May 2001

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Nethercutt Meets With Castro From WAWG's Green Sheet According to Reuters New Service, 3 U.S. congressmen, including George Nethercutt (sponsor of legislation passed last year by congress to allow U.S. sales of certain foods and medicines to Cuba for the first time in decades), met with Cuban President Fidel Castro into the early hours of the morning in a bid to promote American food and medicine sales to the embargoed island. Castro, who has promised not to purchase a "grain of rice" or "single aspirin" from the U.S. under a law that for the first time would allow such sales to communist-run Cuba, was apparently unmoved by the U.S. lawmakers' appeal. "We knew it would be tough when we went in, but we were undeterred," a delegation source said. "Castro showed no sign he would purchase anything, but we urged him to keep an open mind," he added. Castro and other Cuban leaders have repeatedly denounced last year's easing of the embargo to allow food and medicine sales as a fraud aimed at deflecting international criticism of the embargo while actually strengthening it. Havana argued that the legislation tightened the embargo by further restricting U.S. citizens' ability to travel to Cuba and denying American government or private financing for any potential food or medicine sales. The act authorized food and medicine sales to a number of other U.S.-classified "rogue" states as well, but added the travel and financing restrictions only in the case of Cuba. According to an Associated Press news writing, as they prepared to leave Cuba, the lawmakers said they remain optimistic that American farmers someday will sell goods to the Caribbean nation. "It has not happened yet, but I am more optimistic than I was 2 days ago," Nethercutt said. "Last year we took steps to lift the sanctions on sales of food and medicine. We are looking to Cuba now to also take a bold step." Well-Managed Alfalfa Crops Can Sleep Safely In Dry Summers And Wake Up Refreshed Next Year By Marlene Fritz, University of Idaho Alfalfa is a curious crop: It demands 36 inches of water from early spring to late fall, yet it survives drought quite well. But producers must manage their established stands carefully in water-short years if they want to take advantage of the crop's ability to survive mid- and late-season dormancy. Glenn Shewmaker, University of Idaho extension forage specialist, says producers who will lose water early or who intend to move it in mid-season from alfalfa to less drought-tolerant crops should plan to market their hay for feeder-cow&emdash;not dairy&emdash;use. Dairy hay is best cut just as alfalfa begins to bud, while feeder hay is cut later, after the plant starts to bloom. Harvested as feeder hay, the more mature plant will have had more time to restock its roots and crown with carbohydrates. Consequently, it will be more likely to survive without water until next spring. "Fortunately, because of last year's drought and fires, there will be a good demand for feeder hay," Shewmaker says. Generally, Idaho fields carry over enough winter moisture and receive enough spring precipitation to produce one cutting of hay even without supplemental irrigation. According to Shewmaker, dryland producers typically harvest once, then let their stands go dormant. "There's some risk of stand loss, but producers can minimize the damage by harvesting the hay when it's mature and when soils are dry," he says. The crop's tap root&emdash;which, depending on soil depth, can be as long as 5 feet&emdash;keeps the plant alive until winter and spring precipitation can replenish soil moisture. Recently, some irrigated producers have begun to grow alfalfa under center-pivots&emdash;a practice that can jeopardize stand survival if the crop isn't watered deeply. "Roots do not grow in search of water; they grow in the presence of water," Shewmaker says. "The idea is to get the whole soil profile wet. Then you have drought tolerance." Bill Hazen, Gooding County extension educator, advises producers who haven't irrigated deeply in the past to "irrigate your alfalfa first this spring and fill that soil profile." Regardless of their irrigation systems or intended markets, Hazen says alfalfa hay producers should avoid stressing their crop early in the season. "Stressing alfalfa will affect yield more in the early spring than at any other time," he says. "Starting water late is false economy. The crop will not completely recover if it's had drastic water stress early in the growing season." Later in the season, alfalfa that hasn't gone dormant will still produce acceptable yields with less-than-optimal water. "It's a lot more forgiving than other crops," says Hazen. It's also more profitable. "Right now, at today's prices, alfalfa would continue to pay and grains, sugarbeets and potatoes may not," Hazen says. That will make for serious food-for-thought when the time comes to shift water. He advises producers to make that decision now. "Whether you'll be letting your alfalfa go dormant affects your choice of the other crops you'll grow." According to Shewmaker, another option may be to harvest the first crop early, as dairy hay, then let the second crop mature and cut it as feeder hay. "Hopefully, you'll still put back more carbohydrates than you used getting the growth started," he says. "But it's a risk and you might lose some plants." Once dormant, alfalfa attracts few insects or diseases. "It's an environmentally-friendly crop," says Shewmaker. During a full growing season, it will even fix enough nitrogen from the