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4 CapitalPress.com October 12, 2018 Apple crop estimate takes big drop WENATCHEE, Wash. — The 2018 Washington apple crop is now estimated to be significantly smaller than it was two months ago, which should bode well for sales and pricing in the months ahead. The Oct. 1 estimate, re- leased Oct. 5 by the Wash- ington State Tree Fruit Asso- ciation, is for 116.9 million, 40-pound boxes of fresh crop from this fall’s harvest, down 10.8 percent from the 131-million-box forecast of Aug. 1. “The industry uses histor- ical information to help with the forecasts and 2012, 2014 and 2016 were all relatively large crops,” said Sean Gil- bert, co-owner of Gilbert Or- chards in Yakima. It stood to reason that the 2017 crop would be small like the 2013 and 2015 crops of 115 million boxes each. How- ever, the 2017 crop stayed large at 131.7 million and the smaller crop is coming this year. The large crops had good fruit set from warm weather at bloom and pollination, but this year it was much cooler during bloom and pollination, Gilbert said. Growers noticed a lighter set after bloom but didn’t re- alize how much lighter until picking started in August, he said. Harvest is virtually done for Gala, Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp with Red De- licious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Cripps Pink as the main varieties remaining, said Tom Riggan, general manager of Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan. “We have better color overall than last year, sizes are larger and more conducive to retail and we have perfect fall weather so starch and sugars are ideal for longterm storage and good consistent quality,” Riggan said. Dan Wheat/Capital Press Kanzi apples are picked at Mt. View Orchard, East Wenatchee, Wash., on Oct. 1. This year’s crop has shrunk dramatically from the August estimate, which should help grower prices. The smaller crop means pricing will soon improve for growers and there will be less pressure to move lots of fruit at the front end of the season, he said. “It looks like a very man- ageable crop year,” Riggan said. “Yes, hopefully better Settlement allows solar project to go forward By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Construction of a contro- versial 73-acre solar farm and apiary will proceed in Oregon’s Clackamas County after farmland conservation- ists struck a settlement deal with the developer. Earlier this year, the 1,000 Friends of Oregon nonprofit challenged the project’s approval before the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals after Clackamas County determined the de- velopment wouldn’t pre- clude commercial agricul- ture because beehives would be kept on the property. Normally, conditional use permits limit solar arrays on farmland to 12 acres, but in this case, a county hear- ings officer found the panels would displace fewer than 12 acres due to the honey- bee forage growing beneath them. Under the settlement, 1,000 Friends of Oregon has agreed to withdraw the ob- jection as long as the devel- oper, Pacific Northwest So- lar LLC, agreed to conduct a study of the how the dual use works, said Damien Hall, the company’s attorney. The so- lar company also agreed not to oppose temporary rules implemented by Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission, which clarify solar sites can’t occupy more than 12 acres without an exception to the statewide goal of preserving farmland, said Meriel Darzen, attorney for 1,000 Friends of Oregon. There’s no data in Or- egon about co-locating an apiary with solar panels, so the facility served as a good opportunity for a pilot proj- ect, she said. “We think it’s an interesting concept.” Meanwhile, LCDC has convened an advisory com- mittee to examine whether to make the temporary rules permanent and whether to otherwise update Oregon’s land use regulations for so- lar facilities. Solar facilities on Ore- gon farmland have increas- ingly been stirring contro- versy in recent years, with critics fearing that multiple 12-acre projects are being sited close together to side- step regulations for larger projects. “Cumulative impact is a big issue for the agricultural community,” said Jim John- son, land use specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, during the committee’s first meeting on Oct. 4 in McMinnville, Ore. By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press This year’s beet harvest in southern Idaho and eastern Or- egon could set record highs for sugar content and yield, thanks in part to good growing condi- tions and limited disease and insect pressure. Lab measurement of sam- ples as of early October pegged average sugar content at 17.4 percent, Amalgamated Sugar Co. Communications Special- ist Jessica McAnally said. Last year’s average was 16.84 per- cent. Boise-based Amalgamated, a grower-owned cooperative, aims for 18 percent average sugar content company-wide, achieved just once previous- ly, she said. The number rep- resents the percentage of sug- ar in the beet, which contains mostly water. Average sugar content was expected to move higher bar- ring bad weather, McAnally said. Beets store more sugar in their roots as harvest progress- es and air temperatures drop, though heavy rain can prompt the plants to devote more ener- gy to growing and less to pro- ducing sugar. Boise received 0.95 inch of rain Oct. 9, the National Weath- er Service reported. Some spots in the region received over an inch. “I’m afraid it will hurt sug- ar content going forward,” said Mitch Bicandi, a grower near Notus, in southwestern Idaho. “If we got another storm like this in the next week to 10 days, it would be really bad. We hope this is it.” Before the rain, southwest Idaho beets showed higher sug- ar content than in the past, he said. “We’re just hoping they will hold.” An out-of-state bank is asking a federal judge to dis- miss a lawsuit filed by Oregon farmers who seek compensa- tion for the lost value of their radish seed. Northwest Bank of Warren, Pa., had previously alleged the radish seed grown by the farm- ers served as collateral for a loan to a defunct seed broker. However, that claim was rejected by a federal judge, who