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Friday, February 5, 2021 CapitalPress.com 11 Radicchio: There’s a lot for farmers to like about radicchio Continued from Page 1 The growing popular- ity of the little-known crop prompted the couple to help lead a regional effort to raise the crop’s profile by estab- lishing the Pacific North- west Radicchio Association. Geography is on their side. Radicchio is widely grown in northeastern Italy, whose latitude and climate are comparable to those of the Pacific Northwest. There’s a lot for farm- ers to like about radicchio, Erickson-Brown said. It’s a winter-hardy crop, and improves soil health by breaking up pest and dis- ease cycles as an alternative to Brassica crops, such as cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts. Radicchio also overwin- ters in the field and holds up well in storage, making it a locally grown winter salad alternative to lettuce shipped from warmer climates. The new organization will bring together grow- ers, processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and restaurants in Oregon and Washington. It will build on existing efforts by Washington State University’s Food Systems Program, led by Lewis, and the Culinary Breeding Net- work, led by Oregon State University professor Lane Selman. Lewis and Selman received a $250,000 USDA specialty crop block grant in 2020 through the Wash- ington State Department of Agriculture. Their goals are: • Promote radicchio, improve farmers’ access to production methods and seed and increase consumer interest. • Offer educational and culinary events, including a radicchio grower’s sym- posium and field days and expand an annual Seat- tle radicchio festival with events in Spokane, Belling- ham and Walla Walla. • Develop an interna- tional exchange between association members and Italian farmers, breeders, seed dealers and experts to boost production in the Northwest. Northwest grown A California-grown, round, red Chioggia type is the radicchio most com- monly found in U.S. grocery stores. Northwest growers are producing more varieties. Shawn Linehan/Culinary Breeding Network Duvall, Wash., radicchio farmer Jason Salvo in a green- house during a tour of the industry in Italy. Shawn Linehan/Culinary Breeding Network Pacific Northwest farmers toured Italian radicchio farms in January 2020. SIGN UP TO RECEIVE RADICCHIO ASSOCIATION UPDATES https://dm-mailinglist.com/ subscribe?f=58191718 CHICORY WEEK Shawn Linehan/Culinary Breeding Network https://www.chicoryweek. com/ Radicchio breeder Andrea Ghedina, center, talks about the crop with Northwest growers. Some are also already work- ing with seed companies to develop region-specific varieties, Lewis said. Erickson-Brown envi- sions the association as a marketing board, promoting Pacific Northwest-grown radicchio and building interest. The organization could potentially sell into East Coast urban markets that now import radicchio from Italy and elsewhere. “We know there are peo- ple willing to pay a pretty high price to get this special Italian radicchio,” she said. “As long as we’ve already got trucks bringing Wash- ington apples to the East Coast, wouldn’t it be great if we could also throw a few pallets of radicchio on there?” Erickson-Brown hopes to hear from other growers about the organization. “What we don’t want to do is miss anybody,” she said. “We know a lot of small farmers are growing radicchio that may or may not be on our radar right now.” She welcomes growers who want to sell radicchio locally and those who aspire to ship their crop overseas. Italian marketing associ- ations have identified China, Japan and the U.S. as the biggest potential markets, she said. “We’re going to start to take roll and figure out who wants to figure this out with us,” she said. Fast-growing crop It’s not clear how many Northwest growers are actu- ally raising radicchio, Sel- man said. The USDA doesn’t collect that information. The association will likely mea- sure production and market demand, she said. Lewis predicts 35 to 50 growers will be involved in the organization. From experience, Erick- son-Brown sees great poten- tial for radicchio. Her farm reported a 900% increase in production and sales over the last decade, with sales doubling in 2019 alone com- pared to the previous year. Winter vegetables are the fastest growing greens seg- ment of the seed market, John Navazio, leafy green plant breeder at Johnny’s Selected Seeds, said in the grant application. “The market for these crops — especially radic- chio, chicory, spinach and purple sprouting broccoli — is expanding faster than any of us can keep up with,” Navazio said. Cultural exchange A major selling point for the Northwest effort is the opportunity to work with Italian farmers and breed- ers, Lewis said. In January 2020, a group of farmers, chefs and researchers traveled to Italy for a “radicchio expe- dition.” They toured farms, seed companies and breed- ing programs. Participants