FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 30
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
Canadian
ag minister
urges
caution in
NAFTA
talks
THINKING
outside the
CAN
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Thinkstockphotos.com
Food processors change with the
times as consumer tastes evolve
Food and beverage manufacturing
establishments in the U.S., 2015
By ALIYA HALL
Capital Press
T
“If people are eating
more fresh fruit and
less canned fruit it
certainly affects us.
I see it in my own
life. ... We eat more
fresh fruit because
it’s available.”
Russell Loughmiller
Muirhead Canning Co.
owner
0-499
HE DALLES, Ore. — Russell Loughmiller
has seen fi rst-hand how the food processing
industry has changed over the years. He’s
changing with it.
Loughmiller’s Muirhead Canning Co. in the Dalles,
Ore., is one of the 1,016 food and beverage processing
plants in Oregon and is part of a $500 billion national in-
dustry, according to the USDA Economic Research Ser-
vice. But Loughmiller, 42, who has been canning peach-
es, cherries and pears for 11 years, has noticed a steady
decline in consumers’ desire for canned goods.
“That affects me directly. I go into grocery stores and
see that canned fruit is shrinking,” he said. “I feel like
some of it is generational, and some of it is the availabil-
ity of fresh fruit year-round.”
Loughmiller bought the cannery in 2006, and employs
25 people.
Like every industry, food processing has gone through
many rapid changes in recent years. Chief among them
is a shift from canning produce to freezing it or shipping
it fresh, either packaged individually, sliced or as salad
mixes.
Turn to CANNED, Page 12
500-999
1,000-
1,999
2,000-
3,999
Wash.
Mont.
S.D.
Wyo.
Neb.
Nev.
Utah
Calif.
Ariz.
Wis.
Kan.
Okla.
N.M.
Penn.
Mo.
Ind.
Ohio
Kty.
N.J.
R.I.
N.C.
Del.
Ark.
S.C.
Ala.
Mass.
W.
Va. Va.
Tenn.
Miss.
Texas
N.Y.
Mich.
Iowa
Ill.
Colo.
Maine
Vt.
N.H.
Minn.
Ore.
Idaho
4,000-
6,000
Mich.
N.D.
Conn.
Md.
D.C.
Ga.
La.
Alaska
Fla.
Hawaii
Source: USDA ERS
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Top 12 states by number of establishments
Rank/state
1. California
2. New York
3. Texas
4. Pennsylvania
5. Illinois
6. Washington
Number
5,531
2,508
2,175
1,489
1,384
1,323
Rank/state
7. Florida
8. Wisconsin
9. Ohio
10. New Jersey
11. Michigan
12. Oregon
$2.00
Number
1,212
1,119
1,067
1,028
1,026
1,016
PORTLAND — Cana-
da’s Minister of Agriculture,
Lawrence MacAulay, said
he’s amenable to negotiations
over the North American Free
Trade Agreement but hopes
the talks proceed with cau-
tion.
“It’s put a lot of money
in the farmers’
pockets in the
U.S. and Can-
ada, so let’s be
sure to contin-
ue down that
path,” MacAu-
lay said. “If
Lawrence you’re going to
MacAulay fi x something
that’s in good
shape, be careful.”
MacAulay stopped in
Portland July 24 for the an-
nual summit of the Pacifi c
Northwest Economic Region,
a non-profi t created by fi ve
American states and fi ve Ca-
nadian provinces.
NAFTA is top of mind in
agriculture these days, with
negotiations over the agree-
ment between the U.S., Can-
ada and Mexico set to begin
Aug. 16-20 in Washington,
D.C.
After meeting with USDA
Secretary Sonny Perdue, Ma-
cAulay sees an ally who’s
also supportive of the strong
trade relationship between the
U.S. and Canada.
Whether Perdue will be
able to infl uence NAFTA’s
renegotiation, however, is a
subject about which MacAu-
ley said he’d prefer not to
speculate.
In late April, it appeared
the President Donald Trump
was ready to pull out of
NAFTA, until Perdue and
other pro-trade agriculture
groups convinced him to re-
visit the deal rather than with-
draw entirely.
In outlining the Trump
administration’s objectives
in the NAFTA discussions,
U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer specifi-
cally pointed to “market ac-
cess issues” related to trade
with Canada in grain, dairy
and wine that the current
deal “is unequipped to ad-
dress.”
Turn to NAFTA, Page 12
Good cherry season for consumers, not so much for growers
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
YAKIMA, Wash. — It’s
been a stellar Northwest cher-
ry season in terms of weather,
fruit quality and sale prices
for consumers.
But it’s likely to be the
largest crop on record at more
than 25 million, 20-pound
boxes, making it less than
stellar for grower returns.
“It’s been the best cher-
ry weather ever. No rain. It
hasn’t been 100 degrees ev-
1426 Front St.
Fort Benton, MT 59442
406-622-3803
www.fbrealty.com
ery day and it’s been cool at
night. But pricing has not im-
proved,” says Brenda Thom-
as, president of Orchard View
Farms in The Dalles, the larg-
est cherry grower in Oregon.
Wholesale prices averaged
$25 to $27 per 18-pound box
two weeks ago and have not
gotten better, Thomas said.
The wholesale average over
the past three years was $35
per box, she said.
Early cherries were small,
later ones are larger but more
volume has not increased
profi ts, she said.
“This year it’s a lot of work
for little pay. It’s really at the
orchard level. Orchards won’t
get the returns they received
last year,” she said.
It will be one of the low-
er-return years for Orchard
View Farms growers and most
likely throughout the industry,
she said.
Retail advertising sales
prices typically run $1.99 to
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Turn to CHERRIES, Jessica Flores and her mother, Veronica Flores, check Rainier
Page 12 cherries at Drescher Orchard near Orondo, Wash., on July 12.
TWO BLAINE COUNTY FARMS/RANCHES
• 1,360 ACRES (+/-) TOTAL • WEST & EAST OF HARLEM , MT
THE EAST UNIT- APPROX. 860 ACRES 3 MILES EAST OF
HARLEM: Includes approx. 93 acres pivot sprinkler, 160 acres
gated-pipe flood irrigation, 213 acres flood irrigated (147-acre
pivot sprinkler possible), and 394 acres pasture. $1,170,000.
THE WEST UNIT (HOMEPLACE) - APPROX. 499 ACRES 7 MILES
WEST OF HARLEM: Includes approx. 250 acres under pivot – 2
sprinklers, 130 ac. flood irrigation, 115 acres grass/pasture along
the Milk River, with home & shop & barn/corrals. $1,080,000.
For details, call Fort Benton Realty LLP /Mark Pyrak, Broker
406-788-9280 or Shane Ophus, Broker 406-788-6662
IRRIGATED HAY FARM:
208 acres located 5 miles E
of Harlem, MT. 153 acres
of flood irrigated hay, very
nice 5-bdrm home, 30’x60’
heated shop, storage shed/
tack room, corrals, and
some farm equipment.
Good Pheasant hunting
area. $571,000. Call Shane
Ophus, Broker for details at
406-788-6662.
30-3/#4