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On the cover: A calf lies in a stall in a barn at Washington State

University’s Knott Dairy Center in Pullman | Geoff Crimmins

Milking every drop out of an educational experience

WSU students learn how to produce milk, handle cows | 6A

Is it time to close Idaho’s open range?Rancher’s death in Adams County

spurs longstanding debate over law | 4A

Foot and mouth fears arise over plan to import beef

Cattlemen’s association says USDA’s strategy to ship product from South America puts U.S. animals at risk of disease | 12A

Washington professor shaking up the winemaking industry

New study debunks popular belief that hue of grapeseeds affect tannin levels | 14A

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By Kathy HedbergLewiston Tribune staff writer

Some are calling Idaho’s open range laws into question in the wake of the shooting death of an Adams County rancher after motorists hit his bull that was loose on the highway.

Western Watersheds Project’s Idaho Director Ken Cole said the laws were written solely to protect a special class of people, and adds that it is unlikely Council rancher Jack Yantis would have died during an altercation with sheriff’s deputies Nov. 1 “if it was the responsibil-ity of the ranchers to keep livestock off of public highways.”

Farm and ranch representatives, how-ever, say Cole’s assertions are absurd and that blaming Yantis’ death on the state’s open range law is, according to the Idaho Farm Bureau, an “attempt to make polit-ical gain from a tragic accident (that is) despicable, sickening and crass.”

“An open range or herd law would not have kept the bull in the pasture,” said cattle rancher Doug Boggan, a for-

mer board member of the Idaho Cattle Association. His ranch borders U.S. Highway 95 a couple of miles south of Riggins.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a herd law or open range — animals don’t read the law. Animals … are going to escape their confines occasionally. What I see open range (law) saying is simply who’s liable.”

According to Idaho’s open range law, which dates back to the 1880s, the owner of any domestic animal running on open range is not liable for damage to any vehicle or injury to a motorist caused by a collision between the vehicle and the animal.

“Open range” is defined as all unen-closed (unfenced) lands outside of cities, villages and herd districts where cattle, “by custom, license, lease or permit” are permitted to graze or roam.

The law adds that the owners of live-stock lawfully on any highway shall not be guilty of negligence in the case of an accident.

“The situation in Adams County is

tragic for everybody involved,” Cole said. “There’s been a lot of criticism that this is a rural issue that should be only addressed by rural people. But every-body uses these highways; people from all over the world drive Idaho’s highways and they’re put at risk of people’s prop-erty being on the highways and I really think that should change.”

Cole said most people don’t under-stand why these open range laws exist and find them unfair. In Western states that have open range laws, people have frequently been injured or killed because livestock is allowed to graze and roam freely on state highways.

“There are several questions that need to be answered here,” Cole said. “Did Yantis die because he felt emboldened by Idaho’s open range laws to confront the deputies who were about to kill his prized bull for the protection of them-selves and bystanders? Do Idaho’s open range laws inflate the sense of entitle-ment felt by an elite class of people and put lives at risk unfairly? Is it unfair to require landowners to fence livestock off of their property rather than require livestock owners to keep livestock fenced off of other’s property?

“For me, I think it is time for these laws to be drastically changed and for the responsibility to be placed on the owners of the livestock where it belongs. It is not the job of the state to ensure the profit-ability of ranchers; it is the job of the state to ensure that its citizens are safe.”

Idaho County Commissioner Skip Brandt said when he served in the Idaho Legislature a decade ago, the issue of repealing the open range law was posed several times.

“It didn’t go anywhere,” Brandt said. “We are still an agricultural-based state and it is a matter of protecting the folks. If you’re running 200 cows and you have a pasture next to a road, nature is going to happen and there are times that (cows are) going to get out.”

Although Brandt does not advocate repealing the law, he does believe the state should address designating herd districts that require livestock to be inside a fence along any road with a speed limit of 45 mph or more.

Brandt added the law could be changed to address landowners whose animals frequently get out of their

Rancher’s death in Adams County spurs longstanding debate

Is it time to close Idaho’s open range?

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pasture and roam on the roads.“Generally most ranchers want to

do what’s right,” Brandt said. “They want to keep them in. … But you get the bad apples that are just too damn lazy to take care of their critters and that’s the people that we’ve got to address somehow.”

