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Friday, November 1, 2019 CapitalPress.com 9 Sugar beet harvest mostly on track in challenging weather By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Hazelton, Idaho, farmer Randy Grant on Oct. 21 had about two-thirds of his beet crop out of the ground, and counting. “We expect to conclude around Oct. 25 barring any major weather issues,” said Grant, the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association board president. Beet growers in south- ern Idaho said the crop looks good but probably won’t match that of 2018, a ban- ner year. The ’19 season was wetter, slower-starting and cooler. A hard freeze occurred Oct. 9-10. “On our farm, yield is going to be average this year, probably slightly less than last year,” Grant said. He expects his crop’s sugar content to be about average. Yield and sugar content last year were above the long- term averages. A cool spring proba- bly slowed growth, he said, though “sugar beets don’t like it extremely hot. We didn’t have any really hot weather, so we probably fared pretty well through summer. “It’s a pretty typical year,” Grant said. American Falls farmer LaMar Isaak on Oct. 22 said the beet harvest at his American Falls-area farm Amalgamated Sugar was around 60% completed, close to average for the time Sugar beet harvest is in full swing in southern Idaho and parts of eastern Oregon. of year. “We are pushing really Galen Lee, who farms hard, trying to do the best we the crop is OK. It’s not going to grow anymore, that’s for near New Plymouth, on Oct. can,” he said. “It’s a good crop,” Isaak sure. It’s time to get them out 21 said his beet harvest was about one-third completed — said. “Maybe not the best, of the ground.” Isaak said he expects a about average, as are yields. but it looks good and the crop that is good, but not to Later planting and wet quality seems good.” Wet, cold conditions last the level of 2018. “Last year conditions meant sugar beets “didn’t take off as fast,” he spring delayed planting on was a great crop.” Harvest can start later in said. “But once they warmed the farm by 10 to 14 days. The cooler summer cur- the lower-elevation west- up, they kind of made up for tailed peak-season heat units, ern Treasure Valley, near the lost time.” which can reduce beet size. Oregon border, because hard Lee said beet growth was “We dodged a bullet on freezes typically don’t come helped by a summer that did that cold” Oct. 9-10, he said. as early and farmers first not get extremely hot and “It would have been nice if it harvest other crops such as lacked the wildfire smoke never happened, but I think onions and silage corn. seen some years, though the growing season’s addi- tional moisture produced a bit more fungal pressure in parts of the Treasure Valley. Grower-owned cooper- ative Amalgamated Sugar through Oct. 21 was about 62% through harvest, a day to a day and a half ahead of 2018 and on track with the long-term average, said Vice President of Agriculture Pat Laubacher. “This is a little surpris- ing given that many grow- ers were delayed start- ing their sugar beet harvest because they were still har- vesting onions, potatoes and other temperature-sensi- tive crops,” he said. “Grow- ers have persevered under difficult conditions this October.” Amalgamated expects yields to be around the four- year average — 39.8 tons per acre, which trails 2018 by 1.8%, Laubacher said. Yields since 2009 have been steadily increasing. Sugar content “continues to develop,” he said, “and we expect to be near 17.75% when harvest is completed in early November.” That would be the third-highest in company history, behind the record 2018 crop and 2016. May’s cold, wet condi- tions reduced growing-de- gree days, and much of the crop in south-central and southeastern Idaho is feel- ing that impact, Laubacher said. But the cooler summer helped crop development in the western region that includes southwest Idaho and part of Oregon. The 2019 crop is just over 177,000 acres, a typical size, he said. Amalgamated process- ing started Sept. 5 at Twin Falls and Paul, and Sept. 26 in Nampa. Laubacher on Oct. 22 said the company had sliced about 20% of the total crop, and expected the slice (processing) campaign to conclude in mid-February in Nampa and around April 1 at Twin Falls and Paul. Idaho cattle operation settles with EPA By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File The USDA is putting on hold its plan to require RFID tags on cattle that is moved between states. USDA puts animal ID mandate on hold By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press USDA has decided not to implement its require- ment for radio frequency ear tags for cattle and bison over 18 months of age that are shipped across state lines. In April, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service posted a fact sheet stating RFID ear tags were critical for modernizing animal disease traceabil- ity