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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2017)
Page 8A BUSINESS East Oregonian Saturday, February 11, 2017 Economist: Wheat prices to remain low for at least three years By MATTHEW WEAVER EO Media Group SPOKANE — Northwest farmers aren’t likely to see wheat prices rebound substantially for the next three to five years, an econo- mist says. Washington State Univer- sity small grains economist Randy Fortenbery and Glen Squires, CEO of the Wash- ington Grain Commission, delivered a joint economic forecast Wednesday at the Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum. Record global wheat production and “huge” world stocks that are growing faster than demand will continue to depress commodity prices, Fortenbery said. “The real problem has been not only have we done well, most of our global competitors have done well also,” Fortenbery said. “The real problem has been not only have we done well, most of our global competitors have done well also.” — Randy Fortenbery, small grains economist “Unfortunately, without some sort of a production problem somewhere in this coming crop year, that’s not going to go away.” If the situation continues, low prices will lead to stressed margins, impacting land rental rates and farm assets, Fortenbery said. Wheat prices received in Washington state are generally a little higher than U.S. average prices, Squires said. The U.S. average price is roughly $3.80 per bushel, and the Washington average is roughly $4.29 per bushel. Because of low wheat and corn prices, across the U.S. more farmers will shift into soybeans, whose price is doing relatively well, Forten- bery predicts. Lower prices also mean the U.S. Department of the Treasury will pay more in crop insurance claims than anticipated, Fortenbery said. “If you remember back in 2014, a lot of the discus- sion was, ‘This has to be a budget-reducing farm bill,’” Fortenbery said. The industry will likely push for increased flexibility and a better safety net in the next farm bill, but Fortenbery said it isn’t likely to be a top priority in Washington, D.C. Commodity groups will need to build strong coalitions to get farm bill discussions on lawmakers’ agendas, he said. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Randy Fortenbery, Washington State University small grains economist, and Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission, chat before speaking Feb. 8 at the Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum. Resort deal revamp tests Trump pledge on foreign projects By JEFF HORWITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON — To quiet concerns over foreign influence, President Donald Trump promised no new international business deals while in office. Instead, Trump’s business is returning to a very old one. The Trump family’s re-en- gagement in a Dominican resort deal signed a decade ago surfaced unexpectedly last week, when Eric Trump, an executive vice president, was photographed touring the property Feb. 2 with developers Ricardo and Fernando Hazoury. In a press release, the Hazoury brothers called their relationship with Eric Trump “incredibly strong.” But the relationship has been rocky: Eric Trump accused the brothers of “textbook fraud” in a 2012 lawsuit over allegedly hidden property sales. A firm plan for further Trump-licensed devel- opment at Cap Cana, a luxury beachfront resort just minutes from one of the Dominican Republic’s largest airports, isn’t yet in place. But the prospect for a resumption of the 2007 licensing deal would test the limits of Donald Trump’s pledge to halt new interna- tional Trump-branded proj- ects during his presidency. The renewed pursuit of the project shows that the company believes it has latitude to carry on signifi- cant new activity overseas, despite the president’s pledge to avoid new foreign development deals. “No new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of President Trump’s presi- dency,” Trump lawyer Sheri capcana.com via AP This screen image from the capcana.com website shows an article about the recent visit by Eric Trump to the Dominican Republic. Eric Trump was photographed touring the Cap Cana resort Feb. 2, with brothers Ricardo and Fernando Hazoury. Dillon of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLC said last month at a news conference. Under the self-imposed rules she described, new domestic deals will be allowed, but they will go through what she described as a vigorous vetting process. Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said the deal in the Domin- ican Republic was never dead even though nothing new has been built or announced in a decade. Garten noted that Trump listed the deal on his 2015 government financial disclosure but said it was not listed on last year’s filings because of what he described as a lack of reportable assets associated with the venture. The effort to grandfather such branding deals demon- strates the flimsiness of Trump’s pledge, said Richard Painter, who served as the ethics lawyer for the White House during the George W. Bush administration. “They can take the tiniest little past involvement in something and then extend it into an enormous new deal,” Pendleton Parks & Recreation We would like to thank everyone who sponsored, participated, and volunteered. You helped make the 2017 Daddy Daughter Dance a memorable event for our 650 guests! Sponsors: Banner Bank St. Anthony Hospital Wildhorse Resort and Casino Pendleton Rotary Club Pendleton City Club Pendleton Bottling Company Pendleton Convention Center Outwest Catering Find us on Facebook for the latest updates and the release of our Spring Activity Guide. www.pendletonparksandrec.com Painter said. “There’s no way to distinguish between new business and old business.” The deal with the Hazourys contemplated multiple stages of Trump- themed projects at Cap Cana, a master-planned resort town minutes from the busy Punta Cana International Airport. The project is twice the size of Manhattan, and Trump’s part began with the sale of 68 multimillion-dollar home sites known as “The Trump Farallons.” Trump-branded hotel, condominium and golf course projects were supposed to follow. At a lavish party in Cap Cana in 2007, Trump “congratulated fortunate buyers on their investment,” according to a press release by Cap Cana. Trump’s deal never progressed beyond the initial sale of Trump-branded vacant lots. Though he described himself as a Cap Cana project developer in public statements, Trump invested no money, and the project stalled during the 2008 financial crisis. Further damaging the deal’s pros- pects, the developer wasn’t paying Trump the licensing fees on empty lots that had already sold. After hiring an outside auditor, Trump sued in 2012, alleging that the Hazourys had hid many of the land sales and kept the proceeds. In an affidavit, Eric Trump called the sales reports the Cap Cana developers had provided to the Trump Orga- nization “an outright lie.” Before the case could go to trial, the Trump Organiza- tion and Cap Cana reached a confidential settlement in 2013. During the following three years, neither the Trumps nor the Hazourys announced further coop- eration, and Trump’s name largely disappeared from marketing materials. The exclusive real estate brokerage for the project dropped Trump’s name from “The Farallons.” Garten said that, despite Cap Cana’s failure to deliver on its side of the contract and Trump’s demand that the project stop using his name during the litigation, Trump never canceled the underlying deal. The ulti- mate settlement of Trump’s suit against Cap Cana was amicable, he said, and further talks occurred well before last November’s U.S. election. BRIEFLY SAGE Center hosts job fair BOARDMAN — People can learn about career opportunities and meet with employers who are actively hiring during the Agriculture & Energy Job Fair. The event is Wednesday, March 1 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the SAGE Center, 101 Olson Road, Boardman. Participants can also learn about education and training for high demand positions. For more information call 541-481-7243 or go to www.visitsage.com. Ford invests $1B in driverless car quest SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ford Motor will spend $1 billion to take over a robotics startup to acquire more of the expertise needed to reach its ambitious goal of having a fully driverless vehicle on the road by 2021. The big bet comes just a few months after the Pittsburgh startup, Argo AI, was created by two alumni of Carnegie Mellon University’s robotics program. The $1 billion investment will be spread over a five-year period. NOW HIRING! SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS No Experience Necessary NOW HIRING SIGN ON BONUS’ $250 Hiring Bonus $100 Bonus - Pass DMV Test in 7 Days 11.88 Hour - Part Time • 401K Benefits Available • Paid Training • Bonus Opportunities • Perfect for Extra Income • WE PAY FOR YOUR CDL • WEEKENDS/HOLIDAYS OFF • FLEXIBLE HOURS Come Join Our Team In Pendleton! 541-276-5621
