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April 7, 2017 CapitalPress.com USDA sets specialty crop block grant amounts By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Idaho, Cali- fornia and Washington will receive a little less funding from USDA this year for their specialty crop block grant programs while Oregon will receive a little more. The annual program is funded by USDA through the Farm Bill. States use the mon- ey to fund projects that im- prove the competitiveness of specialty crops, which include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts and fried fruits and horti- culture and nursery crops. The USDA will provide $60 million in specialty crop grant funding to states this year, down from $62.5 mil- lion in 2016. The amount individual states receive from USDA is based on a formula that in- cludes how much specialty crop acreage that state has as well as total farm cash re- ceipts from that sector. For 2017, a state’s farm gate receipts are based on calendar year 2015 totals and farm cash receipts in many states dropped significantly that year. Acreage is based on the 2012 Census of Agriculture data. Idaho will receive $1.76 million in 2017, down from $1.9 million the previous two years. Washington will re- ceive $4.1 million, down from $4.3 million last year, and California will receive $19.2 million, down from $22.4 million last year. Oregon will get $1.72 mil- lion in 2017, up from $1.61 million last year. Western states fare well when it comes to the nation- al rankings for specialty crop grant funding. California ranks an un- challenged No. 1, Washington is No. 2, Idaho ranks No. 6 and Oregon is No. 7. Florida (No. 3, $3.8 mil- lion), North Dakota (No. 4, $2.5 million) and Michigan (No. 5, $1.8 million) round out the top seven. Idaho State Department of Agriculture officials hope to receive more applications this year seeking funding from the department’s specialty crop block grant program. The ISDA last year re- ceived 18 requests for fund- ing from 14 different entities. That was the fewest applica- tions since 2011. Program officials did more outreach across the state over the past year to educate the state’s many specialty crop industries about the program, said Eric Boyington, who manages the ISDA program. “We’re hoping to get a lot more applications this year,” Boyington said. “We want to hopefully get different types of organizations to apply that haven’t in the past. We want- ed to have applicants come from other areas of the state as well.” The deadline to submit applications in Idaho is April 14 and applications only have to be postmarked be- fore that date to be accepted. For more information, con- tact Boyington at (208)332- 8537 or eric.boyington@ isda.idaho.gov Washington received 85 initial proposals before that state’s first deadline, said Washington State Department of Agriculture Communica- tions Director Hector Castro. Of those, 50 applicants were invited to submit com- plete proposals for consider- ation by an April 20 deadline. The deadline to submit grant proposals in Oregon and California’s has passed. Power utility argues Oregon giant cane bills unnecessary Courtesy of Rap Snacks Rap Snacks potato chips fea- ture rap artists on every bag. Potato chip brand capitalizes on rap music’s popularity By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Don’t tell James “Fly” Lindsay that potatoes are a humble vegetable. For 21 years, the Atlan- ta-based founder of Rap Snacks potato chips has meld- ed “the culture of hip hop with the snack food industry.” His unique brand of pota- to chips features novel flavor combinations typifying the personalities of famous rap music artists, who are featured on the bags. “Potatoes, I’ve been eating them for so long,” Lindsay said. “It’s one of the favor- ite vegetables in our country, and I think it truly helps the acceptance of the product be- cause everybody loves potato chips.” Though his brand has been around for several years, he said only recently have his sales taken off, due largely to the tendency of social media oddities to go “viral.” Lindsay said he’s updated his packag- ing and his slate of artists, and he’s emphasized internet mar- keting. Lindsay said his brand has moved beyond the urban “mom and pop” stores into the suburbs, spanning from the East Coast to the Southwest. “We’re probably doing 20 truckloads a week of product,” Lindsay said. Soon, Lindsay plans to of- fer codes on bags to access un- released music by his artists. Initially, a character Lindsay invented named MC Potato was featured on Rap Snacks bags. Nowadays, his bags show the likenesses of well- known rap musicians. His most recent flavor, New York deli cheddar, features the rapper Fabolous. Lindsay explained cheddar is fitting because Fabolous “loves his money.” Honey jalapeno Rap Snacks recognize both the spicy and sweeter sides of rap- per Fetty Wap. The most pop- ular flavor — sour cream with a dab of ranch — celebrates a hip hop dance move known as dabbing and features the enter- tainer Migos. Lindsay said he plans to soon expand into marketing cheese curls and mango-ched- dar popcorn. But Idaho Pota- to Commission President and CEO Frank Muir is glad Lind- say started with potato chips. “To me, trying to get po- tatoes, particularly Idaho po- tatoes, into the current with different lifestyles is good,” Muir said. “Anything that por- trays potatoes in a cool light is a good thing.” Portland General Electric is suspending experiments with weedy crop By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Utility com- panies that grow a potential- ly invasive biomass energy crop would be on the hook for its eradication costs un- der a bill proposed in Ore- gon. Due to worries about the weediness of Arundo donax, or giant cane, Senate Bill 789 would require public utilities to post a surety bond of at least $1 million to cov- er removal efforts. However, the only com- pany currently affected by the proposal, Portland General Electric, argues the measure is unnecessary because it’s soon abandon- ing experiments with the crop. PGE has been evaluating giant cane as an alternative feedstock for its power plant near Boardman, Ore., which must stop burning coal in 2020. The Native Plant Soci- ety of Oregon wants state lawmakers to pass SB 789 because giant cane poses an “existential threat to all streamside habitats” along the Columbia river, said Bil- ly Don Robinson, legislative committee chairman for the group. “It simply crowds out every other plant in these streamside habitats,” he said during a March 29 legisla- tive hearing. Under another proposal the group supports, Senate Bill 790, Oregon State Uni- versity would be required to conduct a study of the risks associated with giant cane and potential safeguards for producing it. Unlike previous research on the plant, the OSU study would examine the hazards associated with genetically enhanced varieties, said Judi Courtesy of Frank Callahan, Native Plant Society Giant cane grows near the Talent area of Oregon in this 2012 photo. A bill before the Oregon legisla- ture would require a surety bond for anyone who grows the plant. Sanders, past president of the Native Plant Society of Oregon. In California, eradication costs for the weed range from $4,700 to $64,000 per acre, which shouldn’t be borne by taxpayers if cul- tivated giant cane escapes fields in Oregon, she said. “If there’s no mess, it’s not much of an issue,” she said. Giant cane is already making its way north from California, but PGE’s exper- iments near Boardman have introduced a new point of risk, said Robinson. There are also 48 patents pending that would make the crop more cold-hardy, drought-tolerant and salt-tol- erant, he said. “It scares me.” Right now, though, PGE is winding down its culti- vation of giant cane, said Brendan McCarthy, the com- pany’s state environmental policy manager. The company grew near- ly 100 acres of the crop at one point but is now down to about 30 acres, with the remaining plants to be eradi- cated after the 2017 growing season, he said. Giant cane and other forms of biomass proved more than twice as expen- sive as needed to operate the power plant profitably, Mc- Carthy said. “It really came down to cost.” With less than four years before the company would have to convert the facili- ty to biomass, PGE doesn’t have enough time to estab- lish a biomass supply chain, McCarthy said. PGE considered using beetle-damaged wood from national forests, but that wouldn’t be a sustainable feedstock, he said. Juniper removed from Oregon’s rangelands is too dispersed to economically collect and transport, while other dedicated biomass crops have risks similar to giant cane, McCarthy said. “Things that grow really well may very well be inva- sive,” he said. While PGE is suspending its biomass research, rep- resentatives of the Native Plant Society of Oregon said they want SB 789 amended to impose the surety bond re- quirement on other potential giant cane growers, not just public utilities. Aside from biomass, companies may want to pro- duce the crop for building products, paper fiber and livestock feed, said Robin- son. 17 Limagrain barley exported from PNW to South Africa Company sends 12 tons of LCS Genie By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press South African farmers will soon start growing and using barley from Idaho for malt- ing. Limagrain Cereal Seeds sent 12 tons of LCS Genie — 11 tons of commercial-grade seed and 1 ton of breeder seed — to be used to develop stock for future years, said Frank Curtis, chief operating officer. SAB Miller in South Af- rica heard about the vari- ety through U.S. contacts, received samples from Limagrain’s European own- ers and requested seed. Limagrain Europe owns the variety. Limagrain Cereal Seeds has a license to market it in the U.S. and