November 24, 2017
CapitalPress.com
11
Hunter, wolves more likely to cross paths as wolf population increases
WOLF from Page 1
ODFW and OSP he’d shot an
uncollared wolf in northeast
Oregon that ran at him while
at least two other wolves ap-
peared to be flanking him.
The Union County district at-
torney reviewed the case and
decided not to prosecute the
hunter; state police said the
hunter acted in self-defense.
Conservation groups and
others say the 30.06 bullet’s
trajectory — through one
side and out the other — is at
odds with the man’s account.
Some accused the hunter of
panicking, or of deliberately
killing the animal and mak-
ing up a story to justify it. In
an interview with the Capi-
tal Press, the hunter said he
believed he was in danger.
When the wolf ran at him,
he said, he screamed, raised
his rifle, saw fur in the scope
and fired. A shell casing was
found 27 yards from the
wolf’s carcass.
In August, ODFW killed
four wolves from the Harl
Butte Pack after a series of
attacks on cattle. In Septem-
ber, a livestock producer act-
ing with authorization from
ODFW shot a Meacham Pack
wolf to protect his herd.
Yet another wolf, OR-42,
the breeding female of the
Chesnimnus Pack, was found
dead in May. The cause of
death was undetermined, but
foul play was not suspect-
ed. Meanwhile, several wolf
deaths from 2015 and 2016
remain unsolved.
Pedery, of Oregon Wild,
said the conservation group
is not aware of an organized
effort to kill wolves. But he
said the ODFW-sanctioned
killing of wolves for livestock
attacks helps establish an at-
mosphere in which poachers
feel they can get away with it
or are justified.
In rural northeast Oregon,
where the majority of Or-
egon’s wolf packs live, the
situation is layered with a de-
cade of livestock losses, the
cost and worry of non-lethal
deterrence and resentment
over urban residents weighing
in on what are considered lo-
cal matters. Divisive national
politics find expression in an-
ti-wolf reactions as well, Ped-
ery said.
Other observers point out
that Oregon’s steadily in-
creasing wolf population, and
their dispersal from Northeast
Oregon, means armed hunters
are more likely to encounter
them in the wild.
Carter Niemeyer, a retired
federal wildlife biologist with
extensive experience track-
ing, trapping and occasionally
shooting wolves, said wolves
are potentially dangerous but
unlikely to attack humans. A
shout or warning shot should
scare them off, he said, and
he suggested hikers carry bear
repellent spray if they are
worried about bears, cougars,
coyotes or wolves.
‘You’re just not American if you don’t have cranberry sauce on the table’
RECIPE from Page 1
AFBF’s Thanksgiving meal cost survey
by menu item, 2017 *
Cranberry crunch
Then there are cranberries.
The agricultural scholars
at the University of Califor-
nia-Davis report we eat 400
million pounds of cranber-
ries per year, with about 20
percent, 80 million pounds,
served during Thanksgiving.
“National Eat a Cranberry
Day,” which we hadn’t heard
of before, is observed Nov.
23 each year, according to
UC-Davis.
George Bussmann, a
cranberry grower in Sixes,
Ore., on the southern Oregon
Coast, said quality and yield
were fine this year but prices
remain depressed, hovering
around $20 for a hundred-
weight barrel. Much lower
and it won’t be worth the cost
of delivering them, he said.
He said the cranberry in-
ventory is high and the USDA
probably will soon regulate
volume, with growers limited
to delivering a certain allot-
ment. Some growers say one
bad year in the Midwest —
Wisconsin produces about 60
percent of the nation’s crop —
would “fix everything,” but
Bussmann doubts it.
“In my opinion we’re go-
ing to be here for a while,” he
said. “It’s not a great, gleam-
ing time in our industry right
now,”
Bussmann figures he will
ride it out, however.
“My brother has a saying
for it: It’s too early to tell and
it’s too late to turn back,” he
said with a laugh.
He said everyone should
serve cranberry sauce with the
holiday meals.
“You’re just not American
if you don’t have cranberry
sauce on the table,” he said,
only half-joking. “You don’t
necessarily have to eat it, but
it has to be in the picture.”
Pumpkin pied
Pumpkin pie is such a fix-
ture at Thanksgiving that we
inhale an estimated 50 million
of them. The American Pie
Council — yet another orga-
nization we had no reason to
think existed — has a website
of such information at https://
www.piecouncil.org/pdf/Pie_
Fun_Facts.pdf.
Among other things, the
Pie Council says 6 million
American men between the
ages of 35 and 54 have eaten
the last slice of pie and denied
Item
John O’Connell/Capital Press File
Aberdeen, Idaho, farmer Ritchey Toevs inspects a potato during
his harvest. Toevs said processing potato growers have seen their
contracts erode in recent years and will earn a slim margin this
season, despite increases in fresh potato prices.
16-pound turkey
Pumpkin pie mix (30 oz.)
