July 7, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
House members urge Trump to
renegotiate Columbia River Treaty
Capital Press
Associated Press File
An American flag flies near the Grand Coulee Dam on the Colum-
bia River in Washington state. Members of the U.S. House from
Washington and Oregon have sent a letter to the Trump adminis-
tration urging it to commence renegotiation of the Columbia River
Treaty with Canada.
Seven members of the U.S.
House from Washington state
and Oregon have sent a let-
ter to the White House urging
President Donald Trump to be-
gin renegotiating the Columbia
River Treaty as soon as possi-
ble.
The 1964 treaty obligates
the U.S. to send hydropower
to Canada, commonly known
as the Canadian Entitlement,
which is borne by 6.4 million
Northwest electrical custom-
ers at a cost of $250 million
to $350 million annually, the
members of Congress wrote in
their June 21 letter.
“Renegotiating the Co-
lumbia River Treaty has an
enormous impact on jobs, hy-
dropower, water storage, flood
control and the environment in
the Pacific Northwest,” Rep.
Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., said.
“It’s important to begin formal
negotiations as soon as possi-
ble to address certain inequities
such as the Canadian Entitle-
ment as well as ensure we have
Researchers: Testing helps farmers understand soil
Soil pH a concern in
high rainfall areas
Capital Press
Capital Press
U.S. Wheat
seminar builds
relationships
with buyers
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
USDA Agricultural Research Service soil scientist David Huggins talks about assessing soil health
in a pit during a field day June 28 on Washington State University’s Wilke Research and Extension
Farm in Davenport, Wash.
because it’s an issue that will
not go away,” Huggins said.
“We’ll have to address it, even
in the drier areas eventually.”
Farmers and field men ex-
press interest about soil more
often, Aaron Esser, director
of Washington State Univer-
sity’s Adams County Exten-
sion, said.
“We understand a lot more
about wheat, plants, disease,
stripe rust and management,
but we really don’t know a
lot about the soil,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of the agro-
nomic parts figured out. Now
let’s start looking at what are
some things in the soil we
can do to help enhance plant
growth and long-term sustain-
ability.”
Several quick soil tests
were developed elsewhere
in the country to measure bi-
ological activity and health,
Huggins said. He’s adapting
the tests for the Pacific North-
west.
The field day was at the
Wilke Research and Exten-
sion Farm in Davenport,
Wash.
dinated system operations, the
representatives wrote.
Certain provisions related
to flood control automatical-
ly expire in 2024 while most
portions, including the Cana-
dian Entitlement, continue in-
definitely without action, they
wrote.
Others signing the letter
were Reps. Cathy McMorris
Rodgers, R-Wash.; Peter De-
Fazio, D-Ore.; Greg Walden,
R-Ore.; Jaime Herrera Beutler,
R-Wash.; and Dave Reichert,
R-Wash.
Foodmakers argue Washington’s
$18 million fine unconstitutional
By DON JENKINS
By MATTHEW WEAVER
DAVENPORT, Wash. —
No-till farming increases soil
organic matter, and acidifica-
tion on the surface. Tillage de-
pletes organic matter and may
impact nutrients.
“Each practice tends to
have different results, trade-
offs and problems,” Dave
Huggins, a USDA Agricul-
tural Research Service soil
scientist, said.
Testing soil will help farm-
ers understand those trade-
offs and what to do about
them, he said.
“That’s part of what these
tests are for — to diagnose
what’s going on and hopeful-
ly over time to provide more
interpretation about what we
should be doing about it.”
Soil pH is becoming more
of a concern in some loca-
tions, he said. Low pH im-
pacts yields in higher rainfall
zones, while drier areas that
have a higher natural pH are
also seeing acidification, but
not to the same degree.
“We need to be tracking
what’s going on with soil pH,
an updated and equitable treat-
ing for the 21st Century.”
Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.,
said the treaty has fostered im-
portant cooperation for more
than 50 years but the update is
long overdue.
The letter urges Trump to
use a “Notice of Termination
of the Power Provisions” if
necessary to prompt Canada
into negotiations.
Some estimates show Can-
ada receives almost 10 times
the benefits the U.S. Pacific
Northwest receives from coor-
The packaged food and
beverage industry has detailed
its claim that a record $18 mil-
lion fine levied by a judge in
Washington state for campaign
violations is unconstitutionally
excessive.
The Grocery Manufacturers
Association argues the penalty
is out of line with precedent and
too harsh for what was at worst
an inadvertent violation of a
vague state law, according to a
brief filed June 21 in the Court
of Appeals in Tacoma, Wash.
The penalty stemmed from
the $11 million that GMA
spent in 2013 to help defeat an
initiative that would have re-
quired labels on products with
genetically modified ingredi-
ents. Thurston County Superior
Court Judge Anne Hirsch ruled
last year that GMA intentional-
ly broke the law by concealing
the identities of the brand-name
companies that contributed to
GMA’s political fund.
According to Hirsch, the
penalty was justified because
sophisticated and experienced
GMA executives schemed to
shield the sources of millions
of dollars spent to influence an
election.
GMA, which argued that
reporting itself as the donor
should have satisfied state law,
is appealing the conviction and
fine.
“There was no evidence
that GMA’s failure to timely
disclose its members’ identi-
ties and contributions misled
any voter,” GMA argues. “Yet
the trial court punished GMA
with an $18 million fine — the
largest disclosure penalty ever
imposed in this country.”
The previous record was a
$3.8 million fine in 2006 by the
Federal Elections Commission
against the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corp., commonly
known as Freddie Mac.
GMA claims the judgment
violates the Constitution’s
Eighth Amendment, which pro-
hibits excessive fines.
The attorney general’s
office has yet to respond to
GMA’s appeal. The office had
no comment Wednesday on
GMA’s opening brief.
GMA set up a political fund
in 2013 to oppose GMO-label-
ing efforts across the country.
From the fund, GMA contrib-
uted to the “No on Initiative
522” campaign in Washington
under its own name. GMA says
it thought it was satisfying state
disclosure laws.
John Deere Dealers
See one of these dealers for a demonstration
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A Washington grain com-
missioner traveled halfway
around the world recently to
take part in a seminar promot-
ing wheat to Asian buyers.
Dana Herron, a member of
the Washington Grain Com-
mission, recently spoke at a
U.S. Wheat Associates pro-
curement seminar in Bangkok,
Thailand.
He represents Benton,
Franklin, Kittitas, Klickitat
and Yakima counties, and co-
owns Tri-State Seed Co., in
Connell, Wash.
The seminar provided cus-
tomers with information about
the Federal Grain Inspection
Service system and how it ben-
efits overseas buyers.
“That helps (the buyer) get
exactly the flour he wants for
his mill or bakery,” Herron
said.
Herron said he wanted to
“connect the dots” along the
wheat quality chain — from
the wheat breeder, the seed
dealer, the farmer, the grain
buyer and the exporter —
“how we identify and maintain
the integrity of our wheat qual-
ity,” he said.
Quality control represen-
tatives and buyers from mills
in Thailand, the Philippines,
Vietnam and Indonesia attend-
ed the seminar. Most of them
were “brand spanking new” to
the U.S. Wheat message, Her-
ron said.
“One of the things we need
to remember is that Indonesian
market is so large — the people
are at their peak earning years,
they have disposable income,
they like our product,” he said.
“If they would just buy (a blend
of) 5 percent club wheat for
their products, we would be out
of club wheat for many years.
Indonesia is a huge market and
we need to spend more time
and money there.”
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