February 2001

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Industry Confirms Support For Red Raspberry Rules From WA State Departement of Agriculture Following an advisory ballot and a Jan. 18 hearing in Whatcom County, the state Department of Agriculture today announced its intent to move ahead on rules establishing grades and standards for fresh raspberries sold for processing. The red raspberry rules, which are to go into effect June 1, were on-hold pending further review of the small business economic impact statement that analyzed the cost of complying with them. A legislative rules review committee finding that the impact study did not pursue methods to reduce costs on small businesses prompted the review. Advisory ballots were mailed in December to all growers, processors, and grower-processors on record with the Department of Agriculture to determine their level of support for the rules. Of 231 ballots mailed, 102 were returned. A total of 64 percent support the rules. Of 44 persons who provided oral or written testimony, 37 indicated support for the rules. Most testified either that the impact statement was adequate, or that it overstated the costs to the industry. Seven testified that the impact statement was not adequate, and that they opposed the rules. Department of Agriculture is in the process of developing additional rules to determine how red raspberries harvested outside of Washington and used for raspberry puree can comply with the rules to reduce the potential for adulteration. The goal of these rules is to protect consumers without unreasonably restricting trade. In 2000, Washington growers produced 35,625 tons of red raspberries on 9,500 acres with a production value of nearly $25.9 million. Washington is ranked first in the nation for raspberry production. Brazilian Beef Imports Suspended Following close consultations with Brazilian government officials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced February 2, 2001, that it is temporarily suspending the import of processed beef and associated products from Brazil. This decision is a temporary action pending the release of requested data to complete a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk assessment. USDA is working with Brazilian agriculture officials to expeditiously complete a risk assessment regarding this matter. Once this data has been received and USDA is assured that Brazil has taken sound measures to prevent BSE, the suspension will be lifted. There is no evidence of BSE in Brazil. USDA, along with appropriate federal health agencies, will continue to monitor and assess this situation and take any additional actions that may be necessary or appropriate. USDA's BSE policy has been to be proactive and preventative. USDA has taken stringent measures in surveillance, prevention, education and response. Import restrictions in countries known to have BSE have been in place since 1989 and active surveillance efforts began in 1990. NW Direct Seed Conf. Videos By H. Dennis Brown, Washington State University Digital-quality videos made at the 4th Northwest Direct Seed Cropping Systems Conference, Jan. 17-19, in Spokane are available from Washington State University. The conference featured 27 speakers, including 14 growers from five states and four foreign countries. More than 730 people attended. Four videos feature the four half-day focus sessions: * Northern Great Plains and International Experiences * Improving Soil Quality and Productivity * Crops, Rotations and Management Strategies * Pest Management Strategies. Four additional videos include presentations by eight Northwest growers on their experiences making the transition to direct seed systems. The videos are available on loan in the Pacific Northwest. They also can be purchased for $17 each or $125 for all eight. Detailed descriptions of each video plus information on how to order them can be found on the conference web site at http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu/directseed or by contacting Debbie Marsh, WSU crop and soil sciences department, at (509) 335-2915 or by e-mail at marshdj@wsu.edu. UI Researchers Use NewDNA Technology To Help Bighorns By Marlene Fritz, University of Idaho Currently, it takes up to two weeks to know whether a bighorn sheep that is undergoing relocation is infected with bacteria linked to a deadly pneumonia. But a new DNA-based technique developed at the University of Idaho's Caine Veterinary Teaching Center promises to give researchers the answer within 24 to 48 hours. To help wildlife biologists prevent transmission of disease during future relocation operations, Drs. Al Ward and Glen Weiser are once again evaluating tonsil swab samples from Northwest bighorn sheep this winter. Of the 348 bighorn sheep they sampled last year from Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska and Canada, Ward and Weiser found that about 20 percent carried bacteria that potentially threaten the health of the wild sheep. These infected animals bore Pasteurella haemolytica and Pasteurella trehalosi bacteria armed with the "lktA" gene&endash;a gene that enables the bacteria to release a toxin that attacks bighorns' white blood cells. As many as 75 percent of bighorns infected with lktA-positive bacteria can die of pneumonia. Last year's samples were first cultured in the laboratory&endash;the slower, conventional technique&endash;then frozen and retested using the new, rapid polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, method. In the frozen samples, the PCR test came to the same conclusions as the older