February 3, 2017
CapitalPress.com
17
‘Buck stops’ with ag employer with it comes to pesticide safety
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Kaci Buhl
cut through the technical jar-
gon while talking to produc-
ers about pesticides and the
EPA’s new worker protection
standards.
“I can sum it up in a few
words,” Buhl said. “Don’t
spray people.”
Buhl is a senior faculty
research assistant at Oregon
State University’s environ-
mental and molecular toxicol-
ogy department and deputy
director of the National Pes-
ticide Information Center on
campus. She said the EPA’s
new rules give workers and
regulators a “right to know”
what, when and how much
pesticides farms are using.
Some of the EPA rules are
practices already followed
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Pesticide expert Kaci Buhl of
Oregon State University said
“the buck stops with the ag em-
ployer” when it comes to worker
safety standards.
by Oregon farmers, but the
changes tighten requirements
for record keeping regarding
training, safety procedures
and application history.
Buhl summarized the ma-
jor changes:
• Annual mandatory farm-
worker training. The previ-
ous requirement was every
five years.
• More training regarding
“take home” exposure, such
as pesticide residue on work
clothing.
• Children under 18 for
the first time are prohibited
from handling pesticides.
The farmer’s immediate
family is excluded from the
regulation.
• Additional clarity re-
garding “no entry” exclusion
zones of zero, 25 and 100
feet from where pesticides
were applied. Buhl remind-
ed producers that exclusion
zones travel with the equip-
ment.
• Mandatory “no entry”
signs and mandatory record
keeping.
• Changes in protective
equipment requirements to
make them consistent with
Department of Labor Stan-
dards. Workers wearing res-
pirators must first be medical-
ly certified and must undergo
a “fit” test to make sure the
gear is working properly.
• Specific amounts of
water per worker must be
available at the work site for
routine hand-washing and
emergency eye flushing. Eye
wash stations are required at
pesticide mixing and loading
sites.
Buhl said worker training
is critical. Labor contractors
who can supply crews that
have been properly trained
in handling pesticides will
have an advantage. How-
ever, farmers are ultimately
responsible for making sure
workers follow safety rules.
“The buck stops with the
ag employer,” Buhl said.
Buhl spoke during the
Jan. 24-26 Northwest Ag-
ricultural Show at the Port-
land Expo Center. The annu-
al event typically includes a
trade show and equipment
displays combined with
workshops on regulatory or
production issues.
Pesticide use on farms is
a flash point for some con-
sumers and environmental
activists. Buhl said the public
is afraid of or unfamiliar with
pesticides. “We have a job to
do, to tell the story that they
are not as toxic as people
think,” she said.
One producer in the au-
dience complained that the
safety gear required by pesti-
cide guidelines makes work-
ers look like “astronauts” and
gives the impression to pass-
ersby that the material is far
more hazardous than it is.
A nursery owner in the au-
dience asked about exclusion
zones. Many operations, he
said, have hedges around their
property in part to contain pes-
ticide drift. There might be un-
seen walkers or bicyclists on
the other side who are within
the exclusion zone. Buhl said
part of a producer’s “due dil-
igence” would involve stop-
ping spraying to take a look,
posting flaggers on the other
side of the hedge and similar
methods.
“Suspend, evaluate, en-
sure,” she said.
Some of the EPA chang-
es went into effect this year;
the rest take effect in January
2018.
Potatoes show
strength in exports
and food service
Idaho FFA members descend on
Capitol for Day on the Hill event
Marketing
organization
promotes health
benefits to active
consumers
Capital Press
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
KENNEWICK,
Wash.
— U.S. potato sales showed
growth in the first quarter of
the new marketing year, and
the industry plans to promote
the crop’s nutritional benefits
to more consumers.
The biggest challenge
U.S. potato farmers face is
the strong dollar, making
their products more expen-
sive compared to potatoes
from competing sources such
as Canada and Europe, said
John Toaspern, chief market-
ing officer of Potatoes USA
in Denver. He spoke at the
Washington-Oregon Potato
Conference in Kennewick,
Wash.
Fresh potato sales are up
7 percent this year, Toaspern
said. Roughly 20 percent of
U.S. potatoes are exported,
primarily in frozen and dehy-
drated forms.
In July through November
of thecurrent marketing year,
compared to the same period
in 2015:
• Dehydrated potato ex-
ports are down 19 percent,
from 62,000 metric tons in
2015 to 50,000 metric tons
in 2016, but signs of recov-
ery began in November 2016,
Toaspern said.
• Fresh potato exports were
up 14 percent, from nearly
170,000 metric tons in 2015
to 194,000 metric tons last
year.
• Frozen potato exports are
up 3 percent, from 415,000
metric tons in 2015 to roughly
428,000 metric tons in 2016.
• Seed potato exports are
up 6 percent, from roughly
3,900 metric tons to 4,100
metric tons.
In domestic markets, most
potatoes were sold through
food service channels.
The value of food con-
sumers purchased through
food services such as restau-
rants surpassed the value of
food purchased through re-
tail for the first time last year,
Toaspern said.
