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CapitalPress.com
July 7, 2017
Idaho
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Lamb Weston launches ‘Idaho Grown’ frozen potato line
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
EAGLE, Idaho — A major manu-
facturer of frozen potato products has
launched a product line made exclu-
sively with spuds grown in Idaho.
Lamb Weston’s new Grown in
Idaho brand of frozen potato products
will include seven potato varieties
— crispy potato puffs, super crispy
crinkle-cut fries, hand-cut style fries,
thick-cut hash browns, super crispy
steak-cut fries, crispy hash brown dic-
es and super crispy shoestring fries.
The Grown in Idaho label is trade-
marked by the Idaho Potato Commis-
sion but offered to any food manufac-
turer willing to source and promote
only Idaho potatoes for a product line.
IPC President and CEO Frank
Muir said he pitched the concept
several years ago to all of the frozen
processors and has been working ever
since to get one of them to adopt it.
“This is a pretty signifi cant mes-
sage to our growers about the impor-
tance Lamb Weston has in regards to
the Idaho brand,” Muir said. “They
have done their research, and clearly
there’s a strong message that Lamb
Weston is committed to Idaho potato
farmers and the Idaho brand.”
Matt Cardon, senior brand manag-
er with Lamb Weston, said the Winco
supermarket carries the product lo-
cally, and it’s also available through
other retailers nationwide, including
Jewel in the Chicago area.
Cardon said Grown in Idaho
has been one of the most successful
launches in the company’s history,
garnering “tremendous” acceptance
from retailers.
“We anticipate distribution to
grow for the next six months such that
most, if not all, major retailers will be
carrying the new line by the end of
October,” Cardon said.
Lamb Weston will manufacture
the product at its Twin Falls plant us-
ing existing production capacity, ac-
cording to the IPC.
“Future line extensions and new
products are part of our growth plan,”
Cardon said.
Cardon believes using the Idaho
brand provides transparency about
the source of the ingredients and lends
the products a premium reputation.
Courtesy Idaho Potato Commission
Lamb Weston has launched a Grown in Idaho brand of frozen potato products in
partnership with the Idaho Potato Commission.
SIPCO
hires new
executive
director
Cattlemen get update
on traceability program
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
CALDWELL,
Ida-
ho — The Southern Idaho
Potato Cooperative’s new
executive director, Chuck
Stadick, is a veteran at ne-
gotiating frozen potato con-
tracts.
However, he previous-
ly sat opposite growers at
the table, working as raw
product procurement direc-
tor with a major processor,
J.R. Simplot Co., until his
retirement in 2009.
Now that he’s serving
Idaho farmers who raise
spuds for processing, Sta-
dick said he’s emphasizing
improved communication
with organizations repre-
senting Washington and
Oregon growers in negoti-
ations. He’s also started a
dialogue with past contacts
from fast food restaurant
chains, hoping the restau-
rant industry and his grow-
ers will develop a better un-
derstanding of each other
and their needs.
SIPCO’s previous ex-
ecutive director, Dan Har-
graves, of Pocatello, in-
tends to remain with the
organization,
crunching
numbers that will help Sta-
dick in his negotiations.
Stadick joined SIPCO in
time to aid Hargraves in
negotiations with Lamb
Weston and McCain Fro-
zen Foods.
A chief concern for Sta-
dick is the roughly 7 per-
cent drop in processed con-
tract prices paid to growers
during the past few years.
This season’s contract con-
tinued the decline, cutting
grower payments by 2.5 to
3 percent, depending on the
contract and the variety.
China, where U.S. beef had
been banned since 2003. Be-
fore the ban, the U.S. supplied
JACKPOT, Nev. — Beef 70 percent of China’s beef im-
producers during a recent ports. Since that time, China
meeting got an overview has emerged as a major beef
of USDA’s animal disease buyer, importing $2.5 billion
traceability program and the worth of beef in 2016, he said.
impact renewed trade with
“There is huge opportu-
China will have.
nity in China — huge — but
Idaho State Veterinarian there are a lot of hoops to
Bill Barton told Idaho Cat- jump through,” he said.
The export verifi cation
tle Association members the
program requires that all beef program is based on pro-
cattle 18 months and older gram compliant tags (PCT)
possess offi cial individual that have to be applied under
identifi cation and be accom- USDA’s offi cial program.
panied by a certifi cate of PCT is a one-time, tamper ev-
veterinary inspection when ident tag. The certifying com-
pany must control their use.
crossing state lines.
If the tag is lost, secondary
Agreements between Ida-
ho and surrounding states identifi cation must be cross
allow the use of common referenced for a new tag.
