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October 19, 2018 CapitalPress.com 5 Clover growers face Apples still top crop in Washington herbicide impasse By DAN WHEAT Capital Press By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press An herbicide used on soy- beans has proven tantalizingly effective against two trouble- some weeds in Oregon clover fields, but remains out of reach for farmers. Despite performing well in killing dock and tiny vetch during field trials, Python — the brand name for flumetsu- lam — did in some “outlier” cases cause damage to clover foliage. Those instances of crop in- jury were enough to dissuade Dow AgroSciences, the herbi- cide’s manufacturer, from seek- ing to extend the chemical’s label registration to include clo- ver in the U.S. Because clover is grown on relatively few acres, the possi- bility for the company to earn a small profit is negated by the potential for lawsuits, said Bry- an Ostlund, administrator of the Oregon Clover Commission. “Any liability issue be- comes magnified,” he said. Dow AgroSciences did not respond to requests for com- ment as of press time. While the Oregon Clover Commission has reached an impasse with Dow, the organi- zation is still hoping to provide farmers with access to Python through another path. At its Oct. 10 meeting in Salem, Ore., the commission unanimously voted to continue paying a consultant to explore the possibility of extending the herbicide’s federal registration to clover through an entity oth- er than Dow. One option would be for a smaller chemical company that specializes in niche crops to li- cense the herbicide from Dow, taking on any liability as well as the responsibility of registering Python with the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency. The other possibility is for a “third party registrant” — such as an agronomy company — to perform those functions at the commission’s behest, which isn’t seen as a desirable out- come. “It gets expensive real fast,” said Ostlund. Dock and tiny vetch are an expensive problem for clover farmers because no other cur- rently registered herbicides can treat the weeds, said Nicole An- derson, an Oregon State Uni- versity Extension field crops agent. Jensen, Cornelison appointed to Idaho Potato Commission By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Idaho Gov. Butch Otter ap- pointed Brett Jensen and Todd Cornelison to the Idaho Pota- to Commission, effective at the nine-member panel’s Oct. 24 meeting. Otter also reap- pointed Dan Nakamura. Jensen suc- ceeds James Hoff as a grower-mem- ber. Corneli- son succeeds Lynn Wilcox as a fresh-pack Brett shipper. Hoff Jensen completed one three-year term, Wilcox two. Industry peers nominate and the governor selects commis- sion members. The commission must include five growers, two fresh-pack shippers and two processors. Commissioners are limited to two terms. Appoin- tees to the Potato Commission do not require Senate confirma- tion, said Skyler Kjellander, a staff assistant in Otter’s office. Jensen owns Brett Jensen Farms, a 13,000-acre operation in the Idaho Falls-Hamer area. The farm grows potatoes for the fresh and processing mar- kets. “I am excited to join the commission, learn, and see if I can help the Idaho potato in- dustry,” Jensen said. “I’m not going in with an agenda. I need to get there and learn what I can do to help.” He will draw on input from industry peers in southeast Ida- ho, he said. He is a National Potato Council board member and past chairman of the U.S. Potato Board-Potatoes USA. “I’m proud to be an Ida- ho potato grower and I want to help with the Idaho potato industry any way I can,” said Jensen, who has one son active in farming and another who plans to farm. “I want to protect the industry for future genera- tions.” He grew up on a farm about 10 miles from his current op- erations. “Dad wasn’t ready to quit, so I started my own,” he said. Jensen in 1995 started his business, which grew over the years in part through expan- sion prompted by neighbors approaching him about their desire to leave farming. His farm also produces wheat, barley seed and alfalfa hay, he said. Potatoes grown are Russet Burbank, Ranger Rus- set and Russet Norkotah. Food trace- ability and en- vironmental sustainability are among con- tinuing