December 29, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
WSDA acts on goal to radio tag all cows
Department
proposes first step
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington State De-
partment of Agriculture made
the first formal move Wednes-
day to electronically follow
every cow in the state from
birth to slaughter.
The department indicated
it will propose replacing metal
ID tags with radio-frequency
identification, or RFID, on
tens of thousands of cows. Ac-
cording to WSDA, electronic
tags will be less prone to re-
cord-keeping errors and help
track cattle as individuals, not
just part of a branded herd.
“Updating our rules to
incorporate RFID devices
is an important first step in
strengthening our state’s an-
imal disease traceability sys-
tem,” State Veterinarian Brian
Joseph said in a written state-
ment.
WSDA plans to mark all
cows with a radio-frequency
identification by no later than
2023. WSDA says its ambi-
tions are in line with USDA’s
national goals.
WSDA envisions record-
ing all movements of a cow
from one premise to another,
including small private sales
between neighbors or trips to
fairs. Reaction from producer
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
The Washington State Department of Agriculture has taken the first
step to replace manually read tags with radio frequency identifica-
tion on all cattle.
groups has been mixed. Some
ranchers see mandatory elec-
tronic tags as unnecessary
and intrusive, and potentially
costly.
WSDA says marking all
cows with radio tags will be
a multi-phase project. As a
start, the department initiated
rule-writing to automatically
put radio tags on cattle under
three circumstances:
• Female cattle vaccinated
for brucellosis.
• Bulls tested for trichomo-
niasis.
• Sexually intact cattle and
bison older than 18 months of-
fered at public livestock mar-
kets.
In all cases, the cattle are
now fitted with metal ID tags.
“It’s a small step, but they
have to make the step to get on
first base,” said Stevens Coun-
ty rancher Ted Wishon, past
president of the Cattle Produc-
ers of Washington. He ques-
tioned whether the radio tags
would be as durable and reli-
able as imprinted metal tags.
“I do oppose the move be-
cause it’s just sticking your
foot in the door, and I don’t
see the benefit,” Wishon said.
The Washington Cattle-
men’s Association supports
moving to radio tags for dis-
ease-surveillance programs.
The organization has not taken
a stance on requiring electron-
ic tags on all cattle over 18
months, the association’s ex-
ecutive vice president, Sarah
Ryan, said.
WSDA says it intends to
supply producers with free ra-
dio tags, but that depends on
funding from USDA.
“It’s going to cost some-
body,” Wishon said. “The
money is coming from some
place. They’re not free.”
WSDA estimates 5 percent
of beef cattle and 80 percent of
dairy cows are currently fitted
with radio tags. The depart-
ment did not have an estimate
of how the new rules would
increase those percentages,
but the regulations could ap-
ply to a large number of cattle.
Approximately 200,000
head of cattle were sold at
four public livestock markets
in 2016, according to WSDA.
Some 151,371 female cattle
were vaccinated for brucel-
losis, and 2,697 bulls were
tested for trichomoniasis, the
department reported.
WSDA says the state’s
2003 case of bovine spongi-
form encephalopathy, com-
monly known as mad cow dis-
ease, showed that one diseased
animal can close export mar-
kets for years. Tracing where a
sick cow has been by its brand
is not feasible because the
brand does not individually
identify the animal, according
to WSDA.
The department said it
doesn’t expect to draft the
rules or take public comments
before mid-March. Agencies
are required to give notice that
they plan to write rules.
UI Extension equips new farmers for success
Program includes
farmer instructors,
farm tours
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
University of Idaho Ex-
tension will offer a workshop
for beginning farmers starting
Jan. 8.
The “Starting Your Sus-
tainable Small Farm in Idaho”
workshop begins with an in-
troductory webinar at 6 p.m.
Pacific time on Jan. 8.
The registration deadline is
Jan. 6.
“We consider beginning
farmers to be anyone with
no experience with up to 10
years of experience,” said Iris
Mayes, UI Extension Latah
County small farms and hor-
ticulture educator in Moscow.
The workshop will help
students develop whole-farm
planning that fits their opera-
tion.
“We try to give them a
broad overview so they can
figure out what it is they want
to do, and how they’re going to
make a living at this,” Mayes
said. “We want to empower
people to be successful.”
Farmers’ plans can be ad-
justed as they learn more, she
added.
“When you first start think-
ing, ‘I want to do this,’ you’re
excited, you’re dreaming,” she
said. “This gives people a re-
ally great foundation for doing
that successfully, and having a
good time doing it, too. Peo-
ple can work really hard on the
farm, and we want (them) to
enjoy that lifestyle, too.”
The workshop includes
farmers as instructors, to pro-
vide real-world experience,
Mayes said.
The workshop includes
three all-day sessions from
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Pacif-
ic time Jan. 13., Feb. 3 and
March 3. A speaker will be
broadcast to classrooms in
Bonners Ferry, Caldwell, Cas-
cade, Driggs, Moscow, Sand-
point, Kamiah and Weiser.
EO Media Group File
A Central Washington farmer faces steep fines for using water
from the Odessa aquifer to irrigate his fields.
Farmer, landowners
fined $618K for drawing
from Odessa aquifer
Farmer, landowner
plan to appeal
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A Grant County, Wash.,
farmer and the landown-
ers he leased fields from
have been fined a total of
$618,000 by the state De-
partment of Ecology for
illegally drawing from the
shrinking Odessa aquifer to
irrigate 530 acres this year.
