November 25, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
USDA official named to lead ODA
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A USDA official, Alexis
Taylor, has been nominated to
head the Oregon Department
of Agriculture, replacing for-
mer director Katy Coba.
Taylor is the USDA’s dep-
uty under secretary for Farm
and Foreign Agriculture Ser-
vices. She will begin serving
as ODA director on Jan. 23,
once confirmed by the Oregon
Senate.
Lisa Hanson, ODA’s dep-
uty director, was a finalist for
the position and has served as
the agency’s chief since Coba
left in October to lead the
state’s Department of Admin-
istrative Services.
In her position at USDA,
Taylor served
as an advo-
cate for in-
ternational
trade policies
that benefit
U.S. agricul-
Alexis Taylor ture and led
the agency’s
Women in Agriculture Initia-
tive, which supports female
farmers.
Prior to the USDA, she ne-
gotiated provisions that ended
up in the 2008 and 2014 farm
bills as a legislative adviser to
congressional committees.
A graduate of Iowa State
University, Taylor was raised
on an Iowa farm and served
in the U.S. Army Reserves for
eight years, including a tour in
Iraq.
W h e n
Coba
an-
nounced she
was leaving
ODA, eight
of Oregon’s
agriculture in-
dustry groups
Katy Coba
wrote a letter
to Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown, urging her
to install Hanson as the perma-
nent agency chief.
However, the Oregon
Farm Bureau has welcomed
the news of Taylor’s ap-
pointment, citing her “track
record of success” at the
USDA.
Taylor has solid experi-
ence both in a congressional
setting and within an exec-
utive administration, which
will serve her well in the top
ODA position, said Dave
Dillon, OFB’s executive
vice president.
“She’s seen the world
through that lens and that
should help speed up her
readiness,” he said.
The Oregon Legislature
is scheduled to begin its
2017 session shortly after
Taylor begins her new job,
and ODA may be affected by
a range of bills on subjects
ranging from antibiotics to
marijuana, Dillon said.
“She’s going to get up to
speed on a lot of legislative
issues,” he said.
Taylor will also face bud-
get uncertainty, as Oregon
faces a $1.4 billion budget
deficit related to pension
obligations for retired state
employees.
It’s unclear how the leg-
islature will handle the situ-
ation with changes to spend-
ing and revenues, but ODA
senior management will pro-
vide needed support, Dillon
said.
“They know how to oper-
ate in this environment,” he
said.
Katy Coba served as
ODA’s chief for 13 years, so
the industry hasn’t had much
experience with turnover at
the agency.
One question is whether
Taylor will replace top staff
when she assumes the direc-
tor role.
It would be tough to lead
the agency without assis-
tance from people who al-
ready know the lay of the
land, said Lynn Youngbar,
board president of Oregon
Tilth, an organic certifier,
who interviewed candidates
for the ODA director.
“You’ve got to have peo-
ple who know what’s going
on. I would assume that, but
I don’t know,” she said of
Taylor’s attitude toward re-
taining top staff.
While Youngbar said she
wouldn’t suppose to speak
for the governor, it’s possi-
ble that Taylor was chosen
for the position because she
has a clean slate with inter-
est groups in Oregon.
“Everybody gets to start
from the same place,” she
said.
Wilco grows to keep pace with industry
Cooperative breaks ground
on new facility, joint venture
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Courtesy of USDA
A federal judge has approved search warrants to take samples from
fields in Eastern Idaho after farmers refused to allow federal authori-
ties to check for pale cyst nematode, a microscopic potato pest.
Search warrants for potato
pest ordered at E. Idaho farms
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho
(AP) — A federal judge has
approved search warrants to
take samples from fields in
Eastern Idaho after farmers
refused to allow federal au-
thorities to check for a mi-
croscopic potato pest.
The Post Register reports
that U.S. Magistrate Judge
Candy Dale on Friday denied
a motion by farmers seeking
to delay the testing until a re-
lated lawsuit is settled.
Some sampling was al-
ready carried out before
Dale’s ruling, and addition-
al soil samples are expected
to be taken this week at the
farms in Bingham County.
