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March 24, 2017
Idaho
Idaho Wheat Commission will re-submit
‘grower information’ rule change in 2018
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — The Idaho
Wheat Commission will hold
off until next year on a pro-
posed rule that would provide
the commission access to the
names and contact informa-
tion of all wheat producers in
the state.
The IWC originally pro-
posed the rule in 2016 but
withdrew it after some grain
elevators objected to it. The
commission had planned to
re-submit it this year but de-
cided to delay the proposal
another year at the request of
some grain elevators.
The IWC does plan to re-
submit the rule during the
2018 Idaho Legislature, exec-
utive director Blaine Jacobson
told lawmakers this week.
Idaho statute gives the
commission authority to have
the names and contact infor-
mation of wheat growers but
the commission currently
lacks the mechanism to col-
lect it.
The proposed rule would
require first purchasers of Ida-
ho wheat, such as elevators,
to provide the names and ad-
dresses of growers to the com-
mission.
About half of the elevators
in the state currently provide
the commission that informa-
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A wheat field in southwestern Idaho is shown in this June 28, 2016,
photo. The Idaho Wheat Commission will hold off until 2018 to re-sub-
mit a proposed rule change that would give it the ability to collect the
names and contact information of all wheat producers in the state.
tion, Jacobson said, but Idaho
is the only state with a wheat
commission that doesn’t have
the ability to gather the con-
tact information of all wheat
growers.
That puts Idaho at a dis-
advantage when it comes to
building the state’s wheat in-
dustry, he said.
Jacobson said having that
information would also en-
able the commission to inform
wheat producers of timely and
important information, such
as disease outbreaks or price
premiums, as well as allow the
commission to show growers
how their wheat checkoff dol-
lars are spent.
“This is something we’re
going to be asking your help
with next year,” Jacobson told
members of the House Agri-
cultural Affairs Committee.
“It’s something that needs to
be fixed.”
The IWC proposed the
rule during the 2016 Idaho
legislative session but after
some elevators opposed it, the
commission withdrew the rule
and entered into negotiated
rulemaking with the elevators.
During the negotiated
rulemaking meetings, some
elevators, including Thresher
Artisan Wheat, which owns
grain elevators in Eastern Ida-
ho, asked the commission to
hold off on proposing the rule
for a year to give them time
to contact the producers they
purchase wheat from to see
if they are OK with the infor-
mation being released to the
commission.
Thresher CEO Don Wille
said the company is in the
process of asking growers that
question and a majority have
responded.
“A few have said ‘no’ but
the majority are saying ‘yes,’”
he said.
Thresher believes the re-
lease of grower information
to the commission should be
voluntary, Wille said.
“I don’t think it needs to be
mandatory,” he said. “We’ll
do this voluntarily, but I need
to protect the identity of my
growers if they want me to.”
IWC board member Bill
Flory, a North Idaho wheat
grower, said the names and
contact information the com-
mission receives from eleva-
tors is guarded closely and
only used to communicate
with and educate growers.
“That list is protected ju-
diciously. It’s tightly con-
trolled,” he said.
Idaho quinoa buyer outgrowing processing facility
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho
— A local businessman who
has established Eastern Idaho
as the major U.S. production
area for quinoa says recent
contracts have maxed out his
processing capacity, and he
intends to build a much larger
facility.
Last October, Jeremi-
ah Clark opened his current
small plant, capable of pro-
cessing up to 2 million pounds
per season of the gluten-free
grain. His next quinoa pro-
cessing facility could be op-
erational by the fall of 2018,
with the capacity to clean and
polish between 50 million and
100 million pounds per sea-
son.
Clark contracted with re-
gional growers for about 600
acres of quinoa last year. His
goal for this season is to work
with up to 20 growers and
increase production to about
2,000 acres. Clark said he’d
need to contract for about
30,000 acres to supply 60 mil-
lion pounds of quinoa.
“We’re going to need to do
an expansion if we’re going to
grow more for 2018,” Clark
said. “I figured this was our
pilot system. We saved where
we could and got used equip-
ment, and I think it’s bared
out to the point that, yes, this
is going to be a good market,
and it’s going to be worth do-
ing it right.”
Courtesy of Jeremiah Clark
Quinoa is bagged and stacked,
awaiting shipping, at Jeremiah
Clark’s quinoa processing
facility in Idaho Falls.
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Jeremiah Clark evaluates a quinoa crop in Shelley, Idaho, in Au-
gust of 2016. Clark hopes to contract for 2,000 acres of quinoa this
season, which would max out the capacity of his processing facility.
Clark declined to quote a
current contract price but said
grower returns for a good qui-
noa crop should top wheat or
barley.
Clark said he’s now con-
vinced quinoa isn’t a fad, and
demand should continue to
grow as food companies seek
healthy, gluten-free ingredi-
ents.
