December 30, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
State officials say they are confident
of falling number test adjustments
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Early stripe
rust raises
researchers’
concerns
Experts recommend
growers scout fields
next spring
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Pockets of active stripe
rust in Oregon, Idaho and
Washington have researchers
recommending farmers check
their fields before applying
herbicide in the spring.
“The earlier you see stripe
rust, it’s cause for concern
because it means potentially
going into the next year, we
might see an early flare-up,”
said Mike Flowers, Oregon
State University Extension
cereals specialist. “We nor-
mally don’t get enough to ac-
tually see large patches in the
fall.”
Xianming Chen, plant re-
search geneticist with USDA
Agricultural Research Ser-
vice in Pullman, Wash., said
winter conditions this year
are similar to 2010. In 2011,
farmers experienced a severe
stripe rust outbreak. This year
could be different, he said,
due to lower temperatures in
recent weeks, which should
kill some rust.
But widespread snow cov-
er across the region could al-
low some rust to survive, he
said.
Wheat planted early in
September is “very likely in-
fected,” Chen said. Stripe rust
is a concern for the entire Pa-
cific Northwest, he said.
Chen will check fields in
early March to assess how
much stripe rust survived.
Due to high rust pressure,
Chen recommends growers
plant resistant spring wheat
cultivars, with resistance rat-
ings of 1 through 3 being the
best choice. Cultivars with
a resistance rating of 5 to 9
should not be planted, Chen
said.
Flowers said most farmers
are planting resistant variet-
ies, but some susceptible op-
tions, including SY Ovation
and ORCF-102, are still pres-
ent. Some newer varieties,
such as UI Magic, have some
susceptibility.
Courtesy Washington State University
A Western Washington raspber-
ry grower plans to appeal fines
he recently received from the
state Department of Ecology.
Ecology says
farm illegally
irrigated
raspberries
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Spokane attorney Benjamin Wyborney talks about the falling number wheat quality test in his office
Nov. 17. The Washington State Department of Agriculture says it will wait to see if he files a lawsuit
after a tort claim questioning the state’s procedures expires.
official word from the depart-
ment.
The USDA Federal Grain
Inspection Service in October
2015 required the Spokane
WSDA office to adjust for
altitude when conducting fall-
ing number tests, according to
a letter from deputy adminis-
trator Randall D. Jones that
was provided by WSDA.
The USDA requires alti-
tude adjustments in labs at or
above an elevation of 2,000
feet. The falling number value
is affected by the boiling tem-
perature, which is impacted
by atmospheric pressure, ac-
cording to WSDA.
Jones said the Federal
Grain Inspection Service re-
quired the state inspection
service offices in Spokane and
Colfax, Wash., to apply the el-
evation adjustment “because
of those locations’ near prox-
imity to 2,000 feet” and con-
tinues to require the adjust-
ment. The requirement was
not issued in writing, Jones
said in response to a request
from Wyborney.
The test the agency uses
was first designed in the
1960s, Sandison said.
“We believe newer tech-
nology would help mitigate
the current problem, specifi-
cally by allowing better seg-
regation of low falling num-
ber wheat from high falling
number wheat,” Sandison
Water Project allocation increased to 45 percent after storms
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SACRAMENTO — A
steady stream of rain and
snow in Northern California
so far this season has prompt-
ed California to more than
double its State Water Project
allocations.
The Department of Water
Resources estimated on Dec.
21 it will deliver 45 percent
of requested deliveries to the
29 water agencies it serves, up
from a 20 percent initial allo-
cation in late November.
The boost comes as North-
ern California has already
received three of the five to
seven “atmospheric river”
mega-storms it typically re-
ceives in a normal water year.
“We always adjust to the
hydrologic conditions,” DWR
spokesman Ted Thomas said.
“If it’s dry, it goes down; if it’s
wet, it goes up; and if it’s real-
ly wet, it goes way up.”
The DWR usually makes
its initial estimate of delivery
capacity in December and pe-
riodically adjusts it — usually
upward — as the rainy season
goes along.
Under the current alloca-
tion, State Water Project con-
Courtesy California Department of Water Resources
Aerial file photo of the “intertie” between the Delta-Mendota Canal and the Aqueduct near Tracy, Calif.
The state Department of Water Resources estimated on Dec. 21 it will deliver 45 percent of requested
deliveries to the 29 water agencies it serves, up from a 20 percent initial allocation in late November.
tractors would receive nearly
1.9 million acre-feet of the
4.17 million acre-feet they
collectively sought. An acre-
foot is enough water to supply
two typical households for a
year.
The upgrade follows a per-
sistent parade of rain clouds
since mid-autumn that has put
many areas in Northern Cal-
ifornia above their minimal
seasonal rainfall totals.
Redding, for instance, has
received 17.8 inches of rain
for the season as of Dec. 21,
well above its average of
10.47 inches, according to the
National Weather Service.
Uncertainty remains, how-
ever. Lake Oroville, the state
project’s chief reservoir, was
still at only 54 percent of ca-
pacity and 88 percent of nor-
mal for this time of year as of
Dec. 21, the DWR reported.