paid their own way, Selman said. The grant would fund the next expedition, although it will be a smaller group more focused on documenting growing methods to share with Northwest farmers, she said. Just as important, Lewis said, is bringing Italian growers and breeders to the Pacific Northwest. Lawsuit: Lawsuit asks for either an injunction or receiver to take control of Easterday Ranches Continued from Page 1 roughly 2% of the company’s beef during the last four fiscal years. Gary Mickelson, senior director of public relations for Tyson, said the company became aware of fraud during a recent company-led inspection. “As we disclosed in December, this misappropriation of funds has cost Tyson more than $200 million, which the company is working to recoup,” Mickelson said in an emailed state- ment. “We are also working with our outside auditor to implement addi- tional financial controls to help pre- vent or detect this type of activity in the future.” While Easterday Ranches initially cooperated with Tyson on the investiga- tion, the lawsuit alleges that, on Jan. 22, the farm announced intentions to sell its “North Lot” feedlot within the next few days and dissipate the proceedings — possibly to insiders and affiliates of Cody Easterday. Mickelson said Tyson is asking for a court-appointed receiver to take control of Easterday Ranches until the situation is resolved. Notwithstanding the falsified records, Tyson claims it has approxi- mately 54,000 real cattle still located on Easterday’s feedlots and grow yards. “Those cattle are of various ages and various weights, most not yet ready for market,” the lawsuit states. “Those cat- tle require continued feeding, mainte- nance and other care on a daily basis, or their value will quickly and dramati- cally deteriorate.” The lawsuit asks for either an injunc- tion or receiver to take control of East- erday Ranches to prevent any poten- tial sale of the North Lot, which Tyson states would “have a material negative impact on (Easterday’s) creditors.” EASTERDAY RANCHES FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 PROTECTION The meat processing giant accused Easterday Ranches, based in Pasco, of collecting money to buy, raise and feed PASCO, Wash. — Easterday more than 200,000 cattle that would be Ranches has filed for Chapter 11 pro- supplied to a nearby Tyson beef plant. tection amid allegations the East- Except for one thing — the cattle, it ern Washington cattle supplier was later discovered, weren’t real, the bilked Tyson Foods out of company alleges. $225 million by submitting Easterday has not responded fake invoices for more than to messages for comment. 200,000 cattle that did not Easterday Ranches is part exist. of the larger Easterday farm- ing operation. The family also Court documents filed grows 25,000 acres of pota- Monday list the 20 larg- toes, onions, grain and forage est claims against Easterday Cody in the Columbia Basin. Ranches, totaling more than A report in the Spokes- $236 million — including Easterday man-Review newspaper $8.6 million to Segale Prop- erties, a Seattle-based commercial states the Washington Department real estate company; $1.08 million to of Agriculture will launch a review Animal Health International in Sun- of the allegations, and how 200,000 nyside, Wash.; and tens of thousands nonexistent cattle may have slipped of dollars to other local farmers, vets through its inspection process. and contractors. The case also casts doubt on plans No other claim, however, comes by Easterday Farms to redevelop the close to the $225 million sought in a former Lost Valley Farms dairy near lawsuit Tyson Foods filed last week Boardman, Ore., with with 28,300 in Franklin County Superior Court. cattle. By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Meanwhile, a draft permit for East- erday Farms to redevelop the former Lost Valley Farms dairy near Board- man, Ore., with 28,300 cattle, remains under state review. In a 2019 interview with the Cap- ital Press, Cody Easterday said the farm plans to invest $15 million in the dairy, including completion of a wastewater treatment system that was never finished under the previous owner. Lost Valley Farm was shut down in 2018 after racking up more than 200 environmental violations. Opponents are now pushing for a moratorium on so-called “mega-dairies.” Andrea Cantu-Schomas, a spokes- woman for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said the agency is aware of the lawsuit involving Easterday Ranches. “At this time the Easterday (dairy) draft permit is still under review,” Can- tu-Schomas said. “The state continues to conduct due diligence.” “They are so excited about the fact we’re excited about radicchio,” she said. Many varieties are grown in several regions of Italy, but used only for one dish or a particular way, Lewis said. “We’re not set in stone how we’re going to use this crop,” she said. “They were like, ‘We need your innova- tion to expand our Italian markets as well.’” Andrea