Whole milk (1 gallon)
1-pound veggie tray (carrots, celery)
Misc. ingredients
Rolls (dozen)
Pie shells (2)
Green peas (1 pound)
Fresh cranberries (12 ounces)
Whipping cream (half-pint)
Cubed stuffing (14 ounces)
Sweet potatoes (3 pounds)
Total
it, which seems low.
Out on Sauvie Island’s
Delta Farms in the Portland
area, however, it’s winter
squash that moves well this
time of year. Delta Farms is
the wholesale pumpkin and
squash sales arm of owner
Bob Egger’s Pumpkin Patch
retail business.
Egger sells whole pump-
kins and squash to grocery
chains such as Albertsons.
Winter squash in particular
seems to be gaining favor on
the holiday table and for use
in soups and purees, he said.
Egger said his squash also
sells well in Utah, and he was
pleased recently to find them
in a grocery store in Denton,
Texas. Squash keeps well and
ships easily without damage,
he said.
“Demand has been really
good,” he said. “I think peo-
ple are eating more and more
winter squash.”
Mixed vegetables
Meanwhile, prices nation-
wide have fallen for much of
the other produce that’s pop-
ular at Thanksgiving, such
as sweet potatoes, carrots,
celery, peas and green beans.
Sweet potatoes advertised
for an average of $1.04 per
pound this year were selling
for $1.40 in 2016, according
to a USDA retail price report.
Things are somewhat bet-
ter in the West, where grow-
ers have seen their returns
hold steady or increase slight-
ly since last year, according
to government and industry
sources.
Celery selling for 66 cents
per pound in recent weeks was
bringing 47 cents a pound last
year, and carrots, at 31 cents a
pound, are 2 cents higher than
November 2016, according to
the Western Growers Producer
Price Index.
In the Pacific Northwest, the
$14 per hundredweight grow-
ers received for green peas as
of Nov. 14 was up from be-
tween $9 and $10 a year ago,
the USDA reported.
But while their receipts have
held steady, growers say their
costs for labor and fuel keep
going up, making their margins
tighter. And this is particularly
true in California, where farms
are grappling with a recently
enacted gasoline and diesel
tax increase and a law that will
raise the minimum wage to
$15 an hour by 2022. The cur-
rent minimum wage is $10 to
$10.50 an hour, depending on
the number of employees.
“The cost of labor here is
ridiculous,” said Ryan Power,
co-owner of New Family Farm
in Sebastopol, Calif., which
raises produce sold in local
stores and directly to consum-
ers.
He said a local housing
shortage has added to the
farm’s costs.
“We’ve had to provide hous-
ing for our employees,” Power
said. “That’s been a challenge.”
Prices to growers in the
West may be aided by shortag-
es for several crops. Extreme
weather has caused a shortage
of cauliflower nationwide in
recent years, but New Fami-
ly sent 60 cases of it to local
stores on Nov. 16, Power said.
Fresh domestic green beans
are another commodity in high
demand, said Mary Ocasion,
owner of Churn Creek Mead-
ow Organic Farm in Redding,
Calif.
“Green beans are sky-high
right now because it’s really
hard to get them,” she said.
2016
2017
$22.74
3.13
3.17
0.73
2.81
2.46
2.59
1.58
2.39
2
2.67
3.60
$22.38
3.21
2.99
0.74
2.72
2.26
2.45
1.53
2.43
2.08
2.81
3.52
Difference
-$0.36
0.08
-0.18
0.01
-0.09
-0.20
-0.14
-0.05
0.04
0.08
0.14
-0.08
49.87
49.12
-0.75
*141 volunteer shoppers from 39 states participated in this year’s American Farm Bureau
Federation survey. The data is unscientific and based on a typical classic Thanksgiving
meal for up to 10 people. AFBF’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986.
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
“They have to be grown in
special conditions. It’s too
cold this time of year for green
beans. The weather is too ex-
treme. You have to have a
protective environment with a
heater running. It raises costs.
And payroll costs are so much
higher for growers.”
Churn Creek Meadow de-
livers hand-picked produce
directly to consumers. The
wet winter and hot summer in
2017 took their toll on some
yields, particularly vegetables
normally planted in the sum-
mer to be available during the
holidays, Ocasion said.
“Carrots are one of those
things we had a hard time
with over the summer because
of the heat,” she said. “But
they’re doing well now.”
Potato ups, downs
Did someone say “mashed
potatoes?”
Fresh potato growers can
give thanks this holiday season
that their market has finally re-
covered and prices continue to
strengthen.
James Hoff, an Idaho Falls
fresh grower who serves on
the Idaho Potato Commission,
estimates his production costs
at about $6 per hundredweight.
Hoff said current estimates
place returns to fresh russet
growers at roughly $8.50 per
hundredweight.
“I should be able to pay
down some debt this year,
which is pretty exciting,” Hoff
said. “It’s been a long stretch
since we’ve had decent pota-
to prices, and we should see a
little rate of return that might
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
put a Band-Aid on the wounds
we’ve seen in the past few
years.”
