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December 30, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Rabobank: Dairies need to prepare for stricter regulation By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Looming regulations aimed at mitigating surface and ground water contami- nation and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reduc- ing water withdrawals, will require significant changes on California’s dairy farms. Dairies that invest in new technology and enhanced management strategies will be better positioned to succeed in the stricter regulatory climate, according to a new report by Rabobank’s agribusiness re- search and advisory team. The state’s dairies are facing a lot of regulations that will come to fruition in the next 10 to 15 years, said James Williamson, an analyst with Rabobank. Dairies will have to make Tim Hearden/Capital Press File Cows are milked at VanderWoude Dairy near Merced, Calif. Ra- bobank says California dairymen must begin planning now for new environmental regulations. changes to continue operat- ing, and it’ll take significant capital expenditures, he said. “The important thing to note is they have time before these regulations are imple- mented,” he said. Dairies have time to pre- pare and need to explore options and develop a com- prehensive system that is en- vironmentally and economi- cally sustainable, according to the report — “Digesting Envi- ronmental Policy: California Dairies are Swimming in It.” “By researching and plan- ning now, California dairy owners can consider capital investments in solutions like subsurface drip irrigation for forage and croplands, anaer- obic digesters that convert methane into energy and other options currently being ex- plored,” he said. Digesters are costly — $1,000 to $2,000 per cow — and there are maintenance costs. But the costs could be offset by the electricity pro- duced. In some cases, digest- ers have completely offset electricity costs in the milking parlor, he said. There is also potential rev- enue of $75 to $500 per cow per year, depending on the style of digester, from selling excess electricity to the grid or byproducts, such as soil amendments or organic fertil- izer, he said. For dairies to really be profitable at a level that off- sets their electricity needs or produces excess electrici- ty, they need to have at least 1,000 cows, he said. While not every dairy is going to be able to afford a digester, there are less costly options. The state is exploring the potential for community cell digesters and trucking manure to those digesters. Dairies could also band to- gether to install a digester and collect their manure at a cen- tral location. “It’s a cost-effective way, especially for smaller dairies, to reduce cost and methane emissions,” he said. Other options to reduce methane emissions include manure separation and com- posting, he said. Williamson said the dairy producers he’s talked with are a bit overwhelmed about managing all the regulations that will be put in place, the expensive and the increase in their cost of production. At the same time, some dairymen are already doing some of the things that will be needed, said Vernon Crowder, a senior analyst with the bank. “So while it’s a bit over- whelming and people would like to see the technology proven a little more, there are already dairies moving for- ward,” he said. “The biggest takeaway is that every dairy is going to have to make a change, but every dairy is not going to have to make the same change,” Williamson said. WSU may soon hire tree fruit soil endowed chair By DAN WHEAT Growers: Oil olive yields lighter but quality good By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — Olive oil producers in California are wrapping up their harvest of a lighter crop than last year’s but report good quality and oil content in the fruit. The California Olive Oil Council estimates this year’s extra-virgin olive oil produc- tion at 3.5 million gallons, down from last year’s bumper crop of 4 million gallons but well above the 2.4 million gallons produced in 2014. “To some extent, olive trees are alternate bearing,” said Patricia Darrah, the Berkeley-based council’s executive director. “So even though things are looking super-healthy, we had a little bit of a downturn. We expect next year ... to be well over the 4 million mark of last year’s harvest.” This year’s production was helped by the oil con- tent, which can vary by year, amount of fruit on the tree and variety, according to the University of California Co- operative Extension. “I think they are quite hap- py,” Darragh said of produc- ers. “Although the volume was down a bit, the oil con- tent was quite good and qual- ity appears to be very good this year.” More than 35,000 acres of oil olives are grown in Cali- fornia, according to the coun- cil. About 3,500 acres of new orchards are expected to go in this winter, Darragh said. The harvest of oil olives proceeded as table olive growers were producing an anticipated 65,000-ton crop, down from the 78,000 tons produced in 2015, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service office in Sacramento. Oil olives have become a lucrative crop for growers as the Golden State is becoming known for having top-quality extra-virgin