Friday, June 17, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
Cherry crop up from last estimate, but still smaller than average
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
The 2022 cherry crop
won’t be quite as small as
originally projected, but it
will still be smaller than
average, the Northwest
Cherry Growers organiza-
tion predicted in its third
round of crop estimates.
Cherry harvest in some
growing regions across the
Northwest started Friday,
June 10, and the latest indus-
try estimate is that the crop
will weigh in at 14.9 million
20-pound boxes, up from
last month’s estimate of 13.6
million 20-pound boxes.
The latest estimate is
still below the 10-year aver-
age of about 22 million
boxes, which growers attri-
bute mainly to the mid-
April snowstorm that swept
through the region during
bloom, slowing pollination
and damaging some blos-
soms. May and June rains
have further reduced the
crop.
According to Northwest
Cherry Growers, an associ-
ation representing growers
Northwest Cherry Growers
Chelan cherries in 2022.
across Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, Utah and Montana,
2022’s crop has been a hard
crop to estimate because
of this spring’s “bizarre
weather patterns.”
Chris Zanobini, execu-
tive director of the Califor-
nia Cherry Advisory Board,
told the Capital Press that
California’s crop is also
smaller than average due to
“frost, hail and a smaller set
after a large crop last year.”
USDA’s National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service
also predicts a smaller sweet
cherry crop. In a report
released June 10, USDA
forecast U.S. sweet cherry
production at 275,000 tons,
down 27% from 2021.
USDA attributed Wash-
ington’s smaller crop to
“severe cold weather in
winter and spring reduced
pollination and fruit set.”
It attributed California’s
smaller crop to frosts in
February and March, and
reported that Oregon too
will have a smaller crop due
to “high rainfall and low
temperatures.”
“Though not as large
as some recent seasons,
the 2022 crop is still a pro-
motable cherry crop,” said
Northwest Cherry Growers.
Industry experts say
small supply paired with
high demand may be a rec-
ipe for good farm-gate prices
for Northwest growers this
year, but as shipments are
just kicking off and cherries
are ripening later than usual,
some say it’s too early to
predict full-season pricing.
Quality looks good,
according to Northwest
Cherry Growers. A report
from the association said
the Coral Champagne vari-
ety, though a reduced crop,
is “setting some gorgeous
cherries.” Chelans are tak-
ing longer than average to
ripen but are “looking just as
beautiful,” according to the
report.
“As of today, there appear
to remain promotable oppor-
tunities for what should be
a crop of dessert-quality
fruit,” said the association.
If fi eld reports and crop
projections are accurate, the
association said, the fi rst
peak of the season should
hit around July 1 — six days
later than last year’s fi rst
peak of June 25. A larger
second peak is expected
around July 15, with vol-
umes tapering off through
late July and August. Har-
vest this year is expected to
extend into September.
The cherry association
says it will continue to mon-
itor orchards during harvest.
“Mother Nature is still
the largest shareholder in
our crop, and we will have to
see how the rest of the grow-
ing season progresses,” said
Northwest Cherry Growers.
Legal challenges against hemp regulations thrown out
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A federal appeals court
has thrown out legal chal-
lenges to the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administra-
tion’s hemp regulations
because crop processors
don’t face imminent harm
from the rules.
The hemp industry fi led a
lawsuit and a petition against
the DEA’s rules, arguing
they eff ectively criminalize
certain processing steps con-
trary to the 2018 Farm Bill.
Cannabis plants with less
than 0.3% THC, a psychoac-
tive compound, are consid-
ered hemp while those with
a higher level are regulated
as marijuana, which is illegal
under federal law.
In 2020, the DEA adopted
regulations stating that
derivatives from the hemp
plant must also fall below
0.3% THC to qualify for the
exemption from being treated
as controlled substances.
According to the Hemp
Industries Association, the
DEA’s regulations have pro-
hibited interim and waste
extracts that contain more
than 0.3% THC, which inev-
itably occur during process-
ing but are later diluted.
For example, the com-
pound CBD, or cannabi-
diol, is commonly added to
foods and beverages or sold
as a supplement intended
Fletcher Farms Hemp Co.
A fi eld of hemp grows in Oregon. A federal appeals court
has thrown out legal challenges to the U.S. Drug Enforce-
ment Administration’s regulations for hemp extracts.
to treat infl ammation and
other ailments.
Extracting CBD from
hemp requires processors to
handle interim substances
in which the THC level is
temporarily elevated above
0.3%.
The Hemp Industries
Association fears the DEA
regulations will result in
criminal or civil charges
against processors while
discouraging investment in
hemp products.
However, the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the D.C. Cir-
cuit has now dismissed
both its lawsuit and its peti-
tion, ruling that the regula-
tions don’t pose an imminent
“injury-in-fact” to the hemp
organization or its members.
Though the hemp indus-
try group believes the rules
expand the DEA’s author-
ity beyond what Congress
intended in the 2018 Farm
Bill, which legalized the
crop, the federal agency says
it “did not intend any diff er-
ence between the regulatory
language and the statute,” the
appellate court said.
“Therefore, petitioners’
primary argument is sim-
ply pushing on an open door
because there is no dispute
with the government,” the
ruling said.
