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Reducing water, chemical use with UV-C light :WSU researchers develop sanitizing technology for organic fruit — Page 4

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On the cover: The surface of an apply is sanitized with ultraviolet-C

light | Geoff Crimmins

Fighting the nematodeUI professor leads $3.2 million research project | 7A

Growers at the table over monarch butterfly debate

Efforts continue to reduce use of herbicide Roundup, linked to decline of the species | 5A

High student debt can affect farm business hopes

But a good education in agriculture can provide many career paths | 10A

Open range, open issues Idaho cattle and grain associations working to find

solutions to issues without involving state lawmakers | 15A

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By Samantha Malottfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

Researchers at Washington State University are working to bring UV-C technology into organic fruit production as an alternative — and more efficient — sanitizing technique.

Shyam Sablani, associate professor of food engineering in WSU biological systems engineering, has been part of the group for four years, focused on developing a lamp that can sani-tize fruit surfaces using ultraviolet-C lights.

“Currently they (fruit producers) are using chemical-based products,” he said, such as chlorine.

Just water washing isn’t always going to completely clean the fruits, either, he said.

“Some are even too delicate,” he said.

The water can soften the skin of some fruits, such as apricots, making them more susceptible to bruising dur-

ing the packaging process, he said.A 250 nanometer wavelength from

the UV-C light can kill nearly all the microbes living on a fruit’s surface, even when applied in only small doses, depending on the fruit’s surface texture and how contaminated the surface is.

For fruits with smooth surfaces, such as apples, a short dose of the light is very effective, Sablani said. Rough surfaced fruits like raspberries, straw-berries and cantaloupes need to have a larger dose applied to be effective, because the microbes have more small crevices to hide in where the light has a harder time reaching them, he said.

Higher doses don’t necessarily mean longer time under the light. Increasing the number of lamps or decreasing the distance between the lamp and fruit surface can also have a great effect.

The average time a fruit will be under the UV-C light ranges between

WSU researchers develop sanitizing technology for organic fruit

Reducing water, chemical use with UV-C light

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsShyam Sablani talks about a device he uses in his research that uses ultraviolet-C light to sanitize the surfaces fruit Sept. 14 in Pullman. Sablani is an associate professor of food engineering at Washington State University.See UV-C, Page 9A

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Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Friday, September 25, 2015 | 5ANorthwest Farm and Ranch

By Ralph Bartholdtfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

A push to stem the use of herbicides in farm fields because it kills the plant that monarch butterflies rely on for their livelihood has reper-cussions for regional growers.

Robert Blair, past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers and a Kendrick, Idaho, grower, said the association is a major stakeholder in the debate to stem the use of glyphos-phates — the herbicide in the Monsanto brand Roundup, because of its importance in producing higher field yields by cutting down invasive plants in cultivated fields.

For growers such as Blair, the issue is multifaceted. Glyphosphate doesn’t just control invasives such as milkweed, the herbicide also

helps control erosion and is a boon to soil health.

Ecologists have for sever-al years pointed at products such as Roundup as a major culprit in the decline of mon-arch butterflies because its application efficiently kills milkweed plants. The but-terflies in their larval stage rely on milkweed to complete their life cycle.

Monarchs are a migratory insect that flock each year in the millions from North America to Mexico, a natural wonder that ecologists think could disappear, at least in part because of the slow erad-ication of milkweed, a once prolific field plant.

A national push to stem the use of glyphosphates has pushed growers into a corner,

Efforts continue to reduce use of herbicide Roundup, linked to decline of the species

Growers at the table over monarch butterfly debate

CourtesyMonarch butterfly. See Butterfly, Page 15A

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By Josh Babcockfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

Before imposing a three-year, 1 percentage point assessment increase for research and advertising, the Washington Dry Pea and Lentil Commission recently held a public hearing in Colfax, Wash., for farmers to voice their opinions.

Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow, Idaho, said the increase is being pro-posed in response to the United Nations declaring 2016 the International Year of Pulse Crops.

It’s a prime opportunity to begin a pulse brand advertising campaign, McGreevy said, and invest in research to increase productivity.

The board is also considering adding faba beans and lupine as commodities covered by the commission and chang-ing the group’s name to the Pulse Crops Commission.

“Now is the opportunity for us to grow our market,” Kevin Meyer,

chairman of the Washington commis-sion, said. “We have a lot of ability to increase our production in the U.S. and worldwide.”

Farmer and Washington board member Dan McKinley estimated the increase would cost farmers $12,000 per year depending on the size of the farm, but said he supports the increase because it will likely increase produc-tion.

“You have to pay ahead of time to get the reward,” he said.

Doug Morgan, another farmer, said he began farming in 1980 and remem-bers living on a 3 percent to 5 percent return on investment.

“You double this ‘assessment’, for those guys that are beginning and try-ing to start a farm, this is a pretty big hit,” Morgan said.

Everyone at the hearing supported all parts of the proposal, except Morgan who said he did not support the assess-ment increase.

Howard Jones, chair of the Idaho Pea and Lentil Commission in Moscow

said if Washington passes the increase, Idaho growers will follow suit.

“Got Milk?,” “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner,” and “Pork. The other white meat,” were a few of the examples of agriculture advertising campaigns McGreevy cited during the hearing. He questioned why pulse crops lacked such a campaign.