trends, Todd Cornel- Jensen said. ison “The technolo- gy helps with that. We have to have a safe product to sell,” he said. Cornelison, owner and CEO at fresh-pack shipper High Country Potato in Rex- burg, served as the commis- sion’s first industry relations director, based in eastern Ida- ho, from 2007 to 2012. He acquired the packing business from his father in 2007 but leased it to another operator until 2012, when the lease ex- pired and he began running the business. “It is an honor, and I appre- ciate all of the support of the industry,” he said of his ap- pointment as commissioner. The commission benefits from each member’s expertise in a particular segment of the Idaho potato industry, but “ev- ery commissioner deals with every aspect,” Cornelison said. “The job of every commis- sioner is to protect the industry as a whole.” He’s going into the com- missioner position “knowing it takes real time and effort to protect this wonderful industry we are part of,” he said. “I ful- ly intend to do that.” On the fresh-pack side, increasing the consistency of recently erratic grower returns — the payments the pack- ers make to growers — is an issue, Cornelison said. Tra- ditional supply-and-demand factors, and variations as to where packers’ customers buy potatoes, are at play. OLYMPIA — Agricultur- al production in Washington grew 4 percent to $10.6 bil- lion in 2017 with apples as the top value commodity for the 13th year in a row, accord- ing to the National Agricultur- al Statistics Service. At $2.43 billion, apples represented 23 percent of the total agricultural value. That was up 3 percent from 2016 but shy of the record high of $2.48 billion in 2012. Noting that all Washington tree fruit combined exceeded $3.2 billion, Desmond O’Ro- urke, retired Washington State University agricultural econo- mist and world apple analyst, called that impressive given trade disruptions of the past year. Mainstream apple variet- ies such as Gala, Red Deli- cious, Golden Delicious and Braeburn continue to struggle while proprietary varieties continue to expand and gen- erate higher prices, O’Rourke said. “However, competition among the club (proprietary) varieties is likely to intensify as production expands and the arrival of the new Cosmic Crisp in 2019 will add to the pressures,” he said. Honeycrisp continues “to defy the odds,” he said, main- taining premium prices and wide retail promotions despite increasing in sales by 36.7 per- cent in 2017. The Oct. 10 report from Apples still tops in Washington $2,430 1. Apples 2. Milk 3. All wheat 691 4. Potatoes 687 5. Cattle/calves 664 1,190 6. Hay 515 7. Hops 489 8. Cherries 479 9. Grapes 10. Pears 318 246 the NASS Northwest regional office in Olympia lists milk in second place, at $1.19 billion, up 8 percent from 2016. Wheat value of produc- tion moved up two spots to take the third position in the state rankings. Wheat value in 2017 was $691 million, up 5 percent from the previ- ous year. Potatoes, valued at $687 million, fell one spot to fourth. This represents a 16 percent decrease from the pre- vious year. Cattle and calves rounded out the top five with a value of $664 million, down 6 percent from the previous year. The top five commodities had a combined value of $5.66 billion, or 54 percent of the Top 10 ag commodities by value, 2017 (Millions of dollars) Source: USDA NASS Dan Wheat and Alan Kenaga/ Capital Press 2017 value for all commod- ities, excluding government payments. The same five com- modities in 2016 had a com- bined value of $5.62 billion, or 55 percent of the total 2016 value. Hay ranked sixth at $515 million, up 7.7 percent. Hops were seventh at a record high $489 million, up 28 percent. Cherries were next at $479 million, down 4.2 percent, and grapes, at $318 million, were down 11.4 percent. Pears, ranking 10th, were a record $246 million, up 4.5 percent from 2016 and 1 percent from the previous record high in 2014. Other commodities outside the top 10 that showed signif- icant increases in value from the previous year were: eggs at $141 million, up 21 percent; blueberries at $115 million, up 22 percent; and canola at $15.1 million, up 64 percent. Four of the top 10 com- modities declined in value from the previous year: pota- toes, cattle and calves, cherries and grapes. Other notable commodities