April 7, 2017
CapitalPress.com
Winter tough on alfalfa but clears hay stocks
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
A harsh winter in the Pacif-
ic Northwest and Intermoun-
tain West has taken a toll on
alfalfa, but it also forced live-
stock producers to feed more
hay than usual.
It was a long, cold winter
with a lot of snow, and a lot
of feeder hay got cleared out,
said Will Ricks, president of
the Idaho Hay and Forage As-
sociation and a hay grower in
the Mud Lake area.
That has him looking for
higher prices, up at least $30
a ton on feeder hay from last
fall. He said he thinks prices
for dairy hay will strengthen as
well, just not as much.
Markets are still low, but
that won’t be sustained, given
the amount of hay that beef
and dairy producers burned
through this winter, said Glenn
Shewmaker, University of Ida-
ho Extension dairy specialist
in Twin Falls.
He suspects there isn’t
much old-crop hay left, and
damage from flooding in the
field and in stacks as a result
of abundant precipitation this
winter is bound to bring im-
provements in the market, he
said.
Quite a bit of winter kill
is showing up, with signifi-
cant stand loss ranging from
spots in fields to entire fields.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
Hay growers are dealing with winter kill from a harsh winter but are
encouraged that cattle producers needed more hay than normal,
which helped clear stocks.
He also expects to see disease
problems ahead from saturated
soils, he said.
Fewer acres could also
boost prices, but that doesn’t
appear to be the case. USDA
is forecasting a 2 percent in-
crease in Idaho’s harvested hay
acreage this year.
That’s a shock to Ricks,
who said a lot of older stands
were taken out last fall because
prices were low.
Shewmaker, too, said it
looked like a lot of stands were
plowed out, some due to vole
devastation. But growers could
have replanted, he said.
Across the border in Or-
egon, USDA is expecting a 2
percent decline in harvested
acres. Silver Lake grower and
hay hauler Scott Pierson thinks
that’s underestimated.
“Winter kill is really start-
ing to show up in alfalfa that
was under snow and under wa-
ter too long,” he said.
Varying levels of root rot
are affecting stands in Central
Oregon, where winter injury is
going to take a toll, he said.
“I think stands got dam-
aged pretty good this winter,”
he said.
Prices haven’t been encour-
aging, softened by carryover
stocks from 2015, and growers
are pulling out stands. Alfalfa
is going to be down both in
acres and yield, he said.
On the flip side, the abun-
dant moisture is good for dry-
land production and grass hay.
A lot of old-crop feeder hay
has been coming to the mar-
ket to empty out barns. Milk
prices have come up a bit and
should lift the market.
All in all, he expects hay
prices this fall to be up $10
to $20 a ton from last fall, he
said.
Hay crops in Washington
are later than last year but
starting to come on. Winter kill
from ice and cold is sporadic
in the Moses Lake area, where
Brian Eddie — president of
Washington State Hay Grow-
ers Association — farms.
“Overall, I think we’re go-
ing to have a pretty decent year
in crops and the hay market. I
think markets are starting to
improve, and there won’t be
a lot of leftover of old crop,”
he said.
Cattlemen ended up feed-
ing more hay through the fall
and winter than usual and lon-
ger into spring, he said.
USDA is forecasting a 2
percent increase in Washing-
ton’s harvested acres this year.
That’s probably because of
growers’ unwillingness to tear
out stands to plant other com-
modities that have lower or
similar returns to hay, he said.
It’s a matter of keeping
it in the ground and seeing
what they can get, he said, but
some growers might plant hay
ground to something else after
the first cutting.
Tiniest boy develops special
relationship with big potato truck
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
EAGLE, Idaho — The an-
nual arrival of the Idaho Po-
tato Commission’s Great Big
Idaho Potato Truck has be-
come one of the year’s most
eagerly anticipated moments
for 7-year-old Jacob Walk-
er, who is believed to be the
world’s smallest boy.
