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OPINION: HOUSE AG COMMITTEE WILL BE IN GOOD HANDS Page 6 Capital Press A g The West’s FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2018 Weekly VOLUME 91, NUMBER 46 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 DIAMOND M IN THE ROUGH Courtesy NOAA The federal Climate Prediction Center says the odds that an El Nino will form have improved in the past month. El Nino nearly a sure bet now Better than 80 percent chance by winter By DON JENKINS Capital Press Photos by Don Jenkins/Capital Press Len McIrvin of the Diamond M ranch and his grandson Justin Hedrick (center), a partner in the ranch, and another grandson, George Wishon, at the Diamond M’s winter headquarters Oct. 18 in Benton County, Wash. The ranch faces a stiff challenge from wolves in northeast Washington. Wolves test toughness of northeast Washington’s largest cattle ranch By DON JENKINS Capital Press W olves drove north- east Washington’s largest sheep ranch- er off grazing land. The question now is whether wolves will do the same to the largest cattle ranch, the Diamond M. The attacks aren’t just on federal lands in the summer. They now last into the fall and take place on private ground. Len McIrvin, whose grandfather started the ranch in 1943, figures the Diamond M will lose 70 head to wolves this year. Dead and injured cows and calves are only the most obvious losses. Cattle are underweight after a summer of being chased down from mountain pastures. The percentage of cows who don’t get pregnant over the summer has risen, and that translates into fewer calves in the summer. These are the losses that are seen. Un- seen is the time spent finding and bringing in stray cattle scattered by wolves. Also, it wolves kill a 3-year-old cow, there goes maybe seven years of producing calves. The damage has been going on for a decade now. “We’re pretty tough, but there’s a limit,” said McIrvin, 75. “The losses are Len McIrvin of the Diamond M ranch watches cattle herded onto a truck in May at the ranch’s winter headquarters in Benton County, Wash. The ranch faces the challenge of running cattle in wolf territory in northeast Washington during the summer. terrific.” McIrvin does not blame wolves for the trouble. Ranchers can handle predators, but they can’t win a popularity contest with wolves, he said. “The people in Seattle, Olympia, Taco- ma and probably Portland, Salem and the whole Pacific Coast are so brainwashed,” McIrvin said. “I think animal worship is alive and well in America today.” McIrvin said the Washington Depart- ment Fish and Wildlife needs to show more grit. The department has been too slow and removed too few wolves, he said, and as a result, livestock losses are perpetual. Turn to RANCH, Page 11 Odds are increasing that an El Nino will form, the National Ocean- ic and Atmospheric Administration reported Nov. 8, bolstering earlier forecasts that winter will be mild in the Northwest. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Cen- ter put the chances of an El Nino in December through February at more than 80 percent. One month ago, NOAA assessed the odds at 70 to 75 percent. Since then, sea-surface tem- peratures have risen along the equa- tor between South America and Asia, according to NOAA. “I’ve got to go with a warmer winter than normal and a snowpack that by the end of the winter certain- ly won’t be as healthy as it has been the last couple of years,” Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond said. During an El Nino, surface tem- peratures warm up to at least 0.5 degree Celsius above normal. The heated ocean alters atmospheric weather patterns and pumps warmer than usual air into Alaska, western Canada and the northern U.S. Temperatures are typically a few degrees above normal in the North- west. The change can be enough to make the difference between rain and snow at some elevations. The effects of an El Nino are not a sure bet. Washington suffered a snowpack drought during a “weak” El Nino in 2014-15. The poor snow- pack led to a shortage of water for summer irrigation. The snowpack re- bounded the following winter during a “strong” El Nino. The Oceanic Nino Index for Au- gust through October was 0.4 de- gree Celsius, just below the El Nino threshold. NOAA is predicting a “weak” El Nino. Turn to EL Nino, Page 11 Hazelnut yields fall short of expectations USDA had predicted record 2018 crop By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Oregon hazelnut growers were anticipating a record-high crop in 2018, though it appears the harvest is coming in short of expectations. The USDA National Agri- cultural Statistics Service pre- dicted 52,000 tons of hazel- nuts in August, which would have beaten the previous re- cord of 49,500 tons in 2001. Instead, local processors say they are looking at between 46,000 to 48,000 tons, which is higher than last year’s total of 32,000 tons but still not on par with increases in handling capacity. Larry George, president and CEO of George Packing Company in Newberg, Ore., said he does not know exact- ly why hazelnut yields did not meet record forecasts. He said it looks like one of the primary new nut varieties, named Jef- ferson, did not perform as well as previously thought when the orchards were planted in 2007. “I think the new varieties, for whatever reason, we just overestimated what their pro- duction would be,” George said. George said it is also pos- sible growers harvested fewer early season orchards due to low prices caused by econom- ic turmoil overseas, including Chinese tariffs and currency devaluation in Turkey, the world’s leading producer of hazelnuts. “We’ll know in a few weeks,” he said. Whatever the reason, a less-than-expected hazelnut crop does not bode well for processors such as George Packing Company, which has invested millions of dollars to increase capacity. Hazel- nut acreage has roughly dou- bled in Oregon over the past decade, up to 72,353 acres, spurred by new varieties such as Jefferson, Yamhill and Mc- Donald that are resistant to Eastern Filbert Blight. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Turn to HAZEL, Page 11 Though the USDA predicted a record hazelnut crop in 2018, yields are coming in short of expectations, according to Oregon processors.
