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CapitalPress.com
May 11, 2018
USDA leaves unresolved questions in GMO labeling proposal
Matters such as
bioengineering
definition, GMO
threshold up for
public comment
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Key questions remain un-
resolved in proposed national
labeling requirements for ge-
netically engineered foods and
the USDA doesn’t have much
time left to answer them.
The agency recently made
public its proposed rule for the
“national mandatory bioengi-
neered food disclosure stan-
dard,” which is required under
a law passed by Congress in
2016.
Whether foods fall under
the definition of “bioengi-
neering” is a fundamental
matter that remains unclear
under the USDA’s proposal,
which is up for public com-
ment until early July. Under
the law, the agency must is-
sue a final rule by July 29.
The definition of bio-
engineering under the law
is based partly on whether
a modification can “occur
through conventional breed-
ing or found in nature.”
The USDA has offered
several options for further ex-
plaining the terms “conven-
tional breeding” and “found
in nature,” including whether
the modification is protected
as intellectual property.
A list of foods considered
“bioengineered” would have
to be regularly revisited by
the USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service in con-
sultation with other federal
agencies to decide what falls
into the category.
“As to specific technol-
ogies, AMS recognizes that
technologies continue to
evolve, and that food pro-
duced through a specific
technology may or may not
meet the definition of BE
food,” the proposed rule
said.
Whether foods produced
with gene editing or gene de-
letion would require labeling
is “up in the air” under the
USDA’s proposal, said Bill
Freese, science policy analyst
for the Center for Food Safety,
a nonprofit that supports stron-
ger biotech regulation.
The USDA’s proposal cur-
rently leaves open room for
multiple different outcomes,
he said. “They’re asking for
comment on a lot of key cen-
tral issues.”
The American Farm Bu-
reau Federation believes the
definition provided by Con-
gress doesn’t include gene
editing or similar techniques,
said Andrew Walmsley, the
group’s director of congressio-
nal relations.
It would also be misleading
to include highly refined prod-
ucts in the “bioengineered”
category, since it’s impossible
to tell whether they’re derived
from genetically modified
sources, Walmsley said.
The USDA’s proposed
rule does not answer wheth-
er high-fructose corn syrup,
vegetable oils and similarly
highly processed foods must
be labeled, and instead solicits
additional comments.
The Center for Food Safety
believes consumers expect any
food derived from genetically
modified organisms to fall un-
der the labeling requirement.
“Anything else is mislead-
ing,” said Freese, noting that
whether biotech ingredients
can be detected in such goods
would depend on the sensitivi-
ty of the testing method.
Another unsettled issue is
the threshold for inadvertent
presence of GMO material.
The agency wants more input
on whether to require labeling
for foods containing more than
0.9 percent or 5 percent bioen-
gineered content.
The Farm Bureau would
prefer a threshold closer to 5
percent, while the Center for
Food Safety believes it’s better
to use the European Union’s
standard of 0.9 percent.
The USDA should also use
more proactive measures, such
as audits, to detect violations
of the labeling standard, rather
than depending on complaints,
said Freese.
“We would like to see
stronger enforcement mea-
sures,” he said.
The options for labeling
proposed by USDA, which in-
clude a “smiley face” BE logo
and a special barcode that can
be scanned with a smartphone,
are intended to obscure GMO
ingredients, Freese said.
The Farm Bureau believes
these alternatives are simply
meant to provide manufac-
turers with flexibility, said
Walmsley. For example, the
scannable codes offer the
chance to put information into
context.
“You can tell the story or
give the reason we utilize that
technology or utilize that in-
gredient in agriculture,” he
said.
Shippers sell record 3 million boxes a week amid apple excess
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
STATE OF OREGON
OREGON ALFALFA SEED
COMMISSION
P.O. BOX 688
ONTARIO, OR 97914
NOTICE OF ALFALFA
GROWERS
COMMISSION HEARING
PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING
TO: ALL OREGON ALFALFA
SEED GROWERS
Notice is hereby given that a
public hearing will be held
pursuant to ORS Chapter 604,
Section 14, Oregon Laws 2003,
on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at
7:00 p.m. at Matsy’s Restaurant,
1241 SW 4th Ave., Ontario,
Oregon 97914.
The hearing will be upon a
proposed budget for operation
of the Oregon Alfalfa Seed
Commission during the fiscal
year July 1, 2018 through June
30, 2019.
At these hearings, any
producer of alfalfa has a right
to be heard with respect to the
proposed budget, a copy of
which is available for public
inspection, under reasonable
circumstances, in the office of
each county extension agent in
Oregon.
Interested persons may com-
ment on the proposed budget
in writing to the Commission
business office, address above.
Comments to be received by
June 3, 2018.
For
further
information,
contact the Oregon Alfalfa Seed
Commission business office; P.O
Box 688, Ontario, Oregon
97914, telephone 541-881-1335.
TDD 503-986-4762.