atmosphere to grow a corn or wheat crop the following year. "It's very good for sustainable systems," he says. Drought Response Action Team Called Together From WAWG's Green Sheet From the Desk of Gretchen Borck, Director of Issues: The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has put together a Drought Response Action Team (DRAT) made up of key ag/fed/state leaders to identify problems and solve drought issues. I have been asked by WSDA Director Jim Jesernig to serve on this task force. The purpose of meeting will be to identify issues and opportunities for commodity groups and regional areas. Some of the questions are what are the key concerns, what needs to happen, and what information do we need to proceed to action. This past week, before the first meeting, I sent out e-mail inquiring from WAWG members concerns and solutions. I would like to thank those who responded; I was able to share the comments with the entire DRAT statewide team. If you would like to have your comments added to the discussion, and so that I can send you information, inquiries and topics before meetings, send your email to gretchen@wawg.org. Some of the comments I took to the first meeting were: "There are several issues which need to be addressed. Dry land as well as irrigated. Irrigated issues are cost 'of power and water as well as increased costs of fuel and fertilizer and depressed markets. What will the impact be to rural-eastern Washington, if irrigated growers go for buyouts and do not plant crops at all. My concern is how this will affect dryland growers. At this point the best thing the state can do is make sure they have laid the groundwork so we can be declared a disaster area if the need arises. We will need federal help. In 1977 we were able to secure low interest SEA loans."&emdash;Jim Walesby "I doubt if many are going to be willing to give up their water/power because of very reasonable fears that if they do it once, they may never get it back&emdash;'no good deed goes unpunished'."&emdash;Ben Barstow "An idea is to pursue the government to reopen an insurance buy in which subsidized premiums to insure against a bad crop due to drought in areas such as ours, that traditionally have high priced crop insurance and very low loss levels."&emdash;David Ostheller "The drought that Washington is experiencing will make it hard for all of ag this year. This is spite of the fact that we had an over abundance of water last year. My biggest fear is that DOE will still want as much or more water for the fish and will try to get it one way or another, possibly to agriculture's disadvantage."&emdash;Dan Buob Ag Secretary's Statement On U.S. Access To Brazilian Wheat Market March 16, 2001 "I am pleased that Brazil has re-opened its market to imports of U.S. hard red winter, hard red spring, and soft red winter wheat. "USDA has been working for over five years with Brazilian officials on phytosanitary concerns in order to open the Brazilian market for our wheat producers. The Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Food Supply, Mr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, has been particularly cooperative in helping to resolve this issue. "We are encouraged by the latest development. Brazil is expected to be the world's largest wheat importer this year and with trade so vital to our agricultural economy, it is important that U.S. farmers have access to this market. "Earlier this month, a Brazilian technical team conducted an extensive survey and analyzed wheat samples in the United States from the major production areas. They found no signs of the wheat gall nematode, Anguina tritici, and have agreed to officially recognize these areas as free of this pest. "Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Food Supply has notified officials at all Brazilian points of entry that they now may accept these three types of U.S. wheat from Gulf and eastern U.S. ports. "This year, Brazil is expected to import nearly 8 million tons of wheat from all sources. In 1996, before Brazil imposed import restrictions on U.S. wheat, it purchased roughly 760,000 tons of U.S. wheat, worth $174 million." PNW Direct Seed Case Study Series Completed By Terence L. Day, Washington State University Northwest grain growers who are interested in converting their operations to direct seeding can learn about this conservation farming system from a new series of 16 grower case studies published by Washington State University, the University of Idaho and Oregon State University. Roger Veseth, extension conservation tillage specialist for Washington State University and the University of Idaho, says many established direct seed growers in the Northwest report that one of the keys to their success was having other direct seed growers share their experiences and knowledge with them as they developed their own system. This series of case studies allows growers and others to learn from other growers' experiences with direct seeding across the Inland Northwest. Each case study features a single farm operation and typically contains the following components: * How growers started direct seeding, and lessons they learned * Description of their current direct seed system including: crops and rotation, residue management, weed, disease and insect control, fertility management and fertilizer application, seeding strategies * Description and evaluation of the drills they are using * Primary benefits and challenges of direct seeding * Advice for growers new to direct seeding; and * Economic summary, if available. "The farms featured in this case study