method 92 percent of the time. Ward and Weiser are confident that this year's study&endash;conducted entirely with fresh samples&endash;will detect the lktA gene with even greater accuracy and frequency. Laboratory cultures, which use selective antibiotics to help isolate the Pasteurella bacteria, depend on follow-up steps to identify the bacteria and evaluate their ability to produce leukotoxin. By contrast, PCR is a direct test for the presence of the lktA gene. "Theoretically, one of the beauties of this type of procedure is that an intact gene can be detected and an infected animal can be identified even if the bacteria themselves have died," says Ward. Mark Drew, wildlife veterinarian for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, calls Pasteurella pneumonia "probably one of the major factors" in death and illness among bighorn sheep. "Conceivably, if we could get results in a reasonable amount of time and with reasonable accuracy, we could potentially pick and choose the sheep that we wanted to move or transplant," he says. All PCR tests depend on primers&endash;short pieces of DNA that recognize only the specific sequence of the gene scientists are seeking. To locate any targeted gene, scientists need primers for both the beginning and end of its sequence. UI scientists first determined which primers were needed to find the lktA gene by using the National Institute of Health's electronic genebank for Pasteurella. Then, building on previous work by Ward, they developed a liquid enrichment medium that allows the disease organisms to multiply rapidly during overnight incubation. The formula works so well that as few as 50 live Pasteurella bacteria produce "profuse" overnight growth, Ward says, while multiplication of most other bacteria is prevented or retarded. Ward believes the test will prove useful in two significant ways: It should be able to protect "clean" bighorn populations from infection by disease-carrying newcomers, and it should prevent chronically infected animals from being moved and dying unnecessarily of stress-induced flare-ups. But Ward and Weiser won't know for sure until this year's research is completed. "This stage of the testing is critical," says Ward. "We need to make sure that our technique works, that it works well and that it works quickly." The research is being funded in part by the Morris Animal Foundation. How Did Oregon's Trees Get Their Names? By Andy Duncan, Oregon State University Is the Douglas-fir a true fir tree? Is the western larch an evergreen? And where in the heck do "hem-firs" grow? Don't fret if you can't answer these questions. You'll be able to after you read a publication from the Oregon State University Extension Service. From the mountain-mahoganies of eastern Oregon to the four types of "false" cedars in western Oregon, "Understanding Names of Oregon Trees" offers tidbits of information about the origins and names of the state's tallest plants. Examples: The Douglas-fir is not among Oregon's six native true firs because&emdash;to put it in plain language&emdash;its cones don't have the classic fir shape. The wood products industry often calls the wood of young Douglas-firs "red fir" and the wood of older trees "yellow fir." The Japanese call Douglas-fir wood "Oregon pine." The western larch tree of northeastern Oregon is a conifer, a type of tree commonly called an evergreen. But the larch is not evergreen. It's the only conifer in the state that sheds its needles every year. If you're having trouble spotting the "hem-firs" you hear builders talk about it's because there is no such tree. Hem-fir is a grouping of woods. The building industry uses the name to refer to species with similar properties, in this case those of firs and hemlocks. The six trees in the hem-fir grouping are western hemlock, California red fir, grand fir, noble fir, Pacific silver fir and white fir. "It's little wonder that people are confused by tree names," said Scott Leavengood, the OSU Extension wood products agent in Klamath County who wrote "Understanding Names of Oregon Trees." "Foresters and lay people often name a tree based on its physical appearance, the wood products industry may call the tree another name based on the characteristics of the wood, and botanists name a tree based on its anatomical characteristics and evolutionary relationship with other trees." For more information on "Understanding Names of Oregon Trees," EC 1502, visit our on-line catalog. Our publications and video catalog at: http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat shows which publications are available on the Web and which can be ordered as printed publications. A more detailed publication titled "Trees to Know in Oregon," EC 1450, is also available. Visit the on-line catalog for more information. States Eye Limits On Biotech Wheat News From The Far West Agribusiness Association Montana and North Dakota are considering legislation restricting genetically modified wheat production in order to protect farmers from losing export business to countries fearful of genetically modified food. The first GM wheat expected to hit the market is a spring wheat variety engineered to be herbicide resistant. N. Dakota is the top U.S. spring wheat growing state, producing 55% of the U.S. crop.  North Dakota lawmakers are considering a moratorium on planting biotech wheat, while another bill calls for a third-party certification of crop segregation. Montana is debating a two-year moratorium on GM wheat, as well as commissioning a study on the benefits and problems that might stem from biotech wheat.

