Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current, June 30, 2017, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextJune 30, 2017 CapitalPress.com 3 Farmers, ODA clear air for eclipse viewers Growers agree not to burn fi elds around the eclipse By ALIYA HALL Capital Press With hundreds of thou- sands of eclipse watchers con- verging on Oregon’s Willa- mette Valley on Aug. 21, grass seed growers and the state De- partment of Agriculture have agreed to do their part in keep- ing the air clear. To keep from obscuring the view of the rare phenomenon and avoid possible impacts on trafﬁ c, farmers have agreed not to burn their ﬁ elds either the weekend before the eclipse or on Monday, Aug. 21, said John Byers, manager of the Oregon Department of Agriculture Smoke Management Program. Burning is also “not ex- pected to be occurring on Tuesday, Aug. 22,” Byers said in an email. “We will monitor burning conditions on the 22nd; it will be an option, but mon- itored closely to make sure any trafﬁ c issues won’t be a problem,” said Roger Beyer, executive director of Oregon Seed Council. The decision was reached at the most recent meeting between the Seed Council and ODA smoke management of- ﬁ cials. According to Beyer, there was unanimous agreement be- tween the growers and ODA not to burn. Field burning helps farm- ers rid their ﬁ elds of weeds, pests and debris without using chemicals. It is allowed only in certain parts of the valley, mainly in the eastern hills of Farmers won’t burn during eclipse Willamette Valley farmers that normally do so have agreed not to burn their fields during the total solar eclipse. About 1 million visitors are expected statewide for the event, according to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Pendleton La Grande Newport Prairie City Ontario Eugene Salem, Oregon: totality starts at 10:17 a.m. and lasts 1 min., 54 sec. Path of total eclipse, August 21, 2017 Sources: www.eclipse2017.org; www.greatamericaneclipse.com Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Marion County. Some is also allowed in Clackamas and Linn counties, according to a state Department of Envi- ronmental Quality fact sheet. Farmers must obtain a permit from ODA to burn their ﬁ elds. The no-burn decision is good news for Daniel Ada- mo, an Oregon astrodynamics consultant who initially had concerns about how the ﬁ eld burning might obscure the view of the eclipse from the valley. “Although the sun will be about 40 degrees above the east-southeast horizon during total eclipse, its ex- tended atmosphere can easily be masked from view by thin clouds, smoke from forest ﬁ res or agricultural activity,” Adamo said. “Particularly at risk from smoke obscuration are lower elevations such as the Willamette Valley ﬂ oor.” Oregonians will have the ﬁ rst opportunity to witness the event because the path of the eclipse is expected to run from west to east and about 62 miles wide through Salem and Albany. A total eclipse won’t hap- pen again in this region for 601 years. According to Adamo, the eclipse will start at 10:17 a.m. Paciﬁ c time at the Oregon Coast. Its path will cross a huge swath of the continental U.S. The eclipse will attract groups from Japan, Germany and Australia in addition to watchers from neighboring states, according to Maricela Guerrero, Travel Salem des- tination development man- ager. Hotels are at 95 percent capacity for the weekend, she said. While the exact number of people expected to visit for the eclipse is unknown, Guer- rero said that the Oregon Mu- seum of Science and Industry is estimating about 1 million statewide, increasing the state’s population by about 25 percent. U.S. apple crop UI reports light potato psyllid pressure forecast up slightly By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press The ﬁ rst forecast of this fall’s U.S. apple crop is up just 2 percent from the 2016 crop which should be man- ageable, according to a top Michigan apple producer. Total U.S. fresh and processed production was estimated at 255.6 million, 42-pound boxes at the Pre- mier Apple Cooperative meeting in Syracuse, N.Y., June 27. The USDA adjusted ﬁ g- ure for 2016 is 249.7 mil- lion boxes and the large 2014 crop was 272.2 million boxes while the record was 277.3 million in 1998. “Overall this crop is pret- ty manageable. If our size proﬁ les match up with what customers want, it will be manageable,” said Don Ar- mock, president of Riveridge Produce, Sparta, Mich., who attended the New York meet- ing. Last year, Washington state, the national leader, had larger fruit than it likes to have while Michigan and New York had smaller fruit than they like, Armock said. Large fruit and a strong dollar compared with for- eign currency held down Washington apples exports, he said. Quality, largely driven by weather, is a big unknown factor, at this point, in mar- keting the 2017 crop, he said. Mark Seetin, director of regulatory and industry affairs of the U.S. Apple Association, Vienna, Va., said more than 140 indus- try members from all major apple producing regions of the country discussed 2017 crop prospects at the Pre- mier meeting. It’s the ﬁ rst national estimate that will be updated at U.S. Apple Asso- ciation’s Outlook conference in Chicago, Aug. 24-25. The Michigan Frozen Food Packers Association usually conducts its annual Fruit Crop Guesstimate prior to the Premier meeting but did not do so this year. The Washington State Tree Fruit Association will forecast the Washington crop in early August. Of the 255.6 million box Premier estimate: Washing- Dan Wheat/Capital Press A crew prunes Kanzi apple trees in Mountain View Orchard, East Wenatchee, Wash., May 25. The 2017 na- tional apple crop is estimated up 2 percent from 2016. ton is 165 million, up 5 per- cent; New York, 29 million, up 13.7 percent; Michigan, 20 million, down 30 percent; Pennsylvania, 12 million, up 