series are located across the range of rainfall zones in the Inland NW region of Washington, Idaho and Oregon," Veseth says. "They also utilize a variety of equipment and cropping systems." The series was published as Pacific Northwest Extension bulletins and are also available on the Internet. Funding was provided by grants from Western Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education and PNW STEEP programs. Print copies are free. They may be ordered through local Cooperative Extension offices or directly from the extension publication offices in Idaho (208) 885-7982, Oregon (541) 737-2513 and Washington (800) 723-1763. The publications can also be accessed through the PNW Conservation Tillage Systems Web site at http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu. Click on Direct Seed Case Studies for viewing, printing or downloading in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format, just as they appear in print. The first item on the Case Study Series Web page is a "Series Overview," which briefly describes the format of the publications, and identifies the growers, farm locations, precipitation zones and common crop rotations. A print copy of the Series Overview can be requested from Veseth, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-2339, phone (208) 885-6386, Fax (208) 885-7760, or e-mail rveseth@uiaho.edu. Palouse Drought Is Just Ducky By Terence L. Day , University of Idaho It's hard to believe in drought while driving around eastern Washington's Palouse country on a rainy spring day. Water seeps from hillsides and ponds in the low spots. Until mid April, tractors stood idle beside fields, equipment hooked up waiting to roll as soon as fields dry enough to support their weight. This is a drought that could thrill a flock of ducks! In fact, recently ducks have been seen bobbing on some Palouse country wheat fields; but with drier, warmer weather this weekend tractors sprang to life. In order to plant, some farmers have seeded around the wet spots, leaving them to dry out. The problem is that the moisture doesn't go down very far. Indeed, the Palouse is in a drought. As farmers wait for fields to dry enough to plant spring crops, some worry whether there will be enough moisture to carry the crop to harvest. Old-timers say the Palouse never has experienced a complete cropfailure, but droughts have curbed yields many times in the past. In a normal year, moisture goes deep in Palouse fields and small grain and wheat and barley roots go down six feet or more to suck water up to the plant on top of the ground. But farmers are reporting to Randel Baldree, WSU Whitman County Cooperative Extension specialist, that there isn't much moisture below the saturated surface. Soil probes reveal dry dirt, sometimes as little as a foot beneath wet surfaces. Baldree says spring rainfall, especially in June, will be the key to this year's crop on the Palouse. But even if farmers produce a normal crop this year, if the drought continues the 2002 crop will be at risk. There are many definitions of drought. The phenomenon can be defined meteorologically, hydrologically, agriculturally or socioeconomically. "Washington is experiencing a drought by just about every definition you choose," says Charles Ross, a hydrologist with the Spokane National Weather Service. And the Palouse is no exception. All 39 Washington counties have been officially labeled as drought stricken. Pullman, in the heart of Washington's agriculturally rich Palouse country, received nine-10 inches of moisture between Oct. 1 and March 31. That's 64 percent of the average since 1940. Pullman's long-term average precipitation is 21.5 inches a year with only 7.15 inches (about 29 percent of the annual precipitation) falling between April 1 and Sept. 30. This is a classic example of a meteorological drought. Rain and snow fall have slipped below 75 percent of normal. Forecasters say it's very unlikely that rain can bring the area's precipitation up to 75 percent of normal by fall. Normal rainfall through September would leave the Pullman area five inches short of average for the 12-month period and the area would be exactly on the 75 percent of normal figure that usually defines drought. It would take 12.5 inches of rain by the end of September to bring the area back up to average. Defined hydrologically, the state is in an even deeper drought. Hydrology has to do with surface and subsurface water supplies. It is measured in stream flows and the amount of water in lakes, reservoirs and aquifers. Hydrologically speaking, the drought extends over the entire Pacific Northwest where many streams are forecast to run at about half the normal volume through September. Measures of agricultural drought&emdash;crop shortages caused by the lack of water&emdash;can't be taken until crops are harvested, but predictions are that production of many crops will fall far below average. Orchardists worry not just about this year's crop, but whether they will be able to keep trees alive to produce when the drought is over. Socioeconomic measures also lie mostly in the future as Northwest businesses, industries and residents almost certainly will experience shortages of electricity and water. Food processors may experience shortages of food products&emdash;apples, potatoes, grapes and other commodities. They may find prohibitively expensive energy prices. Add to these problems, the specter of harsh impacts on recreation, transportation and other facets of society. Like those ducks that recently sat on seepage ponds in Whitman County wheat fields, most Northwest