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May 26, 2017 CapitalPress.com Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho — Cereal crop ex- perts have discovered stripe rust infections in three areas of southeast Idaho and warn that cool, wet weather could result in heavy disease pres- sure this season. “Last year was a moder- ate year for stripe rust, but the susceptible varieties were hit hard,” said Uni- versity of Idaho Extension cereals pathologist Juliet Marshall. “I suspect higher disease pressure this year.” Marshall said the poten- tially devastating fungal dis- ease, spread by orange and yellow airborne spores, has been widespread in Logan, Utah, with infections con- tinuing north into Preston, Idaho. Stripe rust has also been reported in the Seagull Bay area near American Falls Reservoir and in Arbon Val- ley. “If it’s locally estab- lished very early in the sea- son, there’s a higher chance of it exploding,” Marshall said. “Our (recent) cool, wet weather and cool nights are really good for stripe rust to continue to expand.” In recent weeks, Marshall said stripe rust has spread into California, Oregon and Washington, and heavier spore loads could soon blow into Idaho. Marshall said no stripe rust has been found yet in UI cereal variety trials in Aber- deen and Tetonia. About a month ago, Chris Merrigan, a crop consultant with J.R. Simplot, Co., con- firmed stripe rust in a field in the Seagull Bay area near American Falls Reservoir. Merrigan said between 10 and 20 percent of the irrigat- ed field, planted in a resistant wheat variety, was infected. However, Merrigan said the field was planted to wheat for consecutive sea- sons, elevating the infection risk, and he doesn’t believe a fungicidal seed treatment was used. Merrigan said spring grain growers still have time to mix fungi- cides with their herbicide sprays to prevent the spread of stripe rust, and he urges them to do so. Lonnie Sparks, a crop consultant with CHS Bing- ham Cooperative, identified stripe rust in downy brome growing between two irri- gated spring wheat fields in Arbon Valley. Based on the discovery, Sparks said the grower mixed fungicide with herbicide used on fall wheat fields planted to a susceptible variety, Brund- age, and plans to spray fun- gicides on his spring wheat as well. Sparks also advised the grower to kill the weeds with a mixture of glyphosate herbicide and fungicide. Marshall said she’s be- ginning to see cases of root rot in fall wheat fields that were heavily saturated with moisture, as well as pythium outbreaks in spring wheat. Pythium is a water mold that thrives when crops are plant- ed in cool, wet soils, and can cause heavy damage to new- ly emerging crops with unde- veloped root systems. The good news, Mar- shall said, is that barley yellow dwarf virus doesn’t appear to be widespread in Idaho this year, as it has been during the past few seasons. Marshall said the virus, which is spread by aphids, has been confirmed in a few fall barley fields in the Murtaugh, Rupert and Burley areas. She believes growers have minimized the spread by delaying planting of fall crops until aphid mi- grations have passed and by using insecticidal seed treatments. Idaho Change in Idaho’s fugitive dust law protects ag By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Since the Ida- ho Legislature approved a change to Idaho’s fugitive dust law in 2015, no one has been fined for creating dust while engaged in agricul- ture-related activities. In the three years before the rule change, six people were fined by the Idaho De- partment of Environmen- tal Quality for creating dust while working on farms or ranches. Those fines ranged from $1,200 to $4,300. The law allows for penalties of up to $10,000. No enforcement actions have been taken against peo- ple for creating dust while conducting agricultural activi- ties since the new rule was ap- proved in 2015, said Tiffany Floyd, who manages DEQ’s air quality division. “The added clarification under the ‘rules for control of fugitive dust for agricultural activities’ appears to have ad- dressed the concerns of the ag Sean Ellis/Capital Press A dry bean field is harvested near Nampa, Idaho, last September. No one has been fined for creating dust while engaged in agri- cultural activities since the Idaho Legislature changed the state’s fugitive dust law in 2015. industry,” she said. “The clar- ity has proven to be beneficial to them and to DEQ.” Idaho farm groups got in- volved in the issue in 2013 af- ter learning that a southwest- ern Idaho farmer was fined for creating dust on his property. Before that, they weren’t aware of the state’s 1972 fugi- tive dust law, which requires that all reasonable precautions be taken to prevent particulate matter from becoming air- borne. The law states that if a farmer or rancher operates in accordance with generally recognized agricultural prac- tices, that constitutes reason- able control of fugitive dust. But farm groups and DEQ differed somewhat over what generally accepted farm prac- tices were. For example, the south- western Idaho farmer who brought the issue to light was fined for creating dust while grinding grain at a feedlot, a common practice. DEQ and farm groups agreed to define common ag- ricultural practices. The defi- nitions were largely taken from Idaho’s Right to Farm Act. The list includes prepar- ing land for agricultural pro- duction, applying or handling pesticides, herbicides or oth- er chemicals, planting, irri- gating, growing, fertilizing, harvesting or producing ag- ricultural, horticultural, flori- cultural and viticultural crops. It also includes breeding, hatching, raising, producing, feeding and keeping live- stock, dairy animals, swine, fur-bearing animals, poultry, eggs, fish and other animals, animal products and by-prod- ucts, animal waste and com- post and bees. The rule allows the Idaho State Department of Agricul- ture, if there is uncertainty, to determine whether an activity is a generally recognized agri- cultural practice. Ag groups involved in the negotiations that led to the dust rule change told Capital Press they haven’t heard of any of their members being fined or bothered for creating dust since. “I haven’t had anybody from industry say they have had any issues with DEQ,” said Roger Batt, executive di- rector of the Idaho Heartland Coalition, which includes several farming groups. “We came to a real good agreement on that. I think it’s resolved the issue.” Russ Hendricks, director