16 CapitalPress.com
October 6, 2017
Researchers encouraged by spore sampling results
ing several crops. Results will
then be emailed to industry
sources — and eventually
posted on a web page that will
be developed for the project.
In the “dry run” conduct-
ed during the second week
of September, Woodhall said
testing confi rmed the pres-
ence of white mold and “it
looked like spore levels were
increasing as we got to the
end of the week.”
“It’s quite good for us to
practice with a small number
of spore samplers, doing this
in real time,” Woodhall said.
In Parma, Woodhall said
his sampler detected powdery
mildew two to three weeks
before the arrival of disease
symptoms in sugar beets.
Woodhall also demonstrated
samplers can detect pota-
to early blight, but he’s still
refi ning the diagnostic test.
Woodhall is also develop-
ing a test to detect fusarium
in onions. He has received
a $120,000 USDA specialty
crop block grant through the
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
PARMA, Idaho — Re-
searchers have confi rmed they
can use machines that capture
airborne spores to detect some
of Idaho’s most devastating
crop diseases before symp-
toms surface in fi elds.
They also demonstrat-
ed they can analyze samples
in Parma and relay results to
growers within 24 hours of re-
ceiving them.
University of Idaho plant
pathologist James Woodhall
is leading the effort to set up
an extensive network of spore
samplers throughout Idaho to
give growers advance warning
of the arrival of harmful patho-
gens.
Woodhall and a team of UI
researchers conducted their
initial trials with the spore sam-
plers this growing season, oper-
ating three machines stationed
at the university’s research and
extension centers in Parma,
Kimberly and Aberdeen.
John O’Connell/Capital Press File
From left to right, University of Idaho researchers Kasia Duellman,
James Woodhall and Juliet Marshall with a spore sampler at UI’s
Aberdeen Research and Extension Center on April 18. Woodhall is
leading the effort to set up an extensive network of spore samplers
throughout Idaho to give growers advance warning of the arrival of
harmful pathogens.
Woodhall said the sam-
plers suck spores into a differ-
ent vial each day, with a ca-
pacity to collect samples for
eight days before vials must
be changed. The samples will
be sent by overnight mail to
Parma, where Woodhall will
use a diagnostic approach
known as real-time poly-
merase chain reaction to test
for up to 12 pathogens affect-
onion industry to purchase a
fourth sampler for onion re-
search.
The Northwest Potato
Research Consortium con-
tributed $16,000 to cover
research and develop pota-
to-specific primers. Andy
Jensen, with the consortium,
said potato growers are espe-
cially interested in research
to verify whether the lack of
spore detection by the sam-
plers means it’s safe to skip
spraying protectants. Jensen
noted Woodhall will use
untreated “sentinel” potato
plots to determine if diseases
may surface near a sampler,
even when no spores have
been captured.
Processors and fresh
packing sheds within the
potato industry have con-
tributed funding toward nine
additional spore samplers,
which will be strategically
placed in commercial fields
to monitor for potato diseas-
es next season. The Idaho
Bean Commission has also
financed a spore sampler to
bolster the network, and UI
has two more samplers on or-
der.
Next season, Woodhall
hopes to begin learning how
many samplers are needed to
adequately detect diseases,
and how they should be dis-
tributed.
UI potato pathologist Phil
Wharton was recently award-
ed a $200,000 specialty crop
block grant to assess the re-
lationship between spore
levels, weather and potential
disease severity. UI Exten-
sion seed potato specialist
Kasia Duellman will help
Wharton develop a website
with a map of spore sampler
locations, and ultimately “de-
cision aids to help growers
identify different risk levels.”
“I envision we will have
something up and running
by next summer that is bare
bones, giving the basic in-
formation, and over time it
will be refined,” Duellman
said.
Negotiations expected to
resume on Columbia River treaty
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WASHINGTON
Wenatchee
90
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6
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Yakima
Astoria
Richland
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Pacific
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.
BOISE — The Trump
administration has vowed to
pressure Canada to renegoti-
ate a fl ood-control treaty with
potentially drastic ramifi ca-
tions for Upper Snake River
water users, according to an
attorney representing Idaho’s
Committee of Nine.
Jerry Rigby, legal counsel
for the committee, which rep-
resents storage holders in Ida-
ho’s Upper Snake reservoirs,
explained the U.S. and Cana-
da implemented the Columbia
River Treaty in 1964 to con-
trol fl ooding in Portland and
Vancouver.
The U.S. agreed to pay
Canada to build an Upper Co-
lumbia reservoir system for
added fl ood capacity, to be
used in conjunction with eight
U.S. reservoirs — including
Brownlee, Dworshak, Libby,
Hungry Horse, Grand Coulee
and other federal projects in
the Columbia River Basin.