McGreevy said the new campaign would target millennials through social and other media.

The group has paid Cynthia Sass, author of “Slim Down Now,” and nutrition consultant for the New York Yankees and Rangers, to help push the campaign.

McGreevy said the commission is also working to bring first lady Michelle Obama and television networks like MSNBC and Food Network to partici-pate with the campaign, which is hop-ing to raise a total of $8 million.

“We need to give them new snack line-ups,” he said. “Let’s put lentils in your burger; let’s have a black bean lava cake.”

McGreevy noted part of creating new snacks is finding new and creative ways to prepare those foods and tying

pulse products with other foods, which requires research.

“In pulses we have been behind in investing research in these crops,” but it’s something needed to increase pro-ductivity, McGreevy said.

The assessment increase would be used to find and employ a research team for a pulse research endowed chair, so they can examine how pulse products work with other foods, he said.

Laboratory space and an endowed chair position salary would be provided by Washington State University.

McGreevy said the proposed name change is to account for other crops under the commission that are not clas-sified as dry peas and lentils.

If the director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture choos-es to send the proposal to referendum, a ballot will be mailed Oct. 20 to all pro-ducers on the list of affected parties.

If producers approve the referen-dum, the proposal would be adopted Nov. 30 and become effective Jan. 1.

Babcock can be reached at [email protected] or (208) 883-4630.

Commission also considers new name, research, advertising

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By Dominique Waldfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

The University of Idaho has received a $3.2 million grant from the USDA Food Security Challenge Area program to research and combat pale cyst nematodes — microscopic worms that threaten potato produc-tion.

The project is expect-ed to last five years and will be led by UI professor and nema-tologist Louise-Marie Dandurand. It relies on university, feder-al and industry effort and includes research-ers from Oregon State University and Cornell University, as well as the USDA Agricultural Research Service and international experts.

Dandurand said even though the project is in its beginning stages, researchers plan to use the first year to screen potato varieties in New York, Idaho and Oregon to see which have resis-tance to the pale cyst nematodes. Researchers will also try to develop resistant potatoes suit-able for this region.

“We’re trying to understand why a nem-atode is able to infect a potato,” Dandurand

said. “These infections can result in 80 percent potential crop failure.”

The nematodes, Dandurand said, infect the plant’s roots and its cysts or egg clusters can survive in soil for up to 30 years.

In 2006, the pale cyst nematode was discovered in southeastern Idaho in Bingham and Bonneville

counties. Its discovery resulted in a coopera-tive response program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Idaho State Department of Agriculture that includ-ed aggressive movement restrictions, sanitation and a ban on potato

UI professor leads $3.2 million research project

Fighting the nematode

CourtesyLouise-Marie Dandurand, who received a grant to study potato nematodes, is seen in the UI greenhouse.

See nemAtode, Page 12A

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By Josh Babcockfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

Crops on the Palouse didn’t escape the extremely dry weather from this summer’s drought, and decreased yields for a number of commodities may leave some farmers in a financial bind.

Sam White, Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative chief operating officer, said, “All the spring crops are at less yields than last year.”

White said spring wheat yields on the Palouse — both soft white and red hard wheat — saw up to a 30 percent loss.

Glen Squires, chief execu-tive officer of the Washington Grain Commission, said that decrease stems back to May when abnormally early and

warm temperatures increased right as farmers were in dire need of rain.

As the heat dried out the crops, the wheat stopped grow-ing, kernels began to shrivel, and farmers took to harvest about two to three weeks early, he said.

That’s the same reason why Aaron Flansburg, a local farm-er for about 15 years, started harvest earlier than ever before and finished in late July.

“That’s not normal at all,” Flansburg said.

This year, Flansburg said, his spring wheat crop was down about 25 percent.

Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack has been farming on the Palouse for more than 30 years and saw a season similar to Flansburg’s

experience.Swannack said his spring

wheat yield was about 20 per-cent to 25 percent lower than an average year, and he finished har-vest about three weeks early.

Despite the 20 percent to 30 percent decrease in wheat yields on the Palouse, Squires said other places in the state have seen losses from 15 percent to 50 percent.

Squires said wheat on the Palouse may not have been as impacted by the early heat, because crops in the area are more accustomed to the dry cli-mate and aren’t as dependent on moisture as crops in other

places in Washington.However, the summer heat

didn’t only beat the wheat.Flansburg said the heat

crippled his spring barley and spring peas this year, pushing his spring barley yield below average and d e c r e a s i n g his yield for spring peas by more than 50 percent.

Garbanzos were a rela-tively bright

spot, though.Flansburg said his garban-

zo beans yielded just slightly below average.

Last year, a hailstorm and a lack of moisture also left farm-ers on the Palouse suffering from decreased yields.

White said some farmers may feel a financial hit from this year’s poor production.

Flansburg agreed, “If you are relying on the insurance, typically it doesn’t make up for the loss of production.”

Swannack said it’s likely many farmers will cut back on farming costs to save money that was lost from the decreased yields.

“Most farmers have cut back on their spending the last few months,” Swannack said.

White referred to spring wheat as “a double whammy” for farmers, due to a com-bination of poor yields and the other major contenders in the world wheat market at least meeting average produc-tion, and thereby keeping this year’s prices for wheat rela-tively low.

