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14 CapitalPress.com April 13, 2018 Livestock Hall of Fame celebrates newest inductees By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame honored its new- est inductees Tuesday evening at its 59th annual banquet. This year’s inductees were cattle ranchers Scott and Sar- ah Bedke of Oakley; dairy producers Harry and Flora Bokma of Buhl; long-time Bureau of Land Management supervisor Dean Brown and his wife, LaDeane, of Jerome; cattle ranchers Wade and Gwenna Prescott of Carey; cattle ranchers Jim and Barb Baker of Filer; and sheep and cattle ranchers Ed and Emily Baker (posthumously) of Fil- er. Scott Bedke is a fourth-generation rancher, and he and his brother Eric are the principal owners of Winecup Inc., the cattle ranching operation formed by their father. They raise cattle south and west of Oakley and in Elko County, Nev. They run about 1,400 mother cows and farm in the Oakley area. The Bedkes strive to be good stewards of the land, leaving things better than they found them. Scott Bedke has also been elected to eight terms in the Idaho House of Representa- tives and is serving his third Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press This year’s inductees into the Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame at the induction banquet in Twin Falls on April 10. Front row from left are Wade and Gwenna Prescott, Dean and LaDeane Brown and Jim and Barb Baker. Back row from left are Scott and Sarah Bedke and Flora and Harry Bokma. term as speaker of the House, where he has had significant influence in natural resources issues. The Prescotts started their cattle operation in 1979 with a modest 20 head of stock cows. Over the next couple of decades they farmed across the Magic Valley, raising feed for their own livestock, and built their herd to 500 mother cows. In the late 2000s, they pur- chased a run-down 68,000- acre ranch in Arizona, moving their herd and growing the ranch’s carrying capacity to 700 head plus yearlings. They later returned to Idaho and purchased another run-down ranch in Carey, where they run two herds of stock cows and background feeder cattle. Dean Brown began his career with the Bureau of Land Management in 1971 as a wildland firefighter in the Shoshone field office. In 1974, he moved to BLM’s range department, where his primary duties were livestock use supervision and range- land resource monitoring. At times, he monitored the graz- ing use of more than 80 bands of sheep and 25,000 head of cattle. Throughout his career, he was involved in numerous rangeland projects to improve livestock grazing distribution. He was also instrumental in fire rehabilitation and resto- ration seeding projects. Originally from Califor- nia, the Bokmas moved to Buhl and started a dairy with 22 cows in 1974. Over the years, they’ve grown the herd to 2,000 cows, several farms and another dairy farm in Ha- german. Their two sons have joined them in the business, and they have 17 full-time employees. Jim and Barb Baker start- ed buying the ranch opera- tion from Jim’s parents in the 1980s, doubling it to 700 mother cows. They have been instrumental in improving rangeland health on public lands in south-central Ida- ho and have been practicing adaptive management for years. They have improved re- source conditions, including riparian and habitat condi- tions, while maintaining their level of grazing. Those im- provements have benefited sage grouse and a variety of livestock, and they were in- strumental in forming Idaho’s first local sage-grouse work- ing groups. Jim Baker’s parents, Ed and Emily Baker, were also honored posthumously for their years in the sheep and cattle business and steward- ship of natural resources. Oyster growers criticize Ecology’s ‘politics’ Permission to spray for pest denied By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington oyster grow- ers denounced the state De- partment of Ecology for deny- ing them permission Monday to spray a pesticide at Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor to kill burrowing shrimp. The denial prevents 12 growers from applying the only effective means of re- moving a pest that plows up shellfish beds and causes oys- ters to sink and suffocate. The growers charged Ecol- ogy with being driven by pub- lic hostility to spraying, rather than science. Ecology main- tained it was guided by the po- tential harm to other creatures. “We based our decision off the scientific data we have,” Ecology spokeswoman Jessi- ca Payne said. “This pesticide was too risky to be used.” Ecology’s stance reverses a decision it made in 2015 to let growers spray imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide widely used on land crops. Ecology initially defended the spraying as ecologically sound. How- ever, consumer, activist and media disapproval pressured growers and Ecology into backing off. Growers scaled back plans, proposing to spray 500 acres instead of 2,000 acres, and re- applied for a permit in 2016. Ecology reported receiving more than 8,000 comments on the application. On Monday, it