In 2024, the Canadian
fl ood-control rights the U.S.
received for its investment will
expire, and Canada will be en-
titled to payment on a case-by-
case basis for providing fl ood
control “as called upon.” The
Canadians have argued the
U.S. should be required to
exhaust all options to free its
own space for fl ood control
— possibly including Upper
Snake reservoirs — before
seeking their help. U.S. offi -
cials maintain the “as called
upon” language refers only to
the eight reservoirs specifi cal-
ly mentioned in the treaty.
Rigby noted the Upper
Snake reservoirs, which aren’t
named under the treaty, hold
water for a single irrigation
season.
“If we had to reduce those
(Upper Snake reservoir levels)
and water didn’t come, and we
Columbia and
Snake river dams
S na
ke
R
Capital Press
R i ver
By JOHN O’CONNELL
84
Columbia River Basin dams in the U.S.
N
20 miles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bonneville
The Dalles
John Day
McNary
Ice Harbor
6. Lower Monumental
7. Little Goose
8. Lower Granite
9. Dworshak
10. Albeni Falls
11. Grand Coulee
12. Chief Joseph
13. Libby (Mont.)*
14. Hungry Horse (Mont.)*
*Not shown
Sources: U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers
had to go a year with those res-
ervoirs almost empty, it would
be devastating to Idaho,” Rig-
by said.
In mid-September, Rigby
and several other offi cials rep-
resenting Idaho water users
met with Trump administra-
tion leaders in Washington,
D.C. Treaty negotiations have
been stalled since 2013, but
Rigby said the Trump admin-
istration has chosen a wom-
an who will soon be publicly
named as the chief negotiator
for the talks. Trump offi cials
told Rigby they plan to use
other treaties the Canadians
would like to revisit as lever-
age to get them to the table.
Jim Yost, one of two Ida-
ho members on the North-
west Power and Conservation
Council — formed in 1980 to
aid in providing economical
power while protecting fi sh
and wildlife — hopes the new
negotiator will quickly sched-
ule a visit to meet with Idaho
Gov. Butch Otter and make
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
her positions formally known.
Since the treaty was enact-
ed, Yost said, there have only
been a couple of times when
U.S. infrastructure would have
been insuffi cient to accom-
modate fl ood control, and a
few more years “on the bub-
ble.” Yost, who served on a
committee that recommended
treaty renegotiation goals to
the U.S. Department of State
in 2013, believes it would take
far too long for water in Up-
per Snake reservoirs to reach
the Portland area to provide
any practical fl ood-control
management.
Yost considers talk of
Upper Snake fl ood-control
requirements to merely be a
“negotiating ploy by Cana-
da to threaten the U.S.” into
paying more money under the
renegotiated treaty.
Rigby said Idaho irrigators
support reworking a power
agreement under the treaty
that the U.S. believes over-
charges Bonneville Power
rates payers by up to $3 mil-
lion per year. The original
treaty awarded Canada com-
pensation for extra revenue
BPA enjoys when releases
from Canadian reservoirs en-
hance fl ows through down-
stream BPA turbines during
the peak power season. The
U.S. asserts payment rates
were based on growth pro-
jections that never came to
fruition.
Administration offi cials
are also sympathetic with Ida-
ho’s position on the proposed
inclusion of “ecosystem”
considerations in the treaty,
regarding minimum fl ows for
endangered fi sh, Rigby said.
The Obama administration,
certain Oregon and Wash-
ington lawmakers and tribal
offi cials supported adding
ecosystem language. Idaho
leaders argue the Nez Perce
Agreement, the Clean Water
Act and other unrelated safe-
guards already adequately
cover wildlife and habitat.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. R-CALF contends a USDA
report purporting a industry consensus for expanding its animal
identifi cation program is tilted to favor private companies, pri-
marily ear-tag companies, that stand to reap fi nancial gains.
R-CALF: APHIS claim of
consensus on animal ID a sham
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
R-CALF USA has fi led
a complaint with USDA ac-
cusing its Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service
of falsifying the outcome of
meetings and public com-
ments on expanding man-
datory animal identifi cation
under the disease traceability
program.
At issue is APHIS’ report
on feedback from the cat-
tle industry on its strategy to
require the exclusive use of
electronic devices for individ-
ual animal identifi cation and
to expand those requirements
to cattle under 18 months.
In the report, APHIS
claims there was consensus
in the industry to move ahead
with both, although “no-
thing could be further from
the truth,” said Bill Bullard,
R-CALF CEO.
He said there was adamant
opposition at the meetings and
in public comment. APHIS’
report is a falsifi cation of the
genuine concerns that many
producers expressed, he said.
“The report really consti-
tutes government propagan-
da,” he said.
