Friday, December 25, 2020
CapitalPress.com 5
Satellite system will track water usage
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Irrigators and regulators frequently
encounter the same predicament: They
want to measure actual water but must
instead deal with paper.
Estimates of large-scale water usage
needed by regulators often depend
on “paper water,” or government-is-
sued permits that describe the amount
legally available for withdrawal but
don’t reflect real consumption.
Farmers face a similar dilemma
with published studies about crop irri-
gation requirements that aren’t spe-
cific to their climate, potentially caus-
ing them to use more water than
necessary or not enough to optimize
yields.
Next year, a team of public and pri-
vate scientists plans to release a tool
that will alleviate the problem by esti-
mating evapotranspiration — water
released by plant foliage and soil
evaporation — from satellite images
of the Western landscape.
“It’s going to change the game
for water managers,” said Rep. Mark
Owens, R-Crane, during the Oregon
House Water Committee’s Dec. 17
hearing.
The OpenET technology plat-
form, developed by NASA, Google
and several nonprofit groups, esti-
mates water consumption based on
the cooling effect of evapotranspira-
tion, which is measured with satellite
data about light reflection and surface
temperature.
Farmers can use the system to see
how much water is consumed in par-
ticular fields over time, giving them
a more precise understanding of irri-
gation needs, said Owens, who also
grows about 3,000 acres of alfalfa in
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
A new satellite-based technolo-
gy system will help irrigators and
regulators measure water usage
across 17 Western states.
Oregon’s Harney County.
“How can we raise a crop with the
least amount of water?” he said. “I can
design irrigation systems to meet the
needs of the crop.”
For example, center pivots his-
torically applied more than 7 gallons
of water a minute per acre of alfalfa
based on the crop’s maximum irri-
gation needs during the hottest days
of summer, he said. That’s likely an
excessive rate but was commonly
used to avoid drought stress.
If alfalfa growers can reliably esti-
mate the crop’s evapotranspiration
rate during various temperature and
weather conditions, however, they
can conserve water without sacrificing
yields, Owens said.
“I can make the determination to
shut the pivot off for one or two or
three days in the spring, knowing that
my crop isn’t getting stressed,” he
said.
Water regulators can also use
OpenET to compensate for the lack
of information they have about water
usage in basins suffering from declin-
ing aquifers or insufficient surface
flows. In Oregon, for example, only
about 16% of the total water rights
in the state must measure and report
water usage.
“This data gap can be bridged with
OpenET technology,” said Ivan Gall,
field services division administra-
tor for the Oregon Water Resources
Department.
From the regulatory standpoint,
evapotranspiration data can help
OWRD detect potentially unautho-
rized water usage by comparing the
satellite imagery with its map of legal
water rights, he said.
Groundwater studies, which mea-
sure possible over-utilization on a vast
scale, traditionally relied on assump-
tions about water usage that can
now be quantified much more accu-
rately with satellite data, said Jordan
Beamer, a hydrologist with OWRD.
Since the satellite images go back
to the 1980s, the agency can also use
OpenET to analyze how irrigation pat-
terns have changed over time, Beamer
said.
“We want to expand the use of this
technology and integrate it into our
processes,” he said. “We see this as a
useful tool for basin-scale planning.”
The scientists who’ve devel-
oped OpenET expect to form a non-
profit group to oversee the technol-
ogy and make it widely available free
of charge to small- and medium-sized
water users, said Forrest Melton,
senior research scientist with NASA.
Farmers will be able to find water
consumption information from an
aerial field map of 17 Western states
online or they may integrate the data
into their existing irrigation man-
agement tools, he said. “Every-
one will have access to the same
information.”
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File
Calves hit the feed bunk at Intermountain Beef Produc-
ers’ feedlot in Eden, Idaho. The cost of feed will be sig-
nificantly higher next year, an economist says.
Higher feed costs
to test producers
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
U.S. livestock and poul-
try producers will face surg-
ing feed costs in 2021, and
there are more questions
than answers when it comes
to animal protein demand.
CoBank analysts expect
an average increase of 12%
in U.S. feed costs due to
higher corn and soybean
meal prices.
“They’re both driving
that story,” said Will Sawyer,
lead animal protein econo-
mist with CoBank’s Knowl-
edge Exchange division.
With corn futures above
$4 per bushel and soybean
meal futures around $350 a
ton, producers face higher
prices than they have in
many years, he said.
Feed costs have been rel-
atively benign since 2012
and lower than the previ-
ous year for six of the last
eight years. But supply
and demand are driving an
increase now, with a lot of
similarities to what drove
increases in 2007 and 2011,
he said.
