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4 CapitalPress.com November 23, 2018 NCBA: Cattle industry makes progress on environmental policy Farm Bureaus set up California wildfire, disaster relief funds By CAROL RYAN DUMAS SACRAMENTO — The California Farm Bureau Federation has established a Farm and Rural Disaster Fund to help farms, ranches and rural communities dam- aged by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters. The fund has been created under the rule that’s understandable so producers can go out on their property and know” where There have been some the rule applies, he said. wins and some setbacks for NCBA is fighting ranchers this year when it WOTUS in courts, in the comes to federal environ- agencies and in Congress. mental policy, but it’s moving And a broad swath of indus- in the right direction under try has banded together in a litigation coalition, he said. the Trump administration. The setbacks can be at- A proposal for a new rule tributed to the courts and the is expected soon. It will ulti- gains can be credited to reg- mately end up in the Supreme ulatory relief from the Envi- Court, but there’s a pretty ronmental Protection good chance of win- ning if it doesn’t Agency, Scott Yager, have any procedural chief environmental faults, he said. counsel for Nation- al Cattlemen’s Beef On more sure Association, told footing is an exclu- sion for agriculture ranchers at the Idaho from reporting live- Cattle Association Scott Yager stock emissions to annual convention. Work remains to federal agencies finalize the repeal of the wa- under the Comprehensive ters of the U.S. rule — called Environmental Response, WOTUS — expanding Envi- Compensation and Liability ronmental Protection Agency Act (CERCLA), which came and Army Corps of Engineers into effect in 1980 to clean up jurisdiction under the Clean toxic waste sites. Water Act. The rule had been EPA exempted agricul- suspended while the agencies ture from reporting livestock worked to replace it, and two emissions under the act, but federal courts blocked imple- environmentalists sued and a mentation in 24 states. court vacated the exemption But a “zombie” WOTUS in 2017. NCBA (and others) came back with a South sought a legislative solution Carolina court deciding the in Congress, resulting in an administration failed to com- exemption being included in ply with rulemaking require- an omnibus bill signed into ments in suspending the rule law in March. — making it law in the 26 Without the exemption, states not protected by an in- the law would have applied to junction, he said. about 200,000 livestock oper- If approved by Congress, ations and there’s very little language in a House appro- data to inform that reporting. priations bill and the House Activists oppose the exemp- version of the farm bill would tion because they want infor- repeal it. If not, the admin- mation on those operations to istration is in the process of push regulations. CERCLA repealing and replacing it, he also requires follow-up re- porting a year after the initial said. “We need a narrow defi- report. Such reporting would nition closer to traditional open the door to citizen law- navigable waters. We want a suits, he said. Capital Press Farm Bureau’s charitable foundation known as the California Bountiful Foun- dation. Donations maybe made at www. californialbountiful.com or www.cfbf.com. Checks maybe sent payable to: Califor- nia Bountiful Foundation, Farm and Rural Disaster Fund, 2300 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95833. Attn: Financial Services. The Butte County Farm Bureau and Butte Ag Foundation have created a Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Assistance Fund. www.butteagfoundation.org. — Dan Wheat U.S. ag negotiator talks trade deals Agenda includes Japan, European Union and China By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press PORTLAND — Ambas- sador Gregg Doud arrived in Portland around midnight Nov. 17 after an exhausting 25-hour flight from Morocco in North Africa, where U.S. trade officials spent last week working to reopen U.S. beef exports into the country for the first time since 2003. “This is what we do in this job,” said Doud, who serves as chief agricultural negotia- tor for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “It was a lot of arguing back and forth, a lot of heavy-duty con- versation, but nonetheless we got it done.” Doud was the featured speaker to wrap up the annual Tri-State Grain Growers Con- vention in Portland, updating farmers about the Trump ad- ministration’s trade priorities with Europe, Japan and Chi- na. The U.S. recently imple- mented tariffs on $200 billion worth of products from China, which led to retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. George Plaven/Capital Press Ambassador Gregg Doud, chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, spoke Nov. 17 about developing new inter- national trade