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CapitalPress.com
December 1, 2017
People & Places
Organic manager a natural fit
Brenda Book
has led WSDA’s
program since 2011
By DON JENKINS
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
As a college student, Bren-
da Book took a summer job at
an organic herb farm in Iowa.
That, she says, is ultimate-
ly why she now manages the
Washington State Department
of Agriculture’s organic pro-
gram.
She grew up on what she
describes as a “typical Mid-
west farm” — corn, soybeans,
hogs, cattle. “I did all the ste-
reotypical Iowa farm girl ac-
tivities,” she said.
She was studying botany
at the University of Iowa. A
summer job at the Frontier
Co-op in Norway, Iowa, was
her introduction to organic
farming, and she’s never left
the field. She began as an in-
tern in WSDA’s organic pro-
gram in 2002 and became the
manager in 2011.
And yes, she eats organic
food.
“I do support our farmers,”
she said.
Growing sector
Book, 41, works with a
sector of agriculture that has
been growing in sales, and
rules. Washington was a pi-
oneer in certifying organic
farms and in the beginning,
in 1985, the regulations fit
on a notebook-sized piece of
paper.
The Organic Foods Pro-
duction Act of 1990 autho-
rized federal standards. “It’s
way more than an 8 1/2-by-11
piece of paper now,” Book
said.
WSDA enforces the fed-
eral standards and constant-
ly updates a list of approved
organic inputs such as fertil-
izers, herbicides and insec-
ticides. The current list has
more than 1,000 products and
fills 75 pages.
At stake is the virtue of
what the USDA reports is a
fast-growing industry. U.S.
farms and ranches sold $7.6
Brenda Book
Age: 41
Position: Washington State
Department of Agriculture
organic program manager
Education: The Evergreen
State College, degree in sus-
tainable agriculture; studied
botany at the University of
Iowa.
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Brenda Book, manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture organic program. “We
rarely deny certification on the first go-round because it’s a process,” she says. “There’s back and
forth. There’s dialogue.”
billion in organic products in
2016, a 23 percent increase
over 2015, according to a
USDA survey released in
September.
Growth in Washington
sales was a modest 1.5 per-
cent, but the state still ranks
third in sales, $636 million. It
was far behind No. 1 Califor-
nia, close to No. 2 Pennsylva-
nia and comfortably ahead of
No.4 Oregon.
The lull in sales growth
may be temporary. The num-
ber of certified organic farms
grew by 11 percent to 677 and
the number of organic acres
increased by 8.8 percent to
78,739.
Help available
“We’re seeing that growth
because (organic farmers) are
having success,” Book said.
“It’s a sign of the strength of
the industry.”
In addition to certifying
organic operations, WSDA
has a program to help farmers
convert to organic production.
It’s voluntary and costs a few
hundred dollars, but it’s meant
to help growers stay within the
rules during the mandatory
three-year transition period.
“We do it as a customer
service, so you’re not out there
on your own,” Book said. “We
can’t get involved in telling
you how to do things, just if
what you’re doing is meeting
the requirements, and we can
help lead you to resources.
“It gives you the opportu-
nity to work with us through-
out the process,” she said. “So
when you get to the year you
want to establish yourself as
organic, you’re not caught
off-guard by something you
did two years ago.”
The big danger is applying
a chemical not approved for
organic production. That re-
sets the clock.
“The application of pro-
hibited material, there’s not
really a way to mitigate that,”
she said.
On other aspects of organ-
ic production, such as buffers
for conventionally farmed
fields, the rules are more flex-
ible, she said.
Some fields may be ready
for organic certification, even
if other fields aren’t, she said.
“A lot of farmers worry,
‘Am I going to pass?’” Book
said. “We rarely deny certi-
fication on the first go-round
because it’s a process. There’s
back and forth. There’s dia-
logue.”
In November, Book gave
back-to-back presentations at
a conference in Vancouver or-
ganized by the Tilth Alliance,
a group focused on organic
agriculture.
‘Organic’ marijuana?
About a dozen people at-
tended the first workshop,
which was on the transitional
program, “a service that is of-
ten under-utilized throughout
the state,” Book said.
The next workshop was on
certifying marijuana as organ-
ic. Attendance quadrupled,
and the room became more
crowded.
Washington was a pioneer
in legal recreational marijua-
na. In that pioneering spirit,
the Legislature has approved
a proposal by WSDA to cer-
tify organic marijuana farms.
WSDA has just started to
develop the rules. Interest ap-
pears keen. WSDA plans to
start certifying organic mar-
ijuana in 2019. If so, Wash-
ington likely will be the first
state to have certified organic
marijuana.
The first rule with organic
marijuana will be not to call
it “organic marijuana.” The
USDA has a lock on “organic”
to describe food produced in a
certain way. Since marijuana
is still illegal under federal
law, Washington will need to
come up with another word
or term to signal to users that
their marijuana is organic.
“The industry needs to
come up with a term that they
want that means the same
thing,” Book said. “The term
has to be something the indus-
try is behind.”
Retailers already make ad-
vertising claims about having
“organic” marijuana.
“There are a lot of claims
that are happening out there
now,” Book said. “We are
protecting the organic claim.”
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Wheat weaver’s artwork draws worldwide admiration
drawal from bank or credit card account)
By DIANNA TROYER
1 year Canada .................................$275
For the Capital Press
POCATELLO,
Idaho
— Toni Zweigart’s wheat
weavings not only adorn
her Christmas tree, they also
grace offices internationally.
The Pocatello resident’s
artwork, woven from wheat
straw, has been given as
gifts during Idaho trade trips
worldwide.