The Idaho Transportation Department keeps track of vehicle crashes caused by animals on the highway, but the data does not sort out domestic livestock from wild ani-mals such as elk or deer.

Steve Grant, public information officer for the department, said about 25 percent of animal-caused crashes are domestic livestock, including cows, horses, sheep, dogs and others.

In 2014, according to the depart-ment, there were 10 serious injury crashes involving animals on the high-way; 64 visible injury crashes where law enforcement or emergency servic-es were called to the scene; 69 crashes in which officials were not summoned; and 934 property damage crashes.

Grant said the onus is on the driver to be aware of the risks of colliding with animals on the highway.

“We try to inform (people) that

Idaho is an open range state,” Grant said. “It’s in our driver’s manual — there’s a section that addresses that. And I believe it’s also a question on the written test.

“We want people to pay attention out there. We just want people to get home safe.”

Rancher Boggan said, despite what the law says, most of the time when a motorist hits livestock on the road, both parties assume the loss. In real-ity, he said, the open range law serves more as a way for insurance compa-nies to assess responsibility for an accident.

“From my standpoint as a rancher, I do everything in my power to keep the cows off the road unless I’m going to drive them,” Boggan said. “But gates get left open or bulls fight and knock it down; people leave gates open and animals are going to be there occasionally.

“To have an all-inclusive herd law across the state sure doesn’t work in almost any of these rural areas. … If you really wanted to do something about animals, we’d need the state highway department to do a better job of how they funnel elk and deer through.”

Kathy Hedberg can be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 983-2326.

Rangefrom Page 4A

By Kathy HedbergLewiston Tribune staff writer

The new head of the Idaho Grain Producers Association said she learned about farming on the seat of a tractor working for her father to help pay for college.

Stacey Katseanes Satterlee, 35, took over as executive director of the asso-ciation in October after former director Travis Jones left to work for Idaho Congressman Rep. Mike Simpson.

Satterlee, who grew up near Pocatello and spent 10 years in Washington, D.C., working for Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and a variety of agriculture-focused associations, said her return to Idaho places her in the state and the industry she knows and loves best.

“I love working in agriculture so I was really happy to be able to return to it,” Satterlee said. “The people we represent are truly the best kind of people. I think really highly of people who grow food for the world. I was really excited to be able to get back and work on agriculture issues that I feel passionately about.”

Satterlee said her background work-ing in the nation’s Capitol on policy issues helps her appreciate how impor-tant it is for farmers to have a voice on the state and national levels.

But first, she is getting acquainted with the job and the people she will be working with to advance the indus-try’s goals, especially when the Idaho Legislature convenes in January.

“It’s been a really intense first cou-ple of months getting up to speed,”

Satterlee said.Some of the issues

facing grower groups in the coming year have to do with transportation, the farm bill, immigra-tion policy and water rights.

“Water is a huge issue and that’s impor-tant for Idaho grain grow-

ers to have a seat at that table,” she said.

Other priorities for the grain asso-ciation include guiding the implemen-tation and education of farmers with the new farm bill; working with the Legislature to maintain funding for wheat and barley research and exten-sion, supporting water, property and privacy rights, and proposing legisla-tion to protect farmers from being forced into a legal process based on citizen complaints over unfounded environmental violations.

Crop insurance, especially in light of the significant crop losses due to wildfires and drought the past two years, are among the concerns she will be tackling.

In the past couple of months, Satterlee said, there has been more interest on biotechnology and geneti-cally modified organisms.

“This list goes on and on,” she said. “I want to work with growers and be their voice at the statehouse and Capitol.”

Kathy Hedberg can be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 983-2326.

Stacey Katseanes Satterlee takes helm at state association

New voice for Idaho grain producers

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By Terri HarberDaily News staff writer

The Cooperative University Dairy Students at Washington State University manage and maintain a herd of dairy cattle — 40 cows and heifers.

“It takes 10 lbs. of milk to pro-duce one pound of cheese,” said John McNamara, the CUDS adviser for the past 16 years. He has been with WSU for more than 30 years and is currently an Emeritus Professor of Animal Sciences.