He maintained that it’s a
“cheerleading piece” to say
there’s consensus in the in-
dustry when there’s nothing
of the sort.
That feedback document
is critical because USDA said
it would be used as a basis for
next-step recommendations
on whether the government
should proceed with expand-
ing mandatory animal ID re-
quirements, he said.
In the complaint, R-CALF
contends the report is tilted
to favor private companies,
primarily ear-tag companies,
that stand to reap fi nancial
gains if APHIS expands its
animal ID program.
The current animal disease
traceability rule requires cattle
over the age of 18 months to
be identifi ed with some type
of offi cial ear tag if the animal
enters interstate commerce.
APHIS was seeking com-
ment on expanding that to
animals under 18 months and
requiring the exclusive use of
electronic devises.
There are problems with
those strategies, he said.
One is that current pre-
miums for providing val-
ue-added information on
younger cattle will evapo-
rate if animal ID is required
in the entire system.
“It would be a free gift to
the packers at the expense of
producers who will incur all
the cost of the devices and
recordkeeping necessary to
achieve traceability from
birth to packer” through a na-
tional data base, he said.
Raw milk dairy’s defi ance prompts WSDA health alert
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington State Department of
Agriculture has issued a rare health alert,
advising consumers to not drink raw milk
from a dairy that refused to halt produc-
tion pending an investigation into why its
milk tested positive for salmonella.
Pride & Joy Dairy of Toppenish main-
tains that its milk is safe, though the own-
er said Tuesday that most retailers have
stopped selling it.
“The impact is horrible,” said Cheryl
Voortman, who owns the dairy with her
husband, Allen. “It’s killing us, inch by
inch.”
WSDA reported detecting salmonella
Sept. 27 during a routine monthly sam-
pling of raw milk from Pride & Joy. The
next day, the dairy declined WSDA’s re-
quest to suspend production. The dairy
stated in a Facebook post that it was be-
ing “targeted again.”
Pride & Joy distributes milk to more
than two dozen retailers in Western and
Eastern Washington, as well as 19 drop-
off points, according to its website.
Voortman said the dairy has about 100
milking cows and has been producing
raw milk for nine years.
Courtesy Pride & Joy Dairy
A worker fi lls con-
tainers for Pride &
Joy Dairy in Wash-
ington. The dairy
says it declined the
state Department
of Agriculture’s
request to suspend
production.
Pulse crop yields in Idaho way down this year; chickpea acreage was up
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
MOSCOW, Idaho — Pro-
duction of pulse crops — len-
tils, dry peas and chickpeas
— in Idaho was a mixed bag
this year.
Production of lentils, Aus-
trian winter peas and dry edi-
ble peas plummeted in 2017,
the result of fewer acres and
much lower yields.
Chickpea acreage, howev-
er, continued to soar this year,
although yields are also ex-
pected to be lower.
An extremely wet spring
plagued the state’s main
pulse-growing region in
North Idaho this year, and that
was followed by a string of 80
straight days with no rainfall
and unusually high tempera-
tures, farmers and industry
leaders said.
The lengthy dry spell
“defi nitely affected yields,
but overall quality this year
remained pretty good,” said
Dirk Hammond, adminis-
trative services manager for
George F. Brocke and Sons,
a processor of pulse crops in
Kendrick.
Idaho pulse crops enjoyed
yield records last year, “but
this year is quite a bit different
story,” said Tim McGreevy,
executive director of the USA
Dry Pea & Lentil Council,
which is headquartered in
Moscow. “The pulses got hit
hard with lower yields than
last year.”
According to USDA Na-
tional Agricultural Statistics
Service, lentil yields averaged
900 pounds an acre in Idaho
this year, down from 1,550
last year, dry edible pea yields
averaged 1,700 pounds an
acre, down from 2,500 last
year, and Austrian winter pea
yields averaged 900 pounds,
down from 1,800.
Chickpea yields for 2017
have not been released yet but
they are also expected to be
down.
Troy farmer Pat Smith
planted chickpeas and lentils
this year and “both of those
crops were down on yields, he
said. “We had too much rain
at the beginning of the season
and after that, we didn’t get
any rain. The crop defi nitely
felt the toll of Mother Na-
ture.”
Smith said his chickpeas
yielded between 900 and
1,000 pounds an acre this
year, down from 1,800-1,900
last year.
Robert Blair, who farms
near Kendrick, said he
couldn’t get any pulse acres
planted this year because of
heavy spring rains.
“It was too wet,” he said.
“We just couldn’t get in the
fi eld.”
Acreage for lentils, Aus-
trian winter peas and dry
edible peas in Idaho were
all down this year, accord-
ing to NASS, but chickpea
acres continued their steep
climb.