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CapitalPress.com
June 1, 2018
As expected, April
feedlot placements
down by 8 percent
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Capital Press File
Idaho State University geosciences associate professor Ben Crosby stands on a cliff overlooking the confluence of Marsh Creek and the
Portneuf River, near Inkom, Idaho. Crosby is part of a study that concluded bank erosion in the lower reach of Marsh Creek is responsible
for heavy sediment loads. The Natural Resources Conservation Service has extended the deadline for applications for projects to reduce
bank erosion in the area.
NRCS extends Lower Marsh Creek
project application deadline
The USDA Natural Resources Con-
servation Service in Idaho has extended
to June 22 the deadline for landowners to
apply for design and financial assistance
in connection with a special project tar-
geting water quality on sediment-heavy
Lower Marsh Creek.
NRCS Idaho’s field office in Pocatel-
lo is leading the project, which will use
the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program to target water quality concerns
along the southeastern Idaho creek. Ag-
ricultural producers can get help from
NRCS personnel in designing and car-
rying out conservation projects through
EQIP, which is voluntary and offers fi-
nancial assistance through an application
process.
Marsh Creek is a 56-mile-long tribu-
tary of the Portneuf River. It has one of
the highest sediment loads of any Idaho
stream, said Nate Matlack, NRCS district
conservationist based in Pocatello.
Historically, adjacent wetland marshes
deposited sediment seasonally onto the
flood plain, an effect that decreased as
the area population increased and some
stream meanders were straightened.
An Idaho State University study found
much of the sediment comes from Marsh
Creek’s lower reach, generally from Ari-
mo to the Portneuf River confluence, and
that bank erosion is a major cause, Mat-
lack said. Land along the lower reach of
Marsh Creek includes a mix of residential
acreages with some livestock and small
hobby farms.
Matlack said $250,000 is available
over the next two years for water-quality
improvements along Lower Marsh Creek
through NRCS Idaho and partners includ-
ing Portneuf Soil and Water Conservation
District, the City of Pocatello and ISU.
Information: (208) 244-5024 or http://
www.id.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/
Wineries mull challenge to Washington Ecology rules
Group faces
deadline to appeal
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Small wineries with ambi-
tions to grow will be stifled by
new Washington Department
of Ecology regulations on dis-
charging wastewater, said Paul
Beveridge, president of the
Family Wineries of Washing-
ton.
The rules will apply to win-
eries that produce at least 7,500
cases of wine a year, a “tiny”
volume in the wine world, ac-
cording to Family Wineries, an
association of small vintners.
Wineries above the threshold
will have to buy a permit from
Ecology and develop a pollu-
tion-control plan.
“It effectively puts a cap on
rural wineries,” said Beveridge,
owner of the Wilridge wineries
in Seattle and Yakima. “I’ll just
stay as a small winery.”
Ecology announced the
rules May 17, but delayed
their effective date until July
1, 2019, to give wineries time
to prepare. Ecology estimates
that about 100 wineries of the
state’s nearly 1,000 wineries
will need a permit.
Ecology says the rules will
protect groundwater from
winery wastewater laced with
stems, grape skins, wine sed-
iment, cleansers and other
potential pollutants. Ecology
has not documented a case
in which a winery polluted
Washington Department of Ecology
An association of small Washington wineries is considering
appealing new Department of Ecology rules on how vintners use
wastewater. Ecology imposed the regulations, though it has no
evidence wineries are polluting groundwater.
groundwater.
Beveridge said he is con-
ferring with a lawyer about
appealing the rules to the Pol-
lution Control Hearings Board.
The rules must be appealed
within 30 days. Beveridge said
he wants to weigh the chances
of prevailing and whether asso-
ciation members are willing to
bankroll a challenge.
“We need to get a legal fund
together real quick,” he said.
The rules will limit the vol-
ume of wastewater that can be
used to irrigate. The number
of days will be restricted, too.
The rules will regulate how
wastewater is stored in ponds
and used to water dusty roads.
Permit holders will have to test
wastewater, monitor flows, and
train employees to prevent, re-
spond and report spills, among
other requirements.
Some 14 wineries already
have individual permits from
Ecology to discharge waste-
water. Ecology either required
a permit because the winery
had the potential to pollute, or
the winery sought a permit to
head off being penalized for
discharging pollutants. The
new rules will impose indus-
try-wide standards and bring
wineries under a regulatory ap-
proach that Ecology applies to
other industries.
Family Wineries had asked
Ecology to exempt winer-
ies that produce fewer than
105,000 cases a year, the
threshold for small wineries to
take advantage of a federal tax
credit.
The group argued that rais-
ing the threshold would relieve
small wineries of burdensome
rules while still regulating
large wineries that have more
wastewater and are more likely
to pollute.
“They (Ecology) did not
change anything,” Beveridge
said. “Why this expense and
monitoring for something
you’ve never found a problem
with?”
Ecology maintains that it
can’t rule out that wineries are
polluting groundwater, though
it has no evidence. The agency
said it wanted to exempt the
smallest wineries, but keep the
threshold low enough for the
rules to protect groundwater.
“Any winery over 105,000
cases likely already has an
individual permit,” said Josh
McDonald, executive director
of the Washington Wine Insti-
tute, another industry associ-
ation. Raising the threshold to
105,000 cases “would make
Ecology’s work moot.”
McDonald called the final
permit a “vast improvement”
over Ecology’s earliest propos-
als, which would have imposed
rules on “basically anyone
who wasn’t just making home
wine.”
