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.