Growers who raise spuds
for processing have received
more stable payments in re-
cent years due to their con-
tracts, but contract rates have
gradually declined, explained
Ritchey Toevs, an Aberdeen,
Idaho, potato farmer who also
serves on the Idaho Potato
Commission.
“We have seen continual
(contract price) erosion over
the last five years,” Toevs said.
Costs of labor and electric-
ity, however, have risen, Toevs
said.
“It’s getting to where you
have to have exceptional
yields, above the state average,
to make money,” Toevs said.
As the industry enters its
peak season, IPC President
and CEO Frank Muir said
strong fresh potato demand
should also help processed
potato growers negotiate for
higher contracts, and sell any
production over their contract-
ed volumes.
“It’s pretty clear the pro-
cessors are also looking for
incremental potatoes, and that
should bode well for those
who have some extra potatoes
to sell,” Muir said.
Wheat worries
Grain growers agree they
won’t see much return from
consumption of fresh loaves
of bread, Thanksgiving din-
ner rolls and pie crusts. Hoff
said hard red spring wheat, his
primary rotation crop, is now
selling for $6 per bushel.
“You’re not going to make
anything at $6 per bushel,”
Hoff said.
Fortunately, Hoff forward
contracted much of his wheat
in June, when the price was
about $1 per bushel higher,
and said growers produced a
“phenomenal wheat crop.” He
also believes there’s a tighter
supply of high-quality wheat
for milling.
Toevs said the current price
of his soft white winter wheat
is roughly $4 per bushel,
which is about $3 below the
highs of 2015.
“At $4, that’s going to get
you back less than $500 per
acre,” said Toevs, who esti-
mates his wheat production
costs at $700 per acre.
Dairy doldrums
Milk used for making
whipped cream, butter, cheese
and other dairy products
served on Thanksgiving dinner
plates will also be produced at
a slight loss in the Northwest,
said Rick Naerebout, CEO of
the Idaho Dairyman’s Associ-
ation.
“The financial performance
of our average dairymen this
year will probably be a little
bit below break-even,” Naere-
bout said. “We need demand to
pick up for us to have a good
2018 based on the amount of
milk we’re seeing produced in
the U.S. and major exporting
regions throughout the world.”
Naerebout said the typical
dairy market cycle involves a
strong year, an OK year and
a poor year, followed by the
return of a strong year. Based
on the normal pattern, he
said 2017 should have been a
strong year, but wasn’t.
Kim Korn, an Idaho Dairy
Products Commission mem-
ber who has a 90-cow dairy in
Terreton, said prices of Idaho’s
two major dairy classes, Class
III and Class IV, are especial-
ly low. Korn, who sells to the
Dairy Farmers of America
cooperative, said she’s paid a
premium under her contract
for higher butter fat and pro-
tein, which has helped her fi-
nancially.
“It used to be the periods
of ups and downs were spread
out more,” Korn said. “Now,
it seems like from week to
week, the price is upward and
then way down.”
Capital Press report-
ers Tim Hearden and John
O’Connell contributed to this
story.
La Nina conditions have greatest effect
in Northwest after the first of the year
WINTER from Page 1
increased chances for wetter
weather in the northern U.S.
and drier weather in the south-
ern U.S.
Climatologists expect the
La Nina to remain “weak,” a
measurement of how much
lower than normal sea tem-
peratures are. However, the
prediction center noted than
a large reservoir of cold water
across the Pacific could fore-
shadow a stronger La Nina.
Bond said he doubts a
strong La Nina will develop,
though a moderate La Nina
could evolve. Even a weak La
Nina influences the weather,
he said. La Nina conditions
were weak last winter, but a
large snowpack supplied irri-
gation systems through a hot
and dry summer.
Bond said La Nina condi-
tions have their greatest effect
in the Northwest after the first
of the year.
“As the season goes on, its
influence grows,” Bond said.
“I would say the evidence that
it’s going to be colder than
normal in December is on the
skimpy side, but there’s no
evidence it will be warmer
than normal.
“For later in the winter,
there’s more of an argument
that it’ll be on the chilly side.”
Snowpacks in basins
throughout
Washington
are well above normal for
mid-November. Bond said
the early start in accumulating
snow doesn’t necessarily tele-
graph what the rest of winter
will be like.
“The connections are pretty
weak,” he said. “Things can
change.”
Besides
Washington,
Western Oregon and the Ida-
ho panhandle are forecast to
be colder than normal for the
three-month period. There is
no strong signal for Eastern
Oregon, Northern California
and most of Idaho, according
to the prediction center.
Southern Idaho falls in the
portion of the country expect-
ed to have a winter warmed by
La Nina.
Washington, Idaho and the
northern half of Oregon are ex-
pected to be wet. The southern
half of Oregon and Northern
California are forecast to have
average precipitation.
47-1/102