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8 CapitalPress.com June 30, 2017 Idaho Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Wheat budget: $210K for falling number research Commission aims to solve issues with five research projects By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — The Idaho Wheat Commission’s fiscal year 2018 budget is down slightly from fiscal 2017 but provides $210,000 for five projects aimed at helping growers solve the low falling number issue. The IWC’s five-member commission set the fiscal 2018 budget at $3.18 mil- lion, down 6 percent from the $3.38 million budgeted for the current fiscal year. The 2018 budget includes $1.43 million for various re- search projects. This is the first time a significant amount of money has been included for falling number research. Falling number tests mea- sure wheat quality and grow- ers get less money for test re- sults below 300. IWC Executive Direc- tor Blaine Jacobson said the smaller budget this year is due to the commission hav- ing paid its final installment toward two $1 million Uni- versity of Idaho research en- dowments. Accounting for that, the budget actually increased $100,000 and most of that ad- ditional money went toward research, he said. “Research is very vital to our industry,” said IWC Commissioner Jerry Brown, a Southeast Idaho grower. “The only way we’re going to be competitive in the world mar- ket is by spending some mon- ey on research.” In 2014 falling number problems in Eastern Idaho were caused by pre-harvest sprouting due to heavy rains. Last year they were caused by late-maturity amylase in Northern Idaho. “...We’ve got projects that are addressing both of those,” Jacobson said. “Hopefully, we can make some significant progress on this issue ... and get some solutions put togeth- er.” There’s a lot the indus- try doesn’t know or under- stand about the phenomenon, Brown said. “Low falling number is getting to be a real issue, es- pecially if you’re impacted by it,” he said. “It can be very painful ... if it happens to you. That’s an area ... we are going to continue to put some em- phasis on down the road.” More research dollars were also directed toward pest man- agement projects this year, including $48,000 for a new wireworm control project. The new budget includes $805,501 for market develop- ment. That includes $25,000 to send sample containers of soft white wheat to millers in Peru as part of a cooperative proj- ect between Idaho, Oregon and Washington to encour- age Latin American millers to blend soft white wheat with hard red wheat when making tortillas. More money was budgeted this year to host international trade teams. The commission is expecting five and possibly six teams to visit the state this year, up from three or four during an average year. Commissioners approved $833,000 for projects and programs listed under grower communication and educa- tion, including $20,000 for a digital marketing specialist to revamp the commission’s website and Facebook pages, produce video clips and de- velop digital platforms such as Twitter. The budget includes $36,000 to help UI’s Moscow breeding station purchase a new head row planter and $37,500 to help research- ers in Aberdeen purchase a GPS-controlled auto pilot so their planting and harvesting can be more precise, Jacobson said. Proposed Idaho rule results in closer wheat commission-industry working relationship By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — A proposed rule change by the Idaho Wheat Commission, which has been opposed by some elevators, has resulted in the commission working more closely with the industry. The IWC has proposed amending its enabling leg- islation to require first pur- chasers of Idaho wheat to submit the names and con- tact information of all wheat producers in the state to the commission. The commission argues this is needed to enable it to fulfill its statutory duty to communicate with, inform and educate wheat growers in Idaho. Most elevators in the state already submit that informa- tion but some don’t and they say they should be able to do that voluntarily if their grow- ers OK releasing that infor- mation. The IWC held five nego- tiated rule-making meetings last year and one of the re- sults of those discussions has been a closer working rela- tionship between the com- mission and industry. At the request of the in- dustry, the commission be- gan inviting two industry members to its regular meet- ings. That has resulted in dis- cussions with elevator rep- resentatives that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred. “I appreciate the indus- try interface we have had today,” IWC Commission- er and North Idaho wheat farmer Bill Flory said during the commission’s quarterly meeting last week. “It’s al- ways good to hear from our industry partners. I think it’s time well spent.” Ken Blakeman of CHS Primeland and BoDee Udy of J.C. Management attend- ed last week’s meeting and joined the discussion on sev- eral issues. J.C. Management Own- er Clark Johnston said Udy gained a lot of insight at the meeting. “He got to meet some people he didn’t know before and he said (the commission- ers and IWC staff) are really knowledgeable,” Johnston said. “I think it’s a good thing to have people get together and get to know each other so nobody’s the enemy.” Another suggestion that arose during last year’s nego- tiated rule-making meetings was that the IWC host a ce- real school in southwestern Idaho. The commission of- fers cereal schools in North and East Idaho, where most of the state’s wheat is pro- duced, but has never held one in southwestern Idaho. During the IWC’s regular quarterly meeting last week, commissioners approved funding for a cereal school in that part of the state starting in 2018. Sean Ellis/Capital Press Essie Fallahi, who heads the pomology program at the University of Idaho’s Parma Research and Extension Center, speaks about some of the many fruit-related research projects conducted there June 21 during the Parma center’s first all-station field day in a decade. Parma research station hosts first all-station field day in a decade By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press PARMA, Idaho — About 80 people attended the first all-station field day in a de- cade at University of