June 22, 2018
CapitalPress.com
3
Washington cherry harvest off to good start
By DAN WHEAT
China tariffs worry cherry
marketers, growers
Capital Press
ORONDO, Wash. —
Cherry harvest is off to a de-
cent start in Central Washing-
ton with good quality, strong
early prices and apparently
not too big a labor shortage.
“Fruit quality is outstand-
ing. We really have some
outstanding sugar in our fruit
this year,” said B.J. Thurlby,
president of Northwest Cher-
ry Growers in Yakima, the in-
dustry’s promotional arm.
Demand was out-pac-
ing supply with 3 million,
20-pound boxes shipped as of
June 19 and South Korea as
the single biggest market av-
eraging almost 40,000 boxes
per day, Thurlby said.
That same morning in
Orondo, 16 miles north of
Wenatchee, a small army of
105 young H-2A-visa guest-
workers, just a week on the
job from Mexico, picked
Orondo Ruby cherries at
Griggs Orchards.
“We’ve increased our
H-2A by 50 percent from last
year, but we’ve had a lot of
domestics stopping by, which
is nice, and we’ve been hir-
ing them,” said John Griggs,
co-owner.
Labor has been tight for
years industry-wide, but
Griggs said California’s cher-
ry crop, always earlier than
Washington’s and Oregon’s,
was light this year, which
freed up pickers to move
north sooner this year. He said
he had 87 domestic pickers
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
A wagon load of Orondo Ruby cherries during morning break at
Griggs Orchard near Orondo, Wash., June 19. The cherries are
sorted and packed by Chelan Fruit Co. and sold by Chelan Fresh
Marketing.
and could use 30 more. He
was a week into full harvest
with three to four to go.
California was still ship-
ping a few boxes on June
19 and will finish just shy
of 4 million, 18-pound box-
es, Thurlby said. The Pacific
Northwest, with Washington
the bulk of it, expects to pick
20.4 million, 20-pound boxes
into August, down 22.7 per-
cent from last year’s record
26.4-million-box crop.
Tom Riggan, general
manager of Chelan Fresh
Marketing, said wholesale
prices started in the $80- to
$90-per-box range with lim-
ited volume in the first two
weeks of June. As of June 19,
prices were around $55 to $70
per box, depending on fruit
size. Cherries were selling at
$4.99 and $7.99 per pound in
Scenic designation
for Nehalem River
raises concerns
Area in
detail
Astoria
ORE.
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101
202
R
a le
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Ne h
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Manzanita
Pacific Ocean
Oregon parks officials
believe a portion of the Ne-
halem river qualifies as
“scenic,” but potential re-
strictions have met with
consternation from agricul-
ture and local government
representatives.
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department has
completed a study conclud-
ing that 17.5 miles of the
Nehalem river meets the cri-
teria for scenic designation,
such as free-flowing water,
outstanding views and recre-
ational opportunities.
The report was submitted
on June 13 to the Oregon
Parks and Recreation Com-
mission, which oversees the
agency and plans to vote on a
“scenic” recommendation as
early as November.
Restrictions meant to
protect the natural features
of scenic waterways can be
problematic for landowners,
particularly the requirement
they notify OPRD at least
one year before making cer-
tain changes to their property
within a quarter-mile of the
river.
During that time, the land-
owner can negotiate with the
agency over possible alter-
native plans or a sale of the
property.
In the forested areas sur-
rounding the Nehalem River,
the primary concern would
be delayed timber harvest-
ing, which is already regu-
lated under the Oregon For-
est Practices Act, said Mary
Anne Cooper, public policy
counsel for the Oregon Farm
Bureau.
“It’s a complicated struc-
ture that’s on top of anything
else,” she said.
Changes to roads or farm
buildings may also be hin-
dered by the requirement,
Cooper said.
Though the rules for sce-
nic rivers do make allowanc-
es for agriculture, the con-
struction or modification of a
structure — such as a pump-
r
Cannon
Beach
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
iv
e
CLATSOP
m
Certain changes to
landscape within
quarter-mile
subject to
one-year delay
6
Proposed
scenic river
segment
Tillamook
101
TILLAMOOK
N
Capital Press graphic
house — must be compatible
with the surrounding aesthet-
ics, she said.