Milk produced within this section of the WSU Knott Dairy is used for WSU’s speciality cheeses. The WSU creamery creates three vari-eties: Cougar Gold, Natural Viking and Natural Cheddar. All three types come in 18-oz decorative tin pack-ages and a portion of the proceeds from sale of WSU Creamery items is used for educational support of Food Science students.

Cougar Gold, a white cheddar, is the best known and said to have a

nutty flavor. Before Christmas, this flavor was sold out. More of it should be available in January.

Not that long ago, members of the American Dairy Association came to WSU to taste its cheeses.

“They said it was the best cheese they ever had,” McNamara said proudly.

It’s important for milk used in these cheeses to have a neutral fla-vor so the cheese makers can have maximum control of the taste of their products.

The cows are fed a bland diet to ensure no additional flavor notes end up in the high-protein, high-fat milk used to make the cheeses, he said.

Here’s something else to chew on: The group is called CUDS for short. A sly smile forms on McNamara’s face when someone points it out to him. And not just because it’s a cute acro-nym. There are other similar student dairy programs around the country. The operation has been deemed as being in the top 1 percent of herds in the country for production and

genetics. Earlier this year, one of their cows

was judged to be excellent by the Holstein Association.

Sick cows aren’t milked until they feel better. If they needed medication, they won’t be milked until the drugs are completely out of their system.

WSU students learn how to produce milk, handle cows

Milking every drop out of an educational experience

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsWashington State University junior Chandler Byington milks cows at the Knott Dairy Center in Pullman. Byington is president of the WSU Cooperative University Dairy Students.

Practical education you can trust.

www.uidaho.edu/extension465827

Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | 7ANorthwest Farm and Ranch“Many people think antibiotics make their way

into milk but that’s not the case. We test samples to make sure the milk is free of these substances,” McNamara said. “Milk is one of the most checked food products in the world and there’s a large amount of testing.”

It’s an industry in which diligence, patience and the ability to analyze and troubleshoot are all paramount.

Operating a dairy also requires willingness to work hard. Keeping pens, milking areas and every area clean where the cows spend time is extremely important to ensuring cows are healthy.

Once a year they compete against other similar student groups in a management and observational exercise in which the students analyze an exist-ing dairy operation and provide feedback. They do very well.

“CUDS graduates manage some of the largest dairies in the state. It’s a personal and professional development pro-gram,” McNamara said.

More than a dozen dairy students volunteer their labor and knowledge to conduct day-to-day dairy duties such as milking, feeding, keeping records, maintaining the cattles’ quarters, heat detection and artificial insemina-tion.

CUDS is reviewed annually by dairy industry professionals. Each member prepares a report

about what they do there and presents it to the reviewers.

Exceptional training and experience is needed as the dairy industry continues growing. Learning by doing it as part of a family business has become less common, however.

“Fewer and fewer students are coming from farms,” he said.

McNamara himself grew up in Chicago, a long way from a farm or ranch. A family friend had a farm. When he visited, he’d milk the cows.

“I loved it,” he said. “And when I went to college, I became enamored with research.”

McNamara will be retiring at the end of this academic year and was recognized with a Zoetis Physiology Award from the American Dairy Science Association for his contributions in the areas of dairy physiology and nutrition.

“It’s kind of like a lifetime achievement award,” he said.

He hopes many of the stu-dents who have been involved with the cooperative are able to feel the same sense of accom-

plishment in their chosen field.One of the CUDS participants, Teresa Erwin,

who grew up in the Seattle area, said she had been interested in a career focused on small animals until she had the chance to spend time around cows at the dairy. She hadn’t been around the animals before. But now she plans to pursue a career in

that industry after graduating from WSU in 2017, she said.

“I love being able to go out to the dairy, do shifts and be outside breaking a little sweat,” Erwin said.

The cows are like many other animals in that they have their own personalities. Every cow has a number but it also has a name.

“The students have their favorites and not-so-favorites,” McNamara said. “One student might be nervous around a certain cow while another student isn’t.”

A Facebook post by a CUDS student was devot-ed to a cow that died unexpectedly in October. No. 2460, also named Laurin and nicknamed Boyhowdy was described as “sassy and sweet” and “one of our favorite cows.”

They were also happy the cow had already birthed three offspring and that one of them would be calving soon so that it had a legacy.

