January 27, 2017
CapitalPress.com
9
Washington
Farmers, DNR support longer
lease termination notices
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Courtesy of Tim Murray/Washington State University
Snow mold in a wheat field. Washington State University research-
ers say wheat fields reach a critical point for the development of
the disease at 100 days of snow cover, and some fields may reach
that point this year.
Snow mold concerns loom
as snow cover lingers
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Snow mold is a looming
concern for some wheat farm-
ers in Central and Eastern
Washington.
“We’re (estimating) right
now we’re at about 75 days of
snow cover,” said Tim Mur-
ray, Washington State Univer-
sity Extension plant pathol-
ogist, “In the world of snow
mold, 100 days is kind of the
magic number. When you hit
100 and if the soil was not fro-
zen when the snow fell, that’s
where we get concerned about
increasing damage.”
Twenty-five more days of
snow cover is possible, said
Dale Whaley, Douglas Coun-
ty WSU Extension educator.
The mold spores are on the
wheat under the snow, Wha-
ley said.
“Actually, it’s a lot warmer
underneath the snow cover,”
he said. “You have the envi-
ronment, the host and the dis-
ease. That’s when you have
the disease triangle and you
start to have the full-blown
disease.”
Snow mold is primarily a
concern north of U.S. High-
way 2, and around the Water-
ville Plateau, particularly in
northern and higher-elevation
areas, said Ryan Higginboth-
am, regional extension spe-
cialist, who runs WSU’s cere-
al variety testing program.
Most varieties grown in
the area are resistant to snow
mold, Higginbotham said. It’s
usually one of the first ques-
tions a grower will ask when
selecting which variety to
plant.
“Most farmers, if they’ve
had snow mold before, they
remember, and they’re not
real willing to plant some-
thing that’s susceptible,” he
said.
At this point, farmers
can only hope that the mold
doesn’t develop, Whaley said.
They should scout their field
when the snow comes off,
looking for gray snow mold
or speckled snow mold, which
has a pinkish hue, he said.
“We don’t expect huge
losses from it, but the poten-
tial for damage is there, that’s
for sure,” Murray said.
A variety selection tool,
available on WSU’s small
grains website, includes rat-
ings for snow mold resistance,
Higginbotham said.
The snow cover protects
wheat plants from the cold,
Whaley said.
“It’s a catch-22 — you
want the snow cover, especial-
ly if you’re forecast for subzero
temperatures and any wind,” he
said. “But then you don’t want
the snow cover to lay around
forever, because then snow
mold can be an issue. There’s
never a happy medium as a
small grains producer.”
Washington wheat farmers
and the state Department of
Natural Resources both sup-
port a Senate bill that would
increase the notice the agency
must give farmers before ter-
minating a lease on state land.
Farmers and the depart-
ment testified Jan. 19 in favor
of Senate Bill 5051 before the
state Senate Agriculture, Wa-
ter, Trade and Economic De-
velopment Committee.
In the case of a “non-default
termination,” the department is
authorized to terminate a lease
for “higher and better use, land
exchange or sale.”
The bill would require
DNR to give written notice to
farmers 180 days before termi-
nation of the lease, and give to
farmers written documentation
of its plan for the land.
The bill is in response to a
situation last summer, when
DNR terminated the leases of
several Benton County farm-
ers. The leases were to expire
in 2020.
DNR intends to convert the
roughly 4,000 acres of dryland
wheat production into irrigat-
ed land for row crops and or-
chards using its surface water
right from the Columbia River,
said Darin Cramer, manager
of the department’s sales and
leasing division.
The department terminated
the leases for four or five dry-
land farmers, Cramer said.
“At first, there was no com-
pensation,” said Michelle Hen-
nings, executive director of the
Washington Association of
Wheat Growers. “(DNR) just
said, ‘Oh, no, you have to do
this and you get nothing.’”
Some of the farmers had
already seeded the land, Hen-
nings said.
“Communication was han-
dled poorly with those ten-
ants,” Cramer said. “We didn’t
do as good a job as we should
have. We didn’t notify them as
early as we should have. We
had some miscommunication
internally. One hand thought
it happened, but it actually
didn’t. When we went to meet
with them, as you might imag-
ine, those folks were surprised
and not pleased.”
DNR came to terms with all
farmers, Cramer said.
“We did arrive at what we
consider fair compensation,”
he said. “It’s my understand-
ing some of those folks didn’t
think the compensation was
fair, but they did accept the
compensation and cash the
check.”
Hennings said the offer
covered costs, but the farm-
ers were offered the option
of accepting it or taking it to
court. The growers did not
want to take on the risk of
losing the lawsuit and having
to pay DNR’s attorney fees as
well as their own, she said.
The bill is consistent with
practices the department
has implemented in recent
months, Cramer said. The de-
partment has begun moving
toward longer notification
periods, he said.
Farmers Chad Smith and
Nicole Berg and lobbyist
Diana Carlen testified in fa-
vor of the bill, according to
WAWG.
Hennings said wheat grow-
ers have asked for advance
notice of a crop year instead
of 180 days. Cramer said that
would be fine with DNR.
Puget Sound farm group shifts approach to saving crop land
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
SNOHOMISH COUNTY,
Wash. — The Washington
State Conservation Commis-
sion toured the fast-growing
north Puget Sound area last
week, and farmer Dan Bartel-
heimer had something to tell
it.
“This agricultural land
needs to be protected and kept
intact,” said Bartelheimer,
president of the Snohomish
County Farm Bureau.
The simple message won’t
be easy to carry out. The coun-
ty’s agricultural sector has
been losing ground to private
development and government
projects. The first stop on the
commission’s tour was a for-
mer dairy that will become a
city park.
Bartelheimer’s farm was
the second stop. His family
has been farming in the coun-
ty for more than a century.
Times have changed. “It seem
like everybody’s sitting on a
hill and looking down and ex-
pressing their opinion, ‘Hey,
here’s how they should do it.’
And years ago, we didn’t have
that,” he said.
So, Bartelheimer said,
farmers must change, too.
“The Farm Bureau has al-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Snohomish County Farm Bureau President Dan Bartelheimer, right, gestures while talking about
preserving farmland during a Washington State Conservation Commission tour at his farm Jan. 18.
Snohomish County Conservation District Manager Monte Marti looks on.
ways been great for property
rights,” he said in a post-tour
interview. “It’s not just prop-
erty rights. It’s responsible
stewardship. We have to look
at things a little differently if
we’re going to preserve agri-
culture in the community.”
The county Farm Bureau
has tried in vain to claim that
converting publicly owned
farmland into fish habitat vio-
lates the state’s Growth Man-
agement Act. Last summer,
farmers shifted tactics. They
hosted a dinner for govern-
ment officials, environmental-
ists and tribal leaders.
“It was a very power-
ful dinner,” organic farmer
Tristan Klesick said. “When
you break bread, you can’t
demonize the person in front
of you.”
Snohomish County Con-
servation District Manager
Monte Marti said he’ll re-
member the evening forever.
“This has not been easy for
Dan (Bartelheimer) to come to
the table,” Marti said. “There
are probably Farm Bureau
members who think he’s nuts
for even sitting at the table.
“He’s not backing down on
his beliefs. He still has very
strong principles,” Marti said.
“At least he’s going to get
his day in court. He’s being
heard.”
The county has an array of
land preservation initiatives.
Bartelheimer said the Farm
Bureau has been reluctant to
engage because of the belief
that projects valued fish res-
toration over farmland pres-
ervation.
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