Whether or not a design
is visually obtrusive is a
highly subjective question
that could prove problem-
atic for landowners, she
said.
The scenic designation is
also meant to protect river
flows, potentially interfer-
ing with the development or
transfer of new water rights,
Cooper said.
The protections may have
implications for water quali-
ty, which is already regulated
under other laws for agricul-
ture and forestry.
The Farm Bureau is also
skeptical whether the 17.5
mile stretch actually meets
the criteria for a scenic des-
ignation, since the landscape
has long been managed, she
said.
“There are homes and
roads throughout the area, so
it’s not really undisturbed,”
she said.
Tilamook County’s Board
of Commissioners has also
come out against the scenic
designation, arguing that re-
strictions on logging will vi-
olate the state government’s
duty to generate revenues
from property donated by the
county.
“Although we support
public uses on the Nehalem
River ... we cannot support
the proposed designation as
it fails to take into account
the primacy of timber pro-
duction on properties which
the County deeded to the
State decades ago,” accord-
ing to a letter sent by the
board.
Wenatchee grocery stores.
Marketers will quickly ad-
just prices downward to help
retailers make Fourth of July
sales prices as volume sub-
stantially increases, Riggan
said.
“Demand is there and
quality is phenomenal. Size
profile is better than last year
and sugars are very high, so
it’s setting up so far so good.
When quality is there, it flies
off the shelves,” Riggan said.
Helicopters were busy in
the greater Wenatchee area
June 15 and 16 blowing off
cherries from rain. Griggs
said he had two helicopters
fly once over his orchards
in Orondo and three to four
times over his orchards far-
ther north near Beebe Bridge,
east of Chelan.
“We’ve come through re-
YAKIMA, Wash. — Washington cherry marketers and
growers are concerned about the escalating trade war be-
tween the U.S. and China.
In retaliation to Trump administration tariffs on Chinese
steel and aluminum, China imposed tariffs on many U.S.
goods including 15 percent on cherries, which was on top an
existing 10 percent entry tax and 13 percent value added tax.
“Cherries are on the list to receive another 25 percent tariff
to retaliate against the latest U.S. tariffs,” said B.J. Thurlby,
president of Northwest Cherry Growers and the Washington
State Fruit Commission in Yakima.
“It’s a tragic shame that our growers are being thrown un-
der the bus four times over. Obviously we are taking a huge
hit in this trade war,” Thurlby said.
However, one marketer said short-term pain will be worth
it if it results in fairer trade in the long-term.
The industry expects South Korea and the U.S. to absorb
more cherries, Thurlby said.
“Unfortunately, we have our promotional funding on the
table in China and trying to guess what will happen tomor-
row makes it tough to move our funding out of China and
into other markets,” Thurlby said. “It’s safe to say we expect
volume to be down in China this year.”
The Pacific Northwest shipped 3.2 million, 20-pound
boxes of cherries to China in 2017, valued at approximately
$127 million. It was 13 percent of the crop.
Tom Riggan, general manager of Chelan Fresh Marketing
in Chelan, said China is a good market but that he’s being
very conservative about how much fruit he ships there now.
“Fruit has been detained. If they find any decay, they’re
holding cherries for up to seven days to test it. If that contin-
ues there will be a serious reduction. We’re being very con-
servative. It’s a day-by-day deal,” Riggan said.
He said he hopes that, like before, a resolution is negotiat-
ed soon so the entire season to China is not damaged.
— Dan Wheat
ally well. I haven’t seen any
splits so far. I think it’s be-
cause it stayed cool and the
rain was not very long in du-
ration,” Griggs said.
Longer rain followed by
hot weather swells and splits
cherries, ruining them for
market.
Thurlby said he was hear-
ing more concern about
wind than rain from growers
throughout Central Washing-
ton.
Norm Gutzwiler, a Malaga
grower south of Wenatchee,
was preparing to start pick-
ing June 21 and he was hav-
ing no trouble finding pickers
because of those coming up
from California.
Charles Lyall, a Mattawa
grower, called labor “pretty
decent with a few shortages.”
He said he was able to pick
most of his early varieties and
Bing on time, struggled to get
and keep pickers and had 130
domestics at his peak. He said
he paid them 23 to 28 cents
per pound. Griggs said he’s
paying his H-2A and domes-
tic pickers 33 cents per pound.
