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.