The
appellate
court
rejected the hemp organiza-
tion’s petition due to the lack
of a legal “controversy” and
dismissed a parallel lawsuit
for similar reasons.
While the petition tar-
geted the validity of the reg-
ulations, the lawsuit sought
a declaration and injunction
shielding hemp processors
from prosecution.
According to the appellate
court, the hemp organization
hasn’t shown that processors
face a “suffi ciently imminent
or substantial risk of enforce-
ment” for handling interim
hemp extracts.
Despite statements from
DEA offi cials that suggest
these substances remain ille-
gal, the threat of prosecution
remains too “conjectural” for
the lawsuit to proceed, the
ruling said.
If the regulations them-
selves are “agnostic” regard-
ing the treatment of interim
byproducts, the potential for
criminal or civil charges is
not “certainly impending,”
according to the appellate
court.
The DEA’s regulations
only address hemp’s status
in the agency’s “schedule”
of controlled substances, but
not the “separate question”
of whether the extraction
process is authorized or pro-
hibited, the ruling said.
“We would be hard-
pressed to conclude that an
agency rule that allegedly
takes no position on the
liability or immunity of a
desired course of conduct
can simultaneously pro-
scribe or deny immunity
for that same conduct,” the
ruling said.
Second wolf from Oregon’s Chesnimnus pack killed
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
JOSEPH, Ore. — A sec-
ond wolf from the Chesnim-
nus pack in northeast Ore-
gon was shot and killed June
10 by state wildlife biolo-
gists after repeated attacks
on livestock.
Problems with the pack
began in late April, when the
state Department of Fish and
Wildlife confi rmed wolves
killed three calves in three
days on a public grazing
allotment in the Crow Creek
area of Wallowa County
north of Joseph.
ODFW issued a per-
mit April 29 allowing the
rancher, Tom Birkmaier, to
kill up to two wolves on pas-
tures where the depredations
occurred.
Birkmaier’s agent shot the
fi rst wolf, a yearling male, on
May 3. The permit was orig-
inally set to expire May 24,
but was extended through
June 14 following another
“probable” depredation by
the pack.
On June 7, ODFW stated
it would assist in killing a
second Chesnimnus wolf
under the permit due to addi-
tional confl icts with live-
stock, including a fourth dep-
redation that was confi rmed
June 4 near Crow Creek.
Three days later, biolo-
gists shot the second wolf
— also a yearling male —
ODFW
The breeding male of the Chesnimnus Pack caught on
camera during the winter survey on U.S. Forest Service
land in northern Wallowa County, Ore., in 2018.
from the ground, thus fulfi ll-
ing the permit. ODFW states
it will continue to assess the
situation.
Gray
wolves
were
removed from the endan-
gered species list in Oregon
in 2015, though they remain
federally protected west of
highways 395, 78 and 95.
The state’s wolf plan allows
wildlife managers to con-
sider killing wolves in East-
ern Oregon if they prey on
livestock two times in nine
months, a standard known as
“chronic depredation.”
To qualify, producers
must be using non-lethal
deterrents at the time of the
attacks and remove any car-
casses or bone piles that
might attract wolves.
John Williams, wolf com-
mittee co-chairman for the
Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation, said Birkmaier has
done everything humanly
possible from a non-lethal
perspective to keep wolves
away from his cows.
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks/AP File
A Washington wolf pack will be culled after repeated
attacks on cattle.
WDFW plans culling
the Togo wolf pack
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Togo wolf pack,
preying on calves in north-
east Washington, was
again targeted Monday by
the Washington Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife,
which has shot one wolf in
fi ve previous tries at cull-
ing the pack since 2018.
Fish and Wildlife Direc-
tor Kelly Susewind autho-
rized the removal of one or
two wolves. The authoriza-
tion expires June 27, even
if the department doesn’t
kill any wolves.
The pack has killed or
injured four calves on pri-
vate land since May 17,
renewing a history of pre-
dations on cattle in Ferry
County. Department policy
calls for considering lethal
control after three attacks
in 30 days.
The department already
was considering lethal
control when a range rider
found an injured calf Sat-
urday. The department
confi rmed that the calf had
been attacked by wolves.
Ranchers tried to pre-
vent the predations from
escalating to the point that
the department was forced
to make a decision on
whether to use lethal con-
trol, according to Fish and
Wildlife.
Fish
and Wildlife
staff members judged the
non-lethal deterrence mea-
sures as the best suited for
the circumstances, accord-
ing to the department.
Fish and Wildlife also
determined that the preda-
tions are likely to continue
and that removing one or
two wolves from the pack
won’t harm the recovery of
wolves in the state.
Ranchers checked on
cattle regularly, used state-
funded range-riders and
removed sick or injured
cattle from pastures.
Motion-activated fl ash-
ing lights and an alarm
box, and electronic ear
tags to track cattle also
were used, according to
the department.
One rancher moved cat-
tle from a pasture in early
April after the discovery
there of a deer killed by
wolves.
Even before the pre-
dations in the past month,
Fish and Wildlife had des-
ignated the Togo pack ter-
ritory a “chronic-confl ict
zone,” the only one in the
state.
The department counted
seven wolves in the pack at
the end of 2021. Two of the
wolves are wearing radio
collars.
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