April 27, 2018
CapitalPress.com
9
Ramaswamy to oversee
NW colleges, universities
Proudest of NIFA’s
focus on producers
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Capital Press File
Potatoes for processing are harvested near Pingree, Idaho. In Idaho and Malheur County, Ore., pro-
cessors had used 54.1 million hundredweight of potatoes as of April 1, according to NASS.
Potato stocks on par with last year
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
As farmers begin to plant
the 2018 potato crop, about
one-third of last year’s crop
remains in storage, the USDA
National Agricultural Statistics
Service reports. That percent-
age is on par with last year.
Last season, farmers grew
fewer acres of potatoes than
the previous year, Idaho Pota-
to Commission President and
CEO Frank Muir said.
Idaho, which produces
nearly one-third of the nation’s
potatoes, grew 131.3 million
hundredweight last year, down
from 2016 production of 139.3
million hundredweight. About
38 percent of the 2017 crop re-
mains in storage.
Washington, the sec-
ond-largest potato producer,
had a crop of 99.0 million hun-
dredweight and has 30 percent
of its crop remaining.
Oregon grew 21.4 million
hundredweight and has one-
third of its crop remaining.
Overall, NASS said the 13
major potato-production states
held 133.6 million hundred-
weight in storage April 1, up 2
percent from a year ago.
Potato disappearance, at
266 million hundredweight,
was down 3 percent. Season-
to-date shrink and loss, at 19
million hundredweight, was
down 8 percent.
In the eight largest pota-
to-processing states, proces-
sors had used 146 million hun-
dredweight for the season as
of April 1, up 1 percent from
a year earlier, NASS reported.
In Idaho and in Malheur
County, Ore., processors had
used 54.1 million hundred-
weight for the season as of
April 1, down 1 percent from
a year earlier.
In other Oregon counties
and the state of Washington
combined, processors used
61.8 million hundredweight
for the season, also down
slightly.
Dehydrated usage account-
ed for 25.8 million hundred-
weight of the total processed,
down 3 percent.
In Wilder, Idaho, Doug
Gross grows potatoes for the
fresh market and for process-
ing. He was to start planting
April 19.
“We are right on schedule
with a normal year,” he said,
referring to his potato plant-
ings. He sees good planting
conditions on his southwest
Idaho farm, including soil tem-
peratures on track with 10-year
averages.
Gross said adequate water
bodes well for production, but
final 2018 results will depend
largely on summer growing
conditions and weather.
“We just have to see what
the weather brings,” he said.
Sonny Ramaswamy will
return to the Pacific North-
west after his role as director
of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture ends
next month.
Ramaswamy’s six-year
term with NIFA ends May
5. President Barack Obama
appointed him in 2012. He
formerly was dean of Oregon
State University’s College of
Agricultural Sciences.
In July, he will become
president and CEO of the
Northwest Commission of
Colleges and Universities,
and reside in Seattle.
“It is in the world of edu-
cation,” Ramaswamy told the
Capital Press.
The commission provides
oversight and holds univer-
sities accountable, Rama-
wasamy said. He will oversee
162 colleges and universities,
including public and land-
grant universities, communi-
ty colleges, private nonprofit
and private for-profit schools.
“The intent is to make
sure students that attend these
institutions do get their ed-
ucation,” Ramaswamy said.
“Once they’re educated, that
they have the skills and knowl-
edge to become contributing
members
of
society.
There’s some
very critical
expectations
that society
has.”
Sonny
As
an
Ramaswamy accrediting
body,
the
commission
evaluates the institutions, Ra-
maswamy said.
“Institutions could certain-
ly be in trouble if they don’t
make sure they’re offering
the kind of educational op-
portunity, including research
experiences and experiential
education,” he said.
The new job will allow
Ramaswamy to continue to
advocate for agriculture. He
told the commission board he
needed to remain a proponent,
he said, serving on boards or
testifying at congressional
hearings about food, agricul-
ture and forestry if the oppor-
tunity arises.
Ramaswamy declined to
comment whether the Trump
administration would have
asked him to be continue with
NIFA.
“It’s not my call,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it is
the Trump administration’s
call and Secretary (Sonny)
Perdue’s call.”
He is proudest of the rec-
ognition for NIFA as a sci-
ence agency that’s deeply
interested in protecting the in-
terests of farmers and ranch-
ers, he said.
“I continually remind-
ed folks at and outside of
NIFA, it’s not just productiv-
ity of our farming system —
you’ve got to worry about the
profitability as well,” he said.
“Anything and everything we
can do from a scientific and
extension perspective to put a
few more dollars in the pock-
ets of our producers.”
He expects that priority
to continue at NIFA after he
departs.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“These priorities are not any
different from anybody else.”
A registered indepen-
dent, Ramaswamy said he
approached problems as a
scientist. Addressing climate
change, and continuing water
challenges are all part of that,
he said.
“We may disagree on the
cause of (climate change),
but we know, farmers know
that’s happening, and it’s an
existential threat,” he said.
“Look at the droughts that
are happening right now,
snowpack in the Cascades
and other places — these are
really highly concerning. We
have to do everything we can,
and I guarantee you Secretary
Sonny Perdue’s focus is on
it.”
NIFA has also been heav-
ily invested in addressing
America’s opioid crisis, Ra-
maswamy said.
