4
CapitalPress.com
July 21, 2017
Wheat industry voices goals for NAFTA talks
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
U.S. wheat growers are urging
the Trump administration to main-
tain the current advantages of the
North American Free Trade Agree-
ment and level the playing field
with Canada and Mexico in other
areas.
The Trump administration an-
nounced the objectives for NAFTA
renegotiations July 17.
“After months of unknown, it
is refreshing to see the proposed
NAFTA objectives identify ag-
riculture as one of the sectors
that have benefited from the de-
cades-old trade deal, something we
have reiterated since the beginning
of renegotiation rumors,” said Da-
vid Schemm, president of the Na-
tional Association of Wheat Grow-
ers and a Sandy Springs, Kan.,
wheat farmer.
Trump’s objectives also identify
agriculture as an area to maintain
and improve market access and
maintain duty-free market access,
Schemm said.
“This is crucial for wheat
growers that have seen significant
gain in the Mexican market since
NAFTA was implemented and the
tariff barriers lifted,” he said.
Mexico was the No. 1 export
market for U.S. wheat farmers last
year, and is consistently one of the
top five markets for the industry.
“Our priority is not to do any
harm to the relationships and the
current situation,” said Steve Mer-
cer, vice president of communica-
tions for U.S. Wheat Associates.
The renegotiation provides a
opportunity for the U.S. to work
with Canada on moving wheat
across borders, Mercer said.
“Wheat moves both ways, but
Canadian wheat is rated as if it
were produced in the United States
and put into the system,” Mercer
said. “Our wheat sold at an eleva-
tor in Canada has to be within their
variety registration and is rated as
a feed wheat. There’s no incentive
for our folks to sell at a local ele-
vator across the board, whereas the
Canadians have a lot more oppor-
tunity.”
Canadian law would have to be
changed, Mercer said. U.S. Wheat
representatives have spoken with
Canadian representatives. Western
Canadian wheat growers hope to
see a similar reciprocity, he said.
Schemm and Mercer also wel-
comed the potential for modern
sanitary and phytosanitary mea-
sures.
“We really see this as a way to
update these science-based mea-
sures with like-minded countries
and potentially serve as the gold
standard for future trade deals,”
Schemm said. “The goals specif-
ically call out improving com-
munications, consultation and
cooperation on items like new
technologies.”
For wheat growers looking to
technology to improve yield, qual-
ity and other factors, “it is vital
that our trading partners accept the
tools we use to achieve top quality
products,” Schemm added.
Schemm said NAWG will con-
tinue to engage with the U.S. gov-
ernment and Congress through the
renegotiating process.
The
objectives
continue
Trump’s decision to renegotiate
NAFTA and not withdraw from the
deal, Mercer said.
“If we stay on that line, we’re
on a good path,” he said. “We’ll
continue to monitor through our
contacts and certainly express our
concern or pleasure when it hap-
pens.”
Trade representative lists NAFTA objectives for ag
Staff and wire report
The Trump administration on
Monday released its objectives in
the renegotiation of the North Amer-
ican Free Trade Agreement between
the United States, Canada and Mex-
ico.
The president said Monday in
revising the pact he hopes to cut the
$64 billion trade deficit with Mexico.
In addition to reducing the trade
deficit, the administration wants to
insert a chapter on the digital econ-
omy into the deal. It also wants to
strengthen labor and environmental
obligations, as well as amending the
rules of origin so that more of the
products traded come from the Unit-
ed States and North America.
The new NAFTA objectives, a
requirement to begin talks on up-
dating the agreement in the next 30
days, contain the first specifics for a
Trump administration that has made
bold promises on trade. Trump has
pledged to recover factory jobs and
boost wages by crafting new trade
deals.
Supporters note that NAFTA en-
abled companies to charge cheaper
prices for products that range from
cars to vacuum cleaners, helping
many U.S. consumers.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s
17-page document lists the following
objectives for agriculture:
• Maintain existing reciprocal du-
ty-free market access for agricultural
goods.
• Expand competitive market
opportunities for U.S. agricultural
goods in NAFTA countries, substan-
tially equivalent to the competitive
opportunities afforded foreign ex-
ports into the U.S. market, by reduc-
ing or eliminating remaining tariffs.
Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press File
In this Aug. 31, 2016, photo, then presidential nominee Donald Trump walks
with Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto at the end of their joint statement in
Mexico City.
• Seek to eliminate non-tariff
barriers to U.S. agricultural exports
including discriminatory barriers, re-
strictive administration of tariff rate
quotas, other unjustified measures
that unfairly limit access to markets
for U.S. goods, such as cross subsi-
dization, price discrimination, and
price undercutting.
• Provide reasonable adjustment
periods for U.S. import sensitive ag-
ricultural products, engaging in close
consultation with Congress on such
products before initiating tariff re-
duction negotiations.
• Promote greater regulatory com-
patibility to reduce burdens associat-
ed with unnecessary differences in
regulation, including through regula-
tory cooperation where appropriate.
