April 13, 2018
CapitalPress.com
5
Oregon snowpack remains below average heading into April
NRCS releases
latest report
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
While Oregon’s mountain
snowpack is in much better
shape than it was just two
months ago, it is likely too lit-
tle, too late.
April is usually the time
when snow peaks around the
state, though the USDA Nat-
ural Resources Conservation
Service reports all basins are
still behind on snowpack,
with most measuring between
40 and 70 percent of normal
levels. The news does not
bode well for stream flows or
drought conditions heading
into summer, said Scott Oviatt,
NRCS snow survey supervi-
sor.
“Snow and cooler weather
in March was not enough to
bring snowpack levels up to
normal,” Oviatt said. “Moun-
tain snowpack peaked well
below normal this winter at
most locations in Oregon.”
Areas closest to the Co-
lumbia River seemed to fare
best over the winter, with
the Hood River, Sandy and
Lower Deschutes basins at 91
percent of normal. The Uma-
tilla, Walla Walla and Willow
basins also reached 91 percent
of normal.
Southern Oregon, and es-
pecially southeast Oregon, are
in much rougher shape. The
Malheur and Owyhee basins
both received less than half
their usual snowpack, and
the Klamath Basin is sitting
at just 47 percent. Gov. Kate
Brown has already declared a
drought in Klamath County.
Oregon snow
water equivalent
(As of April 9)
*Average annual SWE, 1981-2010
91
91
87
55
78
65
43
59
54
62
39
47
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Source: USDA NRCS
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
Deal brings Phytelligence
fruit technology to India
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
SEATTLE — Phytelligence, an agricultur-
al biotechnology company, has announced a
partnership with the Indian company Mahyco
Grow to provide farmers in that southern Asia
nation with advanced horticultural technology.
Plants produced by Seven Star Fruits, a sub-
sidiary of Mahyco Grow, will use the Phytel-
ligence MultiPHY process for higher density
plantings, higher yields and more sustainable
production.
The partnership will also enable the delivery
of new varieties of apples, cherries, peaches,
plums, berries, grapes, nuts, oranges and trop-
ical fruits to Mahyco Grow’s customers and the
region’s farmers, Phytelligence said.
Phytelligence uses micropropagation pro-
tocols, techniques and software, developed by
Washington State University Professor Amit
Dhingra, to produce rootstocks, fruit trees and
grapes faster and cheaper than traditional nurs-
ery methods and ensure their correct identity
through high-resolution genetic fingerprinting.
The Mahyco Grow-Phytelligence partner-
ship aims to help growers plant modern root-
stocks and varieties, improve farm incomes and
increase fruit quality. The first trees of the part-
nership will be available for sale in 2018 and
delivered in the spring of 2019.
Percent of median*
25-50%
51-70
71-90
91-110
Courtesy of Amit Dhingra/WSU
Phytelligence founder Amit Dhingra of Washing-
ton State University.
Dhingra, a genomist and biotechnologist,
founded Phytelligence in 2012 and is its chief
science officer.
Mahyco Grow, formerly Barwale Group,
was founded in 1964 and is a leading agri-
cultural innovator and major seed producer
in India.
is not forecasting much in
terms of relief. The next three
months will more than likely
see average to above-aver-
age temperatures across the
state, with below-average
precipitation.
“Our best hope is a cool
spring that helps to prolong
the snow we have further
into the season,” Oviatt said.
The NRCS released its
April stream flow forecast
on Friday. Not surprisingly,
it predicts that rivers clos-
est to the Columbia River
are expected to have aver-
age to near average flows.
Others may be “well below
normal,” depending on their
location.
“Water users that are not
able to take advantage of
reservoir storage will like-
ly experience significantly
reduced water supplies this
summer, especially in the
southern and southeastern
basins of Oregon,” the report
states. “The governor de-
clared a drought emergency
in Klamath County in March
and more counties may fol-
low.”
Summer stream flows
could be as low as 30-60
percent of average in the
Klamath, Harney, Crooked,
Owyhee, Malheur, Lake and
Goose Lake basins. The silver
lining for Eastern Oregon ir-
rigators is the status of reser-
voirs, which are storing close
to normal amounts of water.
