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CapitalPress.com
May 26, 2017
Lawsuit challenges lifting of Argentinian lemon ban
Citrus growers
claim USDA decision
motivated by foreign
policy, not science
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A group of U.S. citrus
growers has accused the
USDA of unlawfully accept-
ing imports of Argentinian
lemons based on foreign pol-
icy rather than science.
The U.S. Citrus Science
Council, a nonprofit repre-
senting 750 lemon growers,
and five individual Califor-
nia farms have filed a lawsuit
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
U.S. citrus growers are challeng-
ing the USDA’s decision to allow
imports of lemons from Argenti-
na in federal court, arguing the
decision was based on foreign
policy rather than science.
claiming the USDA’s decision
violated federal laws.
Due to concerns about
pests and diseases, the USDA
has largely prohibited lemon
imports from Argentina for
seven decades. The agency
briefly opened the U.S. bor-
der to Argentinian lemons in
2000, but that decision was
soon struck down by a federal
court.
The lawsuit argues USDA
began to reconsider the ban
last year because the Obama
administration “wished to ac-
commodate” Argentina’s new
president, Mauricio Macri,
“whom it viewed as a poten-
tial ally after years of difficult
U.S.-Argentine relations.”
A proposed rule allow-
ing imports of lemons from
Argentina was finalized by
USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service,
or APHIS, in late 2016 and
affirmed by the Trump ad-
ministration this year due to
“extraneous foreign policy
considerations,” the complaint
said.
The rule, set to become ef-
fective on May 26, violates the
Plant Protection Act by taking
into account factors other than
the risk posed by plant pests,
the plaintiffs argue.
“Nothing in the Act au-
thorizes APHIS, at the behest
of the president, to convert
import decisions into bargain-
ing chips to achieve unrelated
foreign policy objectives. Yet
that appears to be exactly what
happened here,” the complaint
said.
A spokesman for USDA
said the agency is aware of
the lawsuit challenging its
decision to allow imports of
lemons grown under a “sys-
tems approach” in Northwest
Argentina.
“APHIS made this decision
because our extensive review
and analysis of the science
shows that importing Argen-
tine lemons can be safely done
while protecting U.S. agricul-
ture from plant pests. APHIS
is currently reviewing the
lawsuit and will not comment
on pending litigation,” the
spokesman said in an email.
According to the com-
plaint, USDA has justified its
decision by pointing to a 2015
trip to Argentina during which
APHIS officials assessed cit-
rus harvest practices, but the
agency has refused to disclose
key details from the visit.
The plaintiffs allege that
USDA has placed an unrea-
sonable amount of confidence
in Argentinian regulators’
ability to mitigate pest and
disease risks, despite their
shortcomings in the past.
Aside from violating the
Plant Protection Act and ad-
ministrative law, USDA also
failed to conduct an environ-
mental analysis of its decision
as required under the National
Environmental Policy Act, the
lawsuit claims.
The plaintiffs have asked
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stan-
ley Boone in Fresno, Calif., to
overturn the import rule and
block shipments of lemons
from Argentina.
Growers rush to finish rice planting after field work delays
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
Wikipedia
Researchers in Oregon and Idaho are trying to develop a line
of stevia seeds that would make growing the plant economically
viable in the U.S.
Idaho, Oregon researchers
work on stevia seed line
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
NAMPA, Idaho — Re-
searchers in the Treasure Val-
ley area of Idaho and Oregon
are trying to develop a reliable
seed line for stevia, a plant
that is 200 to 300 times sweet-
er than sugar.
Once that happens, the
plant could be an attractive
option for the region’s farm-
ers.
But the plant likely won’t
be grown commercially here
until researchers learn how
to reliably produce the small
shrub from seed.
Stevia is used as a natural
sweetener in drinks and food.
Unlike potatoes, corn
and other crops that farmers
have bred for hundreds of
years, stevia has only been
researched for about 50 years,
said Cheryl Parris, research
and development manager at
S&W Seed Co.
Because of that, there is
currently too much genetic
diversity in stevia to grow
it from seed, so it’s being
grown from clones, or rooted
cuttings, that are produced in
a greenhouse and then trans-
planted into the field.
The labor and expense in-
volved in growing stevia that
way at 40,000 plants an acre
makes it too expensive to be
an attractive alternative to
commercial farmers in the
U.S., Parris said.
The company’s stevia re-
search is centered in Nampa.
