May 26, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
Record crop possible for
Pacifi c Northwest cherries
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Wolves and other predators are the subject of environmental
lawsuits around the West.
A new challenge to
USDA predator control
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Environmentalists have
fi led a lawsuit challenging the
legality of USDA’s predator
control efforts in Idaho, argu-
ing the environmental effects
were inadequately studied.
The complaint, fi led by
Western Watersheds Project,
Wildearth Guardians, Cen-
ter for Biological Diversity
and Predator Defense, seeks
to stop “killing projects” by
USDA’s Wildlife Services di-
vision until a new analysis is
complete.
An environmental assess-
ment by USDA authorizing
predator control by Wildlife
Services in Idaho violated
the National Environmental
Policy Act by failing to dis-
close the full “direct, indi-
rect and cumulative effects”
of these activities, the com-
plaint said.
Wildlife Services should
have conducted a more com-
prehensive “environmental
impact statement,” or EIS,
that took into account the total
effects of killing black bears,
coyotes, cougars and wolves
in addition to poisoning ra-
vens and starlings, the plain-
tiffs claim.
“It does not disclose how
the areas in which it conducts
these activities may overlap
with one another or how they
may act in concert to increase
or change impacts on the en-
vironment,” according to the
complaint.
A spokesman for USDA
said the agency does not com-
ment on pending litigation.
A more extensive analysis
is necessary because Wildlife
Services has committed to
killing ravens at the direction
of the Idaho Department of
Fish and Game to protect the
greater sage grouse, the com-
plaint said.
Similar lawsuits against
Wildlife Services have recent-
ly yielded mixed results for
environmental groups.
A complaint fi led by Wild-
earth Guardians challenging
environmental studies that
underpinned USDA’s preda-
tor control programs in Neva-
da and elsewhere was initially
dismissed by a federal judge
in 2013.
However, the 9th U.S. Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals reinstat-
ed the case in 2015 and USDA
settled it last year, agreeing
to update the environmental
studies and avoid killing pred-
ators in Nevada’s wilderness
areas and wilderness study
areas until then.
Several of the same plain-
tiffs in the recent Idaho case
also fi led a complaint in 2016
against Wildlife Service’s
agreement to kill wolves at
the behest of Oregon wildlife
regulators.
A federal judge dismissed
that lawsuit last month, fi nd-
ing that USDA wasn’t re-
quired to perform an environ-
mental review of the program
because Oregon offi cials
could kill wolves regardless
of the federal agency’s partic-
ipation.
RICHLAND, Wash. —
The 2017 Pacifi c Northwest
sweet cherry crop is forecast
at 22.7 million, 20-pound box-
es, but it could easily exceed
the 23.2 million-box record
set in 2014, several growers
said May 17 at the Five State
Cherry Commission meeting.
But they also foresee a
good spread of 90 to 100 days
to harvest the crop, which
they hope makes for orderly
supply and sales and good
prices.
“This crop is bigger but
will have more shipping days.
Last year we had 20 days to
move the bulk of the crop.
This year it should be 40
so it will sell like a smaller
crop,” said West Mathison,
president of Stemilt Growers,
Wenatchee.
The 2016 crop was 20.97
million boxes, the third-larg-
est in history. Many growers
said this year’s crop could
well be 15 to 25 percent larg-
er. That would put it in the
24 million- to 26 million-box
range.
“We will have lots of cher-
ries,” said B.J. Thurlby, pres-
ident of the industry promo-
tional arm Northwest Cherry
Growers and the Washington
State Fruit Commission in
Yakima.
In 2009 and 2012, weath-
er-caused harvest compression
— when the whole crop ma-
tured at about the same time —
caused a glut in the supply chain
and depressed prices. Growers
are crossing their fi ngers that
doesn’t happen this year.
After two years of re-
cord-early harvest starts driven
by warm springs, this year’s
cooler spring is bringing the
start back to normal, or slightly
later than normal.
First cherries
For years, the fi rst cherries
picked in the state have been
the Chelan variety at the orchard
of John and Debra Doebler at
Sentinel Gap north of Mattawa.
Heat refl ected into their orchard
from high basalt cliffs brings
early maturity.
Their normal start is June 1.
Last year was their earliest ever,
on May 18, and the year before
it was May 23, giving Stemilt
Growers the fi rst cherries to
pack.
At the meeting, Mathison
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Ryan and Travis Doebler show green Bing cherries in their Mattawa, Wash., orchard on May 17 that
they say will be ready to pick June 15. Their Chelan variety will be ready around June 5 or 7 and are
always the fi rst picked in the state.
said the fi rst cherries will prob-
ably be picked June 12 this year.
But later that day in their or-
chard, the Doebler sons, Ryan,
30, and Travis, 26, estimated a
start of June 5 or 6. Their father,
John, said June 7 or 8 is more
likely.
“Usually, the warehouse
comes out and says, ‘Let’s start
tomorrow and then they do and
whoops, it’s too green.’ Then it’s
‘Let’s wait a day,’” Debra Doe-
bler said.
“There’s always an eager-
ness but there’s no real reason to
be early because California has
plenty of fruit,” John Doebler
said. “It’s better to be patient and
have better quality.”
The Pacifi c Northwest har-
vests about 80 percent of the
national sweet cherry crop, and
California harvests 15 percent,
followed by Michigan and New
York. Washington grows rough-
ly 85 percent of the PNW crop.
2016 prices have not yet been
released by USDA, but Wash-
ington’s 2015 crop garnered
$436.9 million and averaged
$19.70 per box. Those were
low due to harvest compression
from hot weather. The national
value of sweet cherry sales that
year was $758.9 million.
California harvests cherries
before the PNW and for several
years has been hindered by bad
weather.