residents are largely unaware of the drought. It may not have affected them much yet, but soon they will be sitting in dust. And then they will believe we are experiencing a drought. Doug McChesney, manager of policy and planning for the Department of Ecology, cautions, "People tend to think, well, bad as it might be this year, in September and October the rains will come and it'll all be over." But even with good fall moisture, the drought may not end this coming fall or winter. "Then we could find ourselves in an even worse situation," McChesney says. Recently Comedian Jay Leno poked fun at a newspaper headline that stated what Leno presumed was obvious, "Rain Storm Ends Drought." But McChesney said it takes much more than a single rain storm to end a drought. Even a flood may not do the trick. "Floods and droughts aren't necessarily incompatible," he said. "You can have a flood in the middle of a drought." The drought will affect everyone in the Northwest, and just about everyone can do something&emdash;besides complain&emdash;about the drought. From farm field to suburban landscape to urban apartment, conservation now will lessen the effects of future consequences. Drought information, including strategies for saving water can be found on many sites on the Internet and is available from WSU Cooperative Extension offices in every county of the state. On the Web, try these sites, or use your favorite browser to pursue "drought:" The Washington State Drought Alert site at http://drought.wsu.edu/ includes information for agricultural producers and urbanites and includes links to many other valuable Web sites. The Washington State Department of Ecology's Water Resources site at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/drought/droughthome.html has a wealth of information. The Washington Conservation Commission site at: http://www.conserver.org/emergency/ has a variety of information. The City of Seattle Public Utilities site is especially valuable for urban dwellers. It is located at http://www.cityofseattle.net/util/. Several other cities also have drought information on Web sites. People who don't have home access to the Internet can access the Internet through their local libraries. New Forest Service Chief Named Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman recently announced the selection of Dale N. Bosworth as the new chief of the Forest Service. Bosworth succeeds former chief Mike Dombeck who retired from federal service March 31. "Dale Bosworth is a veteran forester who has devoted his career to the Forest Service," said Veneman. "His background and experience will make him a great addition to our team. I am pleased to announce his selection as the 15th chief of USDA's Forest Service." Bosworth currently serves as regional forester for the Forest Service's Northern Region, which include northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota. As Forest Service chief, Bosworth will oversee an organization of over 30,000 employees and a budget of $4.6 billion. "I'm deeply honored to be asked to be chief of the Forest Service," Bosworth said. "It will be a pleasure to lead an organization whose employees are recognized for their dedication, professionalism, and leadership in natural resource management." Prior to his current assignment, Bosworth was the regional forester in the Intermountain Region and deputy regional forester in the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service. He also has worked as a forest supervisor and district ranger. Bosworth is a native of California and second-generation forester and Forest Service employee. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1966 with a bachelor of science degree in forestry. Marriage Humor I married Miss Right&emdash;I just didn't know her first name was Always. A man inserted an ad in the classified: "Wife wanted". Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine." How do most men define marriage? An expensive way to get laundry done for free. Then there was a man who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; and then it was too late." A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?" And the father replied, "I don't know son, I'm still paying"

Biotech Rules "Unworkable" From OWGL's Newsletter The European Union Committee on Plants submitted an opinion stating that the Commissions proposed regulations on biotechnology seed purity are not realistic. The committee contends that the draft proposal, which would allow for accidental biotech seed "contamination" up to .3 percent in seed batches of cross pollinating crops and .5 percent for self pollinating, is "unworkable." The committee said that only under ideal conditions could these thresholds be achieved and increased biotechnology usage in the EU would "make the thresholds even more impractical." Additionally, the proposed prohibition of all non-EU authorized biotech seed within conventional seed batches was termed "unobtainable." The seed purity proposal will be examined further taking into account the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Plants. Prospective Plantings For 2001 From WAWG's Green Sheet According to State Statistician Doug Hasslen, "The year 2001 seems to be vying for a leading position in the record-books. With the potential for drought, power outages, and irrigation water being shut off, along with higher prices for fuel, fertilizer, and chemicals, estimating this year's crops will be a challenge. There is much uncertainty right now and the estimates are subject to change as we get further into the year." Spring