California’s
statewide
snow water content is still
only 64 percent of normal for
this time of year, according to
the DWR’s California Data
Exchange Center.
Agency director Mark
Cowin said in a statement that
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stated. “We continue to work
towards finding a solution to
this ongoing problem, recog-
nizing the economic harm low
falling numbers have caused
to the wheat industry and we
will not stop in our efforts to
resolve this.”
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 products.
Discounts for falling num-
ber vary depending on the ele-
vator, according to the Wash-
ington Grain Commission.
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“the faucet can shut off sud-
denly and leave us dry for a
sixth year in a row,” so the
state must use water wisely.
The initial allocation for
2016 was 10 percent of the
requested 4.1 million acre-
feet, but deliveries were
increased to 60 percent as
late-season storms improved
reservoir storage, the agency
noted.
The last 100 percent allo-
cation — difficult to achieve
even in wet years because
of Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta pumping restric-
tions to protect imperiled fish
— was in 2006, the DWR
said.
The U.S. Bureau of Rec-
lamation typically makes
its first allocation of Cen-
tral Valley Project water in
mid-February, though last
season’s was on April 1.
Shasta Lake, the CVP’s main
reservoir, was at 73 percent
of its 4.5 million acre-foot
capacity and 120 percent of
its historical average as of
Dec. 21, according to the
DWR.
A Whatcom County berry
grower has been fined $90,000
for illegally irrigating rasp-
berries and $12,000 for not
submitting metering records,
the Washington Department
of Ecology announced Tues-
day.
Gurjant “George” Sandhu
said through his attorney that
he plans to appeal the penal-
ties.
Ecology alleges that most
of a 220-acre raspberry farm
in Bellingham that Sandhu ir-
rigated in 2016 does not have
a water right. He has rights to
irrigate 35 acres, according to
Ecology.
Ecology estimates Sandhu
had to irrigate his Crystalview
Raspberry Farm at least 90
days.
Because of past violations
by Sandhu and the serious-
ness of this one, Ecology said
it would have been justified
in fining Sandhu up to $5,000
per day, but used its discretion
to fine him $1,000 a day.
He also is accused of not
supplying 24 reports on the
water he used over 12 weeks
at a 120-acre blueberry farm
in Ferndale in 2015.
Ecology fined him $1,000
per week, but said it could
have penalized Sandhu $5,000
for each missing report.
Sandhu’s attorney, Lesa
Starkenburg-Kroontje, said
in a statement that the berry
farmer has tried to work with
Ecology.
“Mr. Sandhu has invested
significant resources to work
with the Department of Ecol-
ogy to farm agricultural land
in Whatcom County, and he is
frustrated that his efforts have
resulted in a penalty notice
received by mail,” she stated.
Starkenburg-Kroontje said
an Ecology press release con-
tained “several statements of
new information that differ
from Mr. Sandhu’s facts.”
She did not elaborate.
The Ecology press release
said Sandhu irrigated his
raspberry farm for at least two
years without water rights for
most of the property.
Sandhu declined Ecolo-
gy’s offer to help bring him
into compliance after the 2015
irrigation season, according to
Ecology.
According to the penal-
ty notice, Ecology learned
over the winter that Sandhu
planned to convert 14.5 acres
of trees to crops. Ecology or-
dered Sandhu in March not
to irrigate beyond his water
rights. The department says it
documented illegal watering
over the following summer.
Sandhu’s farms are in the
Nooksack River watershed.
Ecology said it has received
complaints from water-right
holders about Sandhu’s irri-
gating.
The penalties were final-
ized Dec. 16. Sandhu has 30
days to file an appeal to the
Pollution Control Hearings
Board.
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Stripe rust infects wheat in this
photo. Pockets of active stripe
rust in Oregon, Washington and
Idaho have raised researchers’
concerns.
Washington State Depart-
ment of Agriculture officials
say they are confident they
followed the correct proce-
dures in testing wheat quali-
ty despite two farmers’ claim
that the test was flawed.
“WSDA is confident the
methods it uses in the fall-
ing numbers tests are in
compliance with USDA re-
quirements,” agency direc-
tor Derek Sandison said in a
statement. “WSDA does de-
viate from certain criteria, but
that is done in order to obtain
a more accurate result and is
in accordance with USDA di-
rectives.”
Beyond that, the depart-
ment may not file a formal
response to the tort claim filed
by Wilbur, Wash.-based Gla-
cier Grains Inc., said WSDA
communications director Hec-
tor Castro.
Spokane attorney Benjamin
Wyborney filed the tort claim
Oct. 28 on behalf of Glacier
Grains. Wyborney’s father and
brother, Robert and Pete Wy-
borney, are listed as company
presidents in the claim.
The company claims
$7,869.55 in damages due to
alleged inaccuracies in the
falling number tests WSDA
performed.
In the claim Wyborney
questioned the altitude adjust-
ment at the Spokane office,
which he said is at 1,920 feet.
Contacted this week, Ben-
jamin Wyborney declined to
comment until he received