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CapitalPress.com October 14, 2016 Canned fruit producer puts non-GMO status on labels By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Courtesy of Oregon Fruit Products The Salem-based company’s labels now tell consumers they are non-GMO, don’t use high fructose corn syrup and don’t use BPA can linings. telling us, ‘If you want to win with consumers, and if you want to win with us, get out of BPA cans and get cer- tifi ed non-GMO.’” The USDA has said GMO food is safe, and the Food and Drug Administra- tion said high-fructose corn syrup is “generally recog- nized as safe” and BPA lin- ing is “safe at the current levels occurring in foods.” But activist and consum- er groups question the gov- ernment’s fi ndings and have thrown enough shade on the topic that some food compa- nies have take pre-emptive action to escape criticism and to grab or retain market share. Over the past year, Camp- bell’s, General Mills, Kel- logg’s, Mars, and ConAgra announced they will label their products. Sarles acknowledged that labeling the company’s fruits and berries as non-GMO, not to mention gluten-free, may seem like “stating the obvi- ous.” But in a competitive market, with many consumers opting to buy fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, canned goods are facing tough com- petition. SAGE Fact #133 Oregon grows more than 10% of the nation’s peas and Umatilla and Morrow County are the leading producers in the state. MUD LAKE, Idaho — Agricultural pilot Leif Isaa- cson believes the vole popu- lations are fi nally in decline, following two years in which the stubby-tailed rodents ran rampant in some Idaho farm fi elds. But the headaches haven’t subsided for growers, who are now replacing vast acreages of alfalfa that never recovered from the 2014 and 2015 vole onslaught. Isaacson, owner of Des- ert Air Ag in Mud Lake, said voles continue to support his bottom line, as he’s been spraying alfalfa fi elds with glyphosate herbicide or 2,4- D, enabling farmers to plow their heavily damaged alfalfa fi elds and replace them with other fall crops. “There are thousands of acres of alfalfa coming out this fall,” Isaacson said, add- ing that many fi elds are com- ing out after two years that should have remained produc- tive for six years. Isaacson said mature alfal- fa stands can be permanently damaged by voles, and many hay growers didn’t realize the extent until well into this season. In many cases, yields plunged by more than half. He said hay prices around $75 per ton have also made it tough for growers to keep vole-damaged alfalfa fi elds in production. Isaacson still sees voles along ditch banks and has re- cently treated some grain fi eld edges to stop voles from mov- ing into potatoes. “We’ve done some (treat- ment), but probably a tenth of what we’ve done in the past,” said Isaacson, who fl ew members of the Idaho De- partment of Agriculture over vole-infested fi elds to witness the losses at the height of the infestation. Blackfoot area grower Jerry Elliott took 400 acres of vole-damaged hay out of Voles caused widespread damage in Idaho during 2014 and 2015. Courtesy of University of Idaho A hay fi eld in Eastern Idaho shows a signifi cant vole infestation. Voles caused widespread damage in Idaho during 2014 and 2015, but their populations now appear to be in decline, according to experts. production early, following a dismal third cutting last fall. “We probably spent $10,000 on different kinds of poison to put on them, but it didn’t seem to kill them,” El- liott said. Elliott still sees a few voles on his farm but said the vast majority died off this spring. Monteview grower Will Ricks, president of the Ida- ho Hay and Forage Associ- ation, plans to pull out about 400 acres of vole-damaged alfalfa this fall, about a year earlier than he would prefer. He hasn’t yet noticed a pop- ulation decline, though he’s pleased by reports from else- understood, Baldwin specu- lates disease, parasites, food scarcity and predator increas- es could be factors. Though vole numbers are down, Danielle Gunn, a UI Extension educator in Fort Hall, advises growers to continue monitoring and controlling populations with rodenticide, and by mowing around fi elds to remove cover. Gunn warned that voles are prolifi c, becoming sexual- ly mature at about one month old. Gunn said vole tunnels are visible in the snow, and they nest in