NORTHWEST AG SHOW SPECIAL SECTION | INSIDE
Capital Press
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Friday, December 31, 2021
Volume 94, Number 53
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PORT GRIDLOCK
Port of Seattle
The CMA-CGM Benjamin Franklin arrives in Elliott Bay and prepares to dock at the Port of Seattle.
Global shipping crisis snarls ag
exports, upping costs and delays
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
T
Alexis
Jacobson
ANGENT, Ore. —
As congestion at
ocean ports along
the West Coast has
continued in 2021,
Alexis Jacobson has
seen her schedule thrown into
chaos.
Jacobson is the international
sales manager for BOSSCO
Trading, a company based in
Tangent, Ore., that sells grass
straw from farms around the
Willamette Valley to customers
in Japan and South Korea. The
straw is used as feed for beef
and dairy cattle.
Under normal circumstances,
Jacobson spends roughly an
hour a day working with ocean
carriers to ensure their cargo
makes it aboard ships bound for
Asia.
That was before COVID-19
infl amed a nationwide shipping
crisis that has snarled ports, cat-
apulted costs and left agricul-
tural exporters scrambling for
options.
“We’re constantly making
a plan, and then changing that
plan because of circumstances
out of our control,” said Jacob-
son, who now spends most of
her time each day calling audi-
bles whenever a vessel is late, or
the booking is canceled. Time-
tables are constantly in fl ux, and
often change with only a few
days’ notice.
Ag exports impacted
BOSSCO Trading is hardly
alone. Just about every North-
west farm exporter — from Ore-
gon hazelnuts to Washington
See Ports, Page 9
BOSSCO Trading
Grass straw is baled for shipping
overseas at BOSSCO Trading,
which works with approximately
40 farms in the Willamette Valley.
Survey shows broad support for keeping Snake River dams
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Associated Press File
Ice Harbor Dam, one of four dams on the lower Snake
River.
A new survey commissioned by
Northwest RiverPartners indicates
broad public support for keeping the
Snake River dams.
Less than 30% of respondents favor
removing the four dams.
The survey, conducted by DHM
Research, an independent and nonpar-
tisan research fi rm in Portland, reached
a total of 1,200 Northwest residents
— 400 each in Idaho, Oregon and
Washington.
According to the survey, 60% of
respondents indicate support for “the
use of hydroelectric dams on the lower
Snake River to produce electricity”
while 17% oppose it, and 23% don’t
know.
Only 29% of respondents agreed
that the dams should be removed to
protect wild animals and their habitats.
The rest opposed removal or didn’t
know, according to the survey, which
did not indicate the percentages for
other answers.
Asked to rank their top concerns
about removing the dams, respondents
most often highlighted higher electric-
ity costs, losing a source of carbon-free
energy and impacts on agriculture.
About 14% said they had no con-
cerns about the potential removal of
the dams.
Kurt Miller, executive director of
Northwest RiverPartners, told the Cap-
ital Press he wasn’t sure what to expect
prior to commissioning the survey.
“I was defi nitely pleased with the
results,” Miller said of the survey. “I
was heartened, gratifi ed to see that.”
He pointed to messaging from
advocacy groups and media attention
surrounding Idaho Rep. Mike Simp-
son’s proposed plan for dam breach-
ing and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
and Sen. Patty Murray’s federal-state
assessment of salmon recovery, includ-
ing dam breaching, as reasons for his
uncertainty.
See Survey, Page 9
2022 Western water outlook promising, but not for everyone
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
The Western U.S. could get a
much-needed boost to water supplies
in 2022, but signifi cant catch-up is
still needed to off set the lingering
impacts of drought.
According to climatologists, the
outlook varies widely by state and
watershed.
Washington
According to state climatologist
Nick Bond, snowpack levels across
most of Washington are above nor-
mal for this time of year.
Data released Dec. 27 via a
SNOTEL report from the Natu-
ral Resources Conservation Service
showed the snow-water equivalent
in the Yakima Basin was about 97%
of average. Other basins ranged from
See Snow, Page 9
IT’S RENEWAL
SEASON
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
December 2021 snowfall in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Wet,
snowy weather off ers hope of catching up after a dry year, but
there’s a long way to go, experts say.
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Snow and rainfall improve
overall Western water
outlook, but severe
drought predicted to
continue for some regions