Babcock can be reached at [email protected] or (208) 883-4630.

Wheat yields down as much as 30 percent for farmers on the Palouse

Spring crops crippled by summer heat

“If you are relying on

the insurance, typically it doesn’t make up for

the loss of production.”Aaron Flansburg

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30 seconds to two minutes, he said.“The light disrupts the DNA (of the

microbes), and they lose their ability to reproduce,” Sablani said.

Microbes are a very tiny cell that if ingested can cause people to get very sick, he said. Even just a few can a have a large effect.

The light essentially kills them, so they are still present on the fruit, but they don’t have an effect when ingested, he said.

The UV-C light has an insignificant effect on the fruit itself, aside from slight-ly altering the color at times, he said. It does not affect the texture or taste, because it only penetrates the surface.

Contamination levels are already commonly low in fruit production due to healthy handling, but this extra step assures fruits are safe as they arrive at stores for consumers, he said.

Manufacturers should still use their good handling processes and not rely solely on the lamps for sanitization, Sablani said.

Using the lamps will also cut the water and chemicals used, reducing the chemicals being released into the envi-ronment, he said..

The next step is to work with lamp manufacturers and fruit producers to incorporate the systems into a packag-ing line.

While the technology is not very expensive, there will be other challenges to address, including designing tunnels around the lamps to keep people safe, he said.

Human skin is harmed by UV-C light,

so lamps need to be surrounded by a sort of tunnel to protect individuals working along the production lines, he said.

Creating tunnels that have lights completely surrounding the fruit may tackle both challenges at once.

“There is no industrial implementa-tion yet, but it shows promise to build effective prototypes,” Sablani said.

Research so far has been funded

by the Northwest Pear Bureau, the BioAg Program Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and the National Processed Raspberry Council, but Sablani said the project is looking for additional funding get the technology onto the production lines.

Malott may be reached at [email protected], at (208) 883-4639 or on Twitter @samanthamalott.

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsThe surface of an apple is sanitized with ultraviolet-C light Sept. 14 in Shyam Sablani’s research laboratory in Pullman.

UV-Cfrom Page 4A

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By Terri Harberfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

A recent study claims there aren’t as many new farmers and ranchers operating in the U.S. because of the rising stu-dent debt load.

The National Young Farmers Coalition reported this summer that it’s a “sig-nificant barrier preventing more would-be farmers and ranchers from entering agri-culture.”

The coalition used a sur-vey of 700 young farmers and compiled additional informa-tion from the USDA Census of Agriculture to reach this conclusion.

The total number of farm operators nationwide decreased by more than 95,000 between 2007 and 2012. Only 6 percent of all U.S. farmers haven’t yet

reached the age 35.And survey respondents

reported carrying an average of $35,000 in student loans. These loans are preventing or delaying 30 percent of the respondents from farm-ing, and 20 percent of them report having trouble obtain-ing credit because of those loans.

Local academics say the added personal debt that comes from paying for college educations usually aren’t as much of a factor, however.

“I would agree that one of the biggest obstacles to enter-ing farmers is capital, and if a student comes out with a lot of debt it’s challeng-ing for them to accumulate capital,” said Larry Makus, associate dean and director of academic programs for the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life

Sciences.In this part of the country

a would-be farmer or rancher needs to be able to come up with enough money for pay for land, however. And that’s not easy for most people. The average size Idaho farm is 600 acres, and with land prices at $3,000-$4,000 an acre the low-end fig-ure would be $1.8 million.

Young people with inher-ited land suitable for agri-culture or from families who are successful farmers and ranchers aren’t numerous but would be the best situated to

start up an ag operation, he said.

Makus also pointed out that for agriculture business-es the capital requirements are so immense that student debt wouldn’t play a primary

role in one’s financial abil-ity to pay.

“ I t ’ s already very expensive , ” he said.

S t e v e K a u f m a n g r a d u a t e d from the University of Idaho in 2005 with a bache-lor’s degree in

agribusiness. He spent nearly nine years

working for Northwest Farm Credit Services before return-ing to work on the family farm near Lewiston about a year ago.

He’s a fifth-generation family farmer at Kaufman Farms.

“It’s rewarding growing food that feeds the world,” he said.

Student loan debt “is a bigger deal than it was in the past and a big factor for mil-lennials wanting to go into business no matter their col-lege major,” he said. “I see it as one more payment that makes it harder to take on that tractor loan.”

Kaufman agreed with Makus that costs to buy or rent land “are even bigger barriers than student loan debt” to those wanting to start their own ag businesses.

He’s proud to help carry on a family tradition. And coming from a family ag operation helped him prepare for a career with more work and less security than many others. He and other farm kids worked through school

But a good education in agriculture can provide many career paths

High student debt can affect farm business hopes

“It’s rewarding growing

food that feeds the world.”

Steve KaufmanUniversity of Idaho graduate

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Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Friday, September 25, 2015 | 11ANorthwest Farm and Ranchto keep down expenses after graduation, he said.

Everyone “needs to look for those niche opportunities. There are lots of different angles. Someone who wants to farm bad enough will find the way to make it work,” he said.

While at NFCS Kaufman saw people doing off-farm work or get-ing hired by someone else while they started some-thing small on their own.

T h e n “they’d invest back into the business, and e v e n t u a l l y get a farm big enough to support themselves,” he said.