conical-shaped areas of clipped stalks. LIVESTOCK & HORSE Idaho wheat yield a record? Special Section Dec. 2nd, 2016 Top executive believes so By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press The West is one of the most productive regions for livestock in the United States. This creates a lucrative market for businesses whose products and services include: • Trailers • Animal Health • Haying Equipment • Trucks • Livestock • ATV’s • And Much More! • Feed Get ahead of your competition by advertising in this special section and reach Capital Press Ag Weekly print and online readers. Contact Your Sales Rep Today or Call 800-882-6789 42-7/#6 where in the state. Steve Hines, the Univer- sity of Idaho Extension edu- cator in Jerome County, said voles also declined this spring in Magic Valley. “I haven’t seen a vole all summer,” Hines said. “Last summer you couldn’t walk without seeing the ground move.” Vole populations are cy- clical, tending to spike every eight to 10 years for a season or two, said Roger Baldwin, a University of California-Davis Extension specialist who is re- searching better vole poisons. Though the “trigger mech- anism” for their decline isn’t Idaho wheat farmers may have set a record for yields this year, the executive director of the state Wheat Commission says. They averaged 91.3 bush- els per acre in 2016, up from 77.5 bushels per acre in 2015, according to the National Ag- ricultural Statistics Service. Blaine Jacobson, the com- mission’s executive director, checked records back to 1980 and believes this year’s yield is “an all-time record” for the state. Nationally, only Arizona posted higher yields, at 97.8 bushels per acre, down from 101 in 2015 and 110 in 2014. California averaged 79.7 bushels per acre, up from 79.1 the year before. Oregon aver- aged 50.1 bushels per acre, up from 47.3 in 2015. Washing- ton averaged 71.5 bushels per acre, up from 50.3 the previ- ous year. New Mexico had the low- est average yield at 22 bushels per acre. The U.S. average was 52.6 bushels per acre. Jacobson credited well- timed rain for the boost in yield this year. “It’s nice, it’s both weath- er-related and refl ects the breeding of better varieties that grow and give good quali- ty and yield,” he said. Average yield in the 1980s ranged from 50 to 60-plus bushels per acre, Jacobson said. Yield increases since then are based on improved agro- nomics and better breeding. About 25 percent of the crop in Northern Idaho had falling number problems, in- dicating lower quality, but the rest of the state fared well, he said. Exporters are segregat- ing low falling number wheat from higher-quality wheat ac- cording to customer specifi ca- tions. “It’s unpleasant to have — the growers were so thrilled with what was looking like a wonderful crop, and then to have a certain percentage of it with low falling numbers was really tough for them,” he said. ROP-40-42-4/#17 SALEM — By the end of the year, labels on Ore- gon Fruit Products’ canned goods and “Pourable Fruit” containers will proclaim the company doesn’t use geneti- cally engineered ingredients and has verifi cation from the Non-GMO Project to prove it. The company has never used genetically modifi ed fruit and berries and the list of such products includes just two things: papaya and three apple varieties. But today’s consumer “is a thorough label-reader,” company CEO Chris Sarles said in a news release. “And as an 81-year-old company, it is crucial that we maintain and build upon the brand trust we have built over the decades. “We have always held our sourcing, ingredients, processing, and packaging to the highest standards,” Sarles said in the prepared statement, “and now our la- bels refl ect that unwavering dedication.” The company labels also will say it doesn’t sweeten its products with high-fruc- tose corn syrup, which it hasn’t used for years. And beginning with the 2016 harvest, the company is us- ing cans without Bisphenol A (BPA) lining. The company’s decision comes as GMO labeling has become a social and politi- cal wedge issue. In a followup interview, Sarles said the label changes are a “small price to pay” for remaining relevant to con- sumers. “If you call on retailers, they typically have very hot buttons on their mind, things that are very important to them,” Sarles said. “The last couple years, they’ve been Idaho vole outbreak subsides, but fi eld damage remains ROP-41-4-4/#13 4 38-7/#4N