Once again, the Umatilla,
Walla Walla and Willow ba-
sins are at the top of the heap
with reservoirs at a collective
123 percent of normal.
The lowest reservoir lev-
els can be found in the Rogue
and Umpqua basins of west-
ern Oregon, at 88 percent of
average.
S. Idaho water supply gets a boost
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Heavy precipitation across
much of Idaho’s midsection
during March bodes well for
water users such as Galen Lee,
who farms between Caldwell,
Idaho, and Ontario, Ore.
“We haven’t had to make a
change for the current year or
in recent years,” said Lee, who
operates Sunnyside Farm LLC
near New Plymouth, Idaho.
Strong recent precipitation
coupled with ample carry-over
storage in reservoirs in the wake
of the high-water 2017 help en-
sure many Idaho farmers can
move forward as planned.
March precipitation totaled
about 165 percent of the 30-
year average across a swath of
central Idaho encompassing the
Boise River system to the west
and the Big Wood, Little Wood,
Big Lost and Little Lost rivers
to the east, said Ron Abramov-
ich, a water supply specialist
with the USDA Natural Re-
sources Conservation Service
in Boise.
These basins are now up to
about 75 percent of their aver-
age snowpack compared to 45
to 70 percent a month earlier.
Courtesy of Galen Lee
Galen Lee of Sunnyside Farm
LLC, New Plymouth, Idaho,
says adequate water supply
means no on-field changes to
his crop lineup are needed.
Snowpack totaled 50 to 80
percent of the 30-year aver-
age for March across southern
Idaho including the Owyhee
drainage to the west, the Bear
River Basin to the east, and
the Bruneau, Salmon Falls and
Oakley basins in the middle.
Owyhee was on the low end
of the range, and the Bear Riv-
er Basin was on the high end.
Abramovich said streamflow
forecasts across the area call
for 40 to 70 percent of normal
runoff.
“Water supplies will be ade-
quate this year across Idaho due
to carryover storage and the
snowpack we currently have
in the mountains,” Abramovich
said.
Lee said the Black Can-
yon Reservoir, in the Em-
mett-Horseshoe Bend area, is
well-supplied. That benefits
Sunnyside and other farms
served by associated canal
companies.
“If there were a predicted
shortage, we would make a
change. We would have to,”
said Lee, board member and
past president of the American
Sugarbeet Growers Associa-
tion.
For example, he would con-
sider planting more wheat and
less corn, which uses more wa-
ter.
He said crops suited to year-
to-year changes include wheat,
corn and even sugar beets,
subject to growers’ minimum
targets. Crops that stay in the
field long-term — and offer
less flexibility — include mint,
alfalfa and asparagus.
Sunnyside Farm grows
about 500 acres of corn and
229 acres of beets. Other acre-
age totals include peppermint
at 200, alfalfa hay at 180 and
asparagus at 35.
Simplot CEO
announces
his retirement
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Bill Whitacre, CEO of the
J.R. Simplot Co., is retiring af-
ter 18 years with the company.
Whitacre was the compa-
ny’s sixth CEO since founder
Jack Simplot stepped down in
1973, and has
served in that
position for the
past nine years.
“Bill has
been a high-
ly successful
and visionary
Bill Whitacre
leader who has
helped the J.R. Simplot Com-
pany reach new heights and
expand our global presence,”
Scott Simplot, chairman of the
board of directors, said in a
press release.
“The company, the board
and the extended Simplot fam-
ily thank him for his leadership
and commitment,” he said.
Whitacre joined the compa-
ny in March 2000 as president
of Simplot’s turf and horti-
culture business. In 2002, he
was appointed president of the
Simplot AgriBusiness Group
and was named CEO in 2009.
As CEO, Whitacre expand-
ed the company’s internation-
al footprint and enhanced its
position with communities,
industries, customers and em-
ployees.
By strengthening the com-
pany’s competitive position
and growing its global pres-
ence, he has overseen an in-
crease in revenues from ap-
proximately $4.5 billion to $6
billion today.
“It has been an honor to
lead this great company,”
Whitacre said. “The agricul-
ture industry continues to offer
significant opportunities, and
the J.R. Simplot Company is
well positioned to continue
its leadership position earned
over the past 90 years.”
15-1/102