There are plenty of work options inside and outside the industry for graduates of agriculture programs. Purdue University predicts there will be nearly 58,000

new jobs annually through 2020 for graduates from col-lege programs that highlight food, agriculture, renewable natural resources or the envi-ronment.

It predicted almost half of the positions would be in management and business and about 27 percent in sci-ence, technology, engineering

and math-ematics.

Only 15 percent would be in sustain-able food and biomaterial production. The rest, about 12 per-cent, would be in educa-tion, commu-nication and government services.

Kimberlee Kidwell, exec-utive associate dean of the Washington State University College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, said their ag department continues to

see enrollment increase and that it’s at the highest level ever.

Student debt is growing nationwide, but there are no more students entering these ag programs from less expen-sive community colleges than in the past, she said.

In the ag industry, “the job market has been incredibly good during the last three to four years,” she said.

Starting commercial farms has been cost-prohibitive for a long time.

But WSU graduates have been able to go into business for themselves by finding financial backers and think-ing small.

“Small organic farms are doing well,” Kidwell said, even on the west side with its higher land prices.

Some specialized ag pro-grams focus on engineering and technology, she said.

Families without heirs sometimes will bring in a young outsider to see the farm continue into the future, Kidwell said.

Parker Byington complet-

ed his master’s degree in ag research with a dairy spe-cialty earlier this year. The married father of one arrived in Montgomery, Minn., about an hour from Minneapolis in July looking to operate a dry land dairy farm. His family in Moses Lake, Wash., sold their dairy farm when he was in high school. He missed the daily activity.

“I love being outside, work-ing with and watching the animals,” Byington said. “And I love producing whole-some products people can eat and drink.”

He worked at a large dairy farm at one point. He used his bachelor’s in manage-ment from Brigham Young University when he worked for John Deere in accounting and finance.

Byington hopes to find something of comparable size to his family’s past 300-cow operation, and expects to buy one soon.

Harber can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to [email protected].

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planting in fields infested with pale cyst nematodes.

“In these instances, contain-ment is key,” Dandurand said. “It poses such a threat to potato pro-duction, so it’s important that we don’t let it spread.”

According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health I n s p e c t i o n Service, the area repre-sents less than 1 per-cent of Idaho’s more than 300,000 acres used to grow potatoes. The response pro-gram ensured that the pest wouldn’t spread.

Dandurand said in the nine years since the discovery of the pale cyst nematode, USDA, ISDA, industry and university

efforts have reduced the infes-tation, and they are no longer found in over half of the previ-ously infested fields.

The grant is one of three projects nationally funded this year and includes 18 scien-tists — including six UI fac-

ulty members specializing in plant pathol-ogy, nema-tology, plant m o l e c u l a r biology and agricultural economics.

During the next five years, Dandurand said, she hopes this project also serves as a tool for out-reach educa-tion.

“We want to bridge that gap for stakeholders,” Dandurand said. “We’ve got a great team of researchers, and our hope is to educate others during this process.”

Wald may be reached at [email protected] or (208) 883-4628.

Nematodefrom Page 7A

“We’ve got a great team

of researchers, and our hope is to educate

others during this process.”

Louise-Marie DandurandUniversity of Idaho professor

See Pulses, Page 18A

CourtesyAn assortment of lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas are seen in preparation for the International Year of Pulses.

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By Kathy Hedbergfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

The world stage is set to highlight a local rotation crop — mostly unappreciated in this country — that sustains the diets of billions of people in low- and moderate-income nations.

The Global Pulse Confederation will kick off the United Nations-sponsored International Year of Pulses in New York City in November with scores of celebrations being held around the world throughout 2016.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Todd Scholz of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow. International pulse marketers “pushed the U.N. to recognize pulses because world-wide they’re a great source of nutrition and they’re sustain-able. So all these crops that are

grown all across the world are a significant provider of food security.”

Hakan Bahceci, president of the International Pulse Trade

and Industries Confederation, said the UN

Effort to increase consumption of lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas emphasizes health value

UN set to kick off Year of Pulses


By Elizabeth Ruddfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

Enticing green crops and nearby cows can often pres-ent challenges for both agri-culture producers and cattle ranchers, particularly in open range areas.

That’s why the Idaho Cattle Association and Idaho Grain Producers Association have begun working togeth-er in an effort to find local solutions to the challenges, particularly in areas of open range, without involving the state Legislature.

Idaho Cattle Association Executive Vice President Wyatt Prescott said open range has existed in Idaho for as long as it’s been a state and continues to make up a majority of Idaho’s land. It

was added to Idaho Code in 1961 as a way to protect live-stock producers as towns, cit-ies and even unincorporated communities began develop-ing into rangeland areas.

“Most of the state is in open range,” Prescott said.

Open range is defined in Idaho Code as “all unen-closed lands outside of cities, villages and herd districts, upon which cattle by custom, license, lease or permit, are grazed or permitted to roam.”

The statute also relin-quishes livestock producers from the obligation to keep cattle off of highways that may run through open range-land and does not hold them liable for any damage or inju-ries sustained if a vehicle col-lides with an animal.

Prescott said the law is

intended to address “worst-case scenarios,” but how it’s written also places the responsibility of keeping cat-tle off an individual’s prop-erty on them rather than the livestock owner. That’s where the conflict between neigh-boring agriculture producers and cattle ranchers come into play, he said.