Lyall said while his ear-
ly Chelans and Tietons were
light at just 2.75 tons per acre,
size was good 9- and 8-row
and sold to Malaysia and Chi-
na at $85 per box.
“It was good, but not a
home run. It will pay the bills.
It was gorgeous fruit. I wished
I’d had a bit more tonnage,”
Lyall said.
He was finishing Bing har-
vest at a “sweet spot” of 6 tons
per acre and in the $22 to $24
per box range on 11-row, a
smaller size.
Lyall started harvest on June
3, just a day or two behind his
neighbor, John Doebler, who
was first in the Northwest.
Say ‘Cheese:’ Tillamook opens its new visitor center
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
TILLAMOOK, Ore. —
Members of one of the North-
west’s largest dairy coopera-
tives, the Tillamook County
Creamery Association, cut
the ribbon to their new visi-
tor center June 19 with fan-
fare that included politicians,
employees and dairy farmers.
Eight-year-old
Juliana
McCoy traded in a day at
camp for a visit to the grand
opening with her mom that
included a picture with Or-
egon Gov. Kate Brown. Her
visit was sweetened with
one of Tillamook’s famous
ice cream cones, and in the
visitor center’s Farm Room,
Juliana tried to beat the av-
erage 21 seconds it takes a
professional to prep a cow
for milking.
“It was worth it,” Juliana
declared.
Those activities, and
more, are now open to the
estimated 1.3 million visitors
expected to walk through the
doors of the new facility, bet-
ter known as the Tillamook
Cheese factory.
With $778 million in gross
revenues last year, the Tilla-
mook County Creamery As-
sociation is the largest co-op
in Oregon, employing nearly
900 people. Its approximate-
ly 90 farm families — most-
ly from the Tillamook area
— own the cooperative and
provide milk for the cheese,
ice cream, yogurt and other
products.
At the ribbon-cutting,
Brown tossed out a question
to the audience: “What’s the
state drink?”
Gail Oberst/For the Capital Press
Gov. Kate Brown joins Tillamook officials, member-farmers and guests in cutting the ribbon during
the grand opening of the cooperative’s new visitor center Tuesday in Tillamook, Ore.
Gail Oberst/For the Capital Press
Among the many attractions inside Tillamook’s new visitor center
are informational displays and an observation area where guests
can watch how the co-op’s cheese is made.
The front row of dairy
farmers had the answer:
“Milk!”
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
praised dairy farmers for
their commitment to the
cooperative that has en-
dured for more than 100
years. He jokingly suggest-
ed that the name of the new
38,500-square-foot center
should be called “Are we
there yet?” for the backseat
questions excited children
have asked on their way to
Tillamook since the original
center opened in 1949.
As demand grew, the
creamery’s board has ex-
panded, remodeled and re-
built the visitor center. It is
one of the Northwest’s big-
gest attractions, rivaling Se-
attle’s Space Needle in the
number of visitors it draws,
according to association
CEO Patrick Criteser.
The new building opened
to the public June 20, and is
open each day from 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m. through Labor Day,
then 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through
mid-June.
Inside the new building,
visitors are greeted by pic-
tures and displays of the
Tillamook dairy’s history,
which began when local
farmers shipped their dairy
products on the Morningstar,
a two-masted ship built by
residents to transport goods
to Portland. The ship’s im-
age adorns packages of Til-
lamook cheese and other
products.
A staircase at the entry-
way leads to a long hallway
divided into farm education
rooms, a viewing gallery
overlooking the cheese pro-
duction facility and the popu-
lar cheese-tasting room.
Downstairs are roomy
food halls and a marketplace.
Visitors can order from three
stations that feature yogurts,
pastries, ice cream or cheesy
meals and snack selections
that can be eaten in the caf-
eteria or on an outside patio.
In the marketplace, vis-
itors can take home cheese
and other Tillamook products
along with a wide variety of
memorabilia.
Weekly fieldwork report
Ore.
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of June 17)
6.7
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
1%
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
63%
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
60%
• Precipitation probability
33-40% below
(6-10 day outlook as of June 19)
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.2
3%
22%
3%
17%
5.9
14%
35%
12%
35%
7
0
75%
0
70%
Normal/
40% below
40% below
Normal