Ecology alleges that Ron
Fode continued to irrigate
after he and the landowners
were told more than once
last spring to stop.
“This isn’t fair to other
irrigators who follow the
law or to local communities
and rural landowners who
depend on this groundwater
for their drinking water,”
Ecology water resources
manager Mary Verner said
in a written statement.
Ecology said it formally
ordered Fode and the land-
owners to stop irrigating
three fields on June 26. The
irrigation continued until
Oct. 10, Ecology said.
Ecology issued three
separate fines: $103,000 for
irrigating 65 acres of alfalfa
owned by the estate of Mi-
chael Schmidt, $206,000 for
irrigating 130 acres of Timo-
thy hay owned by Fode and
$309,000 for irrigating 335
acres of alfalfa and potatoes
owned by Michele and Ran-
dy Kiesz, Ritzville farmers.
Fode applied in Janu-
ary to transfer groundwater
rights to the 130 acres he
owns. Ecology denied the
transfer on the grounds the
land could be irrigated by
surface water, rather than
the dwindling aquifer.
Fode tried to challenge
Ecology’s June order to stop
irrigating, but his appeal to
the Pollution Control Hear-
ings board missed a filing
deadline by a few days. The
board dismissed the appeal
without considering the 61
pages of documents Fode
submitted.
Fode said that he will
appeal Ecology’s fine to the
hearings board. “I haven’t
even had my day in court,”
he said. Fode said he kept
irrigating because he would
have suffered irreparable
damage if he had stopped.
Michele Kiesz said Fode
rented the land for $100 an
acre, and the well is dry.
“Whatever water was
being applied to my rented
land, I was not knowledge-
able about,” she said.
She said she and her hus-
band will appeal the fine to
the Pollution Control Hear-
ings Board. “It’s not a fun
situation, and we’re trying
to rectify it,” she said.
Senators question USFS
role in sage grouse review
Letter sent Dec. 20
to agency head
Tony Tooke
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Thirteen Democratic sen-
ators, including Oregon Sens.
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley,
are questioning what role the
U.S. Forest Service played in
the Trump administration’s
recent decision to review pro-
tections for the greater sage
grouse.
In a letter sent Dec. 20 to
USFS Chief Tony Tooke, the
senators pose 10 questions
stemming from federal or-
ders to review the 2015 sage
grouse plans, which sought to
keep the bird off the endan-
gered species list.
Those plans, the senators
argue, were the hard-won re-
sults of negotiations between
farmers, ranchers, sportsmen,
conservationists and govern-
ment officials to preserve sage
grouse habitat while balanc-
ing rural economies. On June
7, however, Secretary of the
Interior Ryan Zinke issued an
order to re-examine the plans
to see if any provisions might
hinder job creation and energy
development.
Since then, the Forest Ser-
vice has also announced its
intent to prepare an environ-
mental impact statement for
multiple national forests and
grasslands in Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and
Colorado, which the agency
says may warrant changes in
land management for the sage
grouse. The notice includes:
• Idaho and southwest
Montana (Beaverhead-Deer-
lodge, Boise, Caribou-Tar-
ghee, Salmon-Challis and
Sawtooth national forests, and
Curlew National Grassland).
• Nevada (Humboldt-Toiy-
abe National Forest).
File photo
The greater sage grouse. Thirteen Democratic senators, including
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, are questioning what
role the U.S. Forest Service played in the Trump administration’s
recent decision to review protections for the greater sage grouse.
• Utah (Ashley, Dixie,
Fishlake, Manti-La Sal and
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache nation-
al forests).
• Wyoming and Colorado
(Bridger-Teton and Medicine
Bow-Routt national forests,
and Thunder Basin National
Grassland).
The deadline for comment
is Jan. 5, though the senators
are asking the Forest Service
to extend it by at least 45 days
to account for the acreage and
stakeholders involved.
Sage grouse are found in 11
Western states, and are known
for their elaborate courtship
and mating rituals. The pop-
ulation was once estimated at
16 million birds, but has since
dwindled to between 200,000
and 500,000. More than half
the remaining habitat is on
land managed by the Forest
Service or the BLM.
In addition to Wyden and
Merkley, the Dec. 20 letter
was signed by Washington
Sens. Maria Cantwell and
Patty Murray; New Mexico
Sens. Tom Udall and Martin
Heinrich; Montana Sen. Jon
Tester; Colorado Sen. Mi-
chael Bennet; Nevada Sen.
Catherine Cortez Masto; Cal-
ifornia Sen. Dianne Feinstein;
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabe-
now; Maryland Sen. Chris
Van Hollen; and Rhode Island
Sen. Jack Reed.
Among their questions,
they ask how the Forest Ser-
vice was involved in working
with the Department of the In-
terior on its recommendation
to review sage grouse plans,
and if the agency held meet-
ings with local stakeholders.
They also ask why the
USFS is considering chang-
es when the BLM’s National
Technical Team, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service’s Con-
servation Objectives Team,
the U.S. Geological Survey’s
Summary Report and the
Western Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies all
agreed on key elements in the
final 2015 sage grouse plans.
“Because of the profound
economic and cultural im-
plications of upending this
range-wide solution — in-
cluding a potential Endan-
gered Species Act listing of
the sage grouse that could
result from USFS and BLM
changes to the 2015 plans —
we ask that you respond to the
following questions and re-
quests for information by Jan.
12, 2018,” the senators write.
52-3/108