Friday, April 30, 2021
CapitalPress.com 9
Housing: ‘The farm acted swiftly and decisively’
Continued from Page 1
declined to be tested. If sus-
pected cases are included,
14% of workers living in the
community had or displayed
symptoms of COVID, com-
pared to 7% of the workers
in company housing.
The
infection
rate,
according to the report, “was
lower in orchard employees
residing in congregate tem-
porary housing compared
with orchard employees liv-
ing in the community.”
Workers in company
housing may have had
less exposure to high-risk
community settings, such
as restaurants or indoor
events, and adhered bet-
ter to mask and social dis-
tance rules, according to the
report, whose listed con-
tributors include the state’s
head epidemiologist, Scott
Lindquist.
L&I issued the fine
months after testing was
completed, pointing to vio-
lations it witnessed in July.
The state alleges the com-
pany didn’t isolate workers
in groups of 15, allowing
groups of 42 workers.
Gebbers argued there
was nothing scientific about
groups of 15 and that it
consulted with an infec-
Courtesy of Gebbers Farms
Housing at Gebbers Farms in Okanogan County, Wash. A
Washington Department of Health investigation found
Gebbers workers in company housing were less likely
to contract COVID last summer than workers who lived
in the community. The farm faces a $2 million fine for al-
legedly exposing workers it housed to the coronavirus.
tious disease expert on a
safety plan. The farm has
appealed the fine to the
Board of Industrial Insur-
ance Appeals. A mediation
session is scheduled for
next month.
“The farm acted swiftly
and decisively to ensure
the health and safety of
employees in the face of an
unprecedented global pan-
demic, and these efforts
are reflected in the lower
rates of positive cases for
workers living in employ-
ee-provided housing,” farm
spokeswoman Amy Phil-
pott said in a statement
April 22.
Efforts to obtain com-
ment from the Health
Department
were
unsuccessful.
Also, 726 workers in
Gebbers warehouses were
tested. Some 23% tested
positive. All lived in the
community.
While 6% of office work-
ers tested positive, 28% of
workers who sort and pack
fruit tested positive, accord-
ing to the report.
In late May, the company
started testing employ-
ees who displayed COVID
symptoms. In response to
concerns about the virus
spreading, the state health
secretary ordered all work-
ers to be tested in late
August. Less than 1%
tested positive at that time.
Research: Researchers want to identify solutions to immediate problems
New look at old
problems
Continued from Page 1
efforts more attractive to out-
side funding, Jensen said.
He estimates the researchers
bring in more than $1 million
each year in additional grants.
“It looks really good in
federal grant applications
to be able to credibly say
we’re doing this for the entire
region, which represents over
half of all U.S. potatoes,” he
said.
Farmers benefit
“As other areas have cut
back
on
research,
we’ve been
able
to
expand,”
said Ritchey
Toevs,
a
potato farmer
in Aberdeen, Chris Voigt
Idaho.
Toevs said his farm has
benefited from the consor-
tium’s research on disease
management and yield.
Consortium researchers
also develop new varieties of
potatoes. Umatilla, Ranger
and Clearwater potatoes all
came out of a tri-state breed-
ing effort funded by the con-
sortium, said Grant Morris, a
Pasco farmer who is a mem-
ber of the Washington Potato
Commission.
In addition to breeding
new varieties, the consortium
helps pay for research into
best practices for raising and
storing them.
“I will water and fertil-
ize a Clearwater differently
than a Ranger,” Morris said.
“I have tweaked my program
over the years based on the
results I see at harvest, but all
of it started with what I have
learned from the work put in
by the researchers funded by
the consortium.”
Because of their close ties
to the researchers, Northwest
potato farmers have a deeper
understanding of best prac-
tices and how much water it
takes to raise their crop com-
pared to others, all of which
will be significant for genera-
tions to come, Toevs said.
“Just how we allocate
resources,” he said. “I think
that will help benefit our
children.”
