DOW-DUPONT DEAL NOT NECESSARILY HARBINGER OF TRUMP ANTITRUST STRATEGY PAGE 7
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 26
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Capital Press fi le photo
The EPA’s announcement it intends to
rescind the Waters of the U.S. rule and
take another crack at defi ning waters
of the U.S. under the Clean Water
Act drew cheers Tuesday from farm
organizations.
HEMP
SWEEPSTAKES
Washington farmers join resurgent
eff ort to grow a crop whose legality is
complex and economics are unclear
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
M
Hemp grows
in an Oregon fi eld.
“Oh, it’s a dance,
and I hate it.
We’re still just
stumbling
along.”
COLLEEN KEAHEY
Executive director of
the Hemp Industries
Association
Area in
detail
28
Ephrata
Photos by Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Farmer Shane Palmer jumps down from a seed
planter as he prepares to put in hemp June 6
near Moses Lake, Wash. The farm became the
fi rst in Washington to lawfully plant hemp.
COLU
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Turn to HEMP, Page 12
A
26
BA
SIN
Approximate
site of hemp
planting
90
Potholes
Res.
that hemp provides cover for marijuana. Even
during World War II, as the USDA promoted
production for such military uses as parachutes
and shoelaces for combat boots, hemp farmers
had to register with the federal government.
MBI
Moses
Lake
COLUMBIA
N.W.R.
Othello
26
24
17
bia
lum
Co
oses Lake farmer Shane Palm-
er drove a seed drill across a
Central Washington fi eld ear-
lier this month and planted
hemp, marking the state’s entry into the coun-
try’s resurgent hemp era.
Palmer said he wanted to diversify his crop
line-up and try something new, and that he ex-
pects the hemp in the fall to be waist to chest
high.
His business partner, Cory Sharp, is already
in it up to his neck. He founded a business,
HempLogic, and contracted with farmers to
plant 115 acres, a high-stakes commercial
plunge into what’s ostensibly a “research pro-
gram.”
Sharp has spent the past year researching,
and coping, with the crop’s legal complexities
and uncertain economics. The plants are grow-
ing, but he still needs to fi nd buyers.
“It can be disheartening,” he said. “We’re
pioneering something we don’t have a home
for.”
Generations of American farmers once
grew hemp for paper, textiles and other in-
dustrial uses. But beginning in the 1930s,
federal policy has been based on the premise
Farm groups
cheer EPA
move to roll
back WOTUS
395
260
U.S.D.E.
R
HANFORD ive
r
SITE
N
Capital Press graphic
Hemp consultant and advocate Joy
Beckerman watches hemp being planted in a
fi eld near Moses Lake in Central Washington.
A state senator says Beckerman made skeptical
legislators “aware of what it’s all about.”
Controversial rule meant
to defi ne waters of U.S.
under Clean Water Act
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
EPA and the Army Corps of En-
gineers said on Tuesday they are
proposing a rule to rescind the 2015
Clean Water Rule meant to defi ne
waters of the United States that are
regulated under the Clean Water Act.
The rule kicked up a storm of
controversy, with the agricultural
community, states and businesses
contending it greatly expands federal
regulatory authority in the Clean Wa-
ter Act in violation of congressional
intent.
Legal challenges to the rule re-
sulted in a stay of its implementation
by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals in October 2015. In Febru-
ary, President Trump issued an exec-
utive order for a review of the rule.
On Tuesday, EPA announced
that the agency, along with the De-
partment of the Army and the Army
Corps of Engineers, intends to re-
scind the rule, recodify the regulato-
ry text in place prior to the rule and
commence rulemaking to reevaluate
and revise the defi nition of waters of
the U.S.
Reaction from agricultural groups
was swift.
“Farmers and ranchers across this
country are cheering EPA’s proposal
today to ditch its fl awed waters of the
U.S. rule,” Zippy Duvall, American
Farm Bureau Federation president,
said in a statement.
Farmers and ranchers know the
importance of clean water and work
hard every day to protect natural re-
sources, he said.
“But this rule was never really
about clean water. It was a federal
land grab designed to put a straight-
jacket on farming and private busi-
ness across the nation,” he said.
EPA’s announcement shows EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt recogniz-
es the rule for what it is — “an illegal
and dangerous mistake that needs to
be corrected,” he said.
The National Association of
Wheat Growers applauded EPA for
rescinding the rule.
Turn to EPA, Page 12
County, Azure Farms reach agreement on weed control
Issue riled up rural Oregon county, brought unwanted attention on social media
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Sherman County, Ore., commis-
sioners and Azure Farms have agreed
to a weed control plan that may settle
a dispute that pitted the organic opera-
tion and its supporters against conven-
tional wheat growers who don’t want
weeds spreading into their crops.
1426 Front St.
Fort Benton, MT 59442
406-622-3803
www.fbrealty.com
The farm, near Moro in the
north-central part of the state, agreed
to control weeds, with “control” de-
fi ned as “little or no noxious weed
seed production that would affect
neighboring fi elds” and spread by the
wind. Conventional farmers are chief-
ly concerned about seeds from Rush
Skeleton, Canada thistle, White top,
Diffuse napweed and Morning Glory,
or Bindweed.
The agreement allows Azure Farms
to use any method it sees fi t, while the
county’s weed district staff has the
right to monitor Azure’s fi elds, pas-
tures and range ground for compli-
ance. County employees can access
the fi elds by permission and appoint-
TWO BLAINE COUNTY FARMS/RANCHES
1,360 ACRES (+/-) TOTAL - WEST & EAST OF HARLEM , MT
The East Unit- Approx. 860 acres 3 miles east of Harlem:
Includes approx. 93 acres pivot sprinkler, 160 acres gated-
pipe flood irrigation, 213 acres flood irrigated (147-acre
pivot sprinkler possible), and 394 acres pasture. $1,170,000.
The West unit (Homeplace) - Approx. 499 acres 7 miles west
of Harlem: Includes approx. 250 acres under pivot – 2
sprinklers, 130 ac. flood irrigation, 115 acres grass/pasture
along the Milk River, with home & shop & barn/corrals.
$1,080,000.
For details, call Fort Benton Realty LLP /Mark Pyrak, Broker
406-788-9280 or Shane Ophus, Sales Broker 406-788-6662
ment only, and must be accompanied
by Azure Farms staff, according to the
agreement.
If a weed patch is in more than
50 percent fl ower production, Azure
Farms will have seven days or a “mu-
tually agreed upon reasonable amount
of time” to take action. If it doesn’t,
Sherman County can spot-spray the
weeds and mark the area in hopes the
Turn to CONTROL, Page 12
IRRIGATED HAY FARM: 208 acres
located 5 miles E of Harlem, MT.
There’s 153 acres of flood irrigated
hay, a newer & very nice 5-bedroom
home, 30’x60’ heated shop, storage
shed - tack room, and older set of
corrals. Includes some of Seller’s
farm equipment. Good Pheasant
hunting area. Priced at appraised
value of $571,000.
Call Shane Ophus, Broker & Listing
Agent, for details at 788-6662.
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