“It is really growing, and
potatoes are well positioned,”
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
John Toaspern, chief market-
ing officer of Potatoes USA,
provides an update on sales of
U.S. potatoes Jan. 25 during
the Washington-Oregon Potato
Conference in Kennewick,
Wash. Fries are the top side
dish in food service, with other
potatoes second, he said.
he said of food service.
Frozen potato sales in do-
mestic food service began to
grow again last year after sev-
eral years of decline, Toaspern
said.
One out of every three
menus has a “loaded” fry
product, including poutine
and “tater tot nachos,” an-
other reason for the increase,
Toaspern said.
Fries are the top side dish
in food service, with other
potatoes coming in second,
Toaspern said. Even though
they’re the top two, he still
sees room for growth.
“We certainly are the top
of the mountain,” he said.
“Everybody’s looking to
knock us off.”
In retail, more consumers
are buying their food at the
deli section of grocery stores.
Potatoes need to expand into
“new and different” dishes be-
yond mashed or potato salad,
Toaspern said.
Potatoes USA aims to in-
crease U.S. potato exports,
market access and overseas
consumption.
The organization is ad-
vertising potato benefits for
athletes and will expand into
other “active lifestyle” cus-
tomers, promoting carbohy-
drates, potassium, protein and
Vitamin C benefits in the U.S.
and internationally.
“We see huge potential in
being proactive in making
people feel like they must eat
potatoes, not that it’s OK to
eat potatoes,” Toaspern said.
Online
http://www.potatoesusa.
com/
By SEAN ELLIS
BOISE — Hundreds of Ida-
ho FFA members from around
Idaho, wearing their traditional
blue jackets, met with legisla-
tors and farm industry leaders
during the group’s annual Ce-
narrusa Day on the Hill event.
“I loved seeing those blue
jackets around the Capitol to-
day,” Lt. Gov. Brad Little, a
Republican rancher and farm-
er from Emmett, told several
hundred FFA members during
a luncheon. “You’re the future
of the state of Idaho.”
The event gives FFA
members a chance to learn
first-hand how public policy
is developed and meet with
leaders of the state’s agricul-
tural industry.
Little said one of the most
crucial issues facing the state’s
economy is its talent pool. He
said the skills FFA members
acquire through the program
are “critical for Idaho to be in
the condition we need to be in.
All of the things you learn are
critical to our future.”
The event is named after
former Idaho Secretary of
State Pete Cenarrusa, who
died in 2013 and whose 51
years in the Legislature and
executive branches of Idaho
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Members of the Idaho FFA’s Rupert chapter were among the hundreds of FFA members from across
the state who attended the annual Cenarrusa Day on the Hill event in Boise, which allows them to
learn how public policy is developed and meet with ag industry leaders.
government made him the
longest serving public servant
in state history.
He started the first ag
classes at Cambridge and
Carey high schools and was a
strong supporter of Idaho ag-
riculture.
During the luncheon, Fre-
da Cenarrusa, his wife of 66
years, announced that the pro-
ceeds from the sale of 22 acres
of the family ranch would
be used to support Idaho
FFA.
She was one of three
people who received hon-
orary FFA memberships
during the luncheon.
Pete and Freda Cenarru-
sa “were a true partnership,
working hand in hand on be-
half of our great state and its
agricultural industry,” Idaho
FFA Secretary Jenny Bautista
said.
Sen. Jeff Siddoway, a Re-
publican sheep rancher from
Terreton, also received an
honorary FFA membership
for his lifelong support of Ida-
ho agriculture and FFA.
“Sen. Siddoway has been
active in promoting the Idaho
livestock and crop industries, lo-
cally, statewide, nationally and
internationally,” Bautista said.
Honorary FFA membership
was also granted to former
Rep. Gayle Batt, who during
her time in the legislature pro-
vided crucial support for the
Idaho Ag Education Initiative,
which provided about $2 mil-
lion more in annual funding
for secondary ag education,
including FFA programs, in
Idaho.
Batt, who was raised on
her family’s farm in Wilder,
“has worked countless hours
to protect the agriculture in-
dustry that she loves,” Bautis-
ta said.
State attorney general pushes WAFLA probe after setback
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton State Attorney General
Bob Ferguson is continuing
an investigation of the farm
labor association WAFLA
even after a judge stopped his
latest demand for information.
“We continue to believe
it is appropriate for us to in-
vestigate WAFLA’s conduct
and are evaluating the most
appropriate avenues to move
forward,” attorney general
spokeswoman Brionna Aho
said.
Phil Talmadge, the Seattle
attorney representing WA-
FLA, told Capital Press the
investigation “constitutes ha-
rassment” if it continues with-
out any suggestion of viola-
tion of law. Talmadge is also
a former state Supreme Court
justice and former Democrat-
ic state senator.