That would include
brands as identifi ca-
ranch specifi c tags, but
tion. The certifi cate of
brands will not qualify
veterinary inspection,
as they’re considered
however, must note
group ID, he said.
that the animals have
“Exceptions may
individual identifi ca-
be granted, but I
tion although it doesn’t
have to list them indi- Bill Barton wouldn’t rely on that,”
he said.
vidually, Barton said.
All records of the animals
All dairy cattle regardless
of age have to possess iden- processed for export to China
tifi cation, and those must be must be retained for one year
listed individually in the cer- beyond the date of export.
tifi cate of veterinary inspec- That means cow-calf produc-
ers have to keep records for
tion.
In recent listening session three years after the birth of
to determine how the program the calf. Cattle have to be ac-
is going, USDA made it clear companied by documentation
it currently has no intention when they are shipped to an
of requiring identifi cation for approved slaughter plant, he
beef cattle under the age of 18 said.
Eligible beef products
months, he said.
“That will probably occur must be derived from cattle
sometime in the future, how- less than 30 months of age.
Eligible cattle must be free
ever,” he said.
A recent producer survey of growth promotants and
on traceability by a trade pub- can either be born, raised and
lication shows “the industry is slaughtered in the U.S. or
buying into the need to have imported from Canada and
individual animal ID,” he Mexico for slaughter in the
U.S.
said.
Barton said there could be
As state veterinarian, he’s
glad to see that. Without in- potential problems regarding
dividual identifi cation, the cattle from Canada and Mex-
traceability process is much ico if tags are lost and poten-
more diffi cult when an inci- tial problems if U.S. beef is
commingled with beef from
dent occurs, he said.
Traceability is a big issue other sources once it arrives
in renewed beef trade with in China.
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Courtesy Valli-Hi Angus Ranch
Hi-Gest 660 alfalfa, developed to have low levels of lignin, is harvested at Valli-Hi Angus Ranch in
Caldwell, Idaho.
Experts see promise in expanding
production of low-lignin alfalfa
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
CALDWELL, Idaho — Bill
Jenkins had to delay his fi rst
alfalfa cutting by nearly two
weeks this season due to rain,
and consequently, much of his
crop didn’t make dairy grade.
However, the Caldwell
farmer and rancher said the 115
acres of hay he’d planted in
Hi-Gest 660 — a new variety
bred by Alforex Seeds to have
lower levels of an indigestible
fi ber called lignin — tested well
above minimum dairy quality
standards despite the late har-
vest.
Forage industry experts pre-
dict new low-lignin varieties
will be the next big craze in the
industry, boosting hay quality
and providing growers with a
wider window to harvest and
still make dairy grade. Lignin,
a component of cell walls that
lends rigidity to plants but lim-
its digestibility of fi ber, com-
prises about 7 percent of alfalfa.
Alfalfa is nearly a quarter fi ber,
so gains in fi ber digestibility
can have a major impact on nu-
trition.
Alforex, a division of Dow
Agrisciences, has released
several conventionally bred
Hi-Gest varieties since 2014
— claiming they reduce lignin
by 7 to 10 percent — and re-
cently received its fi rst variety
patent for Hi-Gest 660 about
a month ago. The other player
in the low-lignin market, For-
age Genetics International, has
released HarvXtra, a variety
developed with biotechnology
with resistance to glyphosate
herbicide and 12 to 20 percent
less lignin.
Jenkins, with Valli-Hi An-
gus Ranch, said the Hi-Gest
seed costs about $3 extra per
pound, but it saves him roughly
$55 per ton when the reduced
lignin means the difference be-
tween feeder and dairy grade.
Last year, four out of his fi ve
Hi-Gest cuttings were dairy
quality.
“I’ve been impressed with
it,” Jenkins said.
Don Miller, director of
product development with Al-
forex, said his product’s lignin
reduction equates to roughly 2
pounds of extra milk per ton of
forage.
“For years we looked at im-
proving disease resistance and
yields, and now we’re trying to
improve alfalfa for forage qual-
ity,” Miller said. “I think here
in the next few years you’ll see
more and more low-lignin vari-
eties.”
FGI has a pending lawsuit
against Alforex in U.S. Dis-
trict Court, alleging marketing
claims about its low-lignin lines
are exaggerated and that they’re
“only comparable to other con-
ventional alfalfa varieties al-
ready on the market.”
Miller said 10,000 acres of
Hi-Gest alfalfa were planted in
the year following its release.
Neither Alforex nor FGI had
acreage estimates for 2017 but
both companies say sales are up
sharply.
HarvXtra, developed over
the course of 15 years, was re-
leased for limited commercial
availability in 2016 and was
made available throughout the
U.S. in January.
“Farmers can maintain a
normal harvest schedule and
achieve higher forage quality
than conventional varieties, or
they can delay harvest for seven
to 10 days for higher yield po-
tential without sacrifi cing quali-
ty,” told Capital Press via email.
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