Risk A Constant In Grower's Lives Farm & Ranch Column By Terence L. Day, Washington State University One of the things that has puzzled me over more than three decades of writing about agriculture is that in farming and ranching&emdash;an industry in which operators eagerly embrace new technologies&emdash;so many producers are reluctant to flirt with new business tools. Many farmers and ranchers are about as eager to get into risk management as young people are to date someone with bad breath or severe body odor. Risk is a constant and as farming and ranching have become more complex, so have the risks. No one can make risk go away, but it can be managed. And that's an important key to survival in these difficult economic times. A couple of years ago Farm Futures magazine surveyed farmers' attitudes about risk management. At that time only about 5 percent of the magazine's readers were using tools available to them to manage risk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency lists four reasons why farmers and ranchers are reluctant to manage their risks. Right there on top is resistance to change. Farmers and ranchers are, by nature, a conservative lot. Change is uncomfortable. Interestingly, these cautious folks sometimes champ at the bit as new technologies come over the horizon, eager to try out new equipment, chemicals or production practices. But changing the way they make business decisions is, perhaps, more fundamental and represents a greater perception of risk. I suspect many are fatalistic, believing that they are at the mercy of the whims of market gods. Maybe I should wander across campus to the psychology department and bounce that idea off of some of my friends there. Number two is the feeling that risk management involves too many decisions and not enough time to study them. If farmers understand anything about risk management, they know that even good tools poorly applied can put them on the road to ruin. The number three reason is an abiding distrust of the futures industry. Farmers have been slow to snuggle up to crop insurance, even though it's been around for a long time now. Ironically, in the past the federal farm programs have buffered the harsh realities of economic risk in grain production, thus reducing the perceived need for risk management. That was the fourth reason listed by RMA. Many types of production, including tree fruit, never have had government price supports and have had to cope with risk on their own. Today, apple growers are between a rock and a hard place, especially those still growing red delicious, which account for about half of the state's production. So far this crop year's average price per 42-pound carton of red delicious is running about 22 percent lower than the 1999-2000 price and&emdash;at $9.40 &emdash; nearly 28 percent below $13 per carton estimated cost of production. Recently, RMA launched a Pacific Northwest Orchard Families Project to help orchardists learn risk management skills that could be very important survival tools. RMA is teaming with WSU Cooperative Extension, USDA Farm Services Agency professionals and Wenatchee Valley College to conduct a series of workshops for orchardists. Each workshop will cover two full-day sessions, on two Saturdays so each adult decision maker in the family can participate. The first workshop will be held in Yakima, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., Jan. 20 and 27. The second will be in Okanogan, Feb. 10 and 17. The final workshop will be held in Chelan, Feb. 24 and March 10. Additional workshops will be held in Oregon and Idaho late next fall. The workshop will integrate information on financial, orchard, and market analysis and management, family strengthening, personal health, marketing, managing production risks, goal setting and coping with change. Participants will be able to develop a family business and finance plan. Each workshop will cost $10 per person, including two lunches. To register, send a $10 check, payable to WSU Cooperative Extension, to PO Box 550, Waterville, WA 98858. Fumigating Onions Can Increase Demand For Phosphorus in Rotation Crops By Marlene Fritz, University of Idaho When onion growers fumigate their fields to control weeds, diseases or nematodes, they unavoidably destroy helpful organisms along with harmful ones. Some of those lost beneficials include soil mycorrhizae that aid the onions' very limited roots in drawing phosphorus into the plant. At the University of Idaho, extension crop management specialist Brad Brown is finding that spring-planted onions growing in fall-fumigated high-lime soils take up only 40 to 70 percent as much phosphorus from soil as they do in non-fumigated fields. While the residual soil phosphorus in the non-fumigated field supported nearly normal onion growth, poor uptake in the fumigated field required treatment with added phosphorus. Phosphorus, an essential element, helps plants maintain energy and transfer it internally. Brown calls the stunting effect of fumigation "striking." "There are some beneficial organisms in the soil that we more or less take for granted," he says. "When you destroy those, particularly under conditions where phosphorus availability is marginal, you will see the effect of their loss." Not only do onions planted in high-lime soils take a hit in phosphorus acquisition, but so does the wheat that often follows onions in Treasure Valley rotations. During early-season vegetative growth, Brown documented 30 percent less