This year, it has its largest
crop in years, estimated at 7
million to 8.5 million, 15-pound
boxes.
The bulk of the California
crop will be harvested the weeks
of May 21 and 28 and should be
Pacific Northwest
cherry production
forecast for 2017
Washington state is forecast to
produce 186,000 tons of sweet
cherries in 2017, up more than
24 percent from 2016. The PNW
harvests about 80 percent of the
national crop annually.
(Harvest forecast in tons)
Washington:
186,000
Oregon:
39,000
Idaho:
1,800
Source: Five State
Cherry Commission
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
wrapping up as Washington’s
harvest ramps up.
“I worry about California
having some carry-over. There’s
always some shippers down
there who sit on some fruit and
then put it out after we start. I
hope that doesn’t happen this
year. Those little nuances can
really affect us,” Thurlby said.
He said Washington’s late
start makes him nervous about
having enough volume for
Fourth of July sales. He antici-
pated roughly 5 million boxes
in June, 14 million in July and 4
million in August.
“I pray we hit the Fourth
with some volume and if every
retailer is at $5.99 per pound,
we are dead. We need to get ads
(with prices of $3.99 and $2.99
per pound) going for momen-
tum,” Thurlby said.
Export outlook
The crop in Turkey is early
this year and should be fi nished
by mid-July, opening a window
for Northwest sales into Europe,
he said.
South Korea, China, South-
east Asia and Mexico are prior-
ity foreign markets with Myan-
mar and Cambodia showing
promise for the future, said
Keith Hu, international program
director of Northwest Cherry
Growers.
A big help to exports is a new
Western Distribution Services’
cold storage facility next to Sea-
Tac Airport, Thurlby said.
“Last year, we put more fruit
through Sea-Tac than ever be-
fore, but we’ve always needed
more cold storage there so this
has the potential to really help
us,” he said.
The Washington breakdown
is: Wenatchee district 100,000
tons, up from 86,368 in 2016
and 87,248 in 2015; Yakima dis-
trict 85,000 up from 62,850 in
2016 and 78,019 in 2015.
The Oregon breakdown:
Hood River, 7,000, down from
7,055 in 2016 and up from 4,860
in 2015; The Dalles, 30,000,
down from 33,330 in 2016 but
up from 16,766 in 2015; Mil-
ton-Freewater, 2,000, up from
771 in 2016 and 158 in 2015.
The Five State Cherry
Commission adopted an $18
per ton grower assessment for
promotions.
WSDA to certify organic pot
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washington
tops the country in many or-
ganic crops such as apples and
pears, and may soon lead the
nation in government-sanc-
tioned organic marijuana, too.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed
legislation last week to make
the Evergreen state the fi rst to
recognize organic pot.
The bill directs the state
Department of Agriculture to
write rules for certifying or-
ganic marijuana and to fi ne
growers and retailers who
make false claims.
“It’s another way to nor-
malize the industry. To have
some oversight for claims
being made,” said Lara Ka-
minisky, executive director of
The Cannabis Alliance, which
backed the bill.
Marijuana has grown into
a $1 billion industry since
Washington voters in 2012 le-
galized recreational marijua-
na. Colorado voters legalized
pot the same day, but law-
makers in that state rejected
a bill last year to certify or-
ganic marijuana. Opponents
said the organic label would
imply marijuana has no health
affects.
Washington lawmakers ap-
proved organic marijuana last
month in a wide-ranging can-
nabis bill. Other provisions
received more attention.
WSDA Organic Program
Manager Brenda Book said
the department probably
won’t have a certifi cation
program fully operating un-
til the 2019 growing season.
Although standard organic
farming practices apply to
marijuana, WSDA must write
a separate state rule because
marijuana is illegal under fed-
eral law.
“The only reason to devel-
op a state program for mar-
ijuana is because of the lack
of recognition on the federal
side,” she said.
WSDA’s organic-certifi ca-
tion program does not receive
federal funds, but it does op-
erate under USDA rules. As a
result, WSDA won’t be able
to label organic marijuana
“organic.”
“That would be a problem
because that’s a federally reg-
ulated term,” Book said.
The department has not
suggested an alternative word
or phrase.
“If it’s going to work for
the industry, they have to get
behind it and market it,” Book
said.
Kaminisky said coming up
with a name and then telling
consumers what it means will
be a challenge.
“Of course, it would be
nice to call it ‘organic,’” she
said. “To say ‘organic’ would
immediately resonate with
people.”
Washington ranks behind
only California in the farm-
gate value of organically
grown crops, according to
a report by the Washington
State University Center for
Sustaining Agriculture and
Natural Resources.
Besides apples and pears,
Washington leads the country
in organically grown sweet
cherries, pears, juice grapes,
sweet corn, onions, snap
beans, potatoes, green peas
and eggs, according to the
USDA National Agricultural
Statistics Service.
Win a $200
Gift Card
Share your opinion about Capital Press and CapitalPress.com
and you’ll be entered into a drawing to receive a $200 VISA gift card
LAST CHANCE!
Deadline to participate
is May 31. Visit
CapitalPress.com/
readersurvey
Capital Press is dedicated to bringing you the best in Ag
news and advertising features from across the Northwest.
To help us bring you an even better newspaper and
website, we’re conducting a short reader survey of our
subscribers and nonsubscribers. We’re inviting you to be a
part of that survey.
The contact information you
provide will only be used for the
drawing. We won’t rent or sell this
information to any outside entity.
The survey is being conducted
for research purposes only. Your
individual responses will be
kept strictly confidential and no
solicitation will occur due to your
response.
Thank you for helping us to make Capital Press and CapitalPress.com
even more valuable to the communities that we serve.
190-050517
21-4/#13