Friday, March 25, 2022
CapitalPress.com 9
Washington wheat farmer elected NAWG president
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Paterson, Wash., wheat farmer
Nicole Berg has been elected presi-
dent of the National Association of
Wheat Growers.
She will have a one-year term.
Berg is a fourth-generation
farmer. She farms with her father
and two brothers. They grow dry-
land and irrigated wheat, bluegrass
seed, field corn, sweet corn, sweet
peas, green beans and alfalfa.
Berg is also on the board of the
Federal Crop Insurance Corp.
She is NAWG’s second female
president, following Judy Olsen, of
Garfield, Wash., in 1994.
The NAWG board also elected
Klamath Falls, Ore., farmer Brent
Cheyne as vice president, Keeff
Felty of Altus,
Okla., as treasurer
and Pat Clements
of Springfield, Ky.,
as secretary. Dave
Milligan of Cass
City, Mich., is past
Nicole Berg president.
One of Berg’s
first actions as president was to seek
a resolution encouraging collab-
oration with North Dakota wheat
growers. The North Dakota Grow-
ers Association withdrew from
NAWG in 2019, citing a decline
in support for issues specifically
related to that state.
“In Washington D.C., it’s all
about coalitions and alliances, and
it’s about singing the same song
from across the country,” Berg said.
“If you go to D.C., and you’re just
from Washington, you don’t get too
far with regard to policy. But if you
go in with a coalition of 20, 30, 40,
50 states, you actually push policy
and make things better.”
NAWG will send a letter to the
North Dakota association within the
next week, Berg said.
Ed Kessel, first vice president
of the North Dakota association,
said the organization preferred to
wait and see NAWG’s letter before
commenting.
Berg also sought a resolution
seeking involvement from diverse
and underserved farming groups.
Both resolutions passed during
the board meeting.
Other issues concerning Berg
and other NAWG leaders were:
• Impact of Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine. The war has impacted
Members of Congress urge stronger
action on potato access to Mexico
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
The National Potato Coun-
cil has praised 33 members
of Congress for calling on
USDA to press Mexico reg-
ulators to honor an expanded
trade deal.
U.S. fresh potatoes are
allowed in Mexico within
16.15 miles of its border with
the U.S. An earlier agreement
allowed the U.S. full access,
but Mexican producers suc-
cessfully sued to stop the
expansion in 2014. The Mex-
ican Supreme Court in April
2021 restored full access.
The countries late last year
concluded a work plan. Mex-
ico officials in December
toured U.S. potato operations
in Colorado. They told USDA
they were satisfied and that
full market access should be
available by February.
But Mexican regulators
have demanded additional
U.S. site visits this year as a
prerequisite for reopening
the full market. USDA’s Ani-
mal and Plant Health Inspec-
tion Service and its counter-
part agency in Mexico jointly
announced Feb. 16 that access
would be delayed well into
2022.
Mexico registers its pro-
cessing companies to import
U.S. fresh potatoes. It
announced two registrations
will be granted this year.
U.S. senators and repre-
sentatives from both parties,
in a March 14 letter to Agri-
culture Secretary Tom Vil-
sack, said neither requirement
is part of the work plan.
They urged USDA work
with Mexico regulators “to
ensure that the trade deal is
honored by expeditiously
reinstating access for U.S.
fresh potatoes and to express
that any Mexican request for
enhanced agricultural access
to the U.S. should not be
granted until this access is
restored.”
Since Mexico appears to
be continuing to avoid respon-
sibility to restore access, “we
request that APHIS explain its
decision-making process to
agree to these unscientific and
inconsistent demands.”
The members of Congress
are concerned the agency
came to the agreement with
its Mexico counterpart with-
out consulting the domestic
industry, “and that this may
be indicative of the process
that USDA is undertaking to
restore fresh access.”
“The process that the U.S.
is supposed to be pursuing is
one to restore, not establish,
access for these potatoes,”
they wrote.