“I feel honored that my
pieces are hanging in offic-
es in China, South Korea,
Taiwan, and Mexico,” says
Zweigart, 65, who learned the
ancient folk art in 1986.
“It’s fascinating to think of
how something as brittle as a
piece of straw can be trans-
formed into something beau-
tiful,” she says of the craft that
was developed in agrarian so-
cieties to symbolize goodness
and to ensure prosperous har-
vests.
After her pieces won
awards at art shows spon-
sored by the Idaho Grain
Producers Association, state
officials asked her to make
five-pointed stars and other
Calendar
Dianna Troyer/For the Capital Press
Toni Zweigart weaves wheat straw into many shapes.
decorations for gifts.
“They told me to not place
the pieces of straw in group-
ings of 4, 13, or 14 because
those numbers are considered
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items can also be mailed to Capi-
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Write “Calendar” in the subject
line.
Saturday, Dec. 2
NE Washington Haygrowers
Association 2017 annual meet-
ing. 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Deer Park
Diesel, 4608 Wallbridge Road,
Clayton, Wash. Two pesticide
applicator recertification credits
available. Cost: $20-$30.
Sunday-Wednesday
Dec. 3-6
California Farm Bureau Annual
Meeting. Hyatt Regency Orange
County, 11999 Harbor Blvd., Gar-
den Grove. Website: http://www.cfbf.
com/am2017
Monday-Thursday
Dec. 4-7
How to Raise Free-Range or
Pasture Poultry. 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Univer-
sity of California-Davis. Prospective, begin-
ner or intermediate farmers are invited. The
lessons will apply to both egg-laying hens
and broilers. UC Agriculture and Natural
Resources, the National Center for Appro-
priate Technology and the Farmer Veteran
Coalition have partnered to provide training
unlucky in some Asian coun-
tries, so I put the grain heads
in groups of 15.”
Her woven artwork was
framed and placed under glass
for protection.
She kept a star for herself
and placed it on her living
room wall beside a cross,
heart and a wreath. Her wo-
ven wheat ornaments adorn a
small Christmas tree set up for
her grandchildren.
Zweigart’s interest in
wheat weaving was kindled
after she saw a wreath at a
craft store. She bought the
wreath and learned the local
person who had made it also
taught classes.
“I signed up and still re-
member our first lesson of
making a simple two-plait
weave. It was discourag-
ing because I couldn’t get
both straws even and tight. I
thought I’d never learn, but
my persistence eventually
paid off.”
She became proficient
with a variety of techniques
including spiral weaves and
flat weaves done on a table-
top. She also learned the tech-
niques of marquetry, in which
the straw is cut, ironed, and
inlaid in patterns.
To start a project, she sorts
pieces of straw to find those
with a uniform diameter and
grain-head size.
“To make a five-pointed
star, I need 75 straws,” she
said. “It takes about three or
four hours to sort out the right
ones, which is about the same
amount of time it takes to
make the star.”
Once she has selected the
pieces, she soaks them in hot
water for 45 minutes to an
hour to make them soft and
pliable.
She has also used strands
of barley.
“A woman from Grace
asked me to make something
from the barley they raised,”
she says. “I made a heart using
a push-pull plait technique.”
Zweigart accepts commis-
sions and also will teach a few
people, depending on how
much spare time she has af-
ter working at America’s Best
Contacts and Eyeglasses.
“It’s relaxing to do,” she
says.
Examples of wheat weav-
ing techniques are shown
at the National Association
of Wheat Weavers’ website,
www.nawwstraw.org.
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
20 Northwest Locations
for military veterans who are embarking on
careers in farming, but all farmers are wel-
come. Cost: $80 and includes lunch. Web-
site: http://ucanr.edu/newpoultryfarmer
edu/lane/farms
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Oregon Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.
Pendleton Convention Center, 1601 West-
gate, Pendleton, Ore. Among the speakers
will be Zippy Duvall, president of the Amer-
ican Farm Bureau Federation. Website:
http://oregonfb.org/convention/
Wheat U. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.Spokane
Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls
Blvd., Spokane, Wash. Wheat U is a farm-
er-focused event that provides resources
to make informed production decisions.
Sponsored by BASF, Capital Press, High
Country Journal. Website: wheatu.com
CORE Pesticide Training. 8 a.m.-
12:15 p.m. OSU Extension, Lane County,
996 Jefferson St., Eugene, Ore. Includes
presentations on worker protection stan-
dards, safety data sheets, spray applica-
tion technologies and preventing drift. Cost:
$40. Website: http://extension.oregonstate.
Tuesday-Thursday
Dec. 5-7
Idaho Farm Bureau Annual
Meeting. Fort Hall Convention Cen-
ter, Fort Hall, Idaho. Website: https://
www.idahofb.org/events#event-17
Wednesday, Dec. 13
Developing or Expanding Your Farm
Stand or Agritourism Operation, Part 2.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. OSU Extension, Auditori-
1-800-765-9055
um, SOREC, 569 Hanley Road, Central
Point, Ore. Social Media Training for Small
Farms. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmall-
Farms
Thursday, Dec. 14
Four-Part Farm and Ranch
Succession Workshop 6-8:30 p.m.
Online or Clackamas Community
College Harmony Campus, 7738
SE Harmon Road, Milwaukie, Ore.
Learn from an attorney, an accoun-
tant, an appraiser, a banker, the di-
rector of Oregon State University’s
Austin Family Business Program
and farmers who’ve been through
the process. Receive free one-on-
one succession counseling sessions
between each event. Part four of four
parts. Cost: Free. Website: http://bit.
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Index
California .............................. 10
Idaho ...................................... 8
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon .................................. 7
Washington ........................... 9
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