2.9 percent; California, 5.5 million, up 10 percent; and Virginia, 5.2 million, up 19.2 percent. Oregon is 4.2 million, up 6.9 percent and Idaho is 1.5 million, up 5 percent. USDA adjusted, but not ﬁ nal, ﬁ gures for 2016, show Michigan surpassing New York for the ﬁ rst time for the No. 2 spot at 28.5 million boxes compared with New York’s 25.5 million. However, Armock said neither state had a full crop in 2016 and if they did, New York would still lead. Neither state will have full crops in 2017, he said, as Western New York is down 25 percent from poor polli- nation. May 8 and 9 frosts in Michigan cut the crop in half in the southern part of the state along Lake Michigan, he said. The northern region along the lake is light to full and the vast majority of the fresh crop in the Ridge coun- try to Belding is 75 to 80 per- cent of full, he said. “Damage is variety and location speciﬁ c with Gala and Honeycrisp in relatively good shape and McIntosh, Jonagold and Fuji taking harder hits,” Armock said. There has been signiﬁ cant frost damage to the 2017 ap- ple crop in Europe, particu- larly Poland and Italy which are leading apple exporters, Armock said. That makes the U.S. more competitive in exports to the Middle East, he said. KIMBERLY, Idaho — Pressure from the tiny, winged insects that spread zebra chip disease in potatoes has been light this season, embolden- ing some Idaho farmers to scale back on their pesticide programs. Zebra chip, which is caused by the Liberibacter bacterium and spread by po- tato psyllids, ﬁ rst arrived in the Paciﬁ c Northwest in 2011. The disease creates bands in tuber ﬂ esh that darken during frying, rendering spuds un- marketable. University of Idaho Exten- sion entomologist Erik Wen- ninger, who runs an extensive ﬁ eld monitoring program to gauge psyllid populations, said the ﬁ rst psyllid of this season was captured in late May — about the same tim- ing as last season. However, a single psyllid, captured at UI’s Kimberly Research and Extension Center, has tested positive for Liberibacter this season. Furthermore, Wenninger said, the scouting network, which includes yellow sticky traps surrounding 96 potato ﬁ elds throughout the state, has captured ﬁ ve to seven psyllids per week, compared with more than 50 psyllids per week last season. Wenninger said zebra chip was found in a few ﬁ elds last season, but the incidence of the disease was relatively low, especially given the high psyllid densities. “We had a lot more psyl- lids at this time last year,” said Wenninger, who has also noticed lighter pressure from Submitted by Oregon State University Potato psyllids, like the insect pictured above, can spread the Liberibacter bacterium that causes ze- bra chip disease in potatoes. Some Idaho farmers are saving a bit of money on insecticidal sprays due to light potato psyllid pressure. aphids and Colorado potato beetles. Wilder grower Doug Gross estimates he spent $230 per acre spraying insecticides to protect his crops last sea- son. Based on the light pres- sure from both psyllids and aphids this season, he’s al- ready skipped two insecticidal sprays that he’d made by this time last season. “As a cost-saving measure, we are cutting back our insec- ticide program,” Gross said. “We will still start spraying at some point in time when we reach a threshold, especially if we see any (Liberibacter) positive psyllids.” Declo grower Mark Dar- rington acknowledges psyl- lid pressure is down, but he’s continued with his usual spraying program, believing it would be too risky to scale back. Darrington said early season sprays are more af- fordable because they can be mixed in the same tank as fun- gicides, he can use chemicals that are prohibited as harvest approaches and he doesn’t have to switch to products that might cost more to avoid chemical resistance. “Later in the season, if they’re not ﬁ nding enough hot psyllids, I won’t make ad- ditional sprays of the more ex- pensive products,” Darrington said. Jeff Miller, with Ru- pert-based Miller Research, recently captured a psyllid on a sticky trap near a research ﬁ eld, but it didn’t test posi- tive for zebra chip. He’s pro- longed spraying insecticides on ﬁ elds in which he used an insecticidal seed treatment at planting. “I think you would be wise to wait (on applying insecti- cides), and part of that is driv- en by the economy,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s time to worry about zebra chip just yet. Keep watching the results (of the monitoring program) and see what we ﬁ nd.” Grass Expertise. Over 40 Years Experience LET’S TALK! NEW ITEMS! 1 1 / 2 QT. BASKETS and (3) PINT TRAYS 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR Call for Pricing. Subject to stock on hand. Delivery Available GREENWAY SEEDS Caldwell, Idaho • Alan Greenway, Seedsman Cell: 298-259-9159 • MSG: 298-454-8342 Alan Greenway, Seedsman SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL Delivery of Daily Capital Press email newsletter begins July 5 NOVEMBER 14, 15 and 16, 2017 20,000 Sq. Ft. 26-3/#5 Beginning July 5, subscribers will be able to have the complete daily output of Capital Press reporters and news services delivered directly to their inboxes Monday through Friday. Each day subscribers will receive a specially curated email newsletter delivering timely reports on issues im- portant to farmers, ranchers and agribusiness owners in the Paciﬁ c Northwest. The newsletter will also provide easy access to Marketplace, the Capital Press ag classi- ﬁ ed ad portal. Subscribers will continue to receive the print edition delivered weekly by the post ofﬁ ce. To receive the Daily Capital Press, subscribers who have not already activated their digital account should go to capitalpress.com/cp/activate. Or, subscribers who need assistance can access this exclusive beneﬁ t by calling 800-882-6789. 26-3/#17 Capital Press 26-1\#7 By DAN WHEAT