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CapitalPress.com
December 8, 2017
Researchers see promise in wireworm bio-controls
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
ABERDEEN, Idaho —
University of Idaho and
Washington State University
researchers have been encour-
aged by results of studies in
both states using beneficial
fungus and nematode species
to improve wheat survival and
yield in wireworm-infested
soils.
The researchers say farm-
ers are limited in both the
availability and effective-
ness of chemicals labeled to
fight wireworms, and new
tools will be needed to help
control the destructive pest.
Aaron Esser, WSU Ex-
tension director for Adams
County, and WSU entomol-
ogist David Crowder con-
ducted outdoor trials in two
fields in 2016 and repeated
the experiment in two more
fields this season, using
commercially available fun-
gus and nematode species
known to attack wireworms.
UI Extension entomolo-
gist Arash Rashed conducted
a similar study this season
with the same species of
Courtesy of Arash Rashed
Potted wheat plants are treated with diatomaceous earth and nematodes and fungus species known
to attack wireworms for a replicated greenhouse study conducted in the spring and summer of 2017 at
the University of Idaho’s Aberdeen Research & Extension Center. The goal is to find biological controls
for wireworm.
fungus and nematode inside
greenhouses at the UI Aber-
deen Research & Extension
Center. Rashed also added a
treatment with diatomaceous
earth — a powder form of a
siliceous sedimentary rock
known to cut the surface
cuticles of insects, causing
them to lose moisture. The
projects received grant fund-
ing from USDA’s National
Institute of Food and Agri-
culture.
“Usually biological con-
trol agents are not expected
to completely replace pesti-
cides and provide the same
level of protection,” Rashed
said, adding more research
is needed to determine how
common pesticides interact
with his experimental treat-
ments. “Our hope is to obtain
an additional tool to employ
in integrated pest manage-
ment of wireworms.”
Esser said during its field
trials in 2016 and this sea-
son, WSU planted soft white
spring wheat in one field with
a moderate wireworm infesta-
tion and another with heavy
pressure. In 24-foot by 6-foot
plots, they tested five different
treatments in four replications
including a control, varying
levels of beneficial nematodes
or fungus and combinations
of the two.
In one field this season,
Esser said the controlled
check with no wireworm
treatment yielded 51 bushels
of wheat per acre, compared
to 54 to 55 bushels per acre
from either nematode or fun-
gus treatments and 56 bush-
els per acre from a combi-
nation of the two biological
controls. By comparison,
applying 2 ounces of the
leading wireworm pesticide,
Goucho, resulted in 62 bush-
els per acre. Esser said the
experiment generated similar
results last season.
“We’re still trying to fig-
ure out if the nematode or the
fungus is the better option,”
Esser said. “Both organisms
aren’t that easy to work with.”
Rashed conducted his
greenhouse study last spring
and repeated it again in the
early summer. His treatments
included a control, solo dos-
es of diatomaceous earth and
beneficial nematodes and fun-
gi and combinations of the
three. He evaluated the perfor-
mance of potted wheat plants
in wireworm-infested sandy
and peat moss-enhanced soils.
Rashed saw little differ-
ence in plant biomass among
treatments in soil with peat
moss, which he believes en-
abled plants to withstand
wireworm damage. But he no-
ticed a relative improvement
in plant biomass from the ad-
dition of beneficial nematodes
and fungi.
“The initial analysis sug-
gests the combination of the
beneficial fungus and nema-
tode, with or without (diato-
maceous earth), may reduce
the percent damage relative
to other treatments,” Rashed
said, adding additional re-
search is needed.
Rashed said the tools could
be useful in organic produc-
tion, and he’d like to study if
the treatments can persist in
soil for several seasons, which
would make them more cost
effective.
Food processors air grievances at Cleaner Air Oregon
State could adopt
rules by July 2018
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
PENDLETON, Ore. —
While few people attended
Tuesday’s public hearing in
Pendleton about proposed
regulations for industrial air
polluters, one industry in par-
ticular was on hand to express
its displeasure with Cleaner
Air Oregon: food processing.