Parris is trying to develop a
reliable seed line that farmers
can plant.
She said this is an ideal re-
gion for growing stevia. The
company has received a lot of
inquiries from farmers inter-
ested in growing stevia seed.
“There is a lot of variabil-
ity in the plants because there
is so much that hasn’t been
bred out yet,” she said. “It
will become more ideal as we
develop a seed line. It’s still
really an emerging market in
the United States because of
the cost at this point.”
The wide genetic diversity
in stevia means the progeny
is usually not as good as the
parents, said Clint Shock, di-
rector of Oregon State Uni-
versity’s research station in
Ontario.
“How to efficiently propa-
gate stevia by seed hasn’t been
solved,” said Shock, who has
researched the plant for more
than a decade. “In order for it
to be competitive in the U.S.,
you need to be able to cross
reliably and efficiently from
seed. That is the Achilles heel
of growing stevia in the Unit-
ed States.”
Most of the world’s stevia
is grown in nations with much
lower labor costs, Shock said.
“The competitive advan-
tage now is for places that
have super cheap labor,” he
said.
Parris and Shock are also
trying to breed out the some-
times bitter aftertaste associ-
ated with stevia.
“We’re trying to devel-
op a plant that tastes better,
doesn’t have a bitter after-
taste and can be used more as
an additive to food products,”
Parris said.
WILLOWS, Calif. — Rice
growers are scrambling to fin-
ish planting after persistent
winter and early-spring rains
delayed their ability to prepare
their fields.
Growers face an unofficial
June 1 deadline for getting
their rice seed down, as plant-
ing any later would likely push
harvests into the rainy season.
Rice is typically planted
between mid-April and mid-
May, with harvests coming six
months later. But soggy fields
prevented growers from work-
ing in them until recently —
particularly on the west side of
the Sacramento Valley, where
fields were flooded by torren-
tial rains in February.
“I’ve got a little bit left (to
plant), but for the most part
we’re wrapping it up,” said
Charley Mathews, a Marys-
ville area grower and a USA
Rice Federation executive
committee member.
“I don’t know what nor-
mal is anymore,” he said of
the weather. “We didn’t get to
start field work until about the
28th of April. Usually we like
to start around the first week of
April.”
Willows farmer Larry Ma-
ben said he’ll get all his 800
rice acres planted, but he’s
aware of other area growers
in low-lying areas that have
struggled to get going because
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
A rice field near Williams, Calif., is prepared in late April for plant-
ing. Rice growers are scrambling to finish planting by June 1 after
early spring rains delayed their field work.
of wet ground.
“I’m a couple of weeks
behind, but we should be fine
unless we have an early fall,”
Maben said.
The delays could cause a
dip in overall acreage. Cali-
fornia rice farms are expect-
ed to plant 539,000 acres this
year, down slightly from the
541,000 acres planted in 2016,
according to the USDA.
Rice planting rebounded
last year from the 421,000
acres planted at the height of
the drought in 2015, the agen-
cy reported. That year, plant-
ing was delayed because of the
slow pace of water deliveries
as exchange contractors along
the Sacramento River agreed
to shift their delivery sched-
ules to maintain the right river
temperatures for winter run
salmon.
Growers with crop insur-
ance could seek compensation
for any ground they can’t get to
by June 1, the California Farm
Bureau Federation advises.
Among other field crops
in California, according to a
USDA prospective plantings
report:
• Growers expect to plant
430,000 acres of corn, up from
420,000 acres planted last
year.
• Cotton acreage continues
to rebound after the drought
stifled planting. Growers ex-
pect to plant 85,000 acres of
upland cotton in 2017, up from
66,000 last year and 47,000
in 2015. In addition, growers
were seeding 190,000 acres
of American Pima cotton, up
from 117,000 and 155,000, re-
spectively, the last two years.
• Producers intend to har-
vest hay of all types from 1.1
million acres, down from 1.2
million acres last year.
• Acreage planted to winter
wheat is forecast at 350,000
acres, down from 425,000
acres last year, while anoth-
er 40,000 acres are planted
to Durum wheat, down from
55,000 acres in 2016.
• California growers plan
to plant 27,000 acres of spring
potatoes and 21,000 acres of
sweet potatoes, up from last
year’s 26,000 and 20,000, re-
spectively.
• Growers intend to plant
25,300 acres of sugar beets,
unchanged from last year.