China is rebuilding its
swine herd, the largest in the
world. The country is the top
importer of soybeans, and
is expected to import three
times the normal amount of
corn this year, he said.
“More pigs need more
feed, and that’s driving more
corn and soybean imports
into China,” he said.
On the supply side, La
Nina in South America is
expected to create drier con-
ditions in key regions of
Brazil and Argentina — both
major exporters of corn and
soybeans to China, he said.
And drought conditions
in the U.S. are complicating
things, with cattle produc-
ers and feeders in a difficult
New spending bill has provisions for water projects
Congress passes water spending bills; next stop is president
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress
this week passed a $1.4 trillion spend-
ing package to fund the government
through next September and $900 bil-
lion in COVID-19 relief.
As part of the package, Congress
also passed a multi-billion-dollar bill
funding Western U.S. water projects
called the Water Resources Develop-
ment Act of 2020, or WRDA.
“Hats off to Senate and House lead-
ers, water committees and committee
staff to put this bipartisan water pack-
age together. Overall — this is a very
nice, early Christmas present to West-
ern water users,” Dan Keppen, execu-
tive director of Family Farm Alliance,
a group that advocates for irrigation
and water supplies for Western farm-
ers, said in a statement.
The bills have broad bipartisan sup-
port, and President Donald Trump
is expected to sign them into law by
the end of the week, according to the
alliance.
The bills would support the follow-
ing water projects with dollar amounts
requested earlier this year by the Inte-
rior Department:
• Boise River Basin — Anderson
Ranch Dam Raise Project (Idaho):
This project would raise the Ander-
son Ranch Dam northeast of Mountain
Home, Idaho, increasing the capacity
of the reservoir.
• Friant-Kern Canal Capac-
ity Correction Project (California):
This project would repair 33 miles of
the 153-mile-long Friant Kern Canal,
which has lost more than 50% of its
design capacity due to land subsidence.
• Sites Reservoir Project (Califor-
nia): This project would pump winter
flood flow from the Sacramento River
through existing canals to an artificial
lake to provide water security during
droughts.
• Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expan-
sion Project (California): The project
would enlarge a reservoir in southeast-
ern Contra Costa County.
• Cle Elum Pool Raise (Wash-
ington): This project’s purpose is to
increase water storage capacity in the
Yakima Basin’s Cle Elum Reservoir by
up to 14,600 acre-feet.
• Delta Mendota Canal Subsid-
ence Correction Project (Califor-
nia): This project would repair cracks
in the Delta-Mendota Canal caused by
subsidence.
• Del Puerto Water District Proj-
ect (California): To combat drought, a
new reservoir would be constructed in
Del Puerto Canyon in the Coast Range
foothills. The project would deliver
water from the Delta-Mendota Canal
into the new reservoir.
• San Luis Low Point Improve-
ment Project (California): This proj-
ect’s intent is to store alternative water
supplies to address reliability issues in
San Luis Reservoir when it reaches its
low point, fostering algae growth.
• Sacramento Regional Water
Bank (California): This is a devel-
oping groundwater storage program
intended to improve the water supply
in the Sacramento region.
The bills also include funding for
water-related grants, provisions for cre-
ating an aging infrastructure account,
an aquifer recharge flexibility pro-
gram, an observatory designed to col-
lect data on snowmelt and various
technologies.
environment, he said.
All that adds another $1
a bushel to corn prices, he
said.
Feed costs vary by spe-
cies for several reasons, such
as life cycle, feed ration and
components of other feed
costs, he said.
In 2021, CoBank expects
U.S. hog producers to face
the highest average increase
of 14%, followed by cattle
feeders at 13% and chicken
producers at 11%. The
impact will be the highest
next summer when the aver-
age feed cost in the sectors
climbs 18% in the second
quarter and 16% in the third
quarter.
It’s a significantly higher
level of inflation than seen in
the last decade, he said.
Chicken feeders are
already experiencing feed
cost inflation with a 4.4%
increase in the fourth quar-
ter over a year ago. The
increase will begin to be felt
by the cattle and hog sectors
in the first quarter of 2021,
he said.
This time next year, the
chicken sector will be in a
deflationary environment.
But the red meat side will
still be in an inflationary
environment, he said.
“Fortunately there are
positive signs that produc-
ers and processors may ben-
efit from higher beef, pork
and poultry prices to cush-
ion feed costs,” he said.
Total meat and poul-
try production is forecast to
grow only 0.8% year over
year. COVID-19 vaccine
distribution will ramp up,
meat plant operations are
more secure and plant costs
will be lower than they were
last spring, he said.
“Hopefully, 2021 will be
better than what has been a
stressful 2020,” he said.