oil. California now provides nearly 6 percent of the olive oil consumed in the U.S., up from just 1 percent a few years ago, according to the COOC. The state is on track to see a sizable increase in market share again next year, the organization said. Helping that effort is a $357,000 grant the council received from the Califor- nia Department of Food and Agriculture in October. The money was part of more than $22.3 million for Cal- ifornia in the USDA’s Spe- cialty Crop Block Grant Program. The grant will enable the council, which represents more than 400 growers, to promote California olive oil by creating marketing mate- rials and hosting food shows, growers’ workshops and oth- er events, according to the CDFA. “We’re going to be work- ing with a number of partners on this including California Grown,” a state-sponsored marketing program, Darragh said. The council’s hallmark is its 18-year-old certification seal program, which aims to assure retailers and consum- ers that the oil being sold has met certain grade standards. Each year, grower and pro- ducer members must submit their oils to the program for grading. WENATCHEE, Wash. — An expert in soil and rhizo- sphere ecology may be hired as the next tree fruit endowed chair at Washington State Uni- versity within a few months. The candidate is employed in an academic setting in the U.S. but was not looking for a job, so is being recruited, said Mike Willett, manager of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission in Wenatchee. He declined to identify the candidate. “We have to convince them to come. It is an individ- ual industry members on the committee think would make a great hire for the university and industry,” Willett said. He was referring to the WSU Tree Fruit Endowment Advisory Committee, which advises WSU on all facets of a $32 million endowment the industry is providing to im- prove tree fruit research. Endowed chair salaries are paid by the university but interest earnings on the endowment pay for support staff, equipment and research orchards. In 2011 and 2013, grow- ers approved assessments of $1 per ton on apples, pears and stone fruit and $4 per ton on cherries for eight years or until $32 million is raised. Willett said annual crops have been larger than original con- servative estimates so funding probably will completed be- fore eight years. Rhizosphere is the region of soil in which the chemis- try and microbiology of plant roots is influenced by growth, respiration and nutrient ex- change. The importance of good soil for growing tree fruit has received more attention in recent years and the committee identified it as a category wor- thy of endowed chair status. A search committee is writ- ing a position description for a postharvest tree fruit endowed chair and for which there should be candidates by sum- Dan Wheat/Capital Press File Red d’Anjou pears at Arnold Orchard near Dryden, Wash. Washington tree fruit growers pay assess- ments to fund an endowment that pays for tree fruit research. mer, Willett said. “We’re always trying to at- tract people whom we really want, not just those who are looking,” he said. That is because the industry and WSU goal is to make WSU one of the top three tree fruit re- search institutions in the world. The two new endowed chair positions will be at the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Exten- sion Center in Wenatchee or the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Re- search and Extension Center in Prosser. Desmond Layne, a Clem- son University fruit specialist, was the first person hired to one of the new endowed chair- manships, becoming WSU tree fruit extension program leader on Feb. 1, 2013. That August, Stefano Musacchi, an assistant professor in tree fruit at the University of Bologna, Italy, became WSU endowed chair in tree fruit physiology and man- agement. Both positions were in Wenatchee. Dan Wheat/Capital Press Mike Willett, manager, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commis- sion in Wenatchee. Layne left his position to become WSU director of Ag- ricultural and Food Systems and Integrated Plant Sciences degree programs in Pullman ROP-40-42-4/#17 Olive oil is tested during processing at ENZO Olive Oil in Madera, Calif. Growers report a down year for oil olives but say the quality and oil yield were good. Capital Press 53-1/#5 Courtesy of Calif. Olive Oil Council on Sept. 1, 2015. Karen Lew- is, WSU tree fruit specialist in Ephrata, took part of Layne’s previous role, becoming tree fruit extension program leader. That position may be reacti- vated some day as an endowed chair, Willett said. Crop protection, engineer- ing and automation and molec- ular biology are subject matter of consideration for three final endowed chairs with searches tentatively scheduled for fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Willett said those ar- eas are not final and that the committee would like to hear new ideas. Each of the six endowed chairs eventually will be sup- ported by $2 million endow- ments. Endowment investment earnings were used in August to hire Rob Blakey, a post- harvest physiologist, as an extension faculty member at Prosser. A food safety position is open and five other exten- sion-type positions are being considered, Willett said.