How it started
Cooperative funding for
research had been talked
about since the 1990s, but
didn’t come to fruition until
2012.
Jensen, then director of
research at the Washington
Potato Commission in Moses
Lake, was looking to move to
Capital Press File
Aberdeen, Idaho, farmer Ritchey Toevs inspects a potato during his harvest.
of Idaho, and research on it is
fairly expensive, Jensen said.
“The bottom line is ... they
all understand, even though
it’s only located in Idaho, it is
a big problem for the whole
region, especially if it ever
were to spread beyond where
it is,” he said.
Battling zebra chip
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Carlos Gonzalez, center, and Alexa Hintze organize potato seed samples in brown
bags April 13 for planting the next day on the Washington State University research
farm in Othello, Wash. Francisco Gonzalez passes behind them.
Northwest Potato production and value
Acres Harvested
2020
State
Value
Idaho
299,500
$1 billion
Oregon
45,000
$217 million
Washington
154,000
$781 million
U.S.
914,000
$3.9 billion
Source: USDA
Idaho.
Rather than lose Jensen,
an accomplished entomolo-
gist, Washington commission
members recalled earlier con-
versations about teaming up
with Idaho and Oregon, and
decided to pursue that option,
said Chris Voigt, executive
director of the Washington
commission.
Now based in Lakeview,
Ore., Jensen serves as the
liaison between farmers and
researchers as the consortium
manager.
“Andy knows how to
speak both languages,” Voigt
said. “Andy can talk the very
technical and research side
of it on a plethora of different
subjects, and he can also talk
grower.”
Early concerns that the
three commissions might
have
trouble
working
together, after a long history
of viewing one another as
competitors, didn’t prove to
be valid, Jensen said.
Which is not to say there
isn’t occasional grumbling
on issues such as funding
research on the potato cyst
nematode in Eastern Idaho.
The pest is only in that part
Just as the consortium
began, the disease zebra chip
emerged as a concern for
growers.
Zebra chip reduces yields
and produces bands in tubers
that darken when fried, mak-
ing infected potatoes unmar-
ketable. The disease is spread
by the potato psyllid, a tiny
flying insect.
Through
consor-
tium-funded research, farm-
ers in the three states were
able to respond to the threat
the disease posed, Jensen
said.
“I think we learned an
incredible amount,” he said.
“Although zebra chip hasn’t
continued to be a serious
problem, we know so much
about it that I think we’re
well-prepared to deal with it
if it re-emerges.”
Did the consortium keep
the disease from getting
worse?
“The honest, straightfor-
ward answer is, ‘We don’t
know,’” Jensen said. “Obvi-
ously, some people would
want to take credit for that,
but we don’t know. It’s so
hard to tell. It could just all be
down to luck.”
Growers have strict quality
standards they have to sat-
isfy, Jensen said. Research-
ers work to help them meet
those standards.
“Can they produce the
kind of potato they need
to produce for the market-
place?” he said. “That’s the
most important thing. Sav-
ing money is good, too.”
Researchers want to
identify solutions to imme-
diate problems or questions,
such as determining the ben-
efits of potassium fertilizers
for new cultivars.
Other problems are
longstanding, like the dis-
ease powdery scab, which
researchers have previously
studied. No fungicides or
pesticides are available to
fight it, Jensen said.
The consortium has
invested in basic research
that revisits this old prob-
lem, using new technol-
ogy to understand how it
interacts with the plant and
potentially discover new
controls.
Soil health is another
focus, including managing
soil-borne pathogens, Jen-
sen said.
“I think most people
would say the most import-
ant thing is being able to
produce the quality we need,
at a yield that provides the
growers adequate income,”
Jensen said. “Quality is
absolutely top-of-mind.”
Working together
The
consortium’s
researchers are “world
class,” said Toevs, the Idaho
farmer, and are asking ques-
tions today that may not pro-
duce answers for decades.