announced that it was denying the permit and cited new re- search for its change of view. Don Jenkins/Capital Press File Washington oyster farmers inspect shellfish beds May 11, 2015, in Willapa Bay. The Department of Ecology has denied permission to spray the beds with a pesticide to kill burrowing shrimp that churn up the beds and suffocate oysters. Washington State Univer- sity scientist Kim Patten, who has researched eradicating burrowing shrimp in Willa- pa Bay and Grays Harbor for many years, disputed Ecolo- gy’s assertion. Patten, based in Long Beach, said little new has emerged since 2015. “I’m disappointed that poli- tics got in the way of science,” Patten said. “It’s politics be- cause spraying chemicals in Willapa Bay is not a popular sentiment. It doesn’t sound good.” Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor shellfish farmers grow about 25 percent of the oys- ters harvested in the U.S. Left unchecked, the shrimp will re- duce the harvest by 10 percent a year, Patten estimated. For decades growers con- trolled the inedible burrowing shrimp with carbaryl. Imida- cloprid was proposed by Pat- ten and growers as a less toxic alternative. The pesticide has not been used in the U.S. in the manner proposed by the oyster grow- ers. Ecology water quality manager Rich Doenges said tests in Willapa Bay showed that imidacloprid reduced the population of some sed- iment-dwelling creatures by more than half, potentially dis- rupting the food chain. He said that Ecology also was influenced by a 2017 EPA study that assessed how imida- cloprid running off farm fields affected aquatic life. The assessment found im- idaclorpid posed a low direct risk to fish, but could pose an indirect risk by harming in- sects that fish eat. Rep. Brian Blake, an Ab- erdeen Democrat whose dis- trict includes Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, said he was disappointed by Ecology’s de- cision. “I’m worried many of the growers may not survive,” said Blake, chairman of the House agriculture commit- tee. “It’s not new science that killed the permit, it’s new pol- itics.” The oyster growers’ asso- ciation issued a press release through the public relations firm Strategies 360 condemn- ing the decision. “To us, it seems like Ecology has been laying in the weeds, delaying action on our permit appli- cation, and politicizing the future of our farms,” associ- ation President Ken Wiegardt said in a written statement. More interest expected in dark northern spring wheat By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Washington wheat farmers are plant- ing 35,000 more acres of spring wheat this year than they did last year. A good portion of those acres may be devoted to dark northern spring wheat, said Glen Squires, CEO of the Wash- ington Grain Commission, although he doesn’t have firm numbers or an estimate of how much. But it makes sense, Squires said. Dark northern spring wheat prices range from $7.21 to $8.19 per bushel, de- pending on the protein percentage. Prices for soft white wheat range from $5.75 to $5.90 per bushel, below the cost of production. Soft white wheat is used in “weak-glu- ten” products, such as sponge cakes or crackers. DNS is for high-protein breads and rolls, “strong gluten” products. High protein is not desirable in soft white wheat. Squires expects interest from growers who feel confident that they can reach a higher protein. With the price spread, most spring wheat will likely be DNS, said Dana Her- ron, co-owner of Tri-State Seed in Con- nell. Some farmers in the areas north of Highway 2 are likely to remain with soft white wheat, he said. “In the southern part of the state, though, down here, it’s 100 percent red,” he said. DNS and hard red spring are the same class, Herron said. In some areas where winter conditions aren’t as severe, farmers plant DNS in the fall and harvest it in the spring. That’s not a new practice, Squires said, although it may be increasing with the higher prices. Doing so can lead to a higher yield and increased moisture, Squires said. It gives the wheat a bit of a head start over spring wheat. Herron said the yield boost is at least 10 to 15 percent, the same differential be- tween a winter wheat yield and a spring wheat yield. “The winter wheat is more well-estab- lished and has a greater, bigger root sys- tem,” he said. “There’s always about a 20 to 25 bushel advantage.” The wheat class typically yields about 115 to 120 bushels per acre for spring wheat, Herron said. “Last year’s spring-planted DNS sur- prised us all and did very well, in the neighborhood of 140 bushels per acre,” he said. Most farmers likely have already se- cured their dark northern spring wheat seed, Herron said. “There’s no shortage of soft white, but DNS is getting awfully tight,” he said. For farmers who haven’t already got- ten their seed? “I have two words — good luck,” Herron said. Herron shipped in several loads of DNS wheat from Montana and Idaho just to keep up with demand. Dan Wheat/Capital Press File Red Delicious apples are packed at Olympic Fruit in Moxee, Wash. The state Apple