July 27, 2018
CapitalPress.com
3
Oregon wheat farmers reeling from massive blaze
WSDA
The label affixed to organ-
ic products in Washington
includes an image of George
Washington.
WSDA eyes
new organic
fees, logo
George’s image
on chopping block
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton’s organic fees and logo are
due for an overhaul, according
to the state Department of Ag-
riculture.
The department is in the
early stages of revising rates to
collect more money from the
1,100 organic producers, han-
dlers and processors it inspects,
certifies and advises.
The department also plans
to adopt a new label for the
state’s organic products, replac-
ing George Washington’s im-
age with something more dis-
tinctively organic, said Brenda
Book, organic program super-
visor.
“We want people to want
to use the logo,” she said. “We
want to make it a little more
modern and up-to-date.”
The department has not
proposed specific fees or an-
nounced a new logo, but hopes
to have both in place by the
beginning of next year. Book
said the department needs to
take in more money to keep the
program self-supporting and
build a cushion, though some
businesses may not see their
fees rise.
“We don’t anticipate in-
creases across the board,” she
said.
A new-look label, different
than the USDA organic logo,
should help market the state’s
products, Book said. The de-
partment has been working
with a graphic designer, she
said. “None of the draft con-
cepts include (Washington’s)
head anywhere.”
The department certifies
that organic products meet
USDA standards. Annual fees
range from $200 for growers
with less than $15,000 in sales
to $2,200 plus 0.11 percent of
gross sales for growers with
sales of more than $75,000.
The department has a sepa-
rate list of fees for handlers and
processors.
The department’s current
budget estimates the depart-
ment will collect $6.5 million
in fees over two years to sup-
port the equivalent of 35.5 full-
time positions.
The department is not ready
to say how much more money
it wants to collect. A detailed
proposal will be due in the fall.
In the meantime, the depart-
ment will meet with organic
producers, Book said. “We’re
still determining what’s that
magic number we want to get
to,” she said.
Fees last had a major over-
haul more than 15 years ago.
“Salaries and benefits are at
a different amount than 15 years
ago,” Book said. “We held off as
long as we could, to the point we
really need to do it now.”
The state agriculture de-
partment does not have a mo-
nopoly on organic certification
in Washington. Some 15 other
USDA-accredited organiza-
tions based outside the state are
willing to certify organic farms
in Washington, according to
a USDA’s National Organic
Program database.
Substation fire
mostly contained
after burning
80,000 acres
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Farmers in north-central
Oregon are counting their
losses after a massive 80,000-
acre wildfire ripped through
Wasco and Sherman coun-
ties, torching up to a quarter
of the local wheat crop.
The Substation fire start-
ed July 17 on private land
southeast of The Dalles and
spread quickly, fanned by
high winds and fueled by
drought. Gov. Kate Brown
declared the fire a confla-
gration as it jumped the
Deschutes River, prompting
hundreds of evacuation or-
ders.
The blaze is now largely
contained, though an estimat-
ed 1 million to 2 million bush-
els of unharvested wheat went
up in flames, crushing what
was expected to be a bumper
crop in some areas. Tana
Simpson, associate adminis-
trator of the Oregon Wheat
Commission, said Wasco and
Sherman counties typical-
ly produce around 8 million
bushels annually.
“Certainly, this is a disap-
pointing loss for our grow-
ers,” Simpson said.
The fire also took a deadly
turn, killing 64-year-old John
Ruby, who was found near
a burned tractor. Authorities
say Ruby, a longtime Wasco
Associated Press
A fast-moving wildfire rages across Wasco County southeast of The Dalles, Ore. A 64-year-old man
was killed in the fire.
County resident and farmer,
died while trying to protect
his neighbor’s property by
digging a firebreak.
The Wasco County Sher-
iff’s Office is leading an in-
vestigation into the cause of
the fire, which it described as
“incendiary in nature.” Any-
one with information should
call the Oregon State Police
tip line at 1-800-452-7888.
Brian Tuck, dryland crops
specialist for Oregon State
University Extension Ser-
vice in Wasco and Sherman
counties, said wheat harvest
had just begun when the Sub-
station fire ignited, bringing
normal operations to a stand-
still while growers raced to
defend their fields.