“The payback on this
level of research is definitely
long-term,” he said.
The research is also going
to involve more deep dives,
he says.
“There
isn’t
much
low-hanging fruit left,” he
said. “I’m sure we’ll be able
to continue to move the bar.”
WSU’s Pavek said com-
munication between farmers
and researchers is good.
“We can get quick, timely
solutions to them,” Pavek
said. “They have our ear,
and vice versa. They can
come to us and tell us, ‘Hey,
we’re having a problem with
this.’
“Most of the research I
have out in the field this year,
if not all, are projects that
developed out of conversa-
tions with growers — or I saw
the need before they did.”
Wolves: All phases require ranchers to use non-lethal deterrents to haze wolves away from herds
Continued from Page 1
Chronic depredation in
Phase I is defined as four
confirmed attacks on live-
stock in six months, after
which ODFW can consider
killing problem wolves. In
Phases II and III, chronic
depredation changes to
two confirmed kills in nine
months.
All phases require ranch-
ers to use non-lethal deter-
rents to haze wolves away
from their herds, such as
range riders, flashing lights
or alarm boxes.
ODFW confirmed 31
livestock depredations in
2020, up 94% from 2019.
However, 16 of those were
attributed to the Rogue pack,
whose range straddles Jack-
Getty Images
Four wolves were illegally
poached, and three cases
are still under investigation.
son and Klamath counties in
southwest Oregon.
While ODFW removed
wolves from the state endan-
gered species list in 2015,
gray wolves remained fed-
erally protected in Western
Oregon during all of 2020.
Over the course of 99
days between July 30 and
Nov. 25, ODFW partnered
with the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service and USDA Wild-
life Services to limit depre-
dations by the Rogue pack,
including coordinated night-
time patrols to haze wolves
out of livestock pastures in
the Wood River Valley.
Despite those efforts,
wolves continued to prey on
cattle in the area.
“The personnel costs
of this collaboration (with
USFWS, USDA and ODFW)
were significant during the
four months,” Brown said.
“We appreciate the work of
our partners and all livestock
producers for their efforts to
co-exist with wolves.”
Ranchers may be com-
pensated for wolf-livestock
losses from the Oregon
Department of Agriculture’s
Wolf Depredation Compen-
sation and Financial Assis-
tance Grant Program. ODA
awarded $251,529 to 12
counties in 2020, up from
$178,319 awarded in 2019.
The program also helps
pay for purchasing and
implementing
non-lethal
deterrents.
Gray wolves were offi-
cially removed from the fed-
eral Endangered Species Act
across the Lower 48 states in
January under a rule finalized
by the Trump administration.
Six environmental groups
have since sued to overturn
the delisting.
Sristi Kamal, senior Ore-
gon representative for the
group Defenders of Wild-
life, said increasing wolf
numbers are encouraging,
though long-term recovery
is still dependent on address-
ing multiple threats includ-
ing poaching and pushes for
predator control measures.
“We have an opportunity
in Oregon to ensure habitat
connectivity and establish a
landscape where wolves and
people are both able to flour-
ish,” Kamal said in a state-
ment. “Defenders of Wild-
life is committed to working
with agency staff, landown-
ers and ranchers to make this
happen.”
There were seven human-
caused wolf mortalities in
Oregon in 2020, according
to ODFW. One wolf was hit
by a vehicle on Interstate 84,
and another was hit by a boat
while swimming across the
Snake River.
Four wolves were illegally
poached, and three cases are
still under investigation.
The breeding male of the
Ruckel Ridge Pack was shot
in Umatilla County in May.
The breeding male of the
Cornucopia Pack was shot in
September in Baker County.
A subadult wolf, believed to
be from the Pine Creek Pack,
was shot in October in Baker
County.
ODFW staff presented an
overview of the Oregon Wolf
Conservation and Manage-
ment 2020 Annual Report
to the Fish and Wildlife
Commission at its April 23
meeting.