The Mexican government said in
a statement that the administration’s
NAFTA objectives will give greater
clarity to the negotiations.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s min-
ister of foreign affairs, said, “NAFTA
supports millions of middle class
jobs” across North America and Can-
ada welcomes the opportunity to add
“progressive, free and fair approach-
es” to the pact.
Despite the report, it’s still not
clear exactly how Trump will rene-
gotiate NAFTA to reduce the trade
deficit, said Phil Levy, a senior fel-
low for the Chicago Council on
Global Affairs and a business profes-
sor at Northwestern University.
“There’s no detail,” Levy said.
“There’s nothing in there where you
could say, this is how we get rid of
the trade deficit.”
When NAFTA went into effect in
1994, the United States ran a small
trade surplus in goods with Mexico
and a slight deficit with Canada. But
the size of the deficits steadily began
to increase afterward.
By last year, the United States
ran a $64 billion trade deficit with
Mexico and a nearly $11 billion gap
with Canada. Neither trade deficit is
near its peak level. The trade defi-
cit with Canada hit a high in 2008,
while the trade gap with Mexico
nearly reached $75 billion in 2007.
Wheat prices ‘bounce around’
as harvest gets underway
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Growers and industry representatives inspect a field trial designed to help farmers find better solutions
to control onion thrips July 12 during a field day at Oregon State University’s agricultural experiment
station near Ontario.
Onion thrips population soaring in Idaho, Oregon
Capital Press
ONTARIO, Ore. — Onion
thrips were late to arrive in the
Treasure Valley of Idaho and
Oregon this year, delayed by
a harsh winter and wet spring.
But temperatures have been
well above normal this month
and the onion pest’s popula-
tion is exploding as a result.
The average high temperature
in Ontario has exceeded 100
degrees eight times in July al-
ready.
“The heat’s making things
explode,” said Nyssa grower
Paul Skeen, president of the
Malheur County Onion Grow-
ers Association.
Onion thrips can cause
feeding damage. They are also
a vector for the Iris Yellow
Spot Virus, which can signifi-
cantly reduce yields of the bulb
onions grown in the region.
LEGAL
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Oregon Soil and Water
Conservation Commission (SWCC)
will hold its regular quarterly
meeting on Thursday, August
10, 2017, from 12:00 p.m. to
4:30 p.m. The regular quarterly
meeting will be held at the
Jackson
Soil
and
Water
Conservation District office, 89
Alder Street, Central Point, OR,
97502. The meeting agenda
covers SWCC reports, advisor
reports, Soil and Water
Conservation District programs
and funding, Agriculture Water
Quality Management Program
updates, and other agenda
items.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture complies with the
Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). If you need special
accommodations to participate
in this meeting, please contact
Sandi Hiatt at (503) 986-4704, at
least 72 hours prior to the
meeting.
29-1/#4
“They were a little late get-
ting in but they have made up
for it,” said Stuart Reitz, an
Oregon State University crop-
ping systems extension agent
in Ontario. “With these higher
temperatures, the populations
are really going crazy. We’re
starting to see a lot higher
numbers.”
Virus pressure is just start-
ing and has been detected in a
few commercial fields recent-
ly, Reitz said.
“We haven’t seen much (vi-
rus) around the area. Yet. It’s
probably coming,” he said.
While the timing of the
pest’s appearance in the val-
ley can vary from year to year,
they are an annual headache
for Treasure Valley onion
farmers.
There are no effective bi-
ological controls for onion
thrips, so that leaves the use
of insecticides as growers’
only option to control them,
Reitz said.
The thrips problem has
only gotten worse for growers
over the years, Skeen said.
“When I started farm-
LEGAL
CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE
2680 Cherry Ave. NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 399-7454
AUCTION
Sat., July 29th • 10 a.m.
• Unit 22 - John F O’Neal
• Unit 41 - Kimberly Rivas
• Unit 46 - Altheria Rabb
• Unit 77 - Garrett Fistere
• Unit 140 - Eric or Jordan
Hagen
• Unit 161 - Jamie and or
Tawnya Newman
• Unit 166 - Stephen Shuck
Cherry Avenue Storage
reserves the right to
refuse any and all bids
legal-28-2-1/#4
By SEAN ELLIS
ing here 45 years ago, if we
sprayed four times in a sea-
son, that was a lot,” he said.
“Now, it’s not uncommon to
spray seven or eight times.”
Onion grower groups in
the region are helping fund a
field trial that has been over-
seen by Reitz that seeks solu-
tions to the thrips problem.
One of the main goals of
the trial is to help growers find
the right mix of insecticide
treatments that allows them to
spray as little as possible.
Researchers are rotat-
ing chemistries and using
them at different times of
the season to try to find the
right combination for thrips
control.
It costs between $20 and
$100 an acre to spray for
thrips, depending on which
chemical is used, so reducing
the number of times a grower
has to spray can save a lot of
money, Reitz said.
OSU researchers recom-
mend not overusing any one
chemistry to prevent resis-
tance in thrips.