“You realize how valuable they are to everyone,” Erwin said of dairy cows. “It’s important to make sure they’re healthy and happy. If you’re calm and patient and have good attitude, they’re better behaved, more patient and more calm, too. It’s true that happy cows produce the best milk.”

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

“CUDS graduates manage

some of the largest dairies in the state. It’s a personal and

professional development program.”

John McNamaraCUDS adviser at WSU

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By Calley HairLewiston Tribune staff writer

Resist the hype surrounding anti-biotic use in livestock.

A recent release from Consumer Report critical of using antibiotics on animals has fanned the fire surround-ing the fear that such practices lead to “super bugs,” or antibiotic-resis-tant infection. While this fear should encourage more investigation and oversight, consumers should not rush to demand completely antibiotic-free livestock, said Dr. David Rustebakke of Clarkston’s Rustebakke Veterinary Service.

“I think it’s wrong to let an ani-mal die of an infection that can be easily treated. To deny producers access to any antibiotics at all is not, in my mind, a viable option,” Rustebakke said. “There has to be a middle ground.”

Tightening regulations from the Food and Drug Administration have reduced the risk of drug abuse in recent years. In June, the FDA announced that all antibiotic admin-

istration must be supervised by a licensed veterinarian, not just by the producer.

“This strategy will bring the use of these drugs under veterinary supervi-sion so that they are used only when necessary for assuring animal health,” according to a FDA news release. “(The) final rule takes another important step by facilitating veterinary oversight in a way that allows for the flexibility needed to accommodate the diversity of circumstances that veterinarians encounter, while ensuring such over-sight is conducted in accordance with nationally consistent principles.”

The administration is also phasing out antibiotic use solely for produc-tion purposes, i.e., animal growth, not animal health. By requiring a third party to prescribe the medication, the hope is that antibiotic use will only increase health, not profit margins.

Antibiotic use in livestock is sub-ject to a strict monitoring process to track resistance to the drugs and to ensure the risk to human health is negligible.

Livestock that ingest antibiot-

ics are subject to a withdrawal time before slaughter, Rustebakke said. This minimizes the risk of antibi-otic residue in the meat that actually lands on supermarket shelves.

This wasn’t always the case, he said.

“There’s always been withdraw-al times, but they’ve not necessarily been enforced well,” he said.

Fears over how antibiotic abuse in animals can affect human health have driven regulatory action, according to the FDA. Drug companies are required by law to print the appropriate with-drawal time on their label, and meat producers must keep printed records of compliance to those times.

Rustebakke said the recent scruti-ny from the public and fear surround-ing antibiotic-resistance drugs have upped the oversight in recent years, and with good reason. The Consumer Report study found that 80 percent of all antibiotics are consumed by ani-mals for livestock, and that the use of antibiotics has contributed to a rise in resistant disease.

“I know it’s really a hot-button

topic, but the regulations are there and they’re really well enforced,” Rustebakke said. “All of the antibiot-ics we use have very specific guide-lines for how they can be used.”

He said he is actually grateful the public has become increasingly critical of antibiotic use in livestock. For find-ing a middle ground, scrutiny is key.

“People get this idea that antibiotic use in animals is bad so let’s ban it completely,” Rustebakke said. “It’s probably good to have those people on the end, because it forces the produc-ers and the regulatory industries to really pay attention to that.”

With continued collaboration between livestock producers, veteri-narians, local and federal oversight, and label-savvy consumers demand-ing safe practices, it is possible to minimize reckless antibiotic use while promoting animal health, he said.

“They’re trying to do the best for their livestock, but they’re also trying to produce a product that’s accept-able and safe for the consumer,” Rustebakke said.

Calley Hair can be contacted at [email protected].

Recent regulations designed to provide more oversight of drug usageFDA seeks to ease fears of antibiotic use in livestock

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By Samantha MalottDaily News staff writer

A growing trend in the shop local movement is allowing farmers to reach customers online rather than only at markets or co-ops.

Laura Ryser, community and eco-nomic development specialist with the Washington State University Kitsap County Extension, is serving as a men-tor from the university to the Kitsap Fresh online farmers market that was created last spring. Ryser has also helped secure funding for the program, including a $105,533 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We saw there was a really big need to include an additional market for local food producers to be able to sell their food,” Ryser said.