of governmental affairs for Idaho Farm Bureau Feder- ation, said his organization isn’t aware of any of its mem- bers being bothered for creat- ing dust since 2015. “It appears to be working well and we are apprecia- tive of DEQ for making the necessary adjustments,” he said. Farmers seek referendum on planned community By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press John O’Connell/Capital Press Blake Isaacs, left, visits with Idaho State University microbiology professor Peter Sheridan at Sheri- dan’s lab on May 12. Sheridan has obtained a state grant to test a machine Isaacs sells that removes airborne pathogens from potato storage. Grant funds research in potato storage sensors, filtration system By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press POCATELLO, Idaho — An Idaho State University re- searcher has obtained a grant to evaluate a filter-less ma- chine that removes airborne pathogens from potato storage while humidifying the air. Blake Isaacs, CEO of Blackfoot-based Isaacs Hy- dropermutation Technologies, said his father, Garry, invent- ed the concept of humigation in 1985, and the company’s engineering staff has worked during the past three years to make the machines more compact, affordable and ef- fective. ISU microbiology profes- sor Peter Sheridan will start testing humigators beginning June 5, releasing yeast cells into a sealed room and then growing them out on cul- tures to compare populations before and after treatments. They’ll also evaluate the ef- ficacy of humigators in con- junction with an ultraviolet light, which now comes on the machines to kill additional pathogens. Another grant will aid Boi- se State University research- ers who plan to collaborate on the experiment to assess the sensitivity of paper-thin sensors they’ve developed to detect the metabolic signa- tures of pathogens in potato storages. BSU, working with Emer- son Electronics, hopes its net- work of sensors will precisely identify locations of pathogen “hot spots” in storage. The Idaho Department of Commerce’s Idaho Glob- al Entrepreneurial Mission grant — which awards funds to state universities working with industry partners to fur- ther technologies — recently approved about $414,000 for the ISU and BSU projects, with about $190,000 going to- ward the humigation research. Humigation relies on the Venturi effect. Air is run through a chamber with con- strictions of varying sizes, creating low-pressure zones. In the absence of pressure, water introduced into the chamber atomizes into tiny droplets, which absorb air- borne particles that are cap- tured in the dirty water tank. The company’s testing has confirmed the machines are effective at ridding the air of mold spores, protecting pota- to storages from diseases such as black dot and silver scurf. “The testimonials are very consistent,” Isaacs said. “Ev- eryone who has used it for that purpose has continued to use it or expanded their (use).” But he said Sheri- dan’s study should provide third-party data to satisfy po- tential customers and share- holders. Furthermore, Sheridan plans to study how well the machines remove smaller particles, down to bacterial and viral sizes. Sheridan said humigators have reportedly removed ammonia odor from potato storages — evidence that they’re capturing volatile organic compounds from the air that are even smaller than viruses. “We’re going to see how much of a protective barrier is this going to be to airborne threats,” Sheridan said. “Let’s get some hard numbers.” Isaacs hopes the research will help his company refine its humigators for future use in other crops, as well as hospital, school, industrial and even res- idential applications. BOISE — Farmers and other residents of the Dry Creek Valley just north of Boise are fighting a proposed planned community that would eliminate 1,400 acres of prime farmland. The $100 million develop- ment has been approved by Ada County commissioners but opponents have turned to a little-known section of Idaho Code to try to overturn that decision through a public vote. Idaho Code 31-717 pro- vides a mechanism by which people who gather a certain number of signatures can put a county decision to a vote of the people. The section allows for “people at an election to approve or reject legislation adopted by the board of coun- ty commissioners.” Stephanie Rael, a local farm hand, submitted the ini- tial 20 signatures necessary to prompt a county review of the petition for a special election. If approved, she and others who oppose the project will have 180 days to collect the estimated 40,000 signatures it will take to prompt an elec- tion. Brian Ertz, an attorney who lives in that area, is as- sisting those opposed to the development with free legal advice. Idaho Code “allows any ordinance passed by a county, which is legislative in nature, to be subject to a referen- dum,” Ertz said. “The mech- anism ... really hasn’t been used in Idaho.” Dry Creek Ranch is a pro- posed development about 5 miles north of Boise that would include 1,800 homes and 85,000 square feet of com- mercial space on what farmers in the area say is some of the best soil in the county. “I’ve never farmed on land in my whole life that is so nice,” said Justin Moore, co-owner of Fiddler’s Green Farm. “It seems kind of fool- ish to take that away.” He said he understands the region is growing fast and peo- ple have to live somewhere. “But does it necessarily have to be here?” he said. “It would be nice to preserve this unique soil and farming area here. It’s really special agricul- tural land.” Since the original devel- opment application was ap- proved in 2010, the developer, number of houses and square footage of commercial space have changed, according to a website, savedrycreek.org, that was created by opponents of the plan. The county this year ap- proved an amendment to the original plan but opponents of the development believe the developer, Boise Hunter Homes, should have been re- quired to submit a new plan. Rael said the commis- sion signed an ordinance that changed certain conditions in the original development agreement. “According to our under- standing, that is a piece of leg- islation and subject to the ref- erendum process,” she said. She said if the county doesn’t approve opponents’ petition for a referendum, they are prepared to challenge that decision. WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! ROP-40-42-4/#17 S.E. 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