Ghedina is co-founder and breeder for Smarties.bio in Chioggia, Italy, near Venice. His com- pany sells conventional and organic radicchio seeds. He’s been breeding radic- chio for 10 years. Radicchio is not consid- ered a specialty crop in his region, he said. “It’s something we know very well, it’s not so roman- tic for us,” Ghedina said. Scientifically, however, the crop offers genetic vari- ation and is still relatively new, he said. It was bred from wild chicory into its current red, round shape about 70 years ago. Radicchio contains anti- oxidants and vitamin C in quantities significantly higher than other fruits and vegetables, even oranges, Ghedina said. Ghedina will offer his expertise to Northwest growers. He wants to col- lect as much data as he can to breed new varieties. He believes less bitter varieties would find larger markets, even in Italy. ‘Rad TV’ The annual fall festi- val, Sagra del Radicchio — Italian for the Festival of Radicchio — drew roughly 325 people to Seattle in its first two outings, in 2018 and 2019. Last year, because of the coronavirus shutdowns, the virtual alternative, “Rad TV,” drew 1,345 same-day viewers in November and a total of 2,500 views. About 44% were con- sumers and home cooks, 36% were farmers and ag industry members, and nearly 8% were involved in restaurants and the hospital- ity industry. The rest didn’t specify their affiliation. People in 13 countries registered. About 74% of the viewers were in the U.S. Roughly 40% of the audience was between 25 and 34 years old, and nearly 32% between 35 and 44 years old. Organizers want to return to in-person events, Selman said, but “I think we would actually consider doing it also virtually.” Next steps The association will meet for the first time in March. The goal is to have the organization running in the next few months, Lewis said. Any international exchanges may be modi- fied or delayed due to the pandemic, she said. In the meantime, Erickson-Brown won- ders how COVID-19 will impact demand as she decides what to plant for the coming growing sea- son. Each year, they’ve increased their radicchio crop by 25%, and have always sold it all, she said. About 90% of it goes to restaurants. Early on, at farmers markets and restaurants, she would often hear how hard it was to find, she recalled. That showed her the enthusiasm is there for radicchio. “You don’t need to grow something that appeals to everybody,” Erick- son-Brown said. “You just need to do a really good job of growing some- thing that’s meaningful to enough people that makes it worth doing.” Senate: Vilsack says he shares Biden’s vision of a ‘zero emissions’ ag sector Continued from Page 1 foretaste of what to expect in his policy agenda. In response to questions about trade, Vilsack said USDA will work closely with the U.S. Trade Repre- sentative, negotiate new trade agreements and promote U.S. agriculture globally. On climate change, Vil- sack said he shares Biden’s vision of a “zero emissions” agriculture sector. He plans to create new markets — for example, by paying farmers to sequester carbon. These markets, he said, will be “voluntary, market-based, incentive-based” and will need to be based on research and data. Vilsack said he plans to use some portion of the Com- modity Credit Corporation fund to create a carbon bank, but the CCC’s historical uses will take priority. Vilsack said he knows most farmers are more inter- ested in functioning markets than in aid, but he thinks both are important. He plans to invest in regional food sys- tems, but also to channel pandemic aid to farmers and maintain strong crop insur- ance programs. The nominee also answered questions about ris- ing farm input costs. Vilsack said he will talk to the U.S. Department of Commerce and other agencies about how to ensure adequate fertilizer imports and other inputs. He said alternatives, such as con- verting ag waste into pellet- ized fertilizer, may be part of the solution. On the timber and lumber markets, Vilsack said USDA will strengthen and grow markets for wood products — for example, by promot- ing cross-laminated lumber and biomass energy. Some senators expressed concern about Biden’s push for more electric vehicles, which they fear could hurt the ethanol and corn industries. Vilsack said he will continue to advocate on behalf of eth- anol producers and will push for its expanded use in airlin- ers and ships. On livestock, Vilsack said USDA will strengthen laws for more transparency, incentivize the creation of more meat processing plants, push price discov- ery, strengthen meat label- ing standards and work with the Department of Justice to investigate antitrust issues. Vilsack said he will help disadvantaged farmers, including people of color. He plans to serve minori- ties by partnering with orga- nizations that serve those communities. He said he also will try to close loopholes so large cor- porations don’t take advan- tage of USDA programs meant to serve small farms.