and would be required beginning Jan. 1, 2023. Last week, the agency stated it would reconsider whether or when to put the new requirements in place. The decision is the result of feedback from the live- stock industry and two recent executive orders from President Trump high- lighting the need for trans- parency and communica- tion before placing any new requirements on farmers and ranchers, the agency stated. “While the need to advance a robust feder- al-state-industry animal disease traceability capa- bility remains an important USDA-APHIS objective, we will take time to recon- sider the path forward and then make a new proposal, with ample opportunity for all stakeholders to com- ment,” the agency stated. USDA’s goals to enhance disease traceability have not changed and APHIS will continue to encourage the use of electronic identi- fication for animals moving between states, the agency stated. Current regulations per- mit brands and tattoos as acceptable identification for interstate movement if the receiving and shipping states agree, APHIS stated. In early October, R-CALF USA and four of its member ranchers filed a lawsuit against USDA alleging the requirement violated current traceabil- ity regulations and was adopted without a formal rulemaking process. Traceability regula- tions finalized in 2013 were designed for “maximum flexibility” and “low-cost technology” and allowed the use of metal ear tags, brands, tattoos, group/lot identification and back tags, the lawsuit states. USDA’s plan to prohibit the use of anything other than RFID “substantially impacts the management and operation of every sin- gle cattle producer who cur- rently uses those identifica- tion methods approved by the 2013 final plan,” the lawsuit states. “When we filed our law- suit, we said we were draw- ing a line in the sand tell- ing USDA that our industry will no longer stand for the USDA’s blatant overreach,” Bill Bullard, R-CALF CEO, said in a statement. “We are pleased that the president of the United States recognizes this as a serious violation of the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens, particularly American cattle ranchers,” he said. East Valley Cattle of Declo, Idaho, and owner Bill Millenkamp have agreed to pay a $17,500 fine and per- form restoration work in a settlement agreement with EPA. EPA alleges East Val- ley Cattle filled an approxi- mately 425-foot-long mean- der and erected a 114-foot earthen dam in the Raft River, a tributary of the Snake River, without a per- mit. The activity requires a Section 404 permit under the Clean Water Act, according to EPA. In conjunction with a local groundwater recharge district, Millenkamp was building a large groundwater recharge pit adjacent to the Raft River, Mark Ryan, Mil- lemkamp’s attorney said. “He just didn’t under- stand he needed a permit,” he said. The Raft River flows through Millenkamp’s farm- land at Declo where he also has a feedlot operation. The river is only about 10 feet wide at the site and looks like a ditch, he said. “It’s pretty common for farmers to reroute rivers and creeks running across their land, and they don’t think they need a permit,” he said. Millenkamp erected an The Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with an Idaho ranch. earthen dam in the river to divert water for a short time to the recharge pit, with the overflow reentering the river. He built the diversion dam and filled an oxbow in the river with fill material from the project, he said. Millenkamp did the work himself and got a lit- tle aggressive with the bull- dozer, he said. He stopped work imme- diately when EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers showed up and told him he needed a permit, he said. “He’s a pretty law-abid- ing guy; he just didn’t know,” he said. Millenkamp plans to put in a new diversion dam under a permit. The Raft River is high in sediment, and the project will be able to trap a lot of silt — which will be good for everyone downstream, he said. Under the terms of the set- tlement, East Valley Cattle will implement an EPA-ap- proved technical restoration plan to repair the damaged river bed and banks. The case was referred to EPA by the Idaho Depart- ment of Water Resources and the Army Corps of Engi- neers, said Mark MacIntyre, senior public information officer with EPA Region 10. The takeaway is that farmers need to double check if they need a permit when doing projects involv- ing water, Ryan said. ZER0% FINANCING* FOR 72 MONTHS FLAT CARS- THE BETTER BRIDGE • Lower Cost • Custom Lengths up to 90' • Certified Engineering Services Available • Steel Construction Contractor License # 71943 P.O Box 365 • 101 Industrial Way, Lebanon, OR 97355 Office: 541-451-1275 Email: info@rfc-nw.com S115211-1 www.rfc-nw.com 5055 All-Wheel Steer Wheel Loader 4,800 lbs tipping load Starting at $762 per month CHECK OUT CapitalPress.com For Additional Weekly Savings! 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