August 17, 2018
CapitalPress.com
7
UI to host annual Fruit
Alfalfa seed crop looks
Field Day, research tours good as harvest approaches
By BRAD CARLSON
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Capital Press
The University of Idaho
Parma Research and Ex-
tension Center will host its
annual Fruit Field Day and
tour from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mountain on Sept. 7.
Scheduled tours of re-
search orchards will feature
several cultivars of new table
grapes, peaches, nectarines,
apples, plums, quince, Asian
pears and other alternative
fruits. Among planned dis-
cussion topics are fruit re-
search and production, and
orchard mechanization.
Participants can tour the
university’s comprehensive
project sites focused on ap-
ple irrigation, fruit nutri-
tion, chemical thinning and
pesticide use. Other sched-
uled tour stops include a
super-high-density apple or-
chard with new architectures
and rootstocks; stone fruit
research orchards and selec-
tions; plantings of alternative
fruits like quince, almonds,
walnuts, Asian pears, jujube
and haskaps; a national ap-
ple rootstock research site;
table grape vineyards; new
grape canopy research and a
national cherry rootstock and
training project.
“We have had a good year
for most of the crops,” said
Essie Fallahi, UI pomology
program director. Favorable
weather and water conditions,
and manageable levels of
pests and diseases, helped fruit
crops in southwestern Idaho
and southeastern Oregon.
Western Farms’ alfalfa seed
fields looked good as of ear-
ly August, but co-owner Joe
Weitz wasn’t celebrating just
yet.
He and his brother, Tony,
own 2,500-acre Western
Farms. Based near Lake Low-
ell outside Caldwell, Idaho,
they grow alfalfa seed — polli-
nated by alfalfa leafcutter bees
they raise — but they also grow
radish seed, onions, corn, wheat
and mint.
The farm grows proprietary
alfalfa seed on contract for a
handful of Boise-area seed
companies that own the seeds.
The seed companies weigh,
clean and package the harvest-
ed seed before they sell it to hay
growers, sometimes directly
but usually through dealers or
farm cooperatives.
This year’s alfalfa seed har-
vest at Western Farms likely
will start around Aug. 20 and
last two weeks.
As the month began, crop
and field conditions were fa-
vorable and in line with long-
term averages, Joe Weitz said.
Weather and pollinating condi-
tions, and water supplies, have
been good this year.
“But there’s a lot of things
that can happen to alfalfa seed
before it gets harvested,” he
said. “Wind, rain and hail are
the three that can damage it.
We’re OK so far.”
Such weather events can
materialize in southwestern
Idaho and southeastern Oregon
as August unfolds, in contrast
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
Essie Fallahi, who heads the University of Idaho’s pomology
program, and other researchers at the UI Parma Research and
Extension Center will offer a field day and research tours on Sept. 7.
Participants always can
see something new at Fruit
Field Day because they can
evaluate new projects or the
progress of the many long-
term projects in the research
plots, he said.
Irrigation, pest and dis-
ease control, and various
cultural practices will be dis-
cussed.
Fruit Field Day, held for
more than a decade, tradi-
tionally draws commercial,
small-scale and alternative
fruit growers; fruit industry
representatives; horticultural
professionals and graduate
students; university exten-
sion educators and research
staff; horticultural hobbyists;
and home and master garden-
ers.
Tour information and pes-
ticide-credit detail: 208/722-
6701 ext. 16228.
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
Western Farms co-owner Joe Weitz, center, with farm managers
Davis McConnell, left, and Brennan Gabiola on the farm outside
Caldwell, Idaho, on Aug. 3.
to the hot, dry conditions that
characterize much of the region
in midsummer.
That’s one of the reasons
it’s hard to predict alfalfa seed
yield based on how it looks in
the field.
“Until you get it to the clean-
ing facility, you don’t know
what you have,” Weitz said.
Seed companies work
with their contracted growers
throughout the growing season
to help control the variables
that can be controlled. After
harvest, the companies clean
the alfalfa seed of extraneous
material such as dirt, chaff
and weed seeds to arrive at the
rigorous industry standard for
seed purity.
“The crop is in great shape
for this time of year,” said
Lynn Nichols, field represen-
tative with Alforex Seeds in
Homedale, Idaho. At this stage,
yields look average or above
average, “and if dry weather
cooperates, we should see that
relayed into harvest.”
A normal spring and good
moisture conditions helped the
area’s alfalfa seed crop get into
good shape as of early August,
Nichols said. Timely applica-
tions of herbicide kept weeds
at manageable levels, leaving
fields largely weed-free, or
“clean.” Insect pressure has
been minimal.
Bloom timing, a reflection
of pollinator activity, was ide-
al and produced good seed set,
he said. Growers this year took
advantage of lower costs for
pollination services and placed
more pollinators overall, lead-
ing to better seed set.
Weitz said growing alfal-
fa seed is challenging even as
seed companies and farmers
make advancements. Western
Farms has been growing it for
36 years.
“Most years, Idaho weather
is conducive to growing alfalfa
seed,” he said.
The southwestern Ida-
ho-southeastern Oregon re-
gion is among the world’s top-
ranked seed producers and is a
major player in alfalfa seed.
CASE study: Grants
help Washington
FFA members learn
about ag technology
By Trevor Schmitt
Washington FFA Vice President 2018-2019
Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature
granted thousands of dollars to be allocated to CASE
in Agricultural Education. They dedicated $1.75
million to schools trying to obtain classroom CASE
equipment. Teachers who qualified for this grant were
awarded grants to help purchase CASE equipment for
their classrooms to assist in teaching.
Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education
(CASE) prepares teachers to teach students more
practically in mathematics, technology, engineering
and science in the agricultural field.
This grant that CASE-certified teachers have access to
will allow them to purchase CASE equipment and will
give students a better chance to learn about agriculture
in a more technical aspect.
Renee Johnson, an ag teacher from Chiawana High
School, obtained a $26,500 grant to purchase
classroom equipment to enhance her agricultural
science classes. These funds will go toward purchasing
equipment for CASE learning for her classroom, which
in turn will bolster her students’ education and promote
their understanding of the agricultural fields in
Washington.
These grants will also give chances to more students to
be involved in clubs like FFA and will help FFA
members further their education. Classroom instruction
is an essential part to FFA members and these grants
will better prepare them for careers in agriculture after
high school. Overall this helps all Ag students and Ag
Teachers in our state.
Hannah Patterson of the
Eastmont High School
Agriculture Education
Program performs water
quality tests on a local
water source in East
Wenatchee, Wash., using
Vernier temperature, pH
and conductivity probes.
Graduates of the Washington CASE Agriculture Power and Technology
Institute held at Goldendale High School. Teachers from Washington,
Oregon and Kansas participated in the nine-day CASE Institute,
which provided extensive preparation for the teachers to be proficient and
confident in their ability to provide proper instruction of mechanical skills
and concepts to middle and high school students. Every lesson is aligned to
national standards for agriculture, science, mathematics, and English
language arts. Agricultural Power and Technology areas of study
include shop safety, tool operation, materials selection, fabrication,
machinery management, engineering & technology applications.
33-3/HOU