Ag Fest to honor 3 groups for their ag efforts
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon Ag Fest
will honor three school groups
Sunday, April 29, for their ef-
forts to expand agricultural ed-
ucation in the state.
Receiving first place and
a $1,000 award is the Urban
Farm Program at College Hill
High School in Corvallis. The
Urban Farm gives at-risk fresh-
men and sophomores a real-life
farm and business experience
to develop their leadership,
teamwork and problem-solv-
ing skills. This takes place on
a half-acre with 30 laying hens,
a farmers’ market stand and a
student employment program
that allows 3-4 students to work
and run the urban farm stand
from June to August.
Echo FFA will receive the
$600 second-place award for
its agricultural advocacy proj-
ects, which include partnering
with Ag In the Classroom at
the elementary schools, ag sci-
ence activities with the middle
school and a petting zoo for the
community during FFA week
in March.
Receiving the third-place
award of $400 will be the
North Powder Farm to School
Program, which involves all
grades of the school in garden
and poultry production. It be-
gan nine years ago as a way
to bring fresh, local products
into the school cafeteria and
to teach children the origin of
their food. The local food bank
also utilizes products from the
farm in its weekly food distri-
bution.
The purpose of the Ag Fest
Agricultural Education Award
is to reward student organiza-
tions, nonprofit organizations
or classrooms that promote
and educate Oregonians about
agriculture and extend the Or-
egon Ag Fest mission beyond
its annual, two-day, interactive
event.
“As Oregon Ag Fest cel-
ebrates 31 years of growing
awareness for the importance
of agriculture in our commu-
nities, we are proud to contin-
ue to support the agricultural
education outreach efforts of
nonprofit and student organi-
zations this year,” Jake Wil-
son, Oregon Ag Fest chair-
man, said in a press release.
“Oregon Ag Fest is dedicated
to educating the public about
the importance of agricul-
ture, and we see this award
as a way to encourage and
support student groups that
have programs and activi-
ties aimed to accomplish the
same thing.”
The awards ceremony will
take place at 1 p.m. Sunday,
April 29, on the main stage in
the Jackman Long Building at
the Oregon State Fairgrounds
during the 31st Annual Oregon
Ag Fest. Oregon Department
of Agriculture Director Alexis
Taylor will present the awards.
The awards ceremony will
top off a weekend of agricultur-
al adventures at Ag Fest, which
is in its 31st year.
Ag Fest will be at the Ore-
gon State Fairgrounds in Salem
at 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday,
April 28, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, April 29. Children 12
and under are admitted free and
parking is free. Admission is $9
for ages 13 and over.
All activities center around
locally grown products, which
allows families to learn about
and celebrate the diverse world
of Oregon agriculture.
“Our goal is to help kids
gain a better understanding of
the importance of agriculture to
Oregon’s rural landscape, and
to emphasize that most food
starts on a farm somewhere and
in Oregon we’re lucky enough
to grow over 200 varieties of
crops,” said Wilson, the Ag
Fest chairman.
Members of the public
can kick off their visit to Ag
Fest from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
on Saturday, April 28, with
an old-fashioned ranch-style
breakfast. Included are hot-
cakes, ham, Oregon-grown
fruit toppings, scrambled eggs,
juice, coffee and milk prepared
by Linn County 4-H groups.
Cost is $6 for adults; children
under 3 are free. Proceeds
from the breakfast provide
scholarships for 4-H camp and
leader training.
High court grills Washington lawyers on tribal treaty rights
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington’s
solicitor
general faced tough question-
ing Wednesday from Supreme
Court Justice Neil Gorsuch,
who said he was “struggling”
to accept that other interests
can outweigh the treaty rights
of 21 Western Washington
tribes.
Gorsuch said Washing-
ton’s appeal of a court order
to replace more than 800
fish-impeding culverts “boils
down” to whether the state
can affect tribal fishing in the
pursuit of public benefits. He
said he didn’t see anything
in the treaties that says tribal
fishing rights “may be com-
pletely eliminated, if neces-
sary, to meet other domestic
needs.”
“Which is,” Gorsuch told
the state’s attorney, Noah Pur-
cell, “the position you’re tak-
ing, I think, before this court.”
The questioning came
during oral arguments in the
latest phase of litigation the
Justice Department started in
1970 against the state on be-
half of the tribes that signed
the Stevens treaties in 1854
and 1855.
A previous phase allocated
up to half the fish to tribes. Al-
though the case before the Su-
preme Court stems from a 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
order to replace culverts, the
larger question is to what
extent the treaties obligate
Washington to protect salmon
habitat.
Washington argues that
the order to remove culverts
makes every “significant hu-
man activity” a potential trea-
ty violation, a concern echoed
by farm groups and some oth-
er states, including Idaho, that
have treaty tribes.
Eight justices are decid-
ing the case. Justice Anthony
Kennedy, often a swing vote,
recused himself because he
participated in a 1985 circuit
court ruling regarding the
treaties. Gorsuch may play
a pivotal role in whether the
court reaches a decision or
deadlocks. Native American
groups endorsed his appoint-
ment by President Donald
Trump based on his record on
the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
At the outset, Purcell ac-
knowledged the state made a
mistake when it told the cir-
cuit court that it had the right
to completely block every
salmon-bearing stream. He
said the state could not cause
a “large decline.”
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