Dan Cutler, Chairman
Oregon Alfalfa Seed
Commission
April 12, 2018
19-3/999
That was down just
180,000 boxes from the total
estimate a month earlier, and
Zeutenhorst said he expected
to see greater April shrinkage
through cullage in packouts
and diversion to processing.
“When you’re 13 million
behind where you need to be,
180,000 isn’t very impactful,”
he said.
The greatest overage is
with Granny Smith, Fuji,
Gala, Golden Delicious and
Honeycrisp, he said. Red De-
licious is much better with a
smaller volume than in 2016
and at 66.7 percent shipped so
far versus 59.6 percent a year
ago.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
Gala apples pass through the last defect sorting prior to optical sort-
ing, sizing and grading at Zirkle Fruit Co., in Yakima, Wash., last fall.
Apple sales are entering the home stretch of the marketing season.
Red Delicious has been ex-
porting very well, particularly
to India, Indonesia and Mexi-
co, said Desmond O’Rourke,
retired Washington State Uni-
versity agricultural economist
in Pullman and world apple
analyst.
Exports in the second half
of April were up 34 percent
from the same period a year
ago and is a factor in keeping
prices stable, O’Rourke said.
Red Delicious rose $1 per
box, from $12 to $15 on extra
fancy (standard grade) medi-
um size 80 and 88 apples per
packed box a month earlier to
$13 to $16 on May 4, accord-
ing to USDA tracking of Ya-
kima and Wenatchee shippers.
While increasing, Red De-
licious prices remain below
breakeven for growers and
prices of all varieties are aver-
aging about $23 so far for the
State says wolf recovery plan working, halfway to delisting
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Washington Fish and
Wildlife officials say the
state’s wolf recovery plan is
working and halfway to its
goal.
Once population targets
are reached, managers can
lift protection for the wolves
as an endangered species.
WDFW wolf policy co-
ordinator Donny Martorello
says the state has met the
recovery objective in the
eastern Washington recovery
zone and is halfway there in
the central recovery zone.
“I do think the second half
here is likely going to be a
little faster than the first half
because Washington’s wolf
LEGAL
ODESSA PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
CALL FOR BIDS – PROPERTY SALE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that separate sealed bids will be received
by the Odessa Public Development Authority (OPDA) for purchase
of a 28,000 sq. ft. industrial building located at 206 W. Railroad Ave,
Odessa, WA 99159. Legal Description: Tract 1 Odessa Union Sp Steel
Flathouse B/170 Adjoining 12 Ft North Line Qcd 457023. This
building was once a grain storage flat house then converted to a
large warehouse/office space in 2006. Restrooms and office space
occupy 3,000 sq. ft. of the building. Additional 60’ of property
extends west of the building. The site would be suitable primarily
for industrial or ag-related commercial/industrial development as
permitted by zoning.
Sealed bids will be received until 12:00 noon (PDT) June 18, 2018 at
which time they will be held until opened and publicly read aloud
at the OPDA Board Meeting, June 18, 2018, 7:00 p.m., located at the
Odessa Hospital Guild Room, 503 Amende St., Odessa, WA 99159.
Bids shall be mailed prior to bid opening to P.O. Box 763, Odessa,
WA. 99159 or hand delivered prior to bid opening to: 207 W. First
Avenue, Odessa, WA no later than 12:00 pm on June 18, 2018. All
bids must meet a minimum price of $305,000 to be considered.
Questions regarding the project may be directed to Stacey
Rasmussen, stacey@odessapda
18-1/999
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Kim Thorburn, a Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission
member, addresses the wolf advisory group meeting May 1 in
Spokane.
population is getting larg-
er and larger and larger,” he
said.
State wildlife managers
LEGAL
NOTICE OF OREGON WHEAT
COMMISSION PUBLIC
BUDGET HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a
public meeting will be held at the
Discovery Center, 5000 Discovery
Drive, The Dalles, OR, on Monday
June 14, 2018 at 10 a.m. to
review the OWC proposed budget
for July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019.
Any person has the right to
provide comment in person or in
writing, a copy is available from
the Oregon Wheat Commission
Office, 1200 NW Naito Parkway,
Suite 370, Portland, OR 97209-2800.
Dated this 1st day of May, 2018
ATTESTED: Walter Powell,
Chairman
Blake Rowe, CEO
classify wolves as endan-
gered across Washington un-
der state law. In the western
two-thirds of Washington, the
wolf is listed as endangered
under the federal Endangered
Species Act, meaning it is
much more stringently pro-
tected there.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 819
Notice is hereby given that the following
vehicle will be sold, for cash to the
highest bidder, on 5/15/2018. The sale
will be held at 10:00am by
CLINTS AUTOMOTIVE SERV/SYSTEMS
10616 13TH ST NE, SALEM, OR
1985 TOYOTA FJ60 UT
VIN = JT3FJ60G5F1130953
Amount due on lien $4,283.00
Reputed owner(s)
DAVID RAY ASTRY
legal-18-2-3/999
LEGAL
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Kanzi apple trees bloom May 1 in Mountain View Orchard, East Wenatchee, Wash. Blossoms have now fallen and fruitlets are growing for
the 2018 crop while marketers push sales to reduce the overage of the large 2017 crop.