National Potato Coun-
cil President Jared Balcom,
a grower based in Pasco,
Wash., said in a statement
that the issue “has dragged
on far too long, and we
appreciate members of Con-
gress for weighing in on
behalf of America’s potato
growers and the communi-
ties they support.
“Just when we thought
Mexico was preparing to
honor its trade commitments,
we learned that they added
last-minute requirements and
reinterpreted the agreed-to
work plan to once again pre-
vent U.S. potatoes from gain-
ing full market access,” he
said.
The council is advising
USDA and the U.S. govern-
ment about the economic
consequences of reducing or
preventing trade, CEO Kam
Quarles told Capital Press.
the wheat market with prices ris-
ing and falling by daily limits, Berg
said.
“It’s quite the rollercoaster we’re
on,” she said. “There’s just a lot of
uncertainty across wheat country,
whether it’s price or inputs. And
the inputs — I’m looking at some
of my numbers today, and man,
they’ve gone up. Wheat growers,
we run on a thin margin already.”
Berg and her family purchased
diesel and fertilizer last fall, and
did some work in the fall they usu-
ally reserve for the spring. That will
help, Berg said, but the future’s
uncertain.
“Farmers need to watch their
pocketbooks,” she said.
• New uses for wheat. The
industry is also exploring other
ways to use wheat. Previously, the
industry looked at making boards
out of straw, Berg said.
“We are feed and food,” she
said. “Are there other things we
can do with our product and get it
on the shelves?”
A loaf of bread might cost $3 at
the store, but farmers only receive
17 cents of that, Berg noted.
“Now my fuel prices are going
up, and I can’t pass that on, because
I’m a price-taker,” she said.
• Open-door policy. Berg
invites farmers across the country
to help her tell their story.
“I have to hear from them, I have
an open-door policy,” she said. “If
you have an issue with something,
call me up, or call another officer.
Because that’s what we’re here for,
isn’t it? I look forward to working
their policy.”
Idaho Power seeks
increase in irrigation rates
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Irrigators will pay Idaho
Power Co. 2.3% more for
electricity if the state Pub-
lic Utilities Commission
approves a change related to
exiting a coal-fired operation
earlier than anticipated.
Boise-based Idaho Power
last year requested a rate
increase to fund accelerated
depreciation of coal-related
investments at Jim Bridger
Power Plant near Rock
Springs, Wyo.
The company’s most
recent long-range plan con-
cluded that ending coal-fired
operations there by 2028,
about two years early, would
reduce costs to customers
over the 20-year planning
horizon.
The overall increase
would boost revenue by
$27.1 million, Idaho Power
said in a release. Proposed
price increases by customer
category are 2.3% for irri-
gation, 2.24% for general
service, 2.23% for large
power, 2.08% for residen-
tial and 1.99% for small
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A farm field in southwestern Idaho is irrigated last in
this file photo. Idaho Power Co. is seeking a 2.3% rate
increase for irrigators.
general service customers.
Separately, Idaho Power
expects to file its annual
power-cost
adjustment
with the commission April
15.Company
spokesman
Jordan Rodriguez said irri-
gation and all other customer
classes will be impacted.
The power-cost adjust-
ment passes costs and ben-
efits of supplying energy
to customers. It changes
with annual fluctuations in
power costs. Hydroelectric
power generating condi-
tions are among factors.
It is one of two annual
cost adjustments Idaho
Power files.
The company in mid-
March filed its annual fixed-
cost adjustment with the
commission. It would reduce
billed revenue by 0.81% for
residential customers and
by 0.82% for small general
service customers, the com-
pany said. The overall pro-
posed decrease for these cus-
tomer classes is $4.8 million
or 0.81%.
AFTER WE UPGRADED OUR
IRRIGATION SYSTEM, THE SAVINGS
CAME BY THE BUSHEL.
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the apple grower. That’s why we looked to Energy Trust of Oregon to guide us on
the installation of a new, more efficient irrigation system. Happy apples. Happy
us. See how they can help your business at EnergyTrust.org/for-business.
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