that declined in value in 2017 were onions, down 30 percent to $130 million; lentils, down 31 percent to $18.4 million; and dry edible peas, down 40 percent to $15.7 million. Crop production totaled a little over $8 billion and livestock a little over $2.5 billion. California winery works with investigators on label controversy By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press The owner of a Napa Valley winery accused by Oregon winemakers of us- ing deceptive labels says he is working with both state and federal investigators, while describing the contro- versy as a “charade.” Copper Cane LLC, of Rutherford, Calif., buys grapes from about 50 grow- ers in Oregon to make Pinot noir and rosé wines. Two EOMG File brands in particular, “The Willametter Journal” and A California winery has been criticized by Oregon winemakers over “Elouan,” have raised sus- references to “Willamette” on some of its wine labels. picion among Oregon wine- makers that the labels and tal Press. make any false, ambiguous A spokesman for the TTB or misleading statements packaging falsely imply the wines originate in the state’s said he cannot comment on about the wine’s origin. high-value American Viticul- any investigation, but said That is where Oregon wine- tural Areas, or AVAs. the agency is well aware of makers take issue with “The Willametter Journal,” a Pi- The dispute is now on the the issue. radar of Oregon congres- The Oregon wine indus- not noir that mentions “the sional delegates, who sent try raised concerns over the Willamette region of Ore- a letter Oct. 9 to the federal labels, which they claim mis- gon’s coastal range” on its Alcohol and Tobacco Tax represent their appellation of label. Industry leaders feel that could wrongly imply the and Trade Bureau requesting origin. Under federal law, if a wine comes from the Willa- an investigation into Copper wine labels itself as coming mette Valley AVA. Cane’s labels. “Elouan” also prominent- But Joe Wagner, who from a particular viticultural owns and operates the win- area, such as the Willamette ly lists the Willamette Valley, ery, said the agency already Valley AVA, then 85 percent Umpqua Valley and Rogue visited and began combing of the grapes must be from Valley on its retail cases, all through production records that area. Oregon labeling three of which are designated weeks ago. laws are even stricter, requir- AVAs in Oregon. “As far as we see it, we ing 95 percent. Jana McKamey, vice To protect the integrity of president of government af- are still doing things the right way,” Wagner told the Capi- wine regions, labels cannot fairs with the Oregon Wine- growers Association, said the industry has been at the fore- front of protecting its wine regions and truth-in-labeling. “The (industry’s) priority is to assist state and federal regulatory agencies in en- suring all wineries, wherev- er they are crushing grapes, comply with federal regula- tions and Oregon’s 41-year- old labeling rules that are de- signed to protect the integrity of Oregon’s esteemed wine- growing regions,” McKamey said in a statement. In their joint letter to the TTB Administrator John Manfreda, Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk- ley, along with Reps. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Kurt Schrader stated that if any of Copper Cane’s labels are out of compliance the products should be removed from the market. Wagner, the Copper Cane owner, said he is still await- ing a final decision from the TTB. The winery is also in regular contact with the Ore- gon Liquor Control Commis- sion, which asked to review production, transfer and bot- tling records for seven wines, including “The Willamet- ter Journal” and “Elouan” brands. A spokesman for OLCC said that review is currently in process. Congratulations to Mountain View Seeds/ Pratum Co-op on the completion of their new shipping warehouse Pre-order your Baumalight generator now for delivery in 8 weeks and get an 8% discount. Trusted experience providing solutions for complex ag projects 503-581-0048 .COM ELLIS EQUIPMENT 800-949-2336 CCB# 47432 40-4-3/102 MFG OF BRUSH MULCHERS | STUMP GRINDERS | DRAINAGE PLOWS | BOOM MOWERS | PTO GENERATORS | AUGER BITS & DRIVES | TRENCHERS | TREE SPADES TREE SAWS | LIMB SHEARS AND MORE www.cdredding.com 42-2-3/106