo- gy of a whole-grain analyz- er, used to measure protein in wheat, does not exist for falling number. The machine would need to be calibrated for falling number, Carter said. The existing test “has its problems, but it’s telling us which varieties have problems and which don’t,” he said. “I know it’s not a perfect system, but for the most part it’s doing what it was designed to do.” The commission and state Department of Agriculture are sending a letter to the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and USDA Agricultural Re- search Service to highlight the challenges, said commission CEO Glen Squires. They are requesting clar- ity on how falling number tests are run, including ad- justments made for different altitudes. For the future, the indus- try would like a whole-grain analyzer-type test that would be quicker and give farmers and elevator operators better information faster. Currently, tests take about a week and a half, Squires said. “The international grain trade — customers, exporters, everybody — uses this test,” he said, referring to the falling number test. ‘Geeks meet dirt’ as company seeks farm solutions Oficial: Calif. water conservation slipping By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press CALDWELL, Idaho — A new Idaho company that matches the state’s farm and hi-tech industries hopes to develop solutions that will save farmers money and boost pro- ductivity. The company, Kairosys, matches the agricultural knowledge of vine- yard owner and bee scientist Ron Bit- ner with the technological savvy of two former employees of Boise-based Micron Technology, a global leader in the semiconductor industry. Tony Brower has 20 years of di- verse experience in the semiconduc- tor industry, including in business planning and data base access, and Jai Jaiprakash, an engineer, is an ex- pert in the use of sensors and product development. The company’s motto is, “Geeks meet dirt,” and Bitner believes it has the ability to solve many problems farmers face by making sense of the large amounts of information being collected on the farm and iguring out how it can be used to beneit farmers. “People are collecting thousands of points of data but what does it mean?” he said. “That’s what Jay’s background is: taking all of that his- torical data (and) looking for trends.” The company’s irst project is developing an app that uses sensors placed in leafcutter bee incubators to predict when the bees will hatch for the alfalfa seed industry. “That way, a farmer can predict pretty accurately when his bees are going to hatch and how long he can hold them if the weather’s cold or if he has to spray,” said Bitner, who has four decades of experience in the al- falfa seed industry. During the spring, alfalfa seed growers have about $100,000 worth By SCOTT SMITH Associated Press Sean Ellis/Capital Press Vineyard owner and bee scientist Ron Bitner stands in front of his Caldwell, Idaho, vineyard Aug. 19. Bitner has teamed up with two people from the semiconductor industry to try to create solutions for farmers. of bees in incubators “and they just can’t hardly sleep at night,” Bitner said. “But if they have something tracking the bees for them, it’s just insurance for them. We’re trying to help them time the release of their bees and user fewer bees.” He expects to have the app devel- oped by next spring. “We have to work out the details (but) farmers are ready for it,” he said. “We already have people asking for it.” The company is also studying bloom times in alfalfa seed and how it ties in with the bees, as well as bug counts in seed ields to determine how chemicals affect them. More projects will follow, Bitner said. Kairosys is also partnering with USDA researchers to see how its technology can be used to help the nation’s honeybee industry. Matt Borud, chief business devel- opment oficer for the Idaho Depart- ment of Commerce, said Kairosys is exactly what former IDC Direc- tor Jeff Sayer had in mind when he kicked off an effort last year to bring the state’s ag and tech sectors togeth- er to create jobs and solve problems for farmers. “I think it’s the poster child exam- ple,” he said. “It’s exactly the type of venture Jeff had in mind and we think there are still plenty more opportuni- ties like this out there.” He said current IDC Director Me- gan Ronk shares Sayer’s vision of turning Idaho into a Silicon Valley of agricultural technology. FRESNO, Calif. — Water conservation continues to slip in drought-stricken California after oficials lifted mandatory cutbacks, oficials said ahead of formally releasing the igures on Wednesday. The State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento is expected reveal the amount of water Californian’s saved state- wide in August. “We’re concerned that con- servation levels are continuing to drop off as we enter a sixth year of exceptional drought,” said Max Gomberg, a senior climate scientist for the water board. Gomberg declined to release the exact igure ahead of the board’s formal announcement. Last winter, a near-average amount of rain and snow fell mostly in Northern California, prompting oficials to relax con- servation efforts by turning over control to local water districts. Each district is responsible for telling its residents how much — or whether — they should cut- back based on an analysis of their projected water supply and de- manded for the next three years. After calling for voluntary cutbacks, Gov. Jerry Brown at the height of drought last year, ordered residents to cutback by 25 percent.
