FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 VOLUME 90, NUMBER 16 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 When the safety net fails By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press MARGIN PROTECTION PROGRAM fails to protect dairy farmers when cost of production skyrockets past price of milk, producers say J oaquin Contente was one of 25,162 U.S. dairy farmers who had faith that a new federal safe- ty net would protect them from a repeat of the battering they had taken in 2009, when markets collapsed during the global recession and milk pric- es sank far below the cost of production. But they found out the hard way that their faith was misplaced when global dairy markets collapsed again in 2015 and 2016. “I had some hope that it would work at some point. … It was a miserable failure,” said Contente, who milks 800 cows in Han- ford, Calif. The Margin Protection Program, established in the 2014 Farm Bill, was designed to guarantee that dairies had some income even when the U.S. all-milk price dropped below the national average feed costs. Margins on 90 percent of a producer’s estab- lished production would be covered when milk prices dropped, feed prices increased, or both. MPP was designed to provide free cata- strophic coverage, insuring a $4 per hundred- weight margin when producers signed up and Joaquin paid a $100 administrative fee. Contente Here’s how MPP is supposed to work. If USDA calculates the difference between the national all-milk price and a formula that determines the national average feed cost is less than $4, the MPP would make up the difference. For example, if the average milk price is only $3 more per hundredweight than the national price of feed during one of the six, two-month program periods in a year, the program will pay $1 per hundredweight of milk to those farmers who signed up. The intended strength of the program, however, was that farm- ers could buy coverage for a larger margin, up to $8 per hundred- weight. Producers can insure up to 90 percent of their milk pro- duction at a higher margin. For the most part, that hasn’t panned out. Producers say they have avoided buy-up coverage because USDA’s MPP margin cal- culations don’t refl ect actual milk prices and feed costs and over- state the margins dairymen actually see. With the U.S. House and Senate ag committees starting work on the 2018 Farm Bill, fi xing MPP is the top priority for many Total premiums/ administrative fees Total payouts Participating Premiums/fees Payouts $8.00 264 5.50 506 1.73 0 4.50 136 0.07 0 Total 25,162 $72.87 $0.73 2016 Participating farms 138 225 158 2,184 1,877 342 463 405 18,801 24,292 Premiums/fees ($ millions) Payouts* ($ millions) 1.18 0.55 6.2 10.19 0.54 1.19 0.43 1.88 $22.79 1.28 0.47 5.48 3.21 0 0 0 0 $11.46 Coverage $8.00 7.50 6.50 5.50 4.50 Total *Estimate Source: American Farm Bureau Federation Capital Press graphic Turn to MPP, Page 10 Bills reversing GMO pre-emption die in Oregon Questions loom over cross-pollination, mediation, senator says By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Two bills that would have allowed local governments in Or- egon to regulate genetically engineered crops have died in the Legislature. Lawmakers prohibited most local governments from restricting seed in 2013, but Senate Bill 1037 and House Bill 2469 would have exempted genet- ically modifi ed organisms, or GMOs, from that statewide pre-emption law. Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Port- land, said he decided to let SB 1037 die during the April 13 meeting of the Senate Environment and Natural Re- sources Committee, which he chairs. A legislative deadline previously killed HB 2469 in the House Agricul- ture and Natural Resources Committee. There are still too many loom- ing questions about the extent of cross-pollination of conventional and organic crops from GMOs and the effi cacy of mediation aimed at promoting coexistence, Dembrow said. “I want to get a sense if there are problems with contamination or if there are problems with the media- tion process,” Dembrow said, add- ing that he planned to hold an infor- mational session on the matter. The committee recently heard confl icting testimony about the fre- quency of cross-pollination among genetically engineered, conventional and organic crops. Turn to GMO, Page 10 ODFW Commission begins review of Oregon’s wolf management plan By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Oregon’s wolf management plan is up for public review as the ODFW Commission once again attempts to balance the restoration of an apex pred- ator with the havoc they can cause in rural areas. The commission will take com- ments on a draft conservation and management plan during an April 21 meeting in Klamath Falls, and will re- peat the process May 19 in Portland. The commission eventually will adopt a fi ve-year management plan; no date is set yet. Russ Morgan, ODFW’s wolf pro- gram manager, said the draft manage- ment plan builds on what wildlife biolo- gists have learned over the years. When the fi rst management plan was adopted in 2005, there were no documented wolves in Oregon. The fi rst pups were discovered in 2008, and by the end of 2011 there were 29 confi rmed wolves in Oregon. The state documented 64 wolves at the end of 2013, and a mini- mum of 112 by the end of 2016, includ- ing 11 packs and eight breeding pairs. Morgan said the plan couples state data with “tons of research” that’s been done on wolves in Oregon and else- where over the years. “This plan still maintains a very ac- tive conservation approach, it doesn’t change in that regard,” Morgan said. Turn to WOLF, Page 14 Courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife OR42, the breeding female of the Chesnimnus Pack in northern Wallowa County in February. Oregon’s wolf man- agement plan is up for public review. Our Rebin Program can turn your old trailer into a new trailer! We will remove all working mechanical parts, and replace the bin with a new Stainless Steel STC Bin on your existing running gear. All parts deemed reusable are reinstalled on the new bin. All of this at the fraction of the cost of a new trailer! WWW.STCTRAILERS.COM 494 W. Hwy 39 Blackfoot, ID 83321 208-785-1364 16-2/#16 EVER WONDERED WHAT TO DO WITH THAT OLD, WORN OUT COMMODITY TRAILER?