wheat seedings are expected to be 680,000 acres, 55,000 acres more than last year, and barley is estimated at 400,000 acres, a decrease of 100,000 acres from last year. Sugarbeet acreage is up 1600 acres from 28,400 to 30,000 acres planted. Oats are unchanged at 35,000 acres planted this year. Dry bean acreage planted is down 2000 acres from last year's 30,000 acres. Corn acreage was down 30,000 acres to 125,000 acres. Farmers intend to harvest 760,000 acres of hay, down 20,000 acres from 2000. Hasslen added, these estimates are the results of the March Prospective Planting Survey conducted during the first two weeks of March. We will have an update to the acreage planted from a survey in June and published June 29. The first estimate of winter wheat production will be published May 10. The initial estimate of production for spring wheat and barley will be published July 11." Barley, hay, and spring wheat showed a mixed pattern across the Northwest. Oregon's spring wheat decreased by 5000 acres and Idaho is expecting a 50,000-acre increase. Oregon's barley acreage was 25,000 acres lower than 2000, while Idaho showed a 10,000-acre increase. The combined Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon and Idaho) spring wheat totaled 1,445,000 acres compared with 1,345,000 acres planted last year. The barley totaled 1,285,000 acres planted compared with 1,400,000 acres planted in 2000. Hay acreage harvested in the Pacific Northwest is expected to total 3.22-million acres, down 1%. Nationally, the spring wheat crop is expected to total 15.5-million acres, An increase of 2% from last year. Barley seeded acreage is 5.32-million acres, down 9% from 2000. Oats acreage planted at 4.43-million acres is down 1% from last year. Corn intentions are to plant 76.7-million acres, down 4% from 2000. The area planted to sugarbeets in the 12 producing states is estimated at 1.43-million acres, 8% below last year. Hay producers expect to harvest 63.& million acres in 2001, a 7% increase from 2000. Potential Benefits Of Corn In Rotation By Dennis Roe, Agricultural Horizons Crop rotation is a system in which farmers grow different species of crops in a set sequence over a number of years. In contrast, a monoculture is a system where the farmer plants the same species of crop in the same field every year. Crop rotation provides an advantage over monoculture through more effective use of soil moisture, fertilizer, and other resources. Also, a rotation of individual crop species that differ greatly in their ecology and biology reduces inputs for insect, disease, and weed control. Recently, some dryland farmers in eastern Washington have included field corn in their crop rotations to add a warm-season grass to what had been a rotation of continuous cool-season crop species. The cultivation of field corn (Zea mays L.) began as nations developed in the Western Hemisphere. Peoples such as the Aztecs and Incas used corn as a major part of their diets. North American colonists from Europe were introduced to corn by Native Americans. From that experience came the continued development of the species into what would become the most important crop in US agriculture for the next 300 years (Corn and Corn Improvement, Sprague and Dudley, 1988.) Long thought of as a food crop, it is also considered the standard animal feed throughout most of the world. Recently, corn has become an important industrial commodity with its oil being used in a variety of ways, such as for food processing. Also, carbohydrates from its seed are a raw material for starch-based products, ethanol, and other materials. Corn was first grown by white settlers in the Pacific Northwest in the 1880's as one of many attempts to find crops suitable for the environment. Corn was grown on farms in the Williamette, Yakima, and Kittitas Valleys, and in Klickitat, Walla Walla, and Columbia Counties (Centennial Farms of Washington State, 1989). The City of Pullman is said to have evolved from a small cornfield at Three Forks in the 1880's (Whitman County Historical Society, 2001.) A corn yield of 123 bushels per acre was obtained by a student near Prescott, Washington along the Touchet River in 1912 in a Northern Pacific Railroad corn growing contest (The Unfolding Years, John Fahey, 1990.) It soon became apparent that water was a limiting factor for successful corn in the Pacific Northwest. The crop seemed best adapted to be grown under irrigation in the Yakima, Kittitas, and Walla Walla Valleys. More recently, acreage expanded as more corn-friendly acres came under irrigation with the Columbia Basin Project in the 1950's. In fact, the highest yielding irrigated corn in the United States National Corn Growers Association yield contest has been on Alvin Harris' farm near Pasco for 3 of the past 5 years with an average annual yield of 330 bushels per acre. Water is still the most critical factor for corn production in the arid west. As farmers in the dryland cereal areas of the Pacific Northwest have developed no-till and direct seeding systems, greater availability of soil water has been a primary benefit. Farmers Tracy Eriksen, Karl Kupers, Russ Zenner, and Dave Carlton, to name a few, began trying no-till dryland field corn after visiting farms doing the same in a traditional cereal crop production area in the Dakotas. People in the Dakotas now grow corn in rotation with cereals and broadleaf crops by utilizing the greater amount of water available in no-till and direct seeding systems. As in most agricultural production areas of the world, northwest farmers and researchers have greater water