Commission worries that Indonesia’s continued blockage of agricultural crops and products will hurt U.S. exports. Indonesia still frustrates apple shippers By DAN WHEAT Capital Press YAKIMA, Wash. — In October there was hope that Indonesia would drop its restrictions on imports of agricultural goods, but five months later they remain in place, much to the conster- nation of Washington apple shippers under pressure to move a big 2017 crop. From September through March 26, Washington apple shippers shipped 566,298, 40-pound boxes of apples to Indonesia, down 26.6 percent from the same point a year ago, says Todd Fry- hover, president of the Wash- ington Apple Commission. Mark Powers, president of the Northwest Horticul- tural Council, raised the issue at a March 22 Apple Commission meeting in Ya- kima, saying Indonesia has not yet complied with a De- cember 2016 World Trade Organization ruling against its trade restrictions, or the WTO’s reiteration of its rul- ing in November 2017 re- jecting Indonesia’s appeal. “For some of you this has been a real problem. It’s gotten worse in the 2017 crop season,” Powers said to commissioners, some of whom are shippers. WTO has to determine how much time Indonesia has to come into compli- ance and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will have to decide what to do if Indonesia doesn’t, Powers said. It could mean U.S. tariffs on Indonesian goods, he later said. “We’re losing money. It’s one of our critical mar- kets, in the top six or seven, so it’s been disappointing,” Fryhover said. To protect its indus- tries, Indonesia has been restricting agricultural im- ports from the U.S. and other countries since 2012 through permit and licens- ing regimes. There’s a 5 percent tariff but the per- mits are the real hammer, Powers said. U.S. fruit, vegetables, flowers, juices, cattle, beef, poultry and other animal products have also been im- pacted. It cost U.S. export- ers about $170 million in 2016, the trade representa- tive has said. Even with re- strictions, the U.S. exported $2.6 billion in agricultural products to Indonesia in 2016 and imported $2.8 bil- lion in agricultural products from Indonesia. Indonesia claims its local apple producers need pro- tection from some imports, Powers said. It bans imports for a few months each year while it considers new per- mits, he said. Apples were banned in December, Janu- ary and early February and possibly will be again in August, September and Oc- tober, he said. That means shippers must quit shipping at the end of June because ocean shipping takes a month, he said. “Indonesia typically focuses on Red Delicious and 138s (138 apples per 40-pound box) and smaller sizes. This disruption takes away opportunity to ship consistently,” Fryhover said. At least one shipper has stopped packing 2 1/4-inch diameter apples, which are ideal for Indonesia, due to oversupply and limited sales, he said. Washington sold 1.5 mil- lion boxes of apples to Indo- nesia from the 2016 crop, a typical level since 2012. Pre- viously, it was 2.7 million and in 1996 is was 4 million. It could easily be 2.5 million to 3 million without restric- tions, Fryhover has said. U.S. pulse plantings projected to decline By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press U.S. farmers are expected to reduce the number of acres they planted to pulse crops this year — in some cases, significantly. Acreage planted to lentils and Austrian winter peas will be down 28 percent com- pared to last year, to 791,000 acres and 19,000 acres, re- spectively. Dry edible pea acres are expected to be down 20 per- cent to 908,000 acres, ac- cording to the prospective plantings report by USDA National Agricultural Statis- tic Service. The declines follow a 13 percent increase in lentil plantings from 2016 to 2017, a 17 percent decrease in dry edible peas and a 32 percent decrease in Austrian winter peas. Dry edible bean plantings are also expected to be down in 2018, by 3 percent to 2.03 million acres. The catego- ry includes chick peas, also known as garbanzo beans, which are projected to be up 7 percent to 665,000 acres. Other than chickpeas, dry edible bean acres are expect- ed to be down 7.3 percent to 1.37 million acres. But the year-to-year re- duction comes after signif- icant increases in plantings from 2016 to 2017, a 12 per- cent increase in total dry bean plantings and a 53 percent in- crease in chickpea plantings. While any change is nota- ble, there’s nothing surprising or unexpected in the dry bean prospective acreage report, Rebecca Bratter, executive director of the U.S. Dry Bean Council, said. It’s not a huge decrease, and acreage is still up from where it was two years ago, she said. Like any other crop, plant- ings respond to the global supply-and-demand equa- tion, she said. “We’re very tied to what happens in the world,” she said. And it’s not just in dry beans. All the crops are tied together, she said. What’s happening in the world with soybeans, corn, wheat or other crops could also af- fect plantings of those crops, which can affect plantings of dry beans, she said.