Canada. Licensing will be through the Limagrain Europe office, Curtis said. LCS Genie fits SAB Mill- er’s quality requirements. “It’s intermediate between the typical eastern Euro- pean pilsner types and the stronger-enzyme American adjunct types,” he said. “It falls roughly in the middle and gives the maltster a lot of flexibility with different types of malt he can make. That’s very attractive to the craft brewing market.” SAB Miller is the largest brewery in South Africa, Cur- tis said. Curtis said a situation where a foreign country is interested in a U.S. variety occurs every five to 10 years. In the past, Limagrain Cereal Seeds has sent varieties to In- dia, Australia and South Afri- ca, he said. Importing seed to South Africa required permitting, certification that the shipment was free of disease and nox- ious weeds and clear cargo marking for customs. Most countries only allow import on sterile pallets or plastic-disposable pallets to avoid insects, Curtis said. The interest provides an additional market for LCS Genie, he said. In partnership with Limagrain, Kevin Whittak- er, seed manager for CHS Primeland in Lewiston, Ida- ho, brought the variety from Europe to the U.S. in 2014. He also provided the bar- ley for shipment to South Af- rica. Small brewers like the malt made with LCS Genie, Whittaker said. “This barley’s high-yield- ing, it’s passed all the malt tests here in the U.S.,” he said. “It yields up with the feed barleys and sometimes better.” Whittaker sees additional room for growth for the vari- ety in the PNW. LCS Genie is grown in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Montana. It’s being tested in several other states. $5.6M for Oregon farm-to-school funding passes key committee Lawmakers also consider increasing tax credit for crop donations By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — A bill direct- ing $5.6 million to Oregon’s farm-to-school food program has won unanimous approval from the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Now, House Bill 2038 must compete against oth- er spending bills in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, which is prioritizing requests for funding in the next biennium amid a project- ed state budget deficit of $1.6 billion. The bill would provide Oregon Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem. nearly $4.6 million for grants to help school districts buy foods grown and processed in Oregon and more than $900,000 for food-, garden- and agriculture-based educa- tion. The committee’s chairman, Brian Clem, D-Salem, noted that existing farm-to-school funding would be eliminated under the 2017-2019 budget recommended by Gov. Kate Brown and halved under the proposal by the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. Lawmakers have been ad- vised to be selective in their requests for funding to the Ways and Means Committee, given budget constraints, he said. If farm-to-school funding is significantly reduced from the amount requested in HB 2039, Clem recommended that the program revert to a competitive grant system. Currently, all school dis- tricts receive non-competitive grants to buy Oregon food products, but this approach wouldn’t provide enough in- centive if each received only a small amount of money, he said. “No one school district will find that worth doing,” he said. The history of Oregon’s farm-to-school program goes back a decade, when lawmak- ers created the position of a farm-to-school coordinator in 2007. A competitive grant pilot program armed with $200,000 was created in 2011, with funding expanded to $1.2 million in 2013. During the 2015 legislative session, an- other $3.3 million was added to the program and grants for food purchases were made non-competitive. Aside from voting to ap- prove HB 2038 during its April 4 meeting, the House Agriculture Committee also considered another bill that would increase tax credits for farmers who donate crops to food banks and similar insti- tutions. Under House Bill 3041, the tax credit would increase from 15 percent to 25 percent of the value of crops donated. Jenny Dresler, state public policy director for the Oregon Farm Bureau, said the organi- zation understands Oregon’s tight budget situation. If resources are available, though, lawmakers should support the bill because it would help farmers overcome financial barriers to donating crops, Dresler said. Tax Fairness Oregon, a group that opposes tax breaks to preserve state revenues, doesn’t believe the tax credit increase is justified, said Jody Wiser, its founder. “Why are we doing it? We don’t have any statistical anal- ysis to show the need is there,” she said. Restaurants and grocery stores also donate food, but must content themselves with a deduction to their taxable in- come, rather than a tax credit, Wiser said. “It’s hard to explain why farmers should be treated so differently than other food do- nators,” she said.
