FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 46
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
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Not just
another class
Undergraduate students perform advanced
research in fast-growing program at BYU-Idaho
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CARIBOU-
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Rexburg,
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By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
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Idaho Falls
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Capital Press graphic
EXBURG, Idaho — Chase
Wilcox is a college sopho-
more, but he’s already col-
laborated with agriculture
industry professionals and
publicly presented research he conduct-
ed for a major producer of crop nutrition
products, the Mosaic Co.
Wilcox is one of several Brigham
Young University-Idaho students in-
volved in a rapidly growing research
program operated under a unique part-
nership. Since September
2014, BYU-Idaho and the
Research Business Devel-
opment Center, a nonprof-
it partially funded by the
university, have collab-
orated to provide under-
Nels
graduates with the chance
Hansen
to take part in agricultural
research typically reserved for graduate
students.
In replicated trials conducted at
BYU-Idaho’s 190-acre Hillview Farm,
Wilcox evaluated two Mosaic micronutri-
ent products used to boost potato yields.
“It’s been pretty amazing that we get
to do some of that serious research work,”
Wilcox said. “Hearing I could do that at
the place I am in my life and not having
to go through years of college to get that
experience was something I found in-
triguing.”
High demand
Nels Hansen, chairman of BYU-Ida-
ho’s Department of Applied Plant Sci-
ence, explained there’s a shortage of ag-
ricultural program graduates to fi ll vacant
PHOTO ABOVE:
The soils labora-
tory at BYU-Idaho
in Rexburg, Idaho,
where undergrad-
uate students take
part in research
projects for out-
side companies
and other clients.
Photo courtesy
BYU-Idaho
Turn to CLASS, Page 12
OSU study: No unique threat from canola
Three-year study finds similar risks among Brassica crops
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
Canola seed is emptied from a combine into a truck in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley. Following the release of an Oregon State Univer-
sity study, Brassica seed growers say they are looking for ways to
co-exist and still avoid cross-pollination from canola.
Canola poses no greater threat to spe-
cialty seed producers in Oregon’s Willa-
mette Valley than turnips, radishes and
other related crops, according to Oregon
State University.
Problems with insects, diseases and
volunteers weren’t materially different
enough in canola fi elds for the crop to
be considered a unique risk compared to
other species from the Brassica genus, the
three-year OSU study found.
“It’s feasible that canola can be grown
in the Willamette Valley,” said Carol Mal-
lory-Smith, the OSU weed science pro-
fessor who wrote the long-awaited report.
“There’s no reason to treat canola dif-
ferently,” she said.
The study was completed at the direc-
tion of Oregon lawmakers, who ordered
a six-year moratorium on most canola
production in 2013 at the request of the
specialty seed industry.
After the Oregon Department of Ag-
riculture decided to loosen restrictions
on canola production in the region, the
Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Associ-
ation asked the Legislature to intervene.
Lawmakers passed a bill that suspend-
ed canola production until 2019 but al-
lowed 500 acres of the crop to be grown
for three years as part of OSU’s study.
They later extended the 500 acres of
canola production to six years.
The OSU report has now been turned
over to ODA, which has another year
to develop recommendations for canola
cultivation in the region.
Turn to STUDY, Page 12
La Nina picks up staying power, climatologists report
Conditions similar
to last year
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
La Nina conditions have
emerged in the Pacific
Ocean, fortifying the chanc-
es of a cold and wet winter in
the Northwest, federal fore-
casters reported Nov. 9.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Admin-
istration assessed the odds
of La Nina prevailing at
approximately 75 percent
through the winter, up by
about 10 percent from last
month’s outlook.
La Nina, a cooling of
surface and sub-surface
waters, became more ap-
parent in October along
the equator across most of
the east-central tropics, ac-
cording to NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center. A month
ago, the center reported sea
temperatures were edging
toward La Nina, but were
still neutral.
“Overall, the ocean and
atmosphere system reflects
the onset of La Nina condi-
tions,” according to a state-
ment from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center. “La Nina
is likely to affect tempera-
ture and precipitation across
the United States during the
upcoming months.”
Turn to REPORT, Page 12
Washington Department of Ecology
Snow piles up at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park in
this 2010 photo from the Washington Department of Ecology.