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CapitalPress.com
April 6, 2018
Washington resumes its hemp program
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington State Department
of Agriculture has resumed process-
ing applications to grow and process
hemp, following a one-time infusion of
$100,000 to get the program through a
second season.
The department will hire an ad-
ministrator to oversee the program, an
agency spokesman said. The depart-
ment stopped licensing hemp farmers
and processors late last year because
fees collected from license holders
were far short of what the department
spent to regulate the state’s first hemp
crop.
The hemp program will need to be
self-supporting someday, though there
are no plans to raise fees this spring or
summer, the spokesman said.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a budget
Tuesday that included the money to
save hemp. The department announced
the following day it was again review-
ing applications.
It’s a stopgap measure, and hemp’s
Don Jenkins/Capital Press File
A Washington farmer plants hemp June 6, 2017. The state Department of Agricul-
ture resumed taking applications March 28 to plant hemp. The program had been
suspended after running out of money.
long-term prospects in Washington are
unclear. Few farmers signed up last
year, and there is no developed in-state
market for the harvest. Hemp fields
must be at least 4 miles from any mar-
ijuana operation to prevent cross-polli-
nation. Washington has 1,172 licensed
marijuana producers, according to the
Washington State Liquor and Cannabis
Control Board’s current count.
Some 180 acres of hemp were plant-
ed in 2017, according to the agriculture
department. The license holder respon-
sible for about half of those acres has
said he won’t plant this year. The state
issued five other hemp-related licens-
es, including two to Native American
tribes and two to Washington State Uni-
versity researchers.
Industrial Hemp Association of
Washington lobbyist Bonny Jo Peter-
son said Thursday that she does not ex-
pect the department’s resumption of the
program to set off a rush to plant this
spring.
“If they weren’t prepared to plant
this year, they may want to wait,” she
said. “I remain confident about the
long-term viability of a healthy, sustain-
able industry if everybody is working
toward that goal.”
Hemp plants and viable hemp seeds
remain as illegal under federal law as
marijuana. The only exception is for
hemp cultivated under state supervi-
sion. The agriculture department’s costs
are related to providing that oversight.
More than 30 states have set up su-
pervised-hemp programs. Many boast a
large number of producers and proces-
sors.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
said at a media event in his home state
March 26 that he will introduce a bill
to take hemp off the federal con-
trolled substances list. Such a propos-
al has been in front of Congress since
at least 2005.
Farm groups relieved by new S. Korea trade deal
Capital Press
U.S. agricultural groups are
applauding the Trump admin-
istration and U.S. Trade Repre-
sentative Robert Lighthizer for
safeguarding agricultural trade
with South Korea in renegoti-
ating the U.S.-Korea free trade
agreement.
Renegotiations of the trade
deal that originally went into
effect in 2012 primarily in-
volved automobile exports,
steel imports and currency
manipulation in an effort to
balance trade between the part-
ners. But commodity groups
were concerned that agricul-
tural trade could take a hit in
those talks.
USDA Secretary Sonny
Perdue gave a hat’s off to Pres-
ident Trump, Lighthizer and
the U.S. trade team for pro-
tecting the strong agricultural
components that were built
into the pact.
Korea has long been an im-
portant trading partner for U.S.
agriculture and currently ranks
as the sixth-highest value mar-
ket. “U.S. agricultural exports
to the country have increased
95 percent over the past de-
cade, and we look forward to
continued growth,” he said in a
statement.
U.S. agricultural exports
to the country increased from
$3.5 billion in 2007 to $6.9 bil-
lion in 2017, according to the
Foreign Agricultural Service.
“We look at it as a win. The
things that work for agriculture
are still very much in place,”
Dale Moore, vice president
of public affairs for American
Farm Bureau Federation, said.
That part of the agreement
stayed in place and it will pro-
vide opportunity to continue to
grow in that market, he said.
It was a great accomplish-
ment, Shawna Morris, vice
president of trade policy with
U.S. Dairy Export Council,
said.
It preserves the agricultur-
al components that have been
so important to the U.S. dairy
industry and at the same time
made some targeted improve-
ments outside the agricultural
arena. One of those is the issue
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
A dry bulk vessel is loaded with wheat at the Columbia Grain
facility in Portland, Ore., bound for South Korea. The revised
KORUS trade agreement retains the agricultural trade elements
of the original, which pleases commodity groups.
of customs procedures, she
said.
U.S. dairy exporters have
repeatedly encountered chal-
lenges with South Korea’s
overly narrow interpretation
of which goods qualify as
those originating in the U.S.,
she said.
“We’re happy to see a
swift renegotiation of the
14-3/100
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
agreement that is a win-win
for both countries,” Beth
Hughes, director of interna-
tional affairs for Internation-
al Dairy Foods Association,
said.
In 2017, Korea was the
fifth-largest market for U.S.
dairy exports, accounting for
close to $280 million in sales,
she said.
National Pork producers
Council is pleased the Trump
trade team was able to come
up with a deal that’s fair for
both countries, Dave Warner,
NPPC director of communi-
cations, said.
“We’re even more pleased
that the renegotiated KORUS
maintains the zero-tariff ac-
cess U.S. pork has on cuts
of commercial significance
going to the South Korean
market,” he said.
The U.S. must stay in the
trade deals it already has,
such as KORUS and the
North American Free Trade
Agreement, and start nego-
tiating and concluding new
agreements, including one
with Japan, he said.
The announcement of the
successfully revised trade
deal is excellent news, Dan
Halstrom, president and CEO
of the U.S. Meat Export Feder-
ation, said in a statement.
“It helps ensure that we will
continue to be able to serve the
growing South Korean market
and a critically important cus-
tomer base,” he said.
Ellis joins
Idaho Farm
Bureau staff
Capital Press
Veteran journalist Sean
Ellis has joined the Idaho
Farm Bureau Federation as
publications editor and will
also handle media inquiries,
the organization announced
Wednesday.
Ellis joins Farm Bureau
after working seven years
for Capital Press, a continu-
ously updated
website and
weekly farm
publication
that focus on
agriculture
in the North-
west.
The
website
is
Sean Ellis
www.capital-
press.com.
During that time, he cov-
ered a wide variety of issues
important to farmers and
ranchers. He also covered
the Idaho Legislature for
Capital Press for eight ses-
sions, writing stories about
dozens of bills and their im-
pact on Idaho’s agricultural
industry.
Ellis, who has worked as
a newspaper reporter and
magazine editor for more
than 30 years, previously
worked for IFBF and has a
solid knowledge of its orga-
nizational structure and pol-
icies.
“We’re happy to have
someone with Sean’s experi-
ence and capabilities return
to the Farm Bureau family.
He served us well several
years ago and we’re excit-
ed to have him back,” Rick
Keller, IFBF executive vice
president and CEO, said.
“I thoroughly enjoyed
writing about agriculture
for Capital Press, and I look
forward to continue writing
about the industry and also
representing farmers and
ranchers through the Farm
Bureau organization,” Ellis
said.
Ellis can be reached at
(208) 239-4292 or (208)
220-5428 or by email at
seanellis@idahofb.org.
ROP-13-5-3/HOU