To make matters worse,
yields were expected to be
higher than usual thanks to
timely spring rains, Tuck
said, from 55-60 bushels per
acre to 80-90 bushels per acre
in many areas.
“Unfortunately, a lot of
that crop is just being burned
up here,” Tuck said.
Darren Padget, a wheat
farmer near Grass Valley and
member of the Oregon Wheat
Commission, said firefighting
is a normal part of the job for
farmers and ranchers in cen-
tral and Eastern Oregon, but
the Substation fire was the
biggest and baddest blaze
they had seen in years.
“We’ll be talking about
this for a long, long time to
come,” Padget said.
When a fire starts, Padget
said the first thing farmers
do is hook up a disc plow
to their tractors and dig fire
lines to slow the spread of
flames. The Substation fire,
however, jumped fire lines
like they weren’t even there,
Padget said, and kicked up
so much smoke he could
barely see his hand in front
of his face.
“We didn’t know what the
right move was, at times,” he
said.
Alan von Borstel, a fel-
low Grass Valley farmer,
told the Associated Press
they experienced day after
day of horrendous winds on
the fire line, and the inferno
also started to create its own
wind.
“As the fire gets clos-
er, you actually start to feel
threatened, and if it gets too
close, we realize we can’t do
it, (and) we get the hell out of
Dodge,” von Borstel said.
Without farmers, von Bor-
stel said the fire would not
have been stopped as soon as
it was.
Nearly all of Oregon is
in some stage of drought,
according to the latest U.S.
Drought Monitor, including
all of Wasco and Sherman
counties, which are listed as
in “moderate drought.”
Blake Rowe, CEO of
the commission, said he ex-
pects farmers statewide to
harvest around 50 million
to 60 million bushels of soft
white wheat this year, most
of which will be exported to
Asia to make items such as
cakes, crackers and noodles.
The amount of wheat lost
in the Substation fire will
not impact the global mar-
ketplace, Rowe said, but no
question leaves an economic
scar locally — even for those
with crop insurance, which
covers average yields rather
than actual losses.
“For some, they lost virtu-
ally their entire crop,” Rowe
said. “Insurance can help,
but it never quite makes you
whole.”
Looking ahead to post-har-
vest, Rowe said the concern
will shift to things like soil
erosion on the charred land-
scape, and replacing forage
for livestock in burned pas-
tures.
“We’ve got a lot of bare,
burned acres out there that
will need some sort of vege-
tation this winter,” Rowe said.
Wes Jennings, farm pro-
gram chief for the Farm Ser-
vice Agency in Oregon, said
requests for emergency relief
are evaluated on a case-by-
case basis. Jennings advised
producers to call their county
FSA office as soon as possible
to determine their next steps.
Judge hears oral arguments
in Klamath Tribes lawsuit
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
A federal judge in San
Francisco heard oral ar-
guments July 20 in a case
filed by the Klamath Tribes
of southern Oregon seeking
greater protections for en-
dangered sucker fish in Up-
per Klamath Lake.
The lawsuit, which
names the Bureau of Recla-
mation, U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service and National
Marine Fisheries Service as
defendants, requests an in-
junction to hold more water
in the lake for shortnose and
Lost River suckers, a cultur-
ally significant food for the
tribes.
Farmers and ranchers,
however, worry the injunc-
tion would essentially shut
off surface water irrigation
in the Klamath Project, cost-
ing roughly $400 million in
lost annual economic value.
District Judge William
Orrick did not issue a ruling
from the bench, and is con-
sidering a motion to transfer
the case to a different court.
He did not give a timetable
for his decision.
Mark Johnson, deputy di-
rector of the Klamath Water
Users Association, said the
non-ruling means irrigators
in the Klamath Project will
be allowed to continue wa-
tering their crops — for now.
“Things are looking pret-
ty promising in the short-
term,” Johnson said.
The KWUA, Sunny-
side Irrigation District and
California farmer Ben Du-
Val filed to intervene in the
tribes’ lawsuit. They argue
an injunction would have a
devastating effect on local
agriculture, and claim there
is no scientific evidence
linking higher water levels
in Upper Klamath Lake with
healthier sucker populations.
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“It’s all across the board.
A lot of it is weather-driven,
regardless of lake levels,”
Johnson said. “Overall, lake
levels to play into it, but
they’re not a huge driving
factor.”