agreements at the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention in Portland. goods targeting agriculture. The USDA stepped up over the summer with $12 billion in emergency relief for farm- ers and ranchers who will be affected by the escalating trade war. Doud said the U.S. has two major agricultural disputes with China to be resolved before the World Trade Or- ganization. The first involves Chinese subsidies to wheat, corn and rice farmers, which he believes exceeded $100 billion over several years. “But we don’t really know, because China hasn’t report- ed to the WTO what it spent on its subsidies since 2010,” Doud said. “They’re the only country in the world that has done that. It’s truly outra- geous.” At the same time, the USDA amended China’s corn stocks from about 58.5 million metric tons, to more than 200 million metric tons. China today has more than 60 percent of the world’s corn, and more than half the re- sidual supply of wheat in the world, Doud said. “So, when their support price for wheat in China is double the world price, Chi- na, you’re killing the price of wheat for every other farm- er in the world,” he said. “You’ve got to play by the rules.” Much attention is now on President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jin- ping, who will sit down at the end of the month at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Ar- gentina. Doud said the hope is that conversation can lead to another, and then another, until both countries are ready to finally sit down at the bar- gaining table. “We’re not trying to raise the stature of the U.S. and de- crease the stature of China,” Doud said. “As they evolve, it’s going to be in their best interest to do these things as well.” Doud praised the Unit- ed States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the Trump administration has proposed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement but still needs congressional approval. Next on the list, he said, is a bilateral trade agreement with Japan, announced between President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the United Nations General Assembly in September. As a former market analyst for U.S. Wheat Associates, Doud said he understands how crucial the Japanese market is for Northwest wheat grow- ers. The situation will only become more urgent as terms under the new Trans-Pacific Partnership come online at the end of the year between Japan and Canada, and the Europe- an Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement kicks in by April 2019. “We’re going to be in real trouble,” Doud said. “If you lose that market share, I don’t know if you ever get it back. I understand how important this is to get this right, get this done, get this squared away as quickly as we can.” SW Idaho producers eye crop changes for 2019 By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Janie Burns already is downsizing Meadowlark Farm for 2019 in case the ground she leases for raising grass-fed lambs is sold for housing or another non-agri- cultural use. “It went up for sale,” the Nampa, Idaho, producer said. “With new owners, it’s pos- sible I won’t have to change anything. But I don’t know, so I am taking the proactive step of reducing my operation.” Southwest Idaho food pro- ducers making annual deci- sions about operational chang- es have a wider-than-usual array of variables to consider for 2019. They range from trade disputes and a strong dollar — which makes U.S. goods less price-competitive internationally — a potential- ly warmer winter that could produce less water for irriga- tion, loss of farmland to other uses and higher interest rates on top of continued low prices for many commodities. Dell Winegar, who farms outside Fruitland and serves as president of the Idaho On- ion Growers Association, may adjust his 2019 crop percent- ages due to water concerns. “If water becomes an is- sue, we will probably plant a few less acres of onions, pota- toes or less acreage of corn for sure,” he said. Most weather models pre- dict an El Nino winter weather pattern, often associated with greater potential for warmer weather in the northern half of the U.S. The first half of November was mostly dry in southwest Idaho. “If the water situation is in the forefront of our minds now, that is a worry,” Wine- gar said. “As the water season progresses, we will be able to make decisions as to how many acres we can plant of enough to be able to do that.” Commodities fetching higher-value crops” that use low prices include those more water. For producers seeking purchased for feed by dairy lower-input alternatives, seed producers, who have less to crops are among those like- spend due to prolonged low ly to be more attractive than milk prices, Freeman said. lower-priced corn or wheat Lower prices for feed-re- even though many seed crops lated crops creates “competi- also are priced below long- tion for the ground” by other crops with