10 CapitalPress.com
April 13, 2018
Bear Branch
Farms to
host open
farm day
Washington asparagus farmers
gearing up for spring harvest
Growers hope
for good return
on market price
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Cold weather is stalling
Washington’s asparagus har-
vest.
“We’ve got all these lit-
tle purple heads sticking up,
they’re all wanting to grow,
but we’re just not getting
the heat units to get them up
and get them going,” said
Gary Larsen, chairman of
the Washington Asparagus
Commission and a Pasco-ar-
ea farmer.
Larsen and another farmer
are ready to start cutting, he
said, but with higher mini-
mum wages, growers are hes-
itant to send workers into the
fields when there’s not much
crop to cut.
The crop fared well over a
mild winter, he said.
“It actually would have
been nicer to have a little bit
of cold weather and may-
be get rid of some of those
bugs,” he said. “Asparagus
makes it through the winter
pretty well.”
Insects should not be an
issue this early, he said. As-
paragus beetles could arrive
Washington Asparagus Commission
Washington’s asparagus harvest is almost ready to start, says Gary Larsen, a Pasco, Wash., farmer
and chairman of the Washington Asparagus Commission.
with warmer weather, then
blow out with the first wind,
he said.
Right now, asparagus sold
in grocery stores and restau-
rants is likely from Mexico
or Peru, Larsen said. Mexico
is just completing its harvest.
“In say, two weeks, if
you’re not seeing Washing-
ton asparagus in the stores,
you’re getting old-crop Mex-
ican grass, so be careful,” he
said.
Washington grows 4,000
to 4,500 acres of asparagus,
and acreage is increasing,
Larsen said. He estimated
300 acres will convert to
organic in the state in three
years.
Roughly 45 to 60 farmers
raise asparagus.
Larsen has grown aspara-
gus since 1985. He raises it
as his primary crop on 325
acres.
Larsen said he enjoys
working with the people who
cut the crop during harvest
season.
“They’re fun to have
around — when the season’s
over, it’s just too much qui-
et,” he said.
Larsen aims to reach a
yield of 15,000 pounds of as-
paragus per acre. The state’s
average yield is 6,000 to
7,000 pounds, but he usually
gets 9,000 to 10,000 pounds
per acre. “I think that 15,000
pounds is within grasp,” he
said.
Prices remain a question
mark, Larsen said. Overpro-
duction in Mexico put pric-
es at 99 cents to $1.49 per
pound.
“Hopefully we don’t see
that because at 99 cents in the
stores, we’re more than likely
losing money,” he said.
For farmers to break even,
they need to receive about
80 cents per pound, he said.
How much they receive de-
pends on whether they pack
the asparagus themselves or
sell it to a shipper-packer.
Typically, 55 percent of
what a farmer receives goes
to pay the cutters, he said,
and other expenses come
out of the remaining 45 per-
cent.
In his case, if he sells his
crop for 80 cents a pound
wholesale it will often sell at
retail for $2 or more.
“It’s getting pretty rough
out there,” he said. “Every
time we increase the min-
imum wage or paid leave,
although it’s good for the
people, it’s not good for the
owner.”
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Bear Branch Farms, a
small family-run farm near
Stayton, Ore., will host its
third annual “open farm” day
Saturday, April 21, from noon
to 3 p.m. The public is invited
for tours and to spend the af-
ternoon.
“It just gets people onto
the farm, so kids and families
can get connected to where
their food comes from,” said
Janis Newsom, who owns the
farm with her husband, Nate.
“They can go walk the fields,
walk around the greenhous-
es, pet and feed the animals,
ask gardening questions, the
whole gamut.”
Bear Branch Farms grows
more than 100 different fruits
and vegetables, which it sells
on a Community Supported
Agriculture model, or CSA, in
which customers pay up front
for “shares” of the harvest.
Newsom said they will
be raffling a half-price CSA
membership during the event.
Foodology, a mobile kitchen
from Stayton, will also be on
site. Newsom said families
can bring chairs if they would
like to picnic at the farm.