“We’ve done what we
could,” said Bill Myers, a
Boise attorney representing
the farmers, which include
Mickelsen Farms, CVRH
Farm and several others.
“The court’s allowed those
search warrants to go for-
ward.”
The discovery of the pale
cyst nematode in Bingham
and Bonneville counties in
2006 was the first detection
of the pest in the United
States, and several coun-
tries temporarily stopped
shipment of Idaho potatoes.
Japan still doesn’t allow
them.
The worms feed at the
roots of potato plants and can
reduce crop production by 80
percent. Officials say the pest
is not harmful to humans.
Idaho’s plan to eradicate
the pest includes quarantine
and treatment of infected
fields as well as special reg-
ulations for some associated
fields.
In early 2015 a group of
Eastern Idaho potato growers
and a shipper filed a lawsuit
seeking to end the quarantine
and field testing imposed by
state and federal authorities.
Pale cyst nematode
Courtesy of USDA APHIS
Binomial name:
Globodera pallida
Appearance: One-millimeter long
roundworm
Diet: Roots of plants in the
Solanaceae family, which includes
potatoes and tomatoes
Life cycle: Typically one
generation per year. After
fertilization, females swell up to
appear as cysts on roots of the
host plant. Each cyst may contain
more than 400 eggs which can
survive for several years.
Origin: Andes region of South
America
First observed in U.S.:
2006 in Idaho
Sources: USDA APHIS; University of Idaho
Capital Press graphic
The group in the lawsuit
filed in U.S. District Court in
Idaho cites the 10th Amend-
ment concerning state’s
rights in arguing that the fed-
eral government is illegally
imposing regulations in Ida-
ho through the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
The group also said au-
thorities failed to follow
federal environmental laws
in imposing actions without
proper study, such as an En-
vironmental Impact State-
ment.
The 12 fields federal au-
thorities want to test now are
next to a field known to have
the pale cyst nematode, or
PCN, and were farmed with
the same equipment as the in-
fected field.
Capital Press
As agricultural operations grow larg-
er and more consolidated, the Wilco
farmers cooperative is aiming to keep
pace.
The company recently merged with
another cooperative, Hazelnut Growers
of Oregon, and has broken ground on a
new processing and distribution facil-
ity.
Meanwhile, Wilco has expanded
its reach as a farm supplier through a
new joint venture agreement with other
agronomy companies.
“We gain size and scale,” said Doug
Hoffman, Wilco’s CEO. “Size dictates
pricing, sharing of technologies, effi-
ciencies in administration and attract-
ing employees.”
The new facility in Donald, Ore.,
which will be completed in 2018, marks
an expansion for both Wilco and HGO.
The hazelnut company’s cur-
rent facility in Cornelius, Ore., is
roughly 55,000 square feet, with
separate buildings for storage and
processing.
In the new building, HGO will occu-
py nearly 120,000 square feet and bring
storage and processing under the same
roof, reducing material handling and
improving productivity.
With the new location, the coopera-
tive will also be more centrally located
— roughly 70 percent of its members
will be within a 100-mile radius of the
plant, said Jeff Fox, executive vice
president of the hazelnut division.
“For us, it’s about production effi-
ciency and being close to our grower
base,” Fox said.
For Wilco, the new facility means
an increase in size from 50,000 square
feet at its current agronomy products
distribution facility in Mt. Angel, Ore.,
to about 119,000 square feet.
Because Donald is much closer to
Interstate 5, the cooperative expects to
save hundreds of thousands of dollars
in trucking costs, said Hoffman.
The building is being constructed by
a real estate developer who’s shoulder-
ing the costs of its exterior, while Wilco
and HGO will lease the facility and pay
for interior structures, said Fox.
Some hazelnut processing equipment
will simply be moved from the Corne-
lius facility, which will be shut down and
sold, he said. “A lot of that equipment is
coming with us.”
Wilco offers agronomy services and
farm supplies through a joint venture
with Winfield Solutions, called Wil-
co-Winfield, which operates in Western
Washington and Western Oregon.