In Kitsap County, farmers markets are the primary way for producers to sell to local consumers, but farmers wanted to be able to reach a bigger customer base. Online sales do just that.

“This is happening in many, many places,” she said.

Idaho’s Bounty, based in Boise, for example, is using the Internet for large scale distribution to local consumers, as well as a fair amount of wholesale to restaurants, she said.

“I think in most places there is absolutely a world for this,” she said.

Ryser said communities need to look at where the farmers want to sell, if they currently have enough places

to sell their products and if customers have easy access to the products.

Each week the producers have a few days to enter in what products are available and at what quantities into the online market, she said. The online market then opens for a few days for consumers to make purchases. When the market closes, the produc-ers gather all the purchased products and bring them to the drop-off/pick-up location where volunteers from Kitsap Fresh package orders, she said.

Ryser said each producer sets his or her own prices and a 13 percent fee is charged to the consumer for processing costs. Product prices come out similar to a farmers market, she said.

“So far it just seems like the people who are regular customers are loving it because they have built it into their schedule and are getting good produce they trust,” she said. “For the farmers, it is really very easy as long as the drop-off place is close enough. It might not be worth it for a small order.”

It also can benefit sellers, as they don’t have harvest or prepare any of their products until they are pur-chased, she said.

Some other online markets do home delivery.

She said the online markets are meant to compliment and not compete with farmers markets and co-ops, she said.

Samantha Malott can be reached at (208) 883-4639 or by email to [email protected].

Online sales a new way for farmers to reach customers

A growing market for locally produced goods

Courtesy kitsapfresh.orgA screenshot of the Kitsap Fresh website is shown. Kitsap County farmers in Washington sell their products online to make purchasing easier for customers.

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By Josh BabcockDaily News staff writer

The National Weather Service is projecting El Niño weather conditions for the Pacific Northwest this win-ter, and for Palouse farmers the increased temperatures and heavy rainfall may offer a boost to their crops.

Director of Communications and Producer Relations for the Washington Grain Commission Scott Yates said farmers have benefited in past years from the El Niño weather pattern with an increase in wheat yields and overall production.

Yates said the region has experienced the weather pat-tern two other times in the past 30 years, including the winter of 1982-83 and the win-ter of 1997-98.

He said 1983 was a record-

breaking year in Washington state, where farmers averaged 64.2 bushels of wheat per acre. In 1998, farmers produced 61.4 bushels per acre, Yates said, noting in 2014 the aver-age across the state was 50.4 bushels per acre.

“Things are looking good for the wheat growers,” Yates said.

He said the warm tem-peratures allow for the heavy precipitation to soak into a thawed-out ground rather than resting on frozen ground and being lost to runoff, which is what can happen during regular years.

With this summer’s extremely dry and hot condi-tions, Yates said, the soil is in dire need of moisture, espe-cially on the Palouse, where farmers are even more depen-dent on rain.

“Lots of things can happen, but right now things are look-ing up,” Yates said.

At Washington State University, Arron Carter, a winter wheat researcher, is working to create a breed of wheat that can withstand poor weather and produce a larger yield.

Carter said while there is not much snow forecast for the winter, sometimes snow can be a good thing for wheat.

A winter when plants are snow-covered is known as a closed winter, and times with-out snow is referred to as an open winter.

“When the snow is on the ground it creates insulation — so right there at the sur-face level where the plants are warm, there can be a water layer on the surface,” he said.

“Typically, snow cover is better,” Carter said, “but it

Previous warm, wet weather patterns were great for Washington wheat farmers

El Niño may help wheat

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsWinter wheat grows in a field between Colfax and Pullman on Dec. 15.See WheAt, Page 12A

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depends on air temperature. If air tem-peratures don’t get low, then it doesn’t matter.”

As of Dec. 14, he said this year he has yet to see any extremely low tem-peratures that would harm any of the different wheat lines he is researching in the field.

“By about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, that’s when we start worrying the sus-ceptible varieties start to take a hit,” Carter said.

In his research, he screens different winter wheat varieties between about negative 4 degrees to 17 degrees. In some cases he has screened varieties in temperatures as cold as negative 11

degrees, however, at that temperature, Carter said, it can be difficult because the plant has put so much into surviv-ing the winter it has no energy left to produce a reasonable yield.