Bear Branch Farms is at
40929 Huntley Road SE. For
more information, call the
farm at 503-769-3025.
Stemilt to pay $95,000 in sexual harassment settlement
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Stemilt
Growers LLC and it’s wholly-owned
subsidiary Stemilt Ag Services
have agreed to pay a tractor driver
$95,000 and implement preventive
measures to settle a sexual harass-
ment and retaliation lawsuit from the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportuni-
ty Commission.
Stemilt, based in Wenatchee, is
one of the state’s largest tree fruit
companies. Last June, after the law-
suit was filed, a Stemilt spokesman
said the company has never tolerated
discrimination. He declined further
comment.
According to EEOC’s lawsuit,
Heidi Corona worked for Stemilt
as a tractor driver for more than
three years in Quincy before being
transferred to a company orchard in
Wenatchee, where she was the only
woman tractor driver.
In her second day in the new lo-
cation, her direct supervisor drove
her to a remote location and made
sexually explicit comments, propo-
sitioned her for sex and attempted to
kiss her, the EEOC said.
Trapped in a moving vehicle and
at an unfamiliar and remote location
with no cell phone service, Corona,
who was in her mid-30s, asked the
supervisor to stop and told him she
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
Stemilt Growers and its orchard management subsidiary, Stemilt Agriculture
Services, in Wenatchee, Wash., have settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission for $95,000 over the sexual harassment of
a tractor driver and retaliation against her.
was only there to work, the EEOC
said.
After the incident, the supervisor
assigned Corona to pick up trash and
excluded her from meetings with
other tractor drivers. When she re-
ported the harassment to upper man-
agement she was given a choice of
continuing to work under the same
supervisor or become a warehouse
fruit sorter for lower pay, EEOC
said. She took the lower-paying job.
The alleged conduct violated
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 under which employers are re-
quired to prevent and remedy sexual
harassment and are prohibited from
retaliation.
EEOC said it filed the lawsuit in
U.S. District Court after trying to
reach a settlement.
Under a consent decree, signed
April 3 by U.S. District Judge Thom-
as O. Rice, Stemilt will pay Corona
$95,000, some of it for lost wages
and some for emotional distress, said
Carmen Flores, EEOC senior trial
attorney.
Corona no longer works for
Stemilt, and while EEOC asked that
a letter of reprimand be put in the
supervisor’s folder, EEOC doesn’t
know if that happened, Flores said.
“We were disappointed he was
still a supervisor during the case,”
she said.
A Stemilt spokesman declined
any comment, including whether the
supervisor was disciplined.
The decree requires Stemilt to
provide an anti-discrimination poli-
cy and annual training to all manage-
ment and staff.
The company agreed to institute
complaint-handling procedures and
to hold management and supervisors
accountable for how they respond
to complaints. In addition, Stemilt
will post a notice on the case, and re-
port annually to the EEOC for three
years.
Flores said Stemilt already had
sexual harassment training and re-
porting procedures but that the de-
cree is a fresh emphasis.
“We felt the investigation was not
thorough by the company and that’s
very important if you really want to
address problems,” Flores said. “It’s
good for the employer to be vigilant.
We find companies have written pol-
icies but it seems like they are not
taken seriously.”
Corona said she hopes, as a result
of the settlement, that “Stemilt will
listen to a woman who reports ha-
rassment and will give her support,
not punishment.
“My message for other women
workers is don’t be afraid, use your
voice, don’t stay silent,” she said.
Nancy Sienko, director of
EEOC’s Seattle office, said na-
tional attention has recently been
focused on sexual harassment and
that employers must show leader-
ship and foster work atmospheres
of respect.
“Corona just wanted to drive trac-
tor, a rare position for a woman in
that industry. Instead, she was forced
to give up a job she loved and take
a pay cut to avoid harassment, an
all-too familiar pattern for workers
across industries seen from #MeToo
accounts,” Flores said.
“We hope this settlement sends
a clear message that EEOC can be
a key resource in the fight to end
workplace sexual harassment.”
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