Idaho’s Parma Research and Exten- sion Center June 21. Individual researchers at the southwestern Idaho agri- cultural research station have held crop-specific field days for members of industry over the last decade but the center hadn’t held an all-station tour for members of the public and industry for 10 years, said su- perintendent Jim Barbour. “We have some new fac- ulty on station now and it seemed like a good time to do this field day again,” he said. The 200-acre center focus- es on research and extension activities related to vegeta- bles, cereals, forages, hops, Sean Ellis/Capital Press mint, fruit and seed crops. Researchers presented field day participants the highlights of projects they are working on. Barbour, an entomologist, gave an overview of a project designed to help alfalfa seed growers deal with the lygus bug, one of the crop’s main production challenges, with- out also killing the bees need- ed to pollinate the crop. Lygus attack the plant at the same time bees are polli- nating it, making it difficult to kill the former without harm- ing the latter, Barbour said. “If you lose a crop because you have lygus or because you don’t have bees, it’s the same loss,” he said. “We are looking at ways to spray and chemi- cals to use to help control ly- gus without killing the bees.” Barbour also shared the lat- est results of a research project looking at ways to help hop growers control spider mites, which move rapidly and can destroy a hop crop quickly if not dealt with properly. “We have a lot of miti- cide studies going on right now looking at different modes of action so we can rotate through chemistries so we don’t run into a situation where the mites develop resis- tance to a (certain chemistry),” he said. Saad Hafez, a nematolo- gist, discussed his research aimed at finding alternatives to fumigation to manage nematodes in mint. His past research has already resulted in grower recommendations for using green manure crops such as mustard and oil seed radish as natural fumigants to control nematodes in potatoes and sugar beets. “It’s cheaper and it’s bet- ter for the soil because you’re adding that much organic matter and you don’t need to add as much fertilizer because you get natural nitrogen out of (those crops),” he said. Plant scientist Mike Thorn- ton shared the results of a just completed two-year study that showed that heavy thrips dam- age and the resulting infection with iris yellow spot virus in- creased the susceptibility of onion bulbs to decay in stor- age. While the exact reason for the increase in decay is un- known, it appears to be asso- ciated with premature death of the plant before the necks soften and fall over naturally, Thornton told Capital Press in an email. Thornton is testing several new fungicide formulations this year to see if they can re- duce the incidence of decay. Tour offers update on research progress CHS Primeland General Manager Ken Blakeman, second from left, participates in the Idaho Wheat Commission’s quarterly meeting June 6 in Boise. A proposed rule change by the IWC has resulted in a closer working relationship between the com- mission and industry. By CAROL RYAN DUMAS ROP-40-42-4/#17 Capital Press KIMBERLY, Idaho — About 120 growers, field men, chemical company represen- tatives and researchers turned out for the recent University of Idaho Snake River Pest Management Research tour at the Kimberley Research and Extension Center. The weather was hot and so were the topics, ranging from weed-control trials, in- sect management studies and irrigation research. Most of the results of this year’s trials will be shared lat- er this summer, but research- ers wanted to update industry members on what’s taking place at the research center this season. Don Morishita, UI weed scientist and superintendent of the research center, explained trials on broadleaf weed, wild oat and foxtail control in spring wheat comparing dif- ferent herbicides. So far, broadleaf weed con- trol looks “pretty darn good” although kochia control with Quelex is not as good as ex- pected. Combining it with an adjuvant is showing a big ben- efit, however, he said. Some differences are being seen in wild oat control, with a Rimfire Max mix visually looking the best at this point, but the plots didn’t have a lot of wild oat pressure this year, he said. Another study is looking at the potential hormetic effects of four herbicides on sugar beets. The trials are focused on the beneficial effects of low doses of herbicides that would be toxic at higher doses. As sugar beet yields con- tinue to increase, sugar facto- ries are about to hit the amount of biomass they can handle. The trials are looking at the use of low doses of herbicide to increase sugar content with- out adding biomass. “We hope we can improve sugar yield more than the bio- mass or the roots,” Morishita said. With no new herbicides for sugar beets coming down the pike in the near future, another research project is looking at sugar beet tolerance to etho- fumesate and herbicides not registered for sugar beets. In bean research, trials are continuing on the effects of adjuvants on Basagran, as well as weed control in dry beans using narrow rows, different seeding rates and different till- age methods. Researchers are also looking at the effects of tillage and irrigation on gar- den seed bean production and herbicide tolerance in two gar- den seed bean varieties. Research is also continuing on hairy vetch control in cov- er crops, and new research is looking at safflower tolerance to sulfentrazone. The tour also highlighted insect-management studies, including the timing and de- velopment of zebra chip in- fection in potatoes; evaluation of potato psyllid insecticides; and potato psyllid behavioral response to resistant potato germplasm. Insect studies are also being done on the response of sugar beet germplasm to sugar beet root maggots and the effects of aphids on sugar beets. Wireworm resistance and preference in crops and the use of trap crops and bio- logic controls are also being studied. Research continues on fi- nal irrigation timing and the effects of polymers in sugar beets and potatoes, as well as the effects of irrigation with different irrigation methods and rates, different tillage methods and the use of cover crops in dry beans.