In an effort to address some of those conflicts inter-nally, the two state associa-tions have formed an open range committee comprised of five cattle producers and five agriculture producers.

Prescott said the orga-nizations have divided the state into five districts with one representative from both

Idaho cattle and grain associations working to find solutions to issues without involving state lawmakers

Open range, open issues

Kyle Mills/Lewiston TribuneA calf looks for some attention from its mother Thursday as the pair graze near Tammany Creek Road south of Lewiston.See rAnge, Page 15A


By Samantha Malottfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

A more exact method of tracking cat-tle habitat selection over months, rather than seasons, can help bring better maps to land and herd managers.

Dr. Carrie Roever with Oregon State University and the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center has been working at the Starkey Experimental Forest near LaGrande, Ore., collecting data on how various factors such as human interaction and precipitation affect where cattle choose to move to.

Traditionally habitat selection has been observed through function-al response by the animal, driven by resource abundance, she said in at a sem-inar lecture at the University of Idaho College of Natural Resources.

Roever’s research has been gathering data on temporal response driven by a

change in resource quality and animal priorities that change throughout the months. The problem with breaking it up by select seasons, rather than months, is that rainfall can change from year to year, she said.

For example in the spring a priority is protecting young calves, while in the later summer months cattle are focused on fattening up for the winter, she said. This can have an effect on where the cattle roam, along with a variety of other factors including precipitation. Temperature may have an even bigger impact than precipitation though, she said.

Using GPS collars, Roever has col-lected pinpoint locations of the cattle. Comparing those to various factors in the habitat, some trends have become clear. During periods of high rainfall, the

Analyzing movement on tighter scales provides clearer maps

Tracking cattle habitat selections in new ways

See CAttle, Page 16A

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Blair said.“NAWG has to have a seat at the

table in (Washington) D.C. if we want to be represented,” he said. “If we lose our growers, the eco-nomic impact to the state could be tremen-dous in a very negative way.”

C o n s e r v a t i o n groups across the U.S. have called for mini-mizing glyphosphates, and in some cases have pushed a cam-paign to replant milk-weed seedlings in non-irrigated land to boost monarch populations.

The monarch debate is nothing new, Blair said. When he was in school in the 1970s he remembers learning about the decline of monarchs, but instead of being pushed to extinc-tion, he said the butterfly populations have cycled through low and high popu-lations.

“It’s becoming an issue again,” he said.

Since the 1970s, he said, agribusiness

has made positive strides toward bet-ter conservation, including its efforts to minimize soil erosion. The use of glyphosphates has been instrumen-tal in those efforts. Agribusiness has been tasked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with controlling ero-sion by curtailing tillage to stem the growth of invasive weeds. By using

herbicides, weeds can be controlled with minimal tillage, he said.

“By using better science, and improv-ing practices we’re doing a better job than we did 20 years ago,” he said. “I’m always amazed at the job farmers do. It’s tremendous. We wear so many hats.”

In its efforts to find solutions to

the destruction of monarch habitat, NAWG accepted another hat as it serves on the steering committee of the Monarch Collaborative, a group helping to frame the issues surround-ing milkweed habitat for monarch butterflies.

Bartholdt can be reached at [email protected] or (208) 848-2275.

Butterflyfrom Page 5A

“I’m always amazed at the job farmers do. It’s tremendous. We wear

so many hats.”Robert Blair

Kendrick, Idaho farmer

industries in each district forming the committee.

The committee was established two years ago and became active last year, Prescott said. The idea is that if a local agriculture producer and cattle rancher do have an issue, they can contact their district representatives for assistance in finding a solution.

Prescott said the primary prob-lem is that the cattle are still ani-mals and a luscious green crop is like candy to them.

Many ranchers have fencing to contain the animals, he said, but the cows can sometimes still get out and make their way to the more enticing feed.

“They’ll eat the crop,” he said. “Basically, that’s ultimately what the problem is.”

While restricting the cattle from crops may legally fall to the farmer, Prescott said there are issues for both parties when the cows are able to roam into the fields or completely freely.

Farmers do not want their crop

eaten and ranchers do not want their cattle eating some crops — like alfalfa that can cause them to bloat and kill them quickly — or mingling outside their genetic pool or being exposed to disease.

Prescott said ranchers also worry about their cattle getting out of their fence, even if they aren’t liable in an open range area.

“Their biggest fear is their ani-mals getting out and hurting some-one,” he said.

Another aspect is the investment ranchers make into their cattle. Prescott said a minimum cost per head of cattle is about $2,000. It can become pretty expensive if five or six cows get out and either end up sick, injured or dead.

There are incentives for both cat-tle ranchers and agriculture farmers to work cooperatively to address any concerns with neighboring crops and cows, Prescott said.

He believes the committee formed between the two associations has been working great and is more beneficial to the local producers than taking the conflicts to the state level.

Rudd may be reached at [email protected], at (208) 791-8465 or on Twitter @elizabeth_rudd.

Rangefrom Page 13A

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cattle tend to move to higher elevations, while during low rainfall they remain at lower elevations and closer to water sources, she said.