availability under no-till systems. A 1997-98 study at Washington State University revealed that an additional 1.4 inches of soil moisture was available in a direct seeding system compared to conventional tillage (Impact of Direct Seeding on Crop Water Use Efficiency, Bezdicek, et al). Farmers who attempted to produce dryland corn using the technology available in the 1880's in eastern Washington found it was not competitive with dryland cereals such as wheat and barley. However, mechanization and other technical improvement in production systems over the last 120 years have improved the potential to produce dryland corn through the use of no-till seeding. Most likely, wheat will remain the primary crop for eastern Washington, however, including corn in the rotation holds some production advantages within a single year, and over a three or four year rotation. In 1997, Tracy Eriksen of the Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District designed the Northwest Crop Project. Seven cooperators are comparing a 4-year rotation that includes field corn to a conventional 3-year rotation without corn in 700-foot long strips. The cooperators are Eriksen, Steve Swannack, Randy Repp, Steve and Dan Moore, John Aeschliman, Lee Druffel, and Paul and Dave Ruark. All participants have visited the newly established no-tillage corn producing area of the Dakotas, have been no-till seeding for several years, and are testing corn on-farm. Dwayne Beck, a researcher with South Dakota State University at Pierre, South Dakota has documented many of the benefits of growing corn in the traditional small grain producing area of north central South Dakota. Most of the farmers participating in the Northwest Crop project have also observed these benefits on their own farms. A clear benefit observed in the project has been the ability to increase the intensity of the crop rotation through crop diversity. Crop intensity has been defined as the level of demand for water the entire three or four years of the rotation. Soil water holding capacity and water release characteristics largely determine the proper rotational intensity. Using crop rotations that include segments of both high and low intensity provides the advantage of maximizing production on at least a portion of the farm during years with favorable weather. Crop diversity means adding another crop or crop type to the rotation. The greater the differences between the crop species in terms of its pests, water, and fertilizer needs, the greater the diversity. Crop rotational diversity means growing a combination of crops that compliment each other as much as possible to prevent disease, weed, and insect problems, and through more efficient use of available resources, maximize productivity and profitability. Benefits of including corn in the rotations of the Northwest Crop Project are: * Improved water use efficiency. * Higher market value than feed cereals due to higher feed value. * Readily available local market options compared to other alternative crops. * Spreading of the workload and better use of labor through differing seeding and harvest timing. * Less risk of herbicide-resistant weeds developing due to unique herbicide chemistry available with corn. Dryland field corn has potential as a rotation crop with wheat and other cereal grains in eastern Washington. No-till and direct seeding technology has thus far provided the amount of water needed to produce a profitable corn crop in the Northwest Crop Project. Also, changing current rotation intensity, crop diversity, available markets, more favorable workload, and less risk of the development of herbicide resistant weeds make corn beneficial as a rotational crop for eastern Washington. Some web sites about corn are: http://www.ag.iastate.eduldepartments/agronomylcorngrows.html#illustrations http://www.agry.purdue.edulextlcorn/ http://www.ncga.com/ http://www.pioneer.com/indexie.htm Water Woes Beset Most, But Not All, Idaho Farmers By Marlene Fritz, University of Idaho If you're a sugarbeet or onion grower in southwestern Idaho's Washington County, odds are you're hoping Mother Nature will improve your odds this year. Entirely dependent on melting snows to deliver your canal water, you've been told you'll have only 40 to 50 percent as much water as you normally get. And your selection of alternative crops is meager. Steve Reddy, University of Idaho extension educator in Washington County, says there simply "aren't many good options" for area growers. There's a little bit of alfalfa, safflower and clover and there's the grain that's grown for rotation, but it's sugarbeets and onions that have been paying the bills&emdash;and both of them are relatively heavy water users. "Growers are worried whether there will be enough water to go through the season," says Reddy. "We don't know how serious it's going to be." In southcentral Idaho's Gooding County, sugarbeet growers from neighboring Elmore and Twin Falls counties who snapped up Idaho Power's energy buyback offer are shopping for available fields. Bill Hazen, Gooding County extension educator, describes a "migration of people looking for places to grow sugarbeets on leased ground." Sugarbeet growers who have contracted to grow beets but don't follow through will be fined nearly $300 an acre, Hazen says. Demand for dairy feed will insure continued widespread production of alfalfa and corn silage as well. "They have been fairly dependable cash crops and still have positive cash flows," says Hazen. Farmers may, however, take advantage of alfalfa's "forgiving" nature and move water to other fields