The truck, which hauls
a 6-ton replica Russet Bur-
bank, departed from Boise
March 20 on its sixth U.S.
tour. Though IPC receives
more than 300 requests for the
truck to make appearances at
events throughout the country
each tour, the organization has
prioritized a stop at Walker’s
Virginia home for a third con-
secutive year.
Once again, Walker, who
has a rare form of dwarfism,
will be riding with the Tater
Team during the National Me-
morial Day Parade at Arling-
ton National Cemetery.
“He and the team have
built a wonderful friendship,”
said his mother, Ashley Walk-
er. “The people of Idaho are
represented well by everyone
involved with the truck’s tour
and how they have made a
child from so far away feel
like he is part of the Idaho po-
tato family.”
After learning about the
boy, the Tater Team visited
Walker dressed as super he-
roes, and gave him his own
cape. IPC also donated $500
Courtesy of Idaho Potato Commission
Jacob Walker, of Virginia, poses in front of the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck in May of 2016. The IPC’s truck
is scheduled to visit Walker, who is believed to be the world’s smallest boy, during its current national tour.
toward Walker’s Make A
Wish trip to Florida. The team
returned the following year to
pick him up for a road trip to
the Memorial Day parade.
“The day was filled with
fun, and Jacob enjoyed talking
on the CB to other truckers,”
his mother said.
IPC President and CEO
Frank Muir said the truck has
logged more than 100,000
miles during its previous
tours and is scheduled to drive
23,000 miles over the next six
months.
IPC will map the truck’s
progress on its website, idaho-
potato.com. Some highlights
of sixth trek will include a
Houston children’s festi-
val, the Kentucky Derby, a
NASCAR race at Pocono
Raceway in Pennsylvania, a
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
corporate meeting, a pota-
to chip festival in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y., and Spud Days
in Shelley, Idaho.
The current tour budget is
about $700,000, and covers
the tour’s charitable program,
called A Big Helping, Muir
said. The truck makes dona-
tions of up to $500 per event,
supporting a broad range of
local charities. Muir said IPC
intends to air one or two new
truck-centered commercials
this season. He said the truck
continues to generate social
media buzz and local news
coverage wherever it travels.
“It’s getting bigger and
bigger,” Muir said. “I don’t
see any reason to stop it.”
Laura Martin, who directs
the truck tour with Foerstel
Designs in Boise, said about
300 people from throughout
the world applied to serve as
new Tater Team members.
IPC ultimately chose two
recent Idaho college gradu-
ates, Boise State University
graduate Kaylee Wells and
University of Idaho graduate
Jessica Coulthard. The wom-
en, who call themselves the
Tater Twins, are friends who
have traveled abroad together,
Martin said. Larry Bathe has
returned to drive the truck.
Poison capsule
M-44
Cyanide
Traps
M-44-style traps,
also known as
Canid pest ejectors,
or CPEs, were first
developed in the U.S.
in the 1930s as a way
to autonomously
control pest species.
15
Lure head
Bait/lure
material
Trigger
lock ring
Surface
grade
Trigger
Piston
Ejector
body
Spring
When the animal pulls on the
baited lure head, the trigger
releases the piston. Under
pressure of a mechanical
spring, the piston strikes the
poison capsule, ejecting a
lethal dose of sodium cyanide
into the animal’s mouth.
Ground
spike
Sources: www.predatordefense.org;
www.smithandgeorg.com.au; www.aphis.usda.gov
Alan Kenaga/
Capital Press
Activists file suit against
Wildlife Services use
of cyanide ‘bombs’
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Four activist groups have
asked a federal judge to halt the
use of M-44 cyanide “bombs”
and poison-filled Compound
1080 livestock collars devices
used by USDA Wildlife Ser-
vices to kill predators.
A lawsuit filed April 4 calls
the devices “dangerous and
outdated tools” that threaten
wildlife ranging from coyotes,
usually the intended target, to
wolves, bears and eagles.