phosphorus uptake in wheat following fumigated onions. That uptake caught up somewhat by the end of the season as weather warmed. Some varieties&endash;such as the commonly grown Stephens&endash;appear to be less tolerant of the previous year's fumigation than others. "We had always thought that the effects of fumigation on beneficial mycorrhizae would be relatively short-lived," Brown says, "but it turns out the effects are longer-lived than that." Beans following wheat showed little impact from the fumigant that had been applied two years earlier. "We don't know if the beans are more tolerant of the same conditions or if the mycorrhizal populations were able to recover," Brown says. He will report the results Feb. 6 at the annual meeting of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Growers' Association in Ontario. Growers routinely apply phosphorus to their fields. It's only high-lime fields&endash;or areas within them&endash;that are likely to show lingering phosphorus deficiencies in fertilized crops following fumigation, Brown says. The high-lime "white" soils are less able to make phosphorus available to plants than are lower lime soils. Soil mycorrhizae help by extending their fungal filaments outside the roots they enter. Those filaments effectively increase root extension, allowing roots to access nutrients from greater soil volumes and enabling roots to take up more of the available phosphorus that is present. "In most situations, fields as a whole are adequately fertilized," says Brown. But even with added phosphorus, he was unable to compensate entirely for fumigation in high-lime spots in some years. He suspects the availability of other soil nutrients may also be reduced after fumigation. Brown says he hopes his research has increased the awareness of the effects of fumigation and that it has given growers "an even greater appreciation for the need for phosphorus nutrition in fumigated onions." Fertilizer May Get Scarce From OWGL's Oregon Wheat Newsletter Rising natural gas prices may have fertilizer prices rising this spring. ProFarmer last week quoted Fred Gill, president and chief executive officer of fertilizer manufacturer Saskferco Products in Saskatchewan, as saying that "the risk is real that supply could be short." With production capacity at extremely low levels and high prices for natural gas, the incentive isn't there for production of ammonia. Gill stated that with the current February price for natural gas at $8.98 per million BTUs, ammonia prices will have to increase significantly to make its production pencil out. Even if natural gas prices ease with industrial shutdowns, warmer weather and reduced heating use in March, it would take 30 to 60 days for ammonia plants to get back into production and move products to retail positions, according to ProFarmer. Direct Seed Conference Proceedings & Report Available By H. Dennis Brown, Washington State University Free copies of the Proceedings from the 2001 Direct Seed Cropping Systems Conference and the 2000 PNW STEEP Annual Report on conservation tillage systems research and educational projects can be ordered from Washington State University's crop and soil sciences department. The conference, held Jan. 17-19 in Spokane, featured 27 speakers, including 14 growers from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Chile, New South Wales and Australia as well as researchers and agricultural industry representatives from the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Colorado. The 125-page proceedings provides detailed summaries of the presentation. The 180-page STEEP (Solutions To Environmental and Economic Problems) report provides in-depth updates on 22 research and educational projects on conservation tillage systems in the Pacific Northwest. STEEP is a cooperative research and educational program sponsored by the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Contact Deb Marsh at (509) 335-2915 or by e-mail at marshdj@wsu.edu to request copies. Both reports will be available on the Conference web site at: http://pnwsteep.wsu.ledu/directseed later this winter. New Launch Date For Livestock Mandatory Reporting Program The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced a new effective date for implementation of the livestock mandatory reporting program. The effective date has been changed from Jan. 30 until April 2. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service made the decision to change the effective date to allow more time for testing the program's new electronic information collection system. Once implemented, the program will require producers and other market participants to report information about the marketing of live cattle, swine, and lambs and products of those livestock. This new effective date will ensure the confidentiality of those required to report the information while providing market participants with readily understood, accurate information on pricing, contracting for purchase, and supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production, and livestock products. The final rule establishing the new effective date will appear soon in the Federal Register. For more information, contact John Van Dyke, Chief, Livestock and Grain Market News, AMS Livestock and Seed Program, USDA Stop 2619, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20090-2619; telephone: (202) 720-6231; fax: (202) 690-3732; or e-mail: john.vandyke@usda.gov.

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