• Plantings of sunflowers
for oil are expected to total
39,000 acres in California,
down from last year’s 45,000
acres. Non-oil sunflower acres
are expected to total 4,000, up
from 1,600 in 2016.
U.S. growers face loan defaults over Mexican sugar dispute
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
A national sugar expert
says U.S. sugar growers could
face loan forfeitures this sum-
mer if nothing is done to stop
Mexico from dumping subsi-
dized sugar here.
Jack Roney, director of
economics and policy analy-
sis with American Sugar Alli-
ance, explained under a 2014
agreement Mexico is allowed
to export sugar duty-free to the
U.S. In exchange, U.S. corn
syrup is granted open access
into Mexico.
While the U.S. has shipped
Mexico about 800,000 tons of
corn syrup per year, Mexican
sugar exports doubled in 2013
to 2 million tons, contributing
to a U.S. sugar price collapse,
Roney said. The U.S. Interna-
tional Trade Commission and
the U.S. Department of Com-
merce ruled in response to a
complaint by U.S. sugar grow-
ers that the combination of
subsidization and dumping by
Mexico warranted sugar duties
of 48 to 84 percent.
But in December 2014, the
governments signed an agree-
ment to suspend tariffs in favor
of reference prices and limits
on the refined share of Mexi-
can sugar exports. Roney said
Mexico hasn’t met the refer-
ence prices — the U.S. refined
sugar price has dropped from
37.5 cents per pound when
the agreement was signed to
a current rate of 29 cents per
pound. At 26 cents, Roney
said growers come out ahead
by forfeiting their sugar to the
U.S. government rather than
repaying their federal loans.
Furthermore, Mexico has been
shipping the U.S. mostly fin-
ished sugar, though the coun-
try would rather import raw
cane to keep domestic mills in
production. Roney holds Mex-
ico accountable for the recent
closings of sugar mills in Ha-
waii and Wyoming.
“Our guys are in danger
of forfeiture this summer,”
Roney said. “We’ve got to get
this settled now.”
In early May, the U.S. De-
partment of Commerce sent a
letter to the Mexican govern-
ment threatening to impose
duties of 80 percent on Mex-
ican sugar if new agreements
can’t be reached by June 5.
Based on price declines
following sugar dumping,
Roney calculated Mexico cost
U.S. sugar producer $2 billion
during 2013 and 2014 com-
bined, and another $2 billion
since the suspension agree-
ment was signed.
Duane Grant, chairman
of Idaho-based Snake River
LEGAL
CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE
2680 Cherry Ave. NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 399-7454
AUCTION
Sat., June 3rd • 10 A.M.
• Unit 45 - Eric Proctor
• Unit 52 - Angela Barton
• Unit 74 - Shannon Welch
• Unit 85 - Angela Kinzel
• Unit 124 - Cynthia Mendoza
• Unit 183 - Kelly and Shawn
Allen
Cherry Avenue Storage
reserves the right to refuse
any and all bids
21-1/#7
legal-20-2-7/#4
Sugar Co., said his growers
had a profitable 2016 season,
but only because they pro-
duced record yields and sugar
levels. This season, however,
cold weather has slowed beet
growth.
“We’re well behind in our
accumulation of heat units,”
Grant said. “That needs to
change in order for our crop to
get its legs underneath it and
start to move toward a yield
that would be acceptable.”
Grant said members of his
company are optimistic the
Mexican dumping problem
will be addressed in time to im-
prove prices of the current crop.
Opponents of strengthening
the suspension agreements, in-
cluding sugary food and bev-
erage manufacturers, warn the
action would lead to increased
food costs for consumers. In a
letter dated May 19, 51 mem-
bers of Congress urged De-
partment of Commerce Sec-
retary Wilbur Ross to “consult
with and take into account the
interests of the companies that
make food products and bever-
ages using sugar.”
The lawmakers asked the
secretary to avoid setting any
reference prices higher than
prices included in the original
suspension agreement and ad-
vised “bilateral negotiations
should not be an excuse for
the U.S. sugar lobby to extract
yet more benefits from its cus-
tomers through market manip-
ulation that flies in the face of
open and fair competition.”
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 6/6/2017. The
sale will be held at 10:00am by
DTR RACING
1810 NE COMMERCIAL ST, SALEM, OR
2004 HONDA TRX450
VIN = 478TE300Z4A006259
Amount due on lien $2006.63
Reputed owner(s) THOMAS KUSCHNICK
AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE
Legal-21-2-2/#4