Both the shortnose
and Lost River suckers
— known to the tribes as
C’waam and Koptu — were
listed as endangered in 1988.
Tribal harvests decreased
from more than 10,000 fish
in 1968 to 687 in 1985, and
today just two suckers are
kept every year for ceremo-
nial purposes.
The Bureau of Reclama-
tion manages lake levels for
the benefit of suckers under
a 2013 biological opinion, or
BiOp, along with water de-
liveries to the Klamath Proj-
ect for irrigation. The agency
must also keep enough wa-
ter in stream for salmon and
steelhead in the lower Klam-
ath River.
The tribes’ lawsuit, filed
in May, claims the bureau
continues to operate the
Klamath Project “in a man-
ner inimical to the continued
existence and ultimate recov-
ery of the C’waam and Koptu
and in direct violation of the
(Endangered Species Act).”
According to the law-
suit, “Dramatic changes to
the Klamath River Basin’s
hydrology and the rise of
agricultural activity within
the area since the Project’s
inception have caused (Up-
per Klamath Lake) to change
from eutrophic to hypereu-
trophic, that is, from a lake
with high nutrient levels to
one that is excessively rich in
them.”
Don Gentry, tribal chair-
man, said the intent is not to
harm agriculture, but to do
what is necessary to protect
the fish.
We’re just backed into
a very serious situation,”
Gentry said. “If we don’t do
whatever we can to protect
the fish, and the fish go ex-
tinct, they’re gone forever.”
Gentry said Orrick made
it clear during the hearing
that he would not dismiss the
case. Regardless of venue,
Gentry said the tribes will be
prepared to proceed.
Orrick is no stranger to
water disputes in the Klamath
Basin. Last year, he ruled that
more water was needed in the
Klamath River to flush away
a deadly salmon-killing para-
site known as C. shasta. The
bureau released 38,425 acre-
feet of water April 6-15 and
50,000 acre-feet May 7-28 to
comply with the order, delay-
ing the water allocation for
irrigators until June.
If the Klamath Tribes suc-
ceed with their injunction for
more water in Upper Klam-
ath Lake, Johnson said it
would essentially shut down
surface water irrigation for
230,000 acres in the project.
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Cows graze July 19 in southwest Washington. The U.S. Drought
Monitor reports that 26 percent of the state, including the south-
west, is in a moderate drought. The National Weather Service says
the odds favor warmer and drier than usual weather for several
more months.
Drought expands in
Oregon, Washington
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Drought conditions are
spreading across Oregon and
Washington, and an El Nino
forming in the Pacific Ocean
will tilt the odds in favor of
more warm and dry months
ahead, federal officials report.
The percentage of Oregon
in moderate or severe drought
was up to 80 percent from 68
percent from the week before,
according to the U.S. Drought
Monitor. Meanwhile, a moder-
ate drought in Washington ex-
panded to 26 percent from 17
percent of the state.
Conditions in Idaho and
California were unchanged,
with 6 percent of Idaho and 44
percent of California in some
degree of drought. The Drought
Monitor has four stages of
drought, ranging from moder-
ate to exceptional.
Also the National Weather
Service’s Climate Prediction
Center reported that the odds
favor above-average tempera-
tures in the four states during
August, September and Octo-
ber.
Looking further ahead, the
center puts the chances that an
El Nino will form in the Pacific
Ocean by November at 70 per-
cent. An El Nino, a warming of
equatorial sea-surface tempera-
tures, usually leads to warmer
and drier winters in the Pacific
Northwest.
Forecasts of an El Nino
have missed the mark before.
A large amount of warm water
below the surface makes fore-
casters slightly more confident
this time, according to the cen-
ter.
Drought conditions in Ore-
gon are most severe east of the
Cascades, where 25 percent of
the state has fallen into a “se-
vere” drought, the level above
“moderate.”
In Washington, the mod-
erate drought conditions are
mostly west of the mountains,
though drought conditions ex-
tend up the Columbia Gorge as
far east as Benton County.
Weekly fieldwork report
Ore.
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of July 22)
6.8
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
78%
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
77%
• Precipitation probability
40-50% Below
(6-10 day outlook as of July 24)
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.9
0
43%
1%
35%
6.9
11%
41%
11%
39%
7
1
72%
0
75%
40% Below/
Normal
40% Below/
Normal
40% Below/
Normal