after the first two cuttings of hay&emdash;depending on the relative profitability of their crops. Hazen expects area growers to spring for efficiency-enhancing improvements to their center-pivot systems&emdash;including nozzles that drop low to the ground&emdash;especially if Idaho Power offers conservation incentives. In the meantime, he says farmers are "trying to get their grain in as early as possible to take advantage of what moisture they have." And, they're applying light doses of animal wastes because the organic mulch will slow the loss of moisture from their fields. In northern Idaho's Latah County, extension educator Dave Barton describes farmers as "fairly optimistic." Not dependent on irrigation water and generally less encumbered by debt, they're "optimistic that prices are going to improve and that at some point things are going to be okay," he says. Increasingly, northern Idaho growers are moving toward reduced-tillage systems. "It's not that everybody is going to no-till, but there's a fairly strong movement toward direct-seeding or conservation tillage," says Barton. "Somehow, they're minimizing their trips across the field." They're also keeping their planting options open, evaluating spring-seeded alternatives like mustards, barley and different classes of wheat. Even though soil moisture is "average to below average," Barton expects fields will supply enough water to support healthy growth until the anticipated May rains. "Up here, it's the May and June rains that make or break the crops," he says. With snowpack in the mountains feeding southeastern Idaho fields at about 60 percent of normal, producers in that corner of the state are "in the midst of this pretty horrendous drought," says Stuart Parkinson, extension educator in Franklin County. He expects more producers to plant water-thrifty crops like safflower or to emphasize spring barleys and wheats&emdash;which are harvested in July and August&emdash;over September-harvested corn silage. Growers who typically cut alfalfa three or four times during the season may bring in one less harvest this year. "Mostly, they'll just try to get by with less water," Parkinson says. But they're also carefully weighing energy buyback opportunities from Utah Power & Light. That's the case in northeastern Idaho as well, where extension educator Gale Harding says many producers are "seriously looking" at selling back their energy. "The alternatives are tightening their belts a little bit more, because&emdash;no matter what&emdash;power rates will go up," Harding says. "We have to do away with something else." That "something else" is likely to be labor costs, fertilizer costs or new equipment purchases. Harding doubts that many producers will try alternative crops like specialty potatoes. "The trouble with specialty markets is that you can only have a few people doing it or you'll destroy the market." Most other alternative crops require more than the area's 100-day growing season. Consequently, Harding is encouraging producers to change their rotations, not their crops: he is advising them to plant potatoes only one year in three, rather than one year in two. That saves water&emdash;and, by taking a lot of potatoes out of production, it should also boost potato prices. With the price of grain edging over $3, Harding says an additional year of wheat or barley is "more attractive," especially since "there's a lot less gamble with grains than with spuds." As they wait for fields to warm, Harding describes area farmers as "pretty down." But he adds: "Once they get out working in the fields and smell that dirt, I think their spirits will pick up." Klamath Basin Crisis Endangered Species Act Gone Wrong I am writing this memo as an insight as to what can happen when the Endangered Species Act and environmental extremism come together and attack personal property rights. You may think "not in America" but read our story. In 1905, the U.S. Congress authorized the purchase of existing private irrigation projects in and around Klamath Falls, Oregon. Later in the 1920's, dams were built on Link River (exit of Upper Klamath Lake), Clear Lake, and Gerber Reservoir. These dams were used to retain the seasonal spring floodwaters and dry up the shallow lakebeds of Lower Klamath Lake and Tulelake. Through the Klamath Project, water would be available for 240,000 acres in the high desert area of the Klamath Basin. This promise of cheap land and abundant water brought Czech settlers and Irish settlers among others to the area. As the waters of Tulelake receded, the Project provided Homestead Act opportunities for more than 600 WWI and WWII veterans. In 1988, the Klamath Tribes petitioned the Federal government to list the once plentiful Short-nosed and Lost River Suckerfish believing that only 8000 or so remained in Upper Klamath Lake only. Since that time, these suckers have been found throughout lakes and rivers in the area and are estimated in tens if not hundreds of thousands. But the focus remained on Klamath Lake and increasing minimum lake levels to secure recovery of the sucker. Through the Clinton years, the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Klamath Tribes spent millions of dollars studying the sucker and its habitat. After the 2000 elections, a feverish attempt was made to write a new Biological Opinion that was coincidentally signed Jan. 19th along with a Biological Opinion on the Coho Salmon in the Klamath River. The sucker B.O. raised the lake level three-foot higher than the previous B.O. and the Coho B.O. required tripling the water released to the river. In