The lawsuit follows a Feb-
ruary incident in which a pro-
tected gray wolf was killed in
Northeast Oregon’s Wallowa
County after it bit or tugged
on an M-44 device set by
USDA Wildlife Services to
kill coyotes on private land.
Soon after, a 14-year-old Po-
catello, Idaho, boy was slight-
ly injured and his dog killed
when they came upon an
M-44 device set near a hous-
ing development. Also, two
dogs were reported killed in
Wyoming, although Wildlife
Services said it did not set a
device in the area where it
happened.
In the Oregon case, Wild-
life Services agreed to remove
M-44s from regions officially
designated as Areas of Known
Wolf Activity by Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S.
District Court in Missoula,
Mont., alleges the federal gov-
ernment never completed a re-
view of the poison devices and
asks that their use be halted
until that is done. It demands
that all sodium cyanide and
Compound 1080 devices be
removed within 30 days of a
judge’s order.
Ryan Zinke, the Trump ad-
ministration’s new secretary
of the Interior, and Jim Kurth,
acting director of U.S. Fish
and Wildlife, are named as
defendants, as is USFWS. The
federal agencies have mixed
roles: the EPA and USFWS
consult on the use of the poi-
sons, while USDA’s Wildlife
Services is a registered user.
The lawsuit alleges the gov-
ernment has not completed a
review of the poisons that was
begun in 2011.
The lawsuit was filed by
the Center for Biological Di-
versity, WildEarth Guardians,
The Humane Society of the
United States and the Fund for
Animals.
In a prepared statement, a
spokeswoman for WildEarth
Guardians said the recent
poisonings “prove current re-
strictions are failing to ensure
people, domestic animals and
imperiled wildlife are not at
risk” from the devices.
M-44s are spring-loaded
devices that eject cyanide pow-
der when an animal pulls on a
scented tag. The powder inter-
acts with saliva or other mois-
ture to form a lethal hydrogen
cyanide gas, killing the animal
within one to five minutes, ac-
cording to Wildlife Services.
They typically are used to kill
coyotes, the intended target in
the Oregon case. Critics refer
to M-44s as cyanide “bombs.”
Compound 1080 is a liquid
poison loaded into livestock
protection collars placed on
the necks of sheep and goats.
An attacking coyote or other
predator punctures the collar,
releasing the poison and kill-
ing the attacking animal.
The activist groups main-
tain that non-lethal manage-
ment tools can protect live-
stock and that the poisons
pose “unacceptable threats” to
non-targeted animals.
The lawsuit, referring to
Wildlife Services’ data, said
M-44s killed 13,530 animals,
mostly coyotes and foxes,
in 2016. Of those, 321 were
non-targeted animals, “includ-
ing foxes, a black bear, opos-
sums, raccoons, skunks, a fish-
er and family dogs.”
Wildlife Services has not
responded in detail to criti-
cism, saying an internal review
is underway. Spokesman Rich-
ard A. Bell said the agency is
unable to comment on pend-
ing litigation.
Wash. lawmakers roll back veggie oil shipping rules Washington irrigation season outlook promising
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — The Senate
voted Tuesday to roll back a
Washington Department of
Ecology rule that would have
made hauling vegetable oils
for growers and food proces-
sors unprofitable for short-line
rail companies.
House Bill 1136 passed
the chamber unanimously, as
the Senate joined the House
in lifting from small railroads
the extensive spill-response
planning required of BNSF
Railway and Union Pacific
Railroad, carriers of explosive
crude oil.
“For the most part, vegeta-
ble oils won’t be treated like
crude oil,” said Patrick Boss,
a lobbyist for short-line rail-
roads. “I think this bill makes
a nice distinction.”
The bill must be returned to
the House to approve Senate
amendments. If OK’d by the
House and signed by Gov. Jay
Inslee, the bill would adjust a
2015 law that reacted to an in-
flux of Bakken crude oil trav-
eling to Washington refineries.
