Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2018)
January 26, 2018 CapitalPress.com 3 Farm Bureau applauds Study: Wine appellations boost prices Washington ‘Hirst’ fix Price-to-quality ratios increased by American Viticultural Area designation By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — The Wash- ington Farm Bureau’s wa- ter-policy expert said Friday that the Hirst bill passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee will allow farmers to drill wells for homes and worker housing. The bill attaches “strings and extra process,” but averts building moratoriums, the Farm Bureau’s associate di- rector of government relations, Evan Sheffels, said. “This is a fix. This is a real Hirst fix,” he said. “While it’s not a perfect bill, it is a good bill for Washington farmers, and fish.” The bill that emerged from back-to-back votes in the Sen- ate and House Jan. 18 was a compromise between lawmak- ers who wanted to repeal the state Supreme Court’s Hirst decision and those who want- ed to implement it. The bill’s prime sponsor, Senate Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Chairman Kevin Van De Wege, D-Se- quim, called it a “fragile agree- ment” with something for ev- eryone to dislike. Most of the “no” votes, however, came from pro-Hirst legislators, who said it wasn’t respectful enough of tribal treaty rights. Snohohmish County Sen. John McCoy, a member of the Tualip Tribes, warned that wa- ter shortages will come from “unfettered drilling.” “I’m extremely discour- aged,” he said. “The tribes have tried to work with others to come to a reasonable solu- tion. In my opinion, they were ignored.” The lead negotiator for Sen- ate Republicans, Judy Warnick of Moses Lake, said in an in- terview that she hopes the bill will be a long-term solution to allowing rural landowners to build. She noted that the deal in- cludes $300 million to be spent over the next 15 years on fish projects. Tribes will have a say in how the money is spent. Watershed plans will be up- dated or drawn up to protect streams. “We did our best to try to include tribal interests,” War- nick said. “We certainly made a commitment with the mon- ey.” The Hirst decision pointed to a well-by-well approach to keeping growth from lowering streams. Senate Bill 6091 will By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press TVW Washington Farm Bureau asso- ciate director of government af- fairs Evan Sheffels speaks Jan. 16 before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Com- mittee on legislation responding to the Hirst court decision. focus on watersheds that need the most attention, Sheffels said. “The bill takes us to a much more logical approach.” The bill’s effect will vary in the state’s 62 watersheds. In more than 40 watersheds, the bill affirms that pre-Hirst rules will prevail. Landown- ers will not face new fees or lower limits on daily with- drawals. “It’s a big win to get that cloud of uncertainty removed from those watersheds,” Shef- fels said. In seven watersheds, land- owners will pay a new $500 fee to drill a well. Average annual withdrawals will be limited to 3,000 gallons a day. There is no prohibition on wa- tering outdoors, as proposed in earlier Democratic versions. The seven watersheds are the Nooksack, Nisqually, Lower Chehalis and Upper Chehalis in Western Washing- ton; and the Okanogan, Little Spokane and Colville in East- ern Washington. They already have watershed-management plans, though the plans must be updated. In eight watersheds, the new fee will apply and the withdrawal limit will be 950 gallons a day. Committees made up of state and local gov- ernments, tribes and interest groups, including agriculture, will recommend fish projects and could change fees and withdrawal limits. “We’re going to work with tribes and work with the agen- cies to see that these groups deliver the best possible out- comes for everyone,” Sheffels said. The eight watersheds are all in Western Washington: Sno- homish, Cedar-Sammamish, Duwamish-Green, Puyal- lup-White, Chambers-Clover, Deschutes, Kennedy Golds- borough and Kitsap. Convincing the feder- al government to officially recognize a wine region’s unique “terroir” can sub- stantially boost the price per bottle, according to a recent study. The study found that certain geographic regions within Oregon’s Willamette Valley saw statistically significant wine price pre- miums due to their federal designation as “American Viticultural Area” appella- tions. Average prices and wine rankings were compared across six sub-appellations within the overall Willa- mette Valley AVA as part of the research, which was headed by economics pro- fessor Omer Gokcekus of Seton Hall University in New Jersey. After obtaining their sub-appellation designa- tions, wines from four of those areas — Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge and Yam- hill Carlton — saw their price-to-quality ratio out- pace the rest of the Willa- mette Valley. All other things being equal, the sub-AVA des- ignations contributed to higher prices ranging from $1.43 to $14.13 for a bottle with a 90-point score from Wine Spectator, an industry publication that rates wines. Price premiums for wines produced in the Dundee Hills AVA were the highest found in the study. Russell Gladhart, whose family owns Winter’s Hill Estate, said the Dundee Hills AVA benefits from being densely planted with vineyards within a relative- ly compact area. The resulting lack of variation makes wines from the region more distinct, he said. “The customer knows more precisely where the wine came from.” Gokcekus, the study’s author, said he became intrigued by the phe- nomenon while attend- ing an academic confer- Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File Winegrapes grow in the Willamette Valley. A university study looked at the impact of American Viticultural Area appellations and sub-appellations on wine price. ence in Oregon. “There should be a rea- son for this,” he said. For