December 9, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
EPA and tribe: State should
stay out of What’s Upstream
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Freshly baked crackers emerge from a pilot-scale baking line at the Wheat Marketing Center in Port-
land. The laboratory tests recipes for crackers, cookies, noodles and tortillas made from wheat.
PNW wheat exports ride on
region’s reputation for quality
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Pacific
Northwest soft white wheat
growers must rely on the qual-
ity of their product to maintain
an edge in the highly competi-
tive export market, speakers at
a Dec. 5 media briefing said.
Cheaper wheat is available
from Russia, the Ukraine and
elsewhere, but buyers in Ja-
pan, South Korea and Taiwan
are “premium buyers” who
remain willing and able to
pay for Northwest wheat used
to make crackers, cakes and
cookies.
“The price goes up, they
don’t buy any less,” said Ste-
ven Wirsching, West Coast
office director of U.S. Wheat
Associates, a trade group that
maintains offices in Portland
and Arlington, Va.
Sales to North and South
Asia are so critical — the Phil-
ippines and Indonesia are also
among the top 10 customers
– that seven of U.S. Wheat’s
15 international offices are in
Asia. The premium Asian buy-
ers are notoriously strict about
wheat quality, he said.
“Certainly, market devel-
opment is a full-contact sport,”
Wirsching said.
Wheat is the world’s
most widely planted grain,
Wirsching said, and provides
20 percent of the world’s cal-
ories. In the world’s poorest
regions, wheat provides 20
percent of the protein, he said.
Blake Rowe, CEO of the
Oregon Wheat Commission,
described the “quality loop” in
place that brings new varieties
online, protects growers and
satisfies the demands of over-
seas buyers.
He said it can take 8 to 12
years to develop new wheat
varieties with the yield, qual-
ity and stress and disease tol-
erance
that
make
them
worthwhile for
growers. New
Northwest va-
rieties are test-
ed with three
Blake Rowe years of data
from 15 sites,
and are always grown side-by-
side with and compared to the
Stephens variety, the industry
standard.
The growing, handling,
storage and shipping of wheat
is carefully monitored, he said.
If something goes wrong on the
farm, or at the elevator, it res-
onates down the line of trade.
Japan, he said, tests wheat for
220 pesticide residues.
In markets such as Japan,
the end use of soft white wheat
is in such things as sponge
cake, and consistent presenta-
tion and look of the finished
product is crucial, Rowe said.
“They understand pretty
much everything you want to
know about wheat and what
products they can make from
it,” he said.
“Quality is a priority for
us. If the only way we have to
compete is on price, we will
lose some markets.”
On another topic, Rowe
said it’s unclear how a Trump
administration will handle ag-
ricultural issues such as the
next farm bill. As of Dec. 5,
when Rowe spoke at the Port-
land briefing, Trump had not
appointed an agriculture sec-
retary to replace Tom Vilsack,
who is wrapping up eight years
at USDA under the Obama ad-
ministration.
While Trump has no histo-
ry with farming, wheat grow-
ers are comfortable with Vice
President-elect Mike Pence’s
agricultural background as In-
diana governor, Rowe said.
“Right now we have to wait
a little bit,” he said. “We will
get there.”
Rowe acknowledged the
Trans-Pacific
Partnership,
which export-heavy Pacific
Northwest farmers favored, is
“not going anywhere in its cur-
rent form.” Trump was high-
ly critical of the TPP during
the election campaign, but
whether he intends to scrap it
or re-negotiate it is unknown,
Rowe said.
It’s clear Trump intends to
roll back regulations such as
the EPA’s unpopular “Waters
of the U.S.” proposals, “But
the specifics of that we have to
wait and see,” Rowe said.
Wirsching, of U.S. Wheat
Associates, noted that the Co-
lumbia and Snake river sys-
tems will be closed to wheat
barge traffic as locks and gates
at dams are repaired and up-
dated from Dec. 12 into March
2017. He said the industry will
move wheat from upriver ele-
vators by other modes, primar-
ily rail. He estimated there will
be market demand for 1 mil-
lion metric tons of soft white
during the closure.
their funds,” according to the
11-page response, “Tribal of-
ficials are immune from state
enforcement actions.”
The attorneys charged
that the complaint was an
“obvious attempt to gain
publicity, stifle and distract
public awareness of harmful
agricultural practices.”
What’s Upstream orga-
nizers in late 2015 launched
a revised website that en-
couraged residents to ask
legislators to consider man-
datory buffers between farm
fields and waterways, though
no specific legislation was
mentioned.
Environmental groups in-
volved in What’s Upstream
said in a letter to supporters
that the campaign was timed
to influence the 2016 Legis-
lature.
Wasserman’s reports to
the EPA over several years
said the purpose of the cam-
paign was to change state
regulations.
In its response to the
PDC, the tribe denied trying
to influence state lawmakers.
“The intent was not and
could not have been to influ-
ence legislation because no
actual or proposed legisla-
tion ever existed,” attorneys
wrote.
The Burnt River Integrated Agriculture/Science Research Ranch (BRIARR) program is an
to participate in a learning experience that combines rural living with a small
school environment. Students will live with host parents in a log home residence located on a working
ranch in the heart of the Burnt River Valley and attend Burnt River Public Charter School. Opportunities
include, raising livestock, working cattle, and ecology studies. In addition to regular coursework, free early
college credits are available.
For additional information and a program
application, please call Burnt River Charter School at 541-446-3336, email
lorrie.andrews@burntriver.k12.or.us
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By ERIC MORTENSON
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency and a Puget
Sound tribe say a Washing-
ton watchdog agency should
step away from an investiga-
tion into whether the What’s
Upstream advocacy cam-
paign violated state law.
In separate statements
made public Friday, the EPA
and Swinomish Indian tribe
both challenged whether the
Public Disclosure Commis-
sion should pursue a com-
plaint filed by Save Family
Farming.
The EPA said a federal
audit will answer whether
What’s Upstream organizers
misspent public funds. The
tribe said the PDC has no
jurisdiction over how a tribe
spends money.
PDC Executive Director
Evelyn Fielding Lopez said
the office will review the
responses before deciding
whether to take enforcement
action. The PDC can issue a
fine of up to $10,000 or refer
a case to the state attorney
general’s office to seek stiff-
er penalties in court.
It’s unclear whether the
PDC can enforce a penalty
against a tribe, she said.
“It’s a very interesting
question. That’s one that a
court has not been asked to
resolve,” Fielding said. “We
would say anyone who par-
ticipates in a campaign or in
lobbying is subject to these
laws.”
Save Family Farming al-
leges that What’s Upstream
lead organizer Larry Was-
serman, the tribe’s environ-
mental policy director, failed
to register What’s Upstream
as a political committee or
grass-roots lobbying organi-
zation. The complaint also
named EPA Northwest Ad-
ministrator Dennis McLer-
ran and Seattle lobbying firm
Strategies 360.
Save Family Farming
Director Gerald Baron said
that if tribes are exempt from
campaign laws, they could
be used by groups to shield
political activities.
“It’s potentially a lucra-
tive source of income for the
tribes,” Baron said. “It would
drive a truck through our
state campaign laws.”
Lawyers representing the
Swinomish stated that the
tribe was responding to Save
Family Farming’s complaint
as a “courtesy” to the PDC.
“The PDC has no authority
to regulate how tribes spend
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