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EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER Friday, January 29, 2021 Volume 94, Number 5 CapitalPress.com $2.00 WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE Courtesy of Aviagen Chickens are the No. 1 live animal traded worldwide. WORLD? Inside the global live animal transport industry Don Jenkins/Capital Press Groups such as R-CALF USA, Cattle Producers of Washington and Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association are urging the U.S. International Trade Commis- sion to recognize imports have seriously harmed blueberry growers. Ranchers back blueberry growers in trade claim By DON JENKINS Capital Press By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN Capital Press W hen day-old chicks cross the world, they usually travel in boxes packed inside a Boeing or Airbus wide-body jet. Tufts of yellow fluff poke through air holes. Against the roar of the cargo plane, there’s a chorus of peeping. In 2019, according to Renan Zhuang, an economist at the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, America exported 62 million chicks and 79 million dozen hatching eggs worldwide valued at $595 million. Chicks were shipped to Can- ada, Mexico, Indonesia, Guatemala, Vietnam and elsewhere to serve as breeding stock for the meat and egg industries. Nicolo Cinotti, secretary general of the International Poultry Coun- cil in Rome, said these breeders are “essential” to ensuring an adequate poultry supply in many regions of the world. Chickens are the largest cate- gory of live animals traded glob- ally, but overall trade in live ani- mals is a colossal — and growing — $21 billion industry. Accord- ing to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2017, more than 1.9 billion live animals were shipped worldwide, a 140% increase from two decades ago. But the industry is wrought with conflicts and controversies, ranging from disease restrictions and logis- tical hurdles to calls for bans on live animal transports deemed inhu- mane. Some experts say the indus- try isn’t going away, but it can and should be made better. Courtesy of Aviagen Live chicks are put on an airplane. Clayton Agri-Marketing Inc. Swine are loaded for the flight to China in 2017. Off to the races The market for specialty race horses is one of the fastest-growing, most profitable sectors. According to U.S. Livestock Genetics Export Inc., a nonprofit that matches international produc- ers with U.S. breeders that offer high-quality genetics, horse exports Courtesy of Jeannette Beranger U.S. Livestock Genetics Export Inc. See Transport, Page 9 Specialty race horse genetics from the U.S. are in high demand around the world. Jeannette Beranger of The Livestock Conservan- cy says although rare and heritage breeds make up only a small portion of to- tal imports and exports, they are an important part of the industry. Here, she holds her Crevecoeur. Some cattlemen are cheering on blueberry farmers who are seeking protection from foreign competi- tors, countering the jeers from sec- tors of U.S. agriculture that depend on serene trade relations. Almost two dozen organizations, led by R-CALF USA, have sent a letter urging the U.S. International Trade Commission to recognize that imported blueberries are seriously harming U.S. growers. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard said Monday the letter was inspired by one sent in December by 31 farm associations and companies warning the commission to not start a trade war over blueberries. “We felt a need to counter that,” Bullard said. “We respect and admire the blueberry farmers for taking this action, which is an action we may be taking in the future.” Blueberry farmers in Washing- ton, Oregon, California and else- where claim foreign blueberries flood the U.S. market in the spring and fall, suppressing what should be profitable early and late harvest prices. U.S. companies that process or grow foreign blueberries blame low prices on U.S. farmers competing with each other. The Trump administration ordered the trade commission to investigate whether imports are or will seriously injure U.S. blueberry farmers. The commission is due to make a determination by Feb. 11 and submit a report to the Biden White House on possible trade actions, such as tar- iffs or quotas, by March 29. Associations representing com- modities that depend on oversea cus- tomers — such as apples, wheat and soybeans — argue that tariffs on for- eign blueberries could lead to retali- ation that hurts other sectors of U.S. agriculture. R-CALF’s opposing view was signed by groups such as the Cat- tle Producers of Washington and the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Associ- ation, whose members raise beef for U.S. consumers. The letter was also signed by groups representing rural residents, small farms and U.S. manufacturers, including the Coalition for a Pros- perous America. Prosperous America CEO Michael Stumo said the U.S. See Blueberry, Page 9 Feds reassess Klamath Project operations Agency finds no legal right to curtail water deliveries under ESA, as in the past By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The U.S. Bureau of Rec- lamation has no legal right to curtail water deliveries con- tracted for irrigators in the Klamath Project to protect endangered fish, according to an analysis spearheaded by outgoing Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. The findings, outlined in a 41-page “reassessment” of Klamath Project opera- Holly Dillemuth/For the Capital Press From left, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Bureau of Rec- lamation Commissioner Brenda Burman; Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt; and U.S. Rep. Doug LaMal- fa, R-Calif., talk July 9 with Klamath Falls-area farmers about irrigation problems. tions under the Endangered Species Act, could prove to be a game-changer for basin farmers, said Paul Simmons, executive direc- tor of the Klamath Water Users Association. “When this is carried out on the ground and incorpo- rated into actual operations, it should translate into a situ- ation where the bureau is not imposing the same severe (water) shortages as it has in the past under the ESA,” Simmons said. “It is a pretty basic, fundamental and I think important change in that way.” 2020 was a painful year for the Klamath Project, as irrigators saw their water allotment reduced to less than half of normal demand. Bernhardt, the Interior secretary under former Pres- ident Donald Trump, visited the basin in July to discuss long-term water solutions after more than 2,000 peo- ple attended a tractor convoy and rally, voicing farmers’ frustrations. “He understood what the issue was,” Simmons remem- bers of the meeting. “I’ll say that we had been pushing the need for this kind of reevalu- ation for a while.” The bureau operates the Klamath Project, which pro- vides water for more than 200,000 acres of irrigated farmland in Southern Oregon and Northern California — powering a $1.3 billion agri- cultural economy in Klam- ath, Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The ESA requires the bureau to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice and National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure operations do not harm endangered fish, namely shortnose and Lost River suckers in Upper Klamath See Water, Page 9