wineries to petition the U.S. Alcohol and Tobac- co Tax and Trade Bureau for a sub-AVA, there must be an economic motivation, Gok- cekus said. “I was expecting to see an increase, otherwise, why should you bother?” he said. Even so, Gokcekus said he was surprised by the size of price premiums some wines commanded solely due to their appellation. The range of grape-grow- ing conditions is narrower within a smaller appella- tion, leading consumers to believe they’re at less risk of buying a lower-quality wine from that region, he said. There’s also a sense of exclusivity that comes from purchasing wine from an area that only has a limited number of bottles available, Gokcekus said. “We are talking about wine. In my mind, we are talking about perceptions,” he said. Creating ever-smaller appellations probably stops making economic sense at some point, though. As the number of winer- ies within each area shrinks, they must each spend more money to promote the re- gion and can’t pool their re- sources as effectively, Gok- cekus said. “On the one hand, there is exclusivity. On the other hand, there is cost,” he said. “It’s a kind of balancing act.” Wineries won’t gain much from a sub-AVA des- ignation if they’re located within a larger appellation that hasn’t won many acco- lades, he said. In this case, the Willamette Valley had already established a solid footing in the wine industry. “It’s a prerequisite,” Gokcekus said. “The AVA you are in should already have a certain reputation.” Although a sub-AVA designation may boost prices higher than they’d rise based on quality alone, it’s also necessary for wines from the region to stand out, he said. For example, the price-to-quality ratio for two sub-AVAs, Eola-Amity Hills and McMinnville, did not meaningfully surpass the rest of the Willamette Valley despite the designa- tions, he found. While the price-to-qual- ity ratios increased in both regions, they largely kept pace with the larger appel- lation — probably because their average wine ratings didn’t exceed the Willa- mette Valley’s average, Gokcekus said. Being located within a well-known sub-AVA, such as Dundee Hills, is associ- ated with a premium but winemakers must source 95 percent of their grapes from that appellation to promote it on their label, said Denise Flora, co-owner of the Na- tive Flora winery. That requirement isn’t a problem for Native Flora, which is a boutique winery that relies entirely on the 16 acres of vineyards growing on its estate, she said. “It fits our business model.” Soil & Plant Health • Nutrients • Water • Specialty Crops Precision Ag • Unmanned Aerial Systems Whitgro to merge with Northwest Grain Growers Capital Press Whitgro Inc. will merge with Northwest Grain Grow- ers in May as part of a plan to update facilities and move grain using 100-car shuttles. “Market economics is a big reason,” said Heath Barnes, general manager of Whitgro Inc. “Really, (it’s the) same reason all the other co-ops are consolidating — mainly mar- ket economics, a shift in some of our freight options and our ability to remain competitive for our members.” Whitgro has 390 members. Northwest Grain Growers has 1,700 members. Chris Peha, general man- ager of NWGG, said the com- panies have worked together for a long time. The majority of Whitgro’s facilities are on a short-line railroad owned by the state. NWGG has an agreement with the short-line operator to move and load grain at Whitgro’s facilities and ship it to NWGG’s facil- ities along the river, to load onto barges. The railroad has ap- proached NWGG about using 100-car shuttles on the short- line railroad, which will re- quire a $6 million to $8 million investment to update facilities and receive the railroad’s pro- posed lower rate, Peha said. The company plans to make the changes in the next 12 to 24 months, he said. Whitgro and NWGG’s boards determined the best move was to merge the com- panies, Peha said. Barnes and Peha did not provide an estimated value of the combined businesses. Barnes doesn’t expect farmers to see much impact as a result of the move. “They’re going to contin- ue to remain at a competitive freight rate and competitive patronage levels,” he said. Peha said the change will also provide administrative ef- ficiency and savings on insur- ance and banking. NWGG has five barge-load- ing facilities, but members are “river captive” with aging in- frastructure and occasional river closures for lock mainte- nance, he said. The merger will allow the flexibility to ship by rail or barge, he said. Best Western Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites 908 Specht Avenue, Caldwell, ID 83605 February 9, 2018 8:30 am – 1:00 pm Cost: $20 Lunch Provided Host: Olga Walsh, University of Idaho, Parma Research & Extension Center, owalsh@uidaho.edu, (208)722-6701 • Update of corn production and research in Idaho • High biomass sorghum • Demo on drip irrigation • Soil health • Small acreage farming • Disease diagnostics research and spore sampler •Soil sampling and on-farm research • UAV research in Idaho 4-1/108 By MATTHEW WEAVER Weekly fieldwork report 800.764.7473 BisonPipe.com Calif. Ore. Wash. Idaho • Snow water equivalent* 46.1% 94.8% 82.8% 39% • Percent area in drought 65.4% 9.5% 1.2% 46.8% • Avg. temperature, 6-10 day outlook 33% below/ Normal 40% below/ Normal 40% below/ 33% above Normal/ 50% above • Precipitation, 6-10 day outlook 40% above/ Normal 50% above 50% above/ Normal Normal (north)/ 50% below (mid) Normal/ Below normal Normal/ Above normal Normal/ Above normal Below normal Item/description (Percent chance deviation from normal) (Percent chance deviation from normal) (Monthly deviation from normal) *Aggregate average percent of median as of Jan. 16. Medians calculated for the period from 1981-2010. 4-3/108 Animal Safe! Customizable! Easy Maintenance! • Soil moisture anomaly GET THE BEST QUALITY AT THE BEST PRICES! 240 E. FRONTAGE RD. N., JEROME, ID 83338 Sources: USDA, NRCS; NOAA, www.ca.gov/; www.drought.gov/