According to the state
employment
department,
food processing makes up 6
percent of overall employ-
ment in Umatilla County and
a whopping 28 percent in
neighboring Morrow County.
Food processors accounted
for 3,426 jobs between the
two counties in 2016, along
with $143 million in com-
bined payroll.
But Craig Smith, director
of government affairs for the
Northwest Food Processors
Association, said those com-
panies face another layer of
burdensome regulations un-
der the Cleaner Air Oregon
rules, spearheaded by Gov.
Kate Brown to lower health
risks posed by industrial air
emissions.
“We don’t like this rule
at all,” Smith said. “It’s way
too broad, and the cost of the
program will be enormous
for very little benefit.”
Smith was one of 14 peo-
ple who attended the hearing
Tuesday at the Pendleton
Public Library, and half of
EO Media Group File
The Lamb Weston frozen potato facility at the Port of Morrow in
Boardman, Ore.
those were employees of the
Oregon Health Authority
and Department of Environ-
mental Quality, which are
working to develop the rules.
Similar meetings were held
Nov. 15 in Medford, Nov. 16
in Coos Bay and Nov. 20 in
Corvallis, with future dates
scheduled in Portland, Eu-
gene, Salem and The Dalles.
Debbie Radie, vice presi-
dent of operations at Board-
man Foods and chairwoman
of the Northwest Food Pro-
cessors Association Board
of Directors, was the only
person to testify Tuesday,
saying the proposed rules
are “poorly designed and un-
workable.”
Cleaner Air Oregon was
established last year in re-
sponse to toxic air emissions
in 2016 at Bullseye Glass in
southeast Portland. Yet rath-
er than address sources of
emissions that DEQ knows
to be an issue, Radie said the
agency is targeting compa-
nies like hers that are already
subject to regulation.
“There is no plan in this
rule to identify sources of
John Deere Dealers
See one of these dealers for a demonstration
49-3/102
emissions that are not cur-
rently permitted,” Radie said.
“The only way this rule will
reduce emissions is to force
companies to curtail or stop
production. The level of un-
certainty does not create an
environment where business-
es and communities thrive.”
The draft rules, released
Oct. 20, would require com-
panies to report their use of
600 chemicals, including
heavy metals and other air
pollutants. Facilities would
then need to calculate po-
tential health risks to nearby
communities,
considering
what, if any, health problems
may be caused by short- and
long-term exposure.
From there, DEQ may re-
quire additional steps — such
as a risk reduction plan or
conditional permit — to mit-
igate the risk. Keith Johnson,
who serves as special assis-
tant to the director of Cleaner
Air Oregon, said the goal is
to use health-based standards
for reducing harmful air tox-
ics.
“A facility that’s in a re-
mote location would be much
less risky than a similar one
located in the middle of a city
or town,” Johnson explained.
“Smaller facilities would like-
ly not be impacted because of
low risk and low emissions.”
Out of 2,500 businesses
with DEQ air quality per-
mits, Johnson said only the 80
highest-risk facilities would
be regulated by the program
in the first five years.
But in her testimony,
Radie said the rule would not
be based on verified science
and data, but rather by asking
already permitted facilities
to submit data that would be
entered into a “very crude, in-
accurate and misleading for-
mula to determine theoretical
risk.”
Cleaner Air Oregon also
factors the cumulative effects
of industrial emissions in a
given area, which Radie said
may cause some companies
with minimal emissions to
be dragged into a full-blown
risk assessment process just
by being near an industrial
location.
Boardman Foods, an onion
processing plant, is located
at the Port of Morrow’s East
Beach Industrial Park near
Boardman, which includes
other value-added processors
such as Lamb Weston and Til-
lamook Cheese.
Smith said the added cost
of complying with the pro-
gram might not force food
processors to close their
doors, but could make them
less competitive moving for-
ward.
“That’s a huge deal,” he
said. “Right now, there is a
lot of investment being made
both by the processors and
our suppliers.”
The Oregon Legislature
is expected to consider a fee
structure for Cleaner Air Or-
egon in the coming session,
and the Environmental Quali-
ty Commission may decide to
adopt all or part of the rule as
early as July 2018.