That joint venture is now merging
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Doug Hoffman, left, CEO of the Wilco farmers cooperative, and Jeff Fox, executive vice
president of its hazelnut division, break ground on a new hazelnut processing plant and
agronomy products distribution facility in Donald, Ore.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Heavy equipment prepares the ground
for a new hazelnut processing plant and
agronomy products distribution facility in
Donald, Ore., that will be operated by the
Wilco farmers cooperative and Hazelnut
Growers of Oregon.
with Valley Agronomics, an agronomy
company operating in Southern Idaho
and portions of Utah and Wyoming that’s
a joint venture between Winfield Solu-
tions and the Valley Wide Cooperative.
The deal reflects a pattern of con-
solidation throughout the agricultural
industry, such as the proposed merg-
er between Monsanto and Bayer, said
Hoffman.
“What’s really driving all this is that
our farmers are getting larger,” he said.
Though the merger between Win-
co-Winfield and Valley Agronomics will
create some redundancies at the adminis-
trative level, Hoffman said he doesn’t ex-
pect any layoffs because employees will
be shifted into new positions.
“We’re going to grow the workforce,
grow the business,” he said.
Wilco is also opening new farm re-
tail stores in Salem, Ore., and Puyallup,
Wash., and is planning a 19th outlet at an
undisclosed location.
Last year, the cooperative earned $230
million in total revenues and this year it
expects to earn $280 million due to the
merger with HGO, Hoffman said,
Wilco typically earns profits of about
3 percent of sales, with the retail divi-
sion earning the strongest net income,
he said. “It’s a good model, it does
well.”
Sponsored by:
nwagshow.com
he team at General Implements
is already making plans for this
January’s Northwest Agricultural
Show. The Salt Lake City company,
formerly known as RM Wade, never
misses the event.
The farm machinery wholesaler, one
of two vendors that have
participated every year since the
show’s inception in 1969, introduces
new products to dealers at the NW
Ag Show and assists end users in
finding local dealers and retailers
who sell their products where they
live. Success at the show keeps
bringing them back.
“We’re a multi-state business, and
we see people at the show from all
over,” said Portland-based territory
manager DJ Domeyer. “People come
from overseas and other parts of the
U.S. for some of the training and
grower meetings.”
NW Ag Show is the longest-running
and largest show of its kind in the
Pacific Northwest. Billed as
“Everything for Every Farmer under
One Roof,” the show features 200
exhibitors and educational seminars
for more than 8,000 customers who
attend over three days. The 48th
annual show will be held January
24-26, 2017, at the Portland Expo
Center.
Rankin Equipment has also been
involved in the NW Ag Show since
day one. The Union Gap, Wash.
company also sells farm equipment,
among other lines, exclusively to
dealers.
With the NW Ag Show’s diverse
product mix, “We’ve always felt it
was the premier show for the
Pacific Northwest,” said Vice
President of Sales Mike Yearout, a
29-year veteran of both Rankin and
the show. “Our No. 1 priority is to
support the tractor implement
dealers that are at the show. We
expose new products and offer
background support to the
dealers.”
Last year, Yearout said, was one of
the best shows Rankin Equipment
ever had. “There were more buyers
showing up and we managed to sell
just about everything we had in our
booth.”
Ag West Supply is a relative
newcomer to the show. The farmer-
owned cooperative retailer, based
out of Rickreall, Ore. has been
showcasing its products at the NW
Ag Show since 1974. Ag West Supply
focuses on selling equipment at the
show, and will be featuring a GK
Machine nut harvester this time.
The show “brings people in from a
wider area,” said Jason Koning,
Sales Manager at Ag West Supply.
“A lot of times we really get to
know people who may not come
down to one of our stores. We’ve
sold some tractors in the Chehalem
area to someone we’ve met at our
shows. There’s a big market for the
smaller farm acreage customer and
we see a lot of those people at the
show.”
With these three exhibitors, and
vendors from around the nation and
all over the world, there’s truly
something for everyone at the NW
Ag Show.