“You have to manage
them in the season but you
also have to look at the longer
term picture and that’s why
we’re really stressing rotating
chemistries so you don’t have
resistance building up,” Reitz
said.
MILTON-FREEWATER,
Ore. — Farmer Nathan Rea
stood in his field of dark
northern spring wheat, slated
for harvest later in July.
Prices for the wheat class
have taken off in recent
weeks, in response to hot
and dry weather in Montana,
South Dakota and North Da-
kota.
“Unfortunately for them,”
Rea said. “The positive side is
we’re getting a much-needed
increase in the price of wheat.
The DNS price is helping to
pull up some of the others.
We’re hopeful soft white will
get some legs here.”
On the Portland market,
DNS ranged from $7.93 to
$9.53 per bushel last week,
depending on protein content.
Soft white wheat ranged from
$5.21 to $5.45 per bushel.
Both are up more than 20 per-
cent this year.
But futures prices trended
lower last week compared to
the previous week, according
to USDA. Chicago wheat fu-
tures were 27.25 cents lower
at $5.12 per bushel, Kansas
City wheat futures were 31
cents lower at $5.16 per bush-
el and Minneapolis wheat fu-
tures were 19.5 cents lower at
$7.50 per bushel.
“We’re going to see this
thing bounce around,” said
Dan Steiner, grain merchan-
diser for Morrow County
Grain Growers in Boardman,
Ore. He said Minneapolis
numbers are “rock-solid” be-
cause of high demand and
crop problems in the region.
Since the end of May,
grain speculators have bought
805 million bushels of Chi-
cago wheat futures, Steiner
said. They’re now 235 mil-
lion bushels long — owning
more than they need to sell
— the biggest long position
in three years. Speculators on
the Kansas City market are
long 362 million bushels, the
LEGAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 98
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 7/25/2017.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
PARKING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
1768 13TH ST SE, SALEM, OR
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 7/26/2017.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
HILLYER’S STAYTON FORD
11361 MILL CREEK RD SE, AUMSVILLE, OR
2013 CHEV MALIBU
VIN = 1G11B5SA4DF197798
Amount due on lien $3124.00
Reputed owner(s) JAVIER MARTINEZ
AMERICREDIT FINANCIAL
2001 FORD F150 P/U
VIN = 1FTNW21F51ED77155
Amount due on lien $2104.47
Reputed owner(s) BURTON BODDA
EQUITABLE FINANCE
Legal-28-2-1/#4
Legal-28-2-1/#4
Capital Press File
Weather problems in the Upper Midwest, Canada and Australia
have led to an increase in wheat prices.
biggest long position in more
than a decade, Steiner said.
“If they’re long and the
price goes up, they make
money,” he said. “If they’re
long and the price goes down,
ooh, sad faces.”
Steiner expects a lot of
movement in the market.
“It’s going to take time
to work this through the sys-
tem,” he said. “The specula-
tors came in and went from
a reasonable short position
to very large long positions
as far as Chicago and Kansas
City are concerned. There’s
going to have to be some un-
winding from this rally.”
Soft white wheat prices
still need to go higher to cover
farmers’ cost of production,
Rea, the farmer, said. He’d
like to see well above $5 per
bushel locally, and ideally $6
per bushel, noting that it costs
farmers to ship their wheat
from rural grain elevators to
Portland for export to over-
seas markets. It costs about
60 cents a bushel to transport
wheat to export facilities.
“This is much better than
where we’ve been,” Rea said.
“We’re going to have high
yields this year, but the price
has just been killing us. Peo-
ple talk about knowing your
cost of production and not
selling for anything below
that, but that’s not been pos-
sible the last couple of years.”
It’s unclear what the final
losses will be in Montana and
the Dakotas. Other possible
problem spots include com-
peting wheat-producing re-
gions in the Canadian Prairies
and Australia, Steiner said.
“It’s a slow developing
picture,” Steiner said. “That’s
one of the problems with a
drought. It’s not like a tornado
or hailstorm that comes whip-
ping through and you know
the results as soon as the sun
comes back out.”
Australian wheat produc-
tion is expected to be down
30 percent from last year,
from 33.5 million metric tons
to 23.5 million metric tons,
which will also affect soft
white wheat prices, Steiner
said.
Soft white wheat will like-
ly maintain its value, Steiner
said.
Hot and dry conditions
will continue in the Northern
Plains and Canadian Prairies,
further impacting the DNS
crop.
“It’s going to be tight —
we’re going to see a small
crop, no doubt about it,” said
Darin Newsom, senior ana-
lyst for DTN in Omaha, Neb.
“The market still looks like it
wants to go higher. We hav-
en’t found that price level yet
where buying just shuts off.”
As long as grain merchan-
disers are struggling to find
supplies, higher prices could
continue, Newsom said.
Grain speculators are driv-
ing the market right now,
Steiner said. He recommends
farmers sell at least some of
their wheat when prices are in
the high $5 per bushel range
and holding it when prices get
lower.
“In today’s environment,
you’re probably going to be
able to get somewhere be-
tween $5.50 to $5.70 without
too much trouble,” Steiner
said.