Wineries will have to decide
whether to appeal the terms of
the permit without knowing
how much one will cost. Ecol-
ogy will consult with wineries
and set fees over the next year,
a spokeswoman said.
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Cattle moving into large
U.S. feedlots were down 8
percent in April year over
year, following a 9 percent
decline in March.
Analysts polled ahead
of USDA’s cattle on feed
report released on Friday
expected placements to be
down an average of 9.4 per-
cent.
The lower placements
are a result of cattle mov-
ing into feedlots earlier
than usual due to drought
in Oklahoma, Kansas and
Texas. The drought affect-
ed both forage pasture and
winter wheat pasture late
last year, John Nalivka,
owner of Sterling Market-
ing in Vale, Ore., said.
Year-over-year place-
ments were up 14 percent
in November, USDA’s Na-
tional Agricultural Statis-
tics Service reported.
Calves that typically
would have been placed
into feedlots in March and
April were already there, he
said.
Year-over-year increas-
es in placements continued
through February, and a lot
of the cattle now in feedlots
would typically have been
third quarter placements, he
said.
Feedlot placements in
April were 153,000 head
fewer year over year. They
were down 16 percent and
75,000 head in Texas, 10
percent and 40,000 head in
Kansas and 17 percent and
12,000 head in Oklahoma
compared with last year’s
levels.
Nebraska was the only
state of the 12 reporting
with an increase in place-
ments in April. They were
up 6 percent and 25,000
head over April 2017.
Placements will contin-
ue to be lower through the
summer with a tighter cattle
supply out front, which is
pretty supportive of prices
by the end of the year, he
said.
The total number of
cattle in feedlots on May
1 increased 5 percent and
560,000 head year over
year. At 11.6 million head,
it’s the second highest May
1 inventory since the NASS
series began in 1996.
With all the early move-
ment into feedlots, the run
of strong cattle prices has
been somewhat surprising,
Nalivka said.
“It’s like everybody is
forgetting how much cattle
is sitting in feedlots,” he
said.
But that’s changing.
Live fed steer prices were
$120 to $123 a hundred-
weight in early May and
dropped to $114 two weeks
ago. There wasn’t a lot of
trade last week, but prices
were at $109, he said.
“We know that where
we are on supply we’re go-
ing to see weaker prices.
The question is how much
weaker,” he said.
Most of the cattle on
feed on May 1 will come
out of feedlots in May, June
and July, he said.
“I don’t think we’ll see
any real price appreciation
’til we get into the fall,” he
said.
The key will be keeping
carcass weights under con-
trol. Carcass weights have
declined from the start of
the year, but they’re still
higher than a year ago, he
said.
The weekly slaughter for
the week ending May 19
was 660,000 head and the
highest in five years. It was
down 2 percent last week
from the previous week
but was up 4 percent over
a year earlier, and beef pro-
duction is up 6 percent from
a year ago.
“Fortunately, the econ-
omy is doing really well,
which is supportive of de-
mand,” he said.
New CAHNRS dean to meet
growers at Lind Field Day
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The new dean of Wash-
ington State University’s
College of Agricultural,
Human and Natural Re-
source Sciences will attend
the annual Lind Field Day
at WSU’s dryland research
station.
André-Denis Wright be-
gins as dean June 1.
“(Wright) wants to get in
front of growers, have the
opportunity to meet them
and tell them about what can
be expected under his ten-
ure,” said Bill Schillinger,
research agronomist and di-
rector at the research station
in Lind, Wash. “We general-
ly have a pretty good turnout
and the vast majority of our
attendees are regional farm-
ers. It’s a good opportunity
to meet a lot of agricultural
leaders in general.”
The field day begins at
8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 14.
On the agenda is an up-
date from USDA Agricul-
tural Research Service plant
pathologist Tim Paulitz on
whether glyophosate affects
soil microbial activity.
Schillinger said Paulitz’s
work has “worldwide inter-
est.”
“He has pretty much the
definitive answer on that,”
Schillinger said.
The field day includes
three speakers on winter
peas — ARS plant geneticist
Rebecca McGee; Howard
Nelson, manager of mem-
ber and special services at
Central Washington Grain
Growers and WSU weed
science professor Drew
Lyon — talking about new
varieties, markets and weed
control.
Winter pea production
has increased from zero to at
least 15,000 acres in the last
six years.
“Easy to grow, unsur-
Washington State University
André-Denis Wright is the
new dean of Washington
State University’s College
of Agricultural, Human and
Natural Resource Science,
effective June 1. He will meet
farmers at the Lind Field Day
on June 14.
passed emergence, stable,
winter hardy — it’s got ev-
erything going for it except
the price is a little low,”
Schillinger said.
That could change if
growers could provide a
consistent, high-quality pea
to the edible pea market, he
added.
The field day also com-
pares winter wheat and
winter triticale. Triticale has
many benefits, consistently
producing more grain than
wheat, residue cover, no
stripe rust issues and winter
hardiness — except for a
lower price, Schillinger said.
“We’d like to see a higher
price for that,” he said.
Other topics include win-
ter and spring wheat breed-
ing program updates.
Schillinger said the annu-
al day typically draws 250
people.
A complimentary lunch,
program and ice cream so-
cial follow the field tour.
The field day is free and
open to the public. Wash-
ington pesticide credits have
been requested.
For more information,
contact Schillinger at 509-
235-1933 or william.schil-
linger@wsu.edu