Farmers To Vent Concerns
Hunting for new ways to help farmers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending a top official to Quincy, Wash., on Friday.
Gus Schumacher, undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, will visit the small Central Washington town at the invitation of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to hear the concerns of Washington’s growers.
“The urgency is because of the farm economy right now,” said Chris Bieker, USDA spokeswoman. “The programs (the USDA offers) don’t fit all crops.
“Washington state’s agricultural economy is extremely diverse,” Murray said in a news release. “Low prices, loss of markets, natural disasters and other factors have devastated a wide range of commodity producers, including wheat, apple, asparagus, hay, cherry and cranberry growers.”
The session in Quincy will allow farmers to hear about federal programs. They will also discuss long-term solutions for the troubled agriculture economy, Murray said.
Schumacher will visit the Mike Rose farm in Quincy from 9 a.m. to noon. The farm is on Route 9, just off White Tail Road. Signs will direct drivers.
Pesky “cereal killers” have come to Spokane. Cereal leaf beetles were found recently on a Spokane Valley farm.
Scientists for several years have expected the pests that munch on the leaves of wheat, oats and barley, said Diana Roberts, extension agent for Washington State University.
“So far, it’s a very low infestation,” she said.
Leaf beetles can cause major damage in spring and winter wheat fields, but also can be easily controlled, Roberts said.
WSU’s extension office in Spokane encourages farmers to inspect their fields for the beetles and their larvae. For more information, call Diana Roberts at 509-477-2048.
Farmers Karl and Lexie Kupers of Harrington, Wash., recently offered to share revenues from a trust they’ve established with Washington State University. The money will fund no-till research for the next 15 years.
For several years, the Kupers have grown a number of crops, including canola and wheat, without tilling the soil. They rely on WSU research to make decisions about the pioneering farming practice. Their contribution could provide up to $13,500 a year to the Wilke Research Farm in Davenport.
Louisiana-Pacific plans to start a waferboard plant in Chile with machinery recycled from a defunct North Idaho operation.
Equipment from L-P’s closed oriented strand board operation at Chilco will be shipped to Panguipulli, Chile, where L-P hopes to have a plant operating late this year.
“Chile offers us an opportunity to get into the expanding housing market in South America,” said L-P spokeswoman Kelly Stoner.
L-P is North America’s largest OSB producer, with 4.5 billion square feet manufactured annually. OSB is used for structural sheathing in buildings, as well as flooring and roofing. L-P will build and operate the plant through a joint venture with a Chilean company, Bomasil S.A.
L-P closed the OSB side of its Chilco operation in 1997, citing a saturated market for panel products. The company continues to operate a sawmill at Chilco, which is located 15 miles north of Coeur d’Alene.
The mill and a finishing operation at Sandpoint were put up for sale last fall. However, L-P now plans to spend millions of dollars upgrading the facilities.