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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2017)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 VOLUME 90, NUMBER 35 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 BIOFILTER Putting worms, microbes to work Dan Wheat/Capital Press Manure water, left, becomes clean irrigation water, right, in the BIDA system. The clean water is a dark tea color from wood shavings in the fi lter. A young Washington dairy farmer and a Chilean civil engineer use unique system to treat wastewater By DAN WHEAT Area in detail Capital Press R Turn to BIOFILTER, Page 12 Ephrata 281 Moses Lake 283 90 Potholes Res. COLUMBIA N.W.R. 26 Othello Royal City, Wash. 24 bia lum Co Austin Allred’s is the largest BIDA dairy system in the world, capable of handling 200,000 gallons per day. 28 OYAL CITY, Wash. — Austin Allred doesn’t think of him- self as an innovator. But at 27, he operates the only dairy in Washington state and just the third in the nation using a unique low-energy biological fi lter that turns manure water into clean irrigation water. He does it with a system based on mil- lions of worms and microbes. After leaving the primary solids sep- arator, manure wastewater fl ows into the biofi lter of wood shavings, worms and microbes. Within four hours the worms and microbes have removed most of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from the water, allowing it be used as irrigation water. 243 24 240 U.S.D.E. HANFORD SITE Ri ve r N Capital Press graphic Dan Wheat/Capital Press From left, Mai Ann Healy and Alex Villagra of BioFiltro, and dairyman Austin Allred with the new BIDA system. Some wolves may have become ‘habituated’ to eating cattle By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Tracks indicated the 500-pound calf churned 150 feet up a slope, leaving blood splattered on four logs, before going down in a pile of Meacham Pack wolves. There wasn’t much left when a ranch hand found the carcass Aug. 19, perhaps two or three days after the attack. Most of the calf had been devoured, except the vertebrae with ribs, pelvis and tail still attached. The calf’s lower jaw and contents of its rumen were nearby. It was the pack’s fourth con- fi rmed attack within a week, all on livestock grazing on a 4,000- acre private, forested pasture in the Sheep Creek area of Umatilla County. The producer asked ODFW to take “lethal control” against the Meacham Pack as allowed under Phase 3 of Oregon’s wolf manage- ment program. The rancher wanted them all dead. The wildlife agency autho- rized killing two of them, an incre- mental approach it had taken earlier in August with Wallowa County’s Harl Butte Pack, which attacked livestock eight times since July 2016. In that case, ODFW quickly shot two adult Harl Butte wolves, then a third and fourth in the days that fol- lowed as it appeared the pack was still going after calves. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation argued that ODFW’s ap- proach was a waste of time. Even with four dead, the Harl Butte Pack consisted of six adults and three growing pups – a 33-pound pup was unintentionally trapped, then released unharmed, as ODFW pur- sued the adults. The Meacham Pack, meanwhile, had seven members at the end of Turn to WOLVES, Page 12 Onion industry scrambles to rebuild damaged facilities By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press NYSSA, Ore. — The Ida- ho-Oregon onion industry’s rebuilding efforts following the heavy damage to storage and packing facilities caused by this year’s harsh winter are in full swing and going well. But with the main onion harvest set to begin about mid-September, some onion growers and shippers say they won’t be ready in time. “There are defi nitely peo- ple who are delayed,” said Shay Myers, general man- ager of Owyhee Produce, an onion grower-shipper com- pany in Nyssa, Ore. About 60 onion storage sheds and packing facili- ties in the Treasure Valley of Idaho and Oregon either collapsed or sustained major damage under the weight of several feet of snow and ice. Owyhee Produce lost four storage sheds. Its packing fa- cility was damaged but con- tinued operating. Turn to ONIONS, Page 12 An excavator clears onions damaged when a storage build- ing in Nyssa, Ore., collapsed under the weight of snow and ice in January. The onion industry lost 60 buildings during the winter and is racing to rebuild in time for this Sean Ellis/Capital Press File year’s main harvest. Our Rebin Program can turn your old trailer into a new trailer! We will remove all working mechanical parts, and replace the bin with a new Stainless Steel STC Bin on your existing running gear. All parts deemed reusable are reinstalled on the new bin. All of this at the fraction of the cost of a new trailer! WWW.STCTRAILERS.COM 494 W. Hwy 39 Blackfoot, ID 83321 208-785-1364 35-2/#17 EVER WONDERED WHAT TO DO WITH THAT OLD, WORN OUT COMMODITY TRAILER?