Bill Day, who is in charge
of the grains division with
Nampa-based HB Special-
ty Foods, said his company
recently signed a contract
with Clark, impressed by the
quality and color of his qui-
noa. Day said his employer,
which has been buying qui-
noa from South America for
making gluten-free flours and
breading to supply to food
manufacturers, tested Clark’s
quinoa last year. Day has en-
couraged Clark to develop
black and red quinoa variet-
ies, in addition to the white
quinoa he currently markets.
“I can tell you now, we can
sell anything he can grow,”
Day said.
Growers spanning from
American Falls through Ash-
ton, who have thus far plant-
ed mostly small, 5-acre plots
of quinoa, will be asked to
plant 40- to 50-acre fields
this season. Some growers,
including Wyatt Penfold of
Driggs, intend to raise full
pivots. Penfold, who raised 20
acres of quinoa last year and
will plant at least 120 acres
this year, said producing the
crop on a larger scale should
provide growers insight on
management practices, such
as controlling weeds without
approved herbicides.
“We’re trying to get the
field management and all of
those things figured out with
just a few of us before a whole
bunch of people jump into it,”
Penfold said. “We don’t want
to have a major train wreck
with a whole bunch of people.”
Clark’s growers have been
raising a blend of white vari-
eties he selected from Colora-
do seed. Clark has further de-
veloped a single variety from
the Colorado seed, called Kai-
ley, and intends to apply for
variety protection. University
of Idaho is now expanding
Kailey seed in a greenhouse,
and Penfold will further ex-
pand Kailey seed supplies in
the field this season.
Courtesy of Jim Rice
Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee Chairman Jim Rice,
R-Caldwell, holds an Idaho license plate that was placed in a lake
in another state infested with invasive aquatic mussels. Rice said
the plate has helped him find support to increase state funding for
boat check stations that keep mussels out of Idaho water.
ISDA head concerned
about invasive species bill
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — The head of the
Idaho State Department of Ag-
riculture has mixed feelings
about a group of bills aiming to
help the state better respond to
the spreading threat of invasive
aquatic mussels.
ISDA Director Celia Gould
credited state appropriations
leaders for “thoughtful” bills
that would significantly step up
funding for check stations that
prevent out-of-state boats from
bringing invasive mussels into
the state.
But Gould also voiced
strong concerns about HB 274,
which would create a new in-
vasive species coordinator po-
sition within the Governor’s
Office and broaden the defini-
tion of invasive species to also
include noxious weeds. Gould
believes the bill would usurp
power from county weed super-
intendents and create a needless
new layer of bureaucracy that
could come into conflict with
her staff.
She said ISDA already per-
forms the functions of the pro-
posed coordinator, who would
be tasked with collaborating
with surrounding states to stop
the spread of invasive species.
“I recognize everyone has
the best of intentions, but I’m
fearful the legislation as pre-
sented has unintended conse-
quences that would outweigh
the good it would do,” Gould
said, adding she also has con-
cerns about related bills SB
1068 and HB 256.
A check station on U.S.
Highway 93 near Twin Falls
detected the season’s first boat
harboring live mussels on
March 20. The boat, now being
held for decontamination, had
been in Lake Havasu, located
on the California-Arizona bor-
der, and was bound for Alberta,
Canada. Two other boats har-
boring dead mussels were also
detected this season, according
to ISDA.
Last summer, 19 boats har-
boring mussels, including one
boat with viable mussels, were
detected from 90,000 inspec-
tions. Water bodies in Utah
and Nevada are known to be
infested with mussels — which
are tough to eradicate and clog
irrigation infrastructure — and
infestations were recently dis-
covered in Montana reservoirs.
Prior to the 2016 season, the
invasive species program oper-
ated on a $1.4 million annual
appropriation from state inva-
sive species boating stickers.
The Legislature appropriated
$1 million to expand the pro-
gram through last fall, and SB
1112 — which would award
$1 million through the end of
Fiscal Year 2017 to fund three
new stations near the Montana
border, expand hours of all 18
state check stations and staff
them with police — awaits
Gov. Butch Otter’s signature.
The Legislature has appro-
priated $4.3 million to continue
offering the expanded program
for the fiscal year beginning
July 1 — with $3.1 million
coming from the General Fund
and $1.2 million coming from
sticker revenue.
Furthermore, HB 211 would
generate about $100,000 in an-
nual revenue through a $7 in-
crease on non-resident boating
stickers.
Senate Agricultural Affairs
Committee Chairman Jim Rice,
R-Caldwell, said his committee
members unanimously sup-
ported increased funding for
invasive species stations after
hearing an ISDA presentation
last year.
“We were essentially play-
ing roulette with boats coming
in and not being inspected,”
Rice said. “Stations were not
open enough hours.”
Clair Bosen, president
of Twin Lakes Canal Co. in
Franklin County, Idaho, is dis-
mayed that there appears to be
no plan to allocate dollars pro-
tecting two of his company’s
reservoirs — Twin Lakes and
Glendale.
“(Mussels) just make it so
you can’t run anything through
pipes or head gates. They just
plug them up,” Bosen said,
adding his company would
likely have to drain its reser-
voirs for two years if they were
to become infested. “This year,
without some funding, we are
not going to be able to open
those reservoirs (to boating.)”
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