Lawmakers were primari-
ly worried about fiery derail-
ments. The legislation, howev-
er, didn’t distinguish between
biological and petroleum oils.
Ecology applied the law to
several rail companies that do
not transport crude oil.
Ecology argued that vege-
table oil spilled into water kills
fish and waterfowl, pointing to
damaging spills from a burning
food warehouse and a tortilla
manufacturer. Ecology couldn’t
cite a case of vegetable oil be-
ing spilled in a train accident.
Lawmakers declined to re-
vise the law last year. Ecology
finalized the rule early this year,
requiring large and small rail-
roads to contract with clean-up
crews and equipment and hold
regular drills.
Ecology estimated the rule
would cost more than the rev-
enue that small railroads say
they collect by transporting
plant-based oils.
“Maybe, in hindsight, last
year was too soon,” Boss
said. “The issue really hadn’t
changed, but the timing was
better, and sometimes these
things have to percolate for
awhile.”
HB 1136, as passed by the
Senate, would require railroads
that carry 49 or more tankers of
vegetable oils a year to hold at
most one “table-top drill” every
three years. The House set the
threshold at 24 tankers, a num-
ber that small railroads lobbied
to raise.
Railroads that carry fewer
tankers of vegetable oils could
satisfy Ecology by submitting
“a basic contingency plan.”
“One of the things most
important to us, and this
compromise achieves it, is
to have plans that are written
and submitted,” Ecology spill
preparedness manager, Linda
Pilkey-Jarvis, said. “You’re
going to have more rigor if
you have to give the plan to
someone.”
The bill affects the agricul-
turally oriented Central Wash-
ington, Columbia Basin and
Great Northwest railroads east
of the Cascades.
In southwest Washington,
the Portland Vancouver Junc-
tion Railroad faced $40,000 in
planning costs because it hauls
one carload of mineral oil a
year for the Bonneville Power
Administration, the railine’s
lobbyist, Amber Carter, said.
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
MOUNT
VERNON,
Wash. — The outlook for
Washington farm irrigators
this summer is about as good
as it can get, given lots of
high elevation snow that fell
in March and the forecast
for a normal spring devoid
of rapid warmups and snow-
melt.
The statewide snowpack
was 121 percent of normal on
April 3, up from 112 percent
on March 6, said Scott Pat-
tee, water supply specialist of
the Washington Snow Survey
Office of the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Ser-
vice in Mount Vernon.
“We’re probably about
normal or a little behind on
the snowmelt curve, which
is just fine because with so
much water coming off from
lower levels we don’t want
that high elevation to come
yet or we would possibly be
flooding,” Pattee said.
Streams
and
rivers
throughout the state are full
and running at 90 percent
of normal and above from a
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Peshastin Creek, about 20 miles west of Wenatchee, Wash., runs
full on March 26. Most Washington streams and rivers are full from
melting snow and could flood if there’s a fast warmup. Forecasters
say that doesn’t appear likely.
large snowpack. Snow below
3,000 feet elevation is now
almost all melted, he said.
“In the past month, there
was quite a bit of fresh snow
in the high country and lots of
rain. It was almost 200 per-
cent of normal precipitation
in the mountains in March,”
Pattee said.
Snow water equivalent
snowpack in the Spokane ba-
sin was 96 percent of normal
on April 3. The upper Colum-
bia (Okanogan and Methow
rivers) was 119 percent. The
central Columbia (Chelan,
Entiat and Wenatchee) was
115, the upper Yakima was
102 and the lower Yakima
106.
The lower Snake near
Walla Walla was 105, Walla
Walla was 129, and lower Co-
lumbia was 136. South Puget
Sound (from the lowlands to
the Cascade crest) was 112,
central Puget Sound was 121,
north Puget was 113, and the
Olympics 111.