U.S. Wheat Associates officers extend terms for another year
Citing the COVID-19
pandemic, U.S. Wheat Asso-
ciates officers have extended
their terms for another year.
“Everything pretty well
shut down in January, so
we’re not traveling, we’re not
seeing the trade teams, we’re
not doing all that,” chairman
Darren Padget told the Capi-
tal Press. “Which, typically,
we’re pretty involved with.”
During a normal year, the
officers would be traveling
overseas to interact with cus-
tomers at this time of year,
Padget, a farmer in Grass Val-
ley, Ore., said.
Instead, they have been
relying on virtual meetings.
“It would be nice to have
a more normal term and see
those folks that we’ve built
a relationship with over the
years,” he said.
During its Nov. 4, meet-
ing, the U.S. Wheat board
of directors voted unani-
mously to temporarily change
the organization’s bylaws
to allow 2020/21 officers to
serve for two years, according
to U.S. Wheat.
The decision to con-
sider the change came from
U.S. Wheat farmer directors
because the COVID-19 pan-
demic had severely restricted
the normal, expected activ-
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2019 INFINITY QX60 LL
VIN = 5N1DL0MM9KC557797
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
MICAH P CASTANEDA
ONPOINT COMMUNITY CU
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2014 CHEV SILVERADO PU
VIN = 1GCRCPEC3EZ202571
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
BRYAN LEOPOLD BUSTOS
SIERRA AUTO LLC DA2003
The officers will now
serve in their current posi-
tions through June 30, 2022,
the end of U.S. Wheat’s 2021-
22 fiscal year. After that, the
motion states that the bylaws
will revert to one-year offi-
cer terms.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2008 FORD MUSTANG 2DR
VIN = 1ZVHT82H985139650
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
AMES KENNETH WILLIAMS JR
RELIABLE CREDIT ASSOC INC
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2012 TOYTOA CAMRY 4DR
VIN = 4T1BK1FK3CU007468
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
RUSSELL W & LISA K STRICKLAND
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2010 TOYTOA COROLLA 4DR
VIN = 2T1KU4EEXAC248031
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
ANGIE VASQUEZ & MICHAEL ROSENBERG
CARMAX AUTO FINANCE
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2011 TOYOTA RAV4 UT
VIN = JTMBF4DV5B5049088
Amount due on lien $1,955.00
Reputed owner(s)
CONNOR B HULL
WELLS FARGO AUTO
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2019 TOYOTA COROLLA 4DR
VIN = 2T1BURHE7KC176411
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
MALAAK ANIN DAMRA
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2018 SUBARU WRX 4DR
VIN = JF1VA1A62J9810115
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
ABRAHAM ENRIQUE ANDRADE
GM FINANCIAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2019 HARLEY FLHRXS MC
VIN = 1HD1KVP14KB627400
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
RYAN KEITH RICHARDSON
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2015 LEXUS NX200 UT
VIN = JTJBARBZ4F2031784
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
TANYA MABEL VIRULA
ONPOINT COMMUNITY CU
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2013 VW PASSAT 4DR
VIN = 1VWCN7A30DC122214
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
CASEY JAMES MCKEEVER
OREGON COMMUNITY CU
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2014 MAZDA 6 4DR
VIN = JM1GJ1W65E1143265
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
ELIZABETH J & JASON S ELLISON
CAPITAL ONE FSB
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S221488-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/04/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY
WOODBURN, OR
2015 MAZDA 3 4DR
VIN = 3MZBM1U74FM200005
Amount due on lien $1,835.00
Reputed owner(s)
ZACHARY R MCSONALD
RIVERMARK COMM CU
S221480-1
S221484-1
S221478-1
S221483-1
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U.S. Wheat Associates
Darren Padget at his Grass Valley, Ore., farm in 2019.
Padget began his term as chairman of U.S. Wheat Asso-
ciates in July 2020.
S221485-1
Minn.,
secretary-treasurer
Michael Peters of Okarche,
Okla., and past chairman
S221482-1
ities of the officers, includ-
ing Padget, vice chair Rhonda
Larson of East Grand Forks,
Doug Goyings of Paulding,
Ohio.
According to U.S. Wheat,
Gary Millershaski, a wheat
farmer from Lakin, Kan., and
a U.S. Wheat director, made
the motion, saying that the
officers could not fill the per-
sonal ambassador role with
wheat importing customers
inherent in their terms.
Millershaski said extend-
ing the officer terms would
help “make the organization
stronger as the officers prog-
ress through their positions
before reaching the chair.” An
extension “gives them more
time to listen and learn how
to best represent their fellow
farmers.”
S221476-1
S221475-1
S221481-1
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
