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Friday, January 1, 2021 CapitalPress.com 7 ‘Atypical’ insect behavior a forestry concern By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Coleman Agriculture The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the demand for hops. The changing behavior of several insects is a growing concern for for- esters, a University of Idaho Exten- sion expert says. Chris Schnepf, extension forestry educator in Post Falls, attributes the “atypical” behavior to changes in climate, calling it “global climate weirding.” Moths in the Cydia laricana com- plex kill the tops of sapling larch trees. They were first recorded in Montana 100 years ago, but were never seen in Idaho until 2020, when they were found at several sites, Schnepf said. Larch has been planted heavily throughout the state, as the top per- former in dealing with root diseases, which are the biggest threat to forest health, Schnepf said. “Douglas fir and grand fir are super vulnerable to root diseases; larch is our species that’s best capa- ble of dealing with it, so it gets planted a lot,” he said. “So to see that’s learned a new trick. The pine engraver beetle nor- mally survives for two generations a year. But in recent years, it’s lasted for three generations. “If three is the new normal, that starts to affect what we do on the ground,” Schnepf said. The beetles will emerge and attack standing green trees left after a timber harvest. Fire seasons average a month lon- ger than normal, which means a lon- ger growing season for some bark beetles species, Schnepf said. Far- ther south from Idaho, they can pro- duce as many as four generations, he said. Forest density and species com- position tend to drive insect and dis- ease issues and forest fire concerns, Schnepf said. “It’s not a cure, but generally speaking, if you reduce stand density and favor larch and pine instead of Douglas fir and grand fir, that deals with a lot of the insect and disease issues that tend to be most problem- atic,” he said. U.S. hop industry results mixed in 2020 Farmer experiments with growing wheat for soy sauce By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Hop production dropped 7% compared to last year as yields decreased, USDA’s National Agricultural Statis- tics Service reported. The total area harvested in Washington, Idaho and Oregon reached a record high and was up 4% from 2019, NASS said in the Dec. 22 National Hop Report. Acreage gains in Idaho and Washington offset a slight decline in Oregon. Washington produced 71% of U.S. hops in 2020. Idaho accounted for 17% and Oregon 12%. Produc- tion dollar value rose in Idaho and Oregon, and fell in Washington. Coronavirus safety restrictions that shut down brewpubs, bars, restaurants and event venues impacted the hop market substantially. “With the realities of COVID-19’s impact starting to emerge in early spring, when hop planting decisions are finalized, many grow- ers and merchants worked on altering contracts and reducing acreage,” said Jaki Brophy, Hop Growers of America communications director. “Hops are grown on a for- ward-contract model due to the high cost of growing the crop, so acreage is a direct reflection of demand as communicated by custom- ers through contracts,” she said. Other factors played a role, “but this was the larg- est significant influence on acreage changes overall.” Acreage changes over the next year or two will help determine how much COVID-19 or other mar- ket factors influenced states’ 2020 changes, Brophy said. “It’s our expectation it will take two years for the beer industry to level back out and be in post-COVID recovery mode,” she said. Michelle Palacios, administrator of the Ore- gon Hop Commission, said more 2020 acres in the state shifted from alpha variet- ies to lower-yielding aroma hops, which cost more per acre to grow but bring a higher price. That helped boost the overall 2020 pro- duction value. Harvested acres decreased as growers strung fewer hops in response to the pandemic-driven drop in brewer demand, she said. Oregon growers were about two-thirds through harvest in mid-Septem- ber when smoke taint from wildfires had some impact on hop quality, Palacios said. Acres harvested State Wash. Idaho Oregon 2019 40,880 8,358 7,306 2020 42,269 9,268 7,104 Yield per acre in pounds State Wash. Idaho Oregon 2019 2,006 2,034 1,783 2020 1,754 1,855 1,755 Production (1,000 pounds) State Wash. Idaho Oregon 2019 82,014.9 17,003.1 13,023.2 2020 74,151.5 17,190.1 12,468.7 AMITY, Ore. — Bruce Ruddenklau is no stranger to growing wheat at his Wil- lamette Valley farm, but this experiment was something a little different. Ruddenklau and his wife, Helle, farm nearly 1,000 acres near Amity, Ore., pro- ducing a variety of specialty crops including grass seed, radish seed and beans. The couple also plants wheat in rotation, which provides agronomic benefits and a little extra cash on the side. When Yamasa Inc., one of the world’s largest mak- ers of soy sauce, expressed an interest in using flour milled from local wheat at its production plant in nearby Salem, Ruddenklau said they were game to give it a shot. But there was one key distinction. Most wheat grown in the Pacific North- Gina Davis/USFS The wood boring larvae of the Cydia laricana moth are killing larch tops in northern Idaho. sapling larch that are just getting off the ground have tops be killed by this moth. ... If you’re a forester and you’ve planted larch seedlings, that’s pretty painful to see.” University and state entomol- west is soft white wheat, a variety with comparatively low levels of protein that is largely exported to Asia, where it is used to make spongecake, noodles and crackers. The kind of flour required to make soy sauce must be higher in protein — at least 11%. That would mean growing a different variety, known as hard red wheat, with which growers in the region like Rudden- klau have less experience. “We weren’t real sure if we could make it here or not,” Ruddenklau said. “I figured we had nothing to lose by giving this a try.” Yamasa is a Japanese corporation that traces its roots to 1645. The company opened its U.S. soy sauce plant in southeast Salem in 1994. “Oregon’s moderate cli- mate, humidity and water quality are instrumental in the brewing of soy sauce by ogists are assessing the situation, Schnepf said. “It’s a moth that’s never been seen in Idaho,” he said. “It could have been here and we didn’t see it.” The moth isn’t the only insect SEDCOR Bruce Ruddenklau, of Ruddenklau Farms, in a 20-acre field of hard red wheat harvested this year for Yamasa Inc., one of the world’s largest makers of soy sauce. environmentally assisting the required fermentation process that produces a mel- low, distinct taste,” Yamasa explains on its website. While ingredients for Yamasa soy sauce have typ- ically come from the Mid- west and Canada, CEO Koji Shiraiwa said he wanted to buy locally grown wheat as a way to reduce transpor- tation costs and increase brand recognition. “We are not planning to take over our competi- tor, but rather planning to build a strong foothold in the local market by empha- sizing our high-quality soy sauce using local ingredi- ents,” Shiraiwa said. “Sur- prisingly, not many Ore- gonians know Yamasa is local.” The company reached out earlier this year to SED- COR, the Strategic Eco- nomic Development Cor- poration serving Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties, for help. SEDCOR, in turn, con- tacted Ruddenklau Farms to see if they would be inter- ested growing the high-pro- tein wheat needed at Yamasa. “We are so blessed to live in one of the most fer- tile regions on the conti- nent,” said Abisha Stone, Yamhill County business retention and expansion manager for SEDCOR. “Oregon is known for being a high quality, high value, value-added food production state. I think it’s because our growers are smart and our food manu- facturers are savvy.” Ruddenklau said they found and purchased hard red wheat seed from north- east Oregon and planted a 20-acre plot that had just rotated out of tall fescue and spring peas. John Deere Dealers CLEAR THE CANOPY. See one of these dealers for a demonstration Belkorp Ag, LLC Modesto, CA Campbell Tractor & Implement Fruitland, ID Homedale, ID Nampa, ID Wendell, ID Papé Machinery, Inc. 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