Talmadge said Ferguson, a
Democrat, is “very political”
and his investigation of WAF-
LA was a “fishing expedition”
spawned by labor unions and
Bob
Ferguson
Phil
Talmadge
legal services who don’t like
the H-2A visa foreign guest-
worker program “because
they think someone is waiting
out there for the opportunity
to pick apples.”
The attorney general’s of-
fice opened its investigation
a year ago after the state Em-
ployment Security Depart-
ment alleged WAFLA director
Dan Fazio biased growers’ an-
swers to a 2015 wage survey,
reducing what they otherwise
may have reported for how
much workers earned picking
Granny Smith, Golden Deli-
cious and Fuji apples.
The survey required em-
ployers to choose between re-
porting hourly wages or piece
rates at the peak of harvest.
Fazio warned growers that
choosing piece rates when la-
bor demand is highest could
artificially inflate prevailing
wages for the next season. He
recommended growers report
hourly wages and told the
ESD it should survey both.
The U.S. Department of La-
bor can use the surveys in set-
ting minimum H-2A wages.
Last January, the attor-
ney general issued the first
Civil Investigative Demand
— known by the initials CID
— in the case, requesting
thousands of pages of WAF-
LA documents to investigate
whether the organization vio-
lated state or federal laws re-
garding unfair business prac-
tices or restraint of trade.
WAFLA is a major suppli-
er of H-2A guestworkers in
Washington and Oregon.
Fazio said at WAFLA’s
Jan. 26 Workforce Summit
that attorneys advised him
to turn over all records. He
turned over 122,000 pages of
documents.
“I said I don’t have a
Hillary problem. Come get
them,” Fazio said.
WAFLA has spent more
than $300,000 on the case, he
said.
In the meantime, ESD
changed its fall 2016 survey
to ask for both hourly and
piece rates. Fazio then asked
the attorney general to drop its
investigation.
Instead, the attorney gen-
eral issued a second CID.
WAFLA filed a petition
in Douglas County Superior
Court to have the second CID
set aside as a violation of WA-
FLA’s constitutional rights,
including unreasonable search
and seizure.
In October, the attorney
general’s office said it was
investigating possible an-
titrust violations and that
it was confident the court
would affirm its authori-
ty to compel WAFLA to
respond.
On Dec. 22, Douglas
County Superior Court Judge
John Hotchkiss set aside the
CID, calling it “defective”
for not identifying sections
of law possibly violated by
WAFLA.
College of Southern Idaho mulls trout farm purchase from state
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
JEROME, Idaho — The College
of Southern Idaho is in discussions
with the Idaho Water Board about pur-
chasing the former Pristine Springs
fish facility — positioning CSI for
possible expansion of its aquaculture
and agriculture programs.
Curtis Eaton, special assistant to
the CSI president, explained the col-
lege’s main campus in Twin Falls has a
geothermal heating system. CSI’s pri-
mary interest in making the deal is ob-
taining a geothermal well that comes
with the property to prevent future
development of the hot-water aquifer,
which would threaten the viability of
the college’s unique heating system.
Eaton said securing the 4.5 cubic-
feet-per-second geothermal water
right would also enable CSI to ex-
pand its heating system as the college
grows. A dozen buildings at the Twin
Falls campus use geothermal heat
wholly or in part, Eaton said. Eaton
said recent estimates place the cost of
retrofitting CSI’s heating system to a
combination of electricity and gas at
more than $1 million, and the added
energy cost compared with geother-
mal heat would be hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars per year.
Eaton said the college also sees a
potential perk in using the raceways
and a couple of hundred acres of ir-
rigated farm land that come with the
property to bolster its livestock, crop
science and aquaculture programs.
CSI raises trout and sturgeon and
works closely on aquaculture with the
University of Idaho, Eaton said.
“The college began with support
from the agriculture community, and it
continues to be a very important part
of what CSI is,” Eaton said.
Eaton said a riparian area and an-
imal habitat would also be useful to
CSI’s environmental science program.
The college is also mulling the possi-
bility of creating a public park at Pris-
tine Springs, he said.
Plans to grow agricultural pro-
grams would have to wait until after
the expiration of a long-term lease for
fish production with Colorado-based
Evaqua Farms. Evaqua, which bought
the assets of SeaPac of Idaho on Jan.
1, has 17 years remaining on its lease,
according to a manager with the com-
pany.
The state, the City of Twin Falls
and groundwater districts jointly pur-
chased Pristine Springs in 2008 to re-
solve a water call by Blue Lakes Trout
Farm. IGWA paid about $10 million
for 10 cubic feet per second of spring
water. Twin Falls also received water,
and the state spent about $5 million to
acquire the hatchery, geothermal well,
farm land and buildings.
Though IGWA acquired the first-
use spring water rights once held by
the facility, Evaqua fattens fish with
water that has already passed through
upstream aquaculture facilities.
Idaho Department of Water Re-
sources Planning Division Manager
Brian Patton said the board signed a let-
ter of intent to sell the property on Dec.
22. Patton said the most recent board
appraisal placed the facility’s value at
$3.6 million, compared to a $2.7 mil-
lion estimate from a CSI appraisal.