a normal year, using both those opinions on water, the Klamath system would be 250,000 acre feet short before delivering one gallon to agriculture. Seeing this potential shortage aggravated by a drought, Basin Fertilizer and two other companies started an advertising campaign of newspaper and radio ads designed to inform the Klamath public of the impending problem which would affect an estimated 6000 jobs, 1A of the Klamath economy. This was followed by a tractor rally in front of the Bureau of Reclamation that included over 100 tractors and as many support companies. These were designed to bring attention to our congressional delegation and the Bush administration of our need for them to not accept the two B.O.s or set them aside. They received thousands of calls and letters intended to persuade them to share water between agriculture and fish as has happened in previous droughts. The word came down on April 6th. We have been told that Vice President Cheney made the final decision of NO WATER. We were devastated. But we're not going to give up. Call To Action: Senator Gordon Smith came to Klamath Falls on April 7th for a townhall meeting. Senator Wyden, Representative Walden, and Governor Kitzhaber all came to Klamath Falls on April 12th. While our congressional delegation has been very helpful, Governor Kitzhaber has let the Federal government usurp Oregon water rights. He paid for it on the 12th. Finally with help from Klamath Falls business, we energized the community to greet the Governor at a rally staged at the fairgrounds. Ten percent of all Klamath County, 6500 people, joined him for a townhall meeting. While we realized he could not do much now, we did get his attention. The real problem is the Endangered Species Act and how it calls for single species management and not ecosystem solutions. In the Klamath Basin, we have the sucker and Coho, but also the largest overwintering area for Bald Eagles. They feed not only in the refuges (that incidentally only receive water from Project irrigation) but also on rodents and fowl that live on the 240,000 acres of private land. So there are three endangered species, all in conflict with each other, that will idle approximately 170,000 acres of our best farmland, 1400 water user accounts. These include irrigation water on 600 small "ranchette" homes in Klamath Falls South Suburb area, 11 schools sports fields, and 6 sports and recreation parks. Some $150 million plus in farm receipts translate to $350 million in the Klamath Basin economy. All for an unbending law that takes and diminishes the private property rights of individuals. The Klamath Irrigators without well water access, which is most of the Project, are moving from the area for contracted crops and planting dry land grain to hold the soil from erosion locally. The 2001 cropping year is a disaster. Our goal is to not let this happen again. Agriculture requires a consistent irrigation water supply. A core group is leading the community towards these goals: 1. To convince the Bush Administration, the Dept. of Interior, etc., that the science behind the Clinton Fish & Wildlife B.O. cannot be substantiated. There is good evidence to that end. It's not science, but opinion not based in fact. This will take time but will release our water. 2. To convince the Federal government that if society deems these fish carry such great importance, then they must find additional water for contracted private land. This would require augmentation of the system with wells or additional water storage. 3. To focus our attention on amending the Endangered Species Act to be ecosystem inclusive and not species specific. The Bush Administration has said they intend to bring sense to the ESA. The Klamath Community has pulled together to push that agenda. 4. To promote "The Bucket Brigade" on May 7th sponsored by the Klamath Basin Community. Starting at Veteran's Park in Klamath Falls, the last of the Homestead veterans will dip water from the sucker habitat. They will pass 50 buckets symbolizing the 50 states down Main Street, past Klamath Co. Court House, 1.5 miles to Klamath Union High School At that point, the buckets will pass to the veteran's great grandchildren who will dump them in the main canal With the 6500 that attended the Kitzhaber rally, and the added strain on the community, there should be over 10,000 people. Calls are going out throughout the Internet to associations and property rights groups all over the country. Frontiers of Freedom, a grass roots property rights group, has come on board to help push this agenda nationally. Kahi/Pownall, a public relations firm from Sacramento, has been hired to help gain national attention. This rally which will demonstrate the Klamath Basin communities' belief that local solutions are better than the heavy hand of the Federal government and people are more important that fish. 5. To heighten awareness of this tragedy. This could be your town, your neighbor, your family destroyed by some "critter living under a rock". "ME TODAY, YOU TOMORROW". We ask you only to spread the word to your friends and relatives. Your congressional delegation must be aware that you want changes in the Endangered Species Act to include people, property rights, and ecosystem solutions. You can keep abreast of this activity through our web site at http://www.klarnathbasmcnsiscom/. Sincerely, Chris Moudry, Basin Fertilizer & Chemical Co., P.O. Drawer X, Merrill, Or 97633, 541-795-5655 voice, 541-798-5141 fax, bfchem@wizzards.net, http://www.heraldandnews.com/

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