During cloudy or high pre-cipitation times the cattle are also more likely to be out in open, uncovered areas, while during the hot and sunny times they spend more time in dense canopy areas to stay cool, Roever said.

By collecting this data, land managers can have a clearer image of where animals go at more exact periods of time depending on their surrounding elements and outside factors.

Roever said rainfall will affect habitat selection the fol-lowing month, too, which will additionally help managers predict where the animals will go and how they will behave the following month.

Malott may be reached at [email protected], at (208) 883-4639 or on Twitter @samanthamalott.

Cattlefrom Page 14A

By Joel Millsfor Northwest Farm and Ranch

While dozens of homes were lost when wildfires tore through north central Idaho forests this summer, some of the lesser-seen collateral damage was to the hay-filled barns and pastures ranchers rely on to get their stock through the winter.

The need for feed saw neighbors and entire communities banding together to ensure animals were fed or relocated to safe grazing areas. But the University of Idaho set up a backstop in the form of a hay and pasture clearinghouse to con-nect those who have feed with those who needed it.

“We have a list available of people who have contacted us who have hay for sale or pasture for rent,” said Idaho County Extension educator Jim Church. “When somebody needs hay, they can just email us at [email protected], and we will send them that list.”

UI Extension serves as clearinghouse to connect those with excess to those in needWildfires take toll on feed stocks

Barry Kough/TribuneFarmers dig fire breaks around a barn and house Monday on the Anatone Flats south of Asotin. Area residents and several agencies combined forces with Blue Mtn Fire District firefighters to contain and put out the wind-driven grass fire.See Wildfires, Page 18A

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Keith RidlerAssociated Press

BOISE — Federal scientists are conducting a low-flow stream study in six western states in an attempt to gain insights that could help resource managers better allocate scarce water supplies during future droughts.

U.S. Geological Survey workers are measuring flows and temperatures through September in nearly 500 streams mostly in upper tributaries in Idaho, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

The report could ultimately be used for everything from deciding how much water to release from dams, how many cattle to allow on grazing allotments, how much water will be available for farmers in irrigation districts and decisions about rivers that contain fish protected under the Endangered Species Act.

“If water managers can understand which streams are most vulnerable it

helps them target efforts for drought relief,” said Chris Konrad, a research hydrologist with the federal agency and the study’s project chief.

The spring snowpack in the West in 2015 was much lower than long-term averages, and many rivers in the region are now at historically low flows.

What is especially unusual about the low snowpack, Konrad said, is that many areas received average amounts of precipitation. However, it came down as rain rather than snow, meaning it immediately ran through basins rather than forming a high-elevation snowpack that functions as a kind of reservoir slowly melt-ing through the summer to replenish streams.

“This is pretty extreme by histori-cal standards,” Konrad said. “I don’t know that we can expect this kind of year frequently. But at the same time,

U.S. Geological Survey workers to measure stream flow and temperature

Scientists conduct drought study in western states

Associated PressA hydrologic technician from the U.S. Geological Survey Idaho Water Science Center measures streamflow Aug. 17 in Fall Creek near Anderson Ranch Dam in Mountain Home, southwestern Idaho. See study, Page 23A

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People can also call the exten-sion office at (208) 983-2667.

Church said the response hasn’t been very heavy due to the existing support structures in the communities impacted by wildfires.

“A lot of people had con-tacts (for hay) directly, but we wanted to offer that service to them,” he said, noting that the recent moisture has reduced the demand even further. “We’ve been getting some good rain up here, and the pastures are start-ing to green up again. But we’ll still make (the list) available.”

The university offered the service for all of northern Idaho, but it was focused in Idaho, Clearwater and Lewis counties where the fires were worst.

Church said this is the first time the service has been offered, but if there is another bad fire year, it will be reacti-vated.

Mills may be reached at [email protected] or (208) 848-2266.

Wildfiresfrom Page 16A

designation is set to increase consump-tion of lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas by emphasizing their nutritional value, versatility and importance in feeding people around the world.

The greatest consumption of pulses is in India and the Middle East, Bahceci said, but new ways of using pulses will be part of the focus of the 2016 events.

“We have to be innovative with our pulse ingredients and encourage the food industry to use them,” Bahceci said in a news release.

That includes encouraging and expanding the use of pulses in the United States and Canada where pulses are grown, but not used as commonly as in other countries.

Scholz said there will be chef compe-titions during the pulse year illustrating creative ways to use these products.

The health benefits of pulses, espe-cially in controlling obesity and cardio-vascular diseases, will be emphasized.

“This is kind of an effort to reacquaint the world with these crops and focus some research emphasis and improve marketing access and promote their category as a great source of nutrition,”

Scholz said.In order to promote the International

Year of Pulses growers worldwide are contributing part of their crop assess-ment to be used for an increased mar-keting effort. Bahceci said the indus-try has made a $1.1 million pledge to finance the year, marking the first time

there has been a public-private partner-ship to promote a U.N. process.

For more information about the International Year of Pulses see: http://iyp2016.org/.

Hedberg may be reached at [email protected] or (208) 983-2326.

Pulsesfrom Page 12A

Steve Hanks/TribuneSome of the base mixes of soup starters of Brocke Cedar Ridge Soups.

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Cindy Snyder Times-News

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Average. That’s how bean growers are describing the 2015 crop, though it’s still a little early to call it.