higher price pros- term averages, he said. Seed prices lately are pres- pects, he said. “Like some of sured by trade issues, my winter wheat I a strong U.S. dollar would tear out and put and lower commodity in sweet corn grown prices, said Sid Free- for seed.” man of Sunny View But Freeman in Farms north of Cald- 2019 plans to stick well. with crop changes “Most of the farm- he made from 2017 ers I know agree rene- Sid Freeman to ’18 in response to gotiation of the trade economic and mar- agreements needed to hap- ket conditions. Sunny View pen,” he said. “But we also is roughly equally divided agree it’s going to take a long among sugar beets, seed beans period of time to be able to re- and soft white winter wheat ceive the benefits from those after dropping field corn for renegotiations. We’ve just the 2018 season. got to be able to hang on long Galen Lee of Sunnyside Farms near New Plymouth runs a dairy and feedlot in ad- dition to growing sugar beets and peppermint. Sunnyside grows alfalfa hay and silage feed corn for its cattle. LEGAL 46-2-1/999 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 11/30/2018. The sale will be held at 10:00am by MAIN A.B / LOVEGROVE COLLISION 1230 HOYT ST SE SALEM, OR 2017 NISSAN SENTRA 4DR VIN = 3N1AB7AP9HY383556 Amount due on lien $6806.06 Reputed owner(s) STEPHEN C LOVING SANTANDER CONSUMER USA STEPHEN LOVING WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! BAGS: • Seed Bags • Fertilizer Bags • Feed Bags • Potato Bags • Printed Bags • Plain Bags • Bulk Bags • Totes • Woven Polypropylene • Bopp • Polyethylene • Pocket Bags • Roll Stock & More! HAY PRESS SUPPORT: • Hay Sleeves • Strap • Totes • Printed or Plain • Stretch Film (ALL GAUGES) WAREHOUSE PACKAGING: • Stretch Film • Pallet Sheets • Pallet Covers He plans to make small changes in some crop per- centages in 2019, mainly to keep field sizes efficient, he said. Feed acreage also won’t change much. “It’s difficult because milk prices are down, and that hurts,” Lee said. “We still have to raise feed for the live- stock. Smaller dairies have less money coming in from milk sales, so it’s harder for them to pay much more for feed and other inputs. They are having to get more effi- cient, too.” At Meadowlark Farm, Burns said she is now reduc- ing her headcount of breed- ing ewes by about one-third. Whether or not the property she leases is sold, “I am taking the proactive step of reducing my operation.” Per-unit prices could in- crease a bit since she will have fewer lambs for sale, she said. “I will have to be pretty par- ticular where I sell my limited supply. Price will no doubt re- flect a little less supply.” Meridian, Idaho, farmer Drew Eggers plans to grow slightly less peppermint in 2019, and a bit more corn and winter wheat “more due to crop rotations than prices of crops or anything like that,” he said. Pinto bean acreage will be about the same. Peppermint growers don’t often make big changes year to year because the plant is a perennial. It’s harvested every year, “and the good years are the second and third years,” he said. “And once you take LOCATIONS: Albany, Oregon (MAIN OFFICE) Ellensburg, Washington New West Coast Distribution CONTACT INFORMATION: Phone: 855-928-3856 Fax: 541-497-6262 • Free Shipping on Orders $100+ info@westernpackaging.com ....................................................... CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR TOP PRIORITY! mint out, you need to leave it out for twice as long as it was in mint” before you can replant it. Apple trees are another long-term proposition when it comes to making changes, producing the first crop some five years after they are plant- ed, said Cathy Cabalo, owner of Cabalo’s Orchard and Gar- dens in Kuna. The orchard years ago began replacing Red Delicious rows with oth- er varieties, and more recently to make room for others that grow cider apples; new trees are planted after the ground stays fallow for a year. Also a concern is higher interest rates. Annual yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, tied to many property and equipment loans, stood at 3.057 percent Nov. 19 com- pared to a one-year range of 2.69 to 3.46 percent. The Prime Lending Rate — which banks charge their best cus- tomers and is used to calculate rates on many producers’ an- nual operating lines — was at 5.25 percent, up a percentage point from a year ago. Also up by a 1 percent in the past year, to 2.25 percent, is the Federal Funds rate, at which institutions lend to each other, usually overnight. “It’s going to affect every- body a little bit differently” based on amounts borrowed, Freeman said. “It’s a bitter pill we have to swallow.” He is watching a range of agricultural market and eco- nomic factors as 2019 ap- proaches. • Facility Offers Faster Delivery to CA, ID, OR & WA • Orders Placed by 2pm (PT) Ship on the Same Day 5% Discount Code: CAPITAL5 w w w. w e s t e r n p a c k a g i n g. c o m 47-1/100 47-3/103