found the bank didn’t have a security interest in the seed, allowing the farmers to sell it. While the litigation was ongoing, however, the farmers claim the crop lost value and they had to pay additional stor- age costs, prompting them to file a complaint seeking $6.7 million in damages. The lawsuit filed by the Radish Seed Growers Asso- ciation was put on hold while Northwest Bank sought to convince the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it actual- ly did own the radish seed. After the 9th Circuit reject- ed the bank’s arguments, the litigation was reactivated and now the parties have submit- ted new legal arguments to the court. Despite its loss in the 9th Circuit, Northwest Bank ar- gues it had reasonably be- lieved that it owned a security interest in the seed, so its ear- lier lawsuit was not frivolous. Unless the farmers can show there was no probable cause for the earlier lawsuit, the bank’s claims are protect- ed by the “absolute litigation privilege” that allows parties to make certain allegations in court, according to the bank. Capital Press File Sugar beet yields and sugar content are approaching record levels in this year’s crop, growers say. Bicandi, who plans to start harvesting Oct. 15, said grow- ers whose harvest was un- derway Oct. 9 probably were shut down until late Oct. 10. But those who previously felt conditions were too dry to dig may have seen some benefit from the rain, which amount- ed to around a day’s worth of irrigation, he said. Harvest typically wraps up by early November. Beet growth and sugar pro- duction are helped by a long growing season with hot, dry days and cool nights. Disease risk increases when there is too much moisture in foliage. “We have had an excellent growing season, and while we have seen some disease pres- sure, it has not been as bad as some years,” McAnally said. “We also have increased qual- ity available in seed varieties available to our growers.” On the pest and disease front, “overall we are pret- ty happy,” said Oliver Neher, plant health manager with Amalgamated. The Treasure Valley of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon had a bit more Cercospora Leaf Spot than the company would like, but it was a “very normal” year for powdery mildew and Loop- er insects, without severe infes- tations, he said. McAnally said the ap- proximately 750 growers who comprise Amalgamated parent cooperative Snake River Sugar Co. will produce about 182,000 acres of sugar beets this year, about the same as 2017. Last year’s yield averaged 39.2 tons per acre. Board President Duane Grant, who co-owns 4-D Farms in Rupert, in south central Ida- ho, said yield per acre is expect- ed to be up from a year ago by 1.5 to 2 tons per acre, or around 5 percent. “We believe we are going to set a yield record and a sug- ar-content record this year,” he said Oct. 9. “That is a credit to our growers, who have agreed to share with each other their cultural practices, reporting them into the company.” Such sharing “lets us learn from each other how to improve our col- lective crop.” Nitrogen management is an example. “Our growers have learned to very carefully analyze the fertility content of the top three or four feet of soil and apply just the right amount of fertil- izer to grow the crop, but still allow it to consume available fertilizer and mature in a fer- tilizer-depleted environment,” Grant said. Beets maturing amid excess fertilizer grow root mass but do not accumulate sugar, he said. LEGAL Pre-order your Baumalight generator now for delivery in 8 weeks and get an 8% discount. 40-5-3/104 Capital Press year ago, DeVaney said. Shippers apparently pushed second-pick Gala and Honeycrisp that suffered from heat and was at higher risk of bitter pit decay and there- fore suspect for long storage. Several of them talked about that at a Sept. 20 Washington Apple Commission meeting. Riggan said he thinks most of that is through the system and that higher quality first-pick was put into longer storage. The Oct. 1 estimates show all but Honeycrisp down in volume. Millions of boxes and percentage change from 2017: Gala, 29.9, -3 percent; Red Delicious, 24.5, -25 per- cent; Fuji, 15, -10.3 percent; Honeycrisp, 13.7 million boxes, +19.7 percent; Granny Smith, 13.7 million boxes, -23 percent; others, 6.6 million boxes, -4.1 percent; Golden Delicious, 5.9 million boxes, -13 percent; Cripps Pink, 4.8 million boxes, -6.6 percent; Ambrosia, 1.3 million boxes, -18.5 percent. Sugar beet harvest could set records Radish seed litigation re-activated By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI pricing and returns than last year.” As of Oct. 5, the average asking price among Yakima and Wenatchee district ship- pers for extra fancy (standard grade), medium size 80 apples per box for new crop Gala was $18 to $24 compared with $24 to $28 a year ago, according to USDA. Break-even is gen- erally $17 to $20. Gala 88s were $18 to $22 compared with $22 to $26 a year ago. Granny Smith was $20 to $24 for 80s and 88s compared with $40 to $46 a year ago. Red Delicious was $17 to $18 for 80s and 88s compared with $14 to $16 a year ago. Golden Delicious was $22 to $26 for 80s and 88s compared with $30 to $34 a year ago. Honeycrisp was $65 to $70.90 for premium 80s and 88s compared with $65 to $75 a year ago. Pricing is expected to im- prove as the last stocks of the 2017 crop sell out, said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. But while the crop is now estimated nearly 11 percent smaller than last year, early movement is up 20 percent — 8.8 million boxes shipped as of Oct. 7 versus 7.3 million a .COM MFG OF BRUSH MULCHERS | STUMP GRINDERS | DRAINAGE PLOWS | BOOM MOWERS | PTO GENERATORS | AUGER BITS & DRIVES | TRENCHERS | TREE SPADES TREE SAWS | LIMB SHEARS AND MORE ELLIS EQUIPMENT 800-949-2336 41-1/106 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 10/15/2018. The sale will be held at 10:00am by COPART OF WASHINGTON INC 2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR 2010 INTRNTL CARGOSTAR LT VIN = 4RACS162XAN071813 Amount due on lien $1,445.00 Reputed owner(s) RICHARD C MC CAUL JR BB/T FINAN FSB SHEFFIELD FINAN 40-2-3/999 Capital Press 40-4-3/102 By DAN WHEAT 41-2/102