Statewide, about 15 percent of the dry edible bean crop was harvested as of Sept. 1. In the Magic Valley, the number was probably closer to 5 percent.

Glen Gier, a field representative with Gentec Inc., said only five fields had been threshed in the Twin Falls area but a lot of fields were just getting cut. He expects the majority of beans to be cut in the next two weeks.

“Harvest is progressing good,” Gier said. “The beans are right where they should be.”

South of Twin Falls, Bill Bitzenburg was cutting beans. Given the intense heat in June and how early small grain harvest was this year, he thought the bean crop might be further ahead than it is.

When many fields started turning yellow a couple of weeks ago, he thought

harvest might pick up but the beans are taking their time. And that might help push yields a bit higher. Some of the early maturing varieties had undersized beans, likely because of that early heat stress. Cooler temperatures in August may help boost bean size in later matur-ing varieties.

Compared to last year, plants did not seem to have as much foliage. Although leaves covered the rows, the canopy was not so thick that air couldn’t move through it.

During the monsoon in early August when thunderstorms formed nearly every afternoon and humidity was high, growers were watching for mold but most did not have to spray fungicides to protect the crop.

Red spider mites are starting to show up in fields, but infestations are spotty and it’s late enough that they aren’t expected to impact yields. Growers reported seeing a lot of thrip this sum-mer and damage can be seen in fields, but not at a level that demanded treat-ment.

Bitzenburg was expecting yields to be

off based on the thinner plant structure.“It’s hard to have a heavy building

on a weak foundation,” he pointed out. But when he’s pulled back the leaves to check sets, he’s been surprised to find more pods lower on the plants.

Both Bitzenburg and Gier expect yields to be average to slightly above

average this year. But that’s somewhat disappointing after last year’s great crop.

“I’ve got reds and they don’t look bad, but last year I knew they looked good,” Bitzenburg said. “We had some really good beans (in the Magic Valley) last year.”

Idaho farmers pleased with this year’s crop

Bean harvest begins

Associated PressBeans turn to show a yellow color in a field Aug. 21 north of Hansen, Idaho.

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By Luke RamsethPost-Register

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — As the potato harvest approaches, eastern Idaho farmers are hoping to improve on a middling 2014 crop.

Nobody is predicting a banner har-vest. But demand appears healthy, experts said, while overall yields and spud sizes are expected to be better than a year ago.

Everyone warns it’s still early in the process, however. Most local farmers won’t begin harvesting the famous Idaho variety, the Russet Burbank, until late this month. And there could yet be major issues with late blight disease, a problem some say has been worse than ever in east-ern Idaho this year.

“We’re hopeful there’s some money in it for us this year,” said Osgood farmer Greg Risenmay. He said he will be digging “full-speed” by Sept. 28.

Risenmay said that so far, it feels

like “just a typical year for Idaho.”Idaho Potato Commission President

Frank Muir said across much of the state, the overall yield might be no better than last year — but the size and shape of the potatoes is expected to improve. Last year was marked by a glut of undersized spuds, possibly related to the excessive late-summer rain.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 4,000 more acres of potatoes were planted this year across Idaho compared to 2014. Those increases are tied to farmers with larger contracts with processors, Muir said — a sign that demand is healthy, particularly from overseas.

Muir said this year has been espe-cially bad for late blight, however. The disease has been known to cause widespread destruction to potato crops.

Kent Sutton, who farms outside

Farmers expect improvements in shape and size

Cautious optimism as potato harvest approaches

Post-RegisterYoung potato plants grown by Mickelsen Farms get a drink in a field along Wolverine Road east of Firth. The weather has worked out well for eastern Idaho potato farmers, with a dry spell for planting, plenty of rain for germination and now some sunshine to help with growth.See optimism, Page 22A

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Torrie CopeIdaho Press-Tribune

MIDDLETON, Idaho — A late-summer breeze carried the scent of rosemary and basil as Tim and Mike Sommer spoke about their organic farming methods at Purple Sage Farms in Middleton.

The father and son grow certified organic herbs, greens and vegetables on their 50-acre family farm. They use 12 greenhouses to grow their crops, which increases the length of their growing season and enhances the fla-vor of the products. They also put in four terraced beds behind the green-houses four years ago, where they’ve planted additional varieties of crops.

Tim and his wife, Tamara, started the farm 26 years ago, when they returned home to Middleton. They decided to farm organically, even though it presents additional chal-lenges.

“We became stewards, in that you learn about organic farming and what

it takes and how much harder it is, but there are reasons why, so we’ve embraced that,” Tim said.

There are 211 organic farms in Idaho and eight in Canyon County, according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture in 2012. That’s a small fraction of the 24,816 total farms in Idaho. There are more than 14,000 organic farms in the United States.

Farms must grow through a five-step process with the USDA to become certified, that includes farm inspec-tions and an organic system plan for the producer or handler, according to the USDA.

As an organic farm, Purple Sage doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pes-ticides to aid their crops. Instead, manure from their herd of grass-fed sheep and compost piles add nutrients to the soil. They’re also finding ways to attract native pollinators — bees — to the farm.

The Sommers are required to enhance the biodiversity on their farm

as part of their organic certification program, Tim Sommer said, but that can be difficult for small farms like Purple Sage.