19-3/999
YAKIMA, Wash. —
Washington wholesale apple
prices stayed stable in April
but the industry faces a siz-
able over-supply as it enters
the last four to five months of
selling the 2017 crop.
The industry is packing
and shipping apples at record
levels of 3 million, 40-pound
boxes per week but it’s still
13 million boxes behind its
overall shipping targets, said
Charles Zeutenhorst, general
manager of First Fruits Mar-
keting of Washington in Ya-
kima.
“At some point, something
will have to happen with that
13 million or we will run into
next season,” Zeutenhorst
said.
That could depress new
crop prices in August and
September. Sales desks are
working hard to sell more
apples because there’s only
about a month left before
there’s greater retail compe-
tition from cherries and other
summer fruit.
The total 2017 Washington
apple crop was estimated at
135.1 million boxes on May
1 with 68.2 percent shipped,
according to the Washington
State Tree Fruit Association.
season, which is adequate but
not stellar, O’Rourke said.
Gala stayed even at $18 to
$24 for 80s and $16 to $22 for
88s. Fuji stayed even on 80s
at $18 to $24 and dipped $2
on the high end of 88s at $16
to $20.
Granny Smith stayed even
at $24 to $30 on 80s and
dropped $2 to $20 to $26 on
88s.
Golden Delicious stayed
even at $20 to $26 on 80s and
dropped $1 on the high end of
88s at $19 to $22.
Honeycrisp rose $3 on the
low end of 80s at $48 and $4
on the high end at $56. They
rose $2 on the low end of 88s
at $46 and $4 on the high end
at $54.
Exports to India increased
95 percent in the last month
and were at 5.74 million
boxes on April 30, up from
3.6 million a year earlier,
O’Rourke said.
Exports to Mexico in-
creased 26 percent in the last
month and was at 8 million
boxes versus 7.3 million a
year ago. Indonesia was up
40 percent in the last month
but overall was at 832,000
boxes, down 14 percent from
965,000 a year ago.
Exports to China and Tai-
wan are down but they are up
in India because India is in a
trade dispute with China and
is taking fewer Chinese ap-
ples, O’Rourke said.
The U.S. Apple Associa-
tion reported total U.S. fresh
apple holdings of 46.6 mil-
lion boxes on May 1, up 20
percent from a year earlier.
O’Rourke said that’s reflec-
tive of the large 2017 crops
and means there’s still more
competition for Washington
from the Midwest and East
Coast than there might have
been.
Commissioners
Kim
Thorburn and Jay Kiehne
want to know if the plan
needs updating as they begin
to consider eventual delist-
ing.
“We’ve got these three
wolf management zones and
we’re piling up in one of them
with wolves,” Thorburn said.
“I don’t see distribution go-
ing in sort of an even fashion
into the other zones, which is
what the current plan would
require for changing the clas-
sification.”
The state legislature has
instructed the department
to consider translocation of
wolves under the State Envi-
ronmental Policy Act, anoth-
er recognition of the pileup
of wolves in Eastern Wash-
ington, Thorburn said.
Under SEPA, Thorburn
would like to ask more ques-
tions, including considering
regional delisting instead of
statewide delisting.
“The feds have delisted
these wolves in northeastern
and southeastern Washing-
ton,” she said. “Wolves don’t
recognize state lines. They’re
really a component of a re-
covered population that are
heavily hunted in our neigh-
boring states, Montana and
Idaho, and still doing well.”
Ranchers in northeastern
Washington have had the
“brunt” of wolf recovery,
Kiehne said.
“Did we understand at the
time it was going to really hit
one part of the state and those
community members and
those communities and those
ranchers as hard as can be?”
he said. “It’s added expense
and added worry to those
people that are raising cattle
and sheep up there. ... Do we
still think we’re on track as
we move into this new phase
from trying to make sure
(wolves are) recovered to
making sure they’re not do-
ing damage to people’s liveli-
hoods or their communities?”
With wolves currently
listed as endangered, WDFW
calls the shots on problem
wolves, Thorburn said.
“I think it feels very top-
down to local communities,”
she said.
She would like to explore
a program with more com-
munity-based action, similar
to cooperatives used in neigh-
boring states.
“Management is going to
be hard for some people on
the environmental side (and)
a welcome relief for people
looking forward to a hunting
season of wolves,” Kiehne
said. “Somewhere in there,
we’ve got to come to grips.”
Martorello expects a time-
line of several years.
“We want to meet and talk
with as many Washington
communities as possible, get
them involved in the planning
process and hear their input,”
Martorello said.