“I didn’t know that you can do that by providing additional habitat for pollinators,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a giant thing that takes a third of your farm to do. It’s a small thing that’s easily incorporated into what you’re doing and takes minimal space.”

Helping bees help farms

Purple Sage showed off its efforts and experiments last week during a field day hosted by the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides.

Standing in front of the terraced beds, Mike Sommer listed the vari-ous plant families that he rotates through the farm in the greenhouses and outside. In all, there are about 150 varieties of plants. He keeps track of them using detailed Excel spread-sheets going back four years.

The different varieties have overlap-ping flowering periods to provide food for the pollinators, which keeps them around. Sommer also plants a mix of annuals and perennials. When the ground is disturbed to rotate annuals, there are still places for insects to go, so it’s less disruptive to their habitat.

Those plant varieties serve more than one purpose. They provide income to the farm and attract the beneficial insects the farm needs for pollination by creating habitat.

“The important thing to think about is what we’re doing is providing a really good habitat and a really good place for native bees to exist, for their populations to improve and increase and for them to potentially start to

contribute to crop pollination on your farm,” said Jessa Kay Cruz.

Cruz is with the Xerces Society, a nonprofit group that works with farm-ers, including the Sommers, to support habitat to increase native bee popula-tions and crop production.

Native bees are different from hon-eybees, which originate from Europe. Most honey bees live in managed hives, but native bees are largely soli-tary, Cruz said, and don’t form hives and colonies like honeybees. There are about 4,000 species of native bees in North America.

Of the main groups of native bees in Idaho, the largest are ground nest-ing bees that nest in loose soil. Others include bumblebees and tunnel nest-ing bees.

“Over time it’s become fascinating to see varieties of insects that you’ve never seen before or noticed before that are pollinators,” Tim Sommer said. “We’ve learned a lot.”

There has been a focus on the decline in honeybee population and their pollination benefits, but native bees have been shown in some studies to be more effective pollinators than honeybees. A 2011 study by Cornell University professor Bryan Danforth found that native bees were two to three times more effective pollinators than honeybees and that native bees may be doing more work than they’re getting credit for.

In 2009, native pollinators contrib-uted crop benefits valued at more than $9 billion in the U.S., according to a White House fact sheet.

The Sommers are now experiment-ing with what are called hedge rows. The rows are between the greenhouse and terraced beds and will eventually have a diverse mix of more than 100 plants in those rows to attract even more of those beneficial insects.

Along with the native pollinators, the plants also become important habitat for natural enemies to pests including insects, spiders and birds.

Studies show native bees are two to three times more effective pollinatorsThe buzz around native bees

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Rexburg, said it’s the worst year for late blight in eastern Idaho in recent memory.

“It’s just everywhere this year,” he said.

It isn’t a problem regional farmers have always had to deal with, unlike other areas of the country, Sutton said. A longer, warmer growing sea-son than normal might have given the disease more time and ideal condi-tions to multiply and spread, he said.

Farmers fight late blight by apply-ing protective fungicidal sprays. But Sutton said it’s hard to shield the whole crop — some plants always end up dying.

And farmers need to be wary that the disease doesn’t continue to fester even after harvest.

“If you get those infected pota-toes going into storage, it can spread within your pile and cause some real storage losses,” Sutton said.

As with any crop, a lot can go wrong in a short amount of time. But Sutton said he’s optimistic he’ll be harvesting a healthy field of potatoes in less than two weeks.

Optimismfrom Page 20A

Potato harvest gets underway in earnest following an excellent growing season for 2015, potato farmers said.

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we also know climate models are tell-ing us we should expect warmer win-ters and in some years less snowpack. If we see one year like this, it’s likely that we’ll see more years like this.”

One of the key goals of the $465,000 study is to determine which basins are most vulnerable to a low snow-pack and which basins have the kind of geology that can mitigate a lack of snow with groundwater.

About 160 of the streams are in Idaho.

“Groundwater can act kind of like a buffer,” said Dave Evetts, data chief at the Geological Survey’s Idaho Water Science Center. “They’re going to know based on snowpack and pre-cipitation amounts which areas may be impacted more severely by that kind of drought situation.”

That kind of information could be used by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management when it comes to graz-ing allotments or setting stream flows where fish are present in water rights agreements, agency spokeswoman Jessica Gardetto said.

“We use a lot of USGS products

and studies,” she said. “We incorpo-rate a lot of their data into our NEPA reports.”

Brian Sauer, water operations man-ager for the Middle Snake River field office with the Bureau of Reclamation, said the additional information could be helpful in knowing how much water to expect in the spring when manag-ers are trying to fill reservoirs but also leave space to protect against down-stream flooding. It could be especially helpful following a winter like 2015.

“It’s possible that more rain than snow could make us operate slightly differently,” Sauer said.

Joel Fenolio, senior water manager for the Upper Columbia with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said one year won’t change how the agency operates dams.

But he said the agency would be interested in the USGS report for 2015.

“It was a challenging winter to fig-ure out total water supply,” he said. “There was a lot of precipitation, but it didn’t build as snow like is usually does. It just kept running off.”

Another key component of the study is tracking water temperature. Many species of fish, some with federal pro-tections, can’t survive in warm water.

Geological Survey officials say the report will be published in 2016.

Studyfrom Page 17A

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24A | Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Friday, September 25, 2015

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