Carter said wind, though, can be the worst for wheat. Wind desiccates the plant, and in times of blowing dust, thrown soil can serve as a sandblaster that pelts and damages the plant, he said.

Despite the National Weather Service’s El Niño forecast, neither Yates nor Carter knows how the weather this winter will actually shake out.

“If you believe the weatherman, we’re not going to get super cold this year,” Carter said. “But we all know they are not 100 percent correct.”

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

Wheatfrom Page 10A


Washington’s cattle ranchers are rearing up against a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would allow the import of beef from northern Argentina and parts of Brazil, claiming it exposes their live-stock to a dangerous disease.

“The risk is far too great,” said Jack Field, executive director of Washington Cattlemen’s Association. “We don’t believe the USDA has done adequate due diligence in implement-ing adequate safeguards.”

The ailment in question, foot and mouth disease, is a highly contagious viral disease that causes fever and blisters in cattle, pigs and other clo-ven-footed animals, according to a fact sheet from the USDA. While the disease was eradicated in the United States nearly 90 years ago, it remains a persistent problem in other regions of the world.

Yet the fears that the fresh source of imports could expose domestic live-stock to foot and mouth disease are unfounded, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

“Our import decisions are based on scientific principles, and thorough evidence-based risk assessments,” said Donna Karlsons, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service pub-

lic affairs specialist.“APHIS conducted multiple site

visits to each country with an expert team of specialized veterinarians to confirm that surveillance, prevention and control mechanisms are suffi-cient to minimize the likelihood of (foot and mouth disease) entering the U.S.”

The announcement marks the first step in opening these regions to U.S. beef markets, which boasts the most beef consumers in the world and the fifth highest consumption per capita.

“Open markets are key to pro-viding export opportunities for U.S. commodities,” Karlsons said.

But according to Field, the domes-tic risk of exposure isn’t worth eco-nomic advantages overseas.

“If we had foot and mouth disease in the United States, it would com-pletely devastate the livestock indus-try,” Field said. “It’s completely non-discriminate.”

The monetary ramifications would be severe indeed. A December 2013 consequence assessment from the USDA determined that an outbreak of the disease would cost the industry between $2.8 billion and $4 billion.

To mitigate this risk, cattle farm-ers in Brazil and Argentina will be required to meet certain conditions in order to continue shipping chilled and frozen beef to the U.S., Karlsons said. The animals must be born, raised and

slaughtered in the relevant region where foot and mouth disease has not been diagnosed for at least one year.

Furthermore, the beef shipped to the U.S. cannot have shared premises with any other cattle diagnosed with

Cattlemen’s association says USDA’s strategy to ship product from South America puts U.S. cattle at risk of disease

Foot and mouth fears arise over plan to import beef

Lewiston TribuneThe USDA says its regulations and scientific research will protect against Foot and Mouth Disease from infecting American livestock, including pigs.

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Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | 13ANorthwest Farm and Ranchthe disease in their lifetime.

As a final precaution, all beef must be matured for 24 hours before entering the coun-try to inactivate any potential foot and mouth virus.

“Argentina and Brazil have the necessary legal framework, animal health infrastruc-ture, movement and border controls, diagnostic capabili-ties, surveillance programs and emergency response capacity to detect, control and report FMD in the event of an outbreak,” Karlsons said.

Despite these precautions, domestic cattle raisers remain unconvinced.

“From the outside looking in, I certainly don’t see an adequate level of safeguards there,” Field said.

From an economic standpoint, opening up beef markets to Brazilian and Argentinian imports could hurt domestic cattle raisers.

While the United States remains the No. 1 producer of beef at nearly

19 percent of the world’s supply, Brazil follows closely behind at 16 percent. Argentina is the sixth larg-

est producer of the world’s beef, con-tributing nearly 5 percent.

Field said he’s concerned about what flooding the market with imports could do to already depressed beef pric-es. He said some of Washington’s cattle raisers have been hanging on to their cows longer than they normally would to try to wait out the slump.

“I don’t know if we’ve found the bottom yet,” Field said.

While he’s worried about the effect on the cattle market, he said his primary concern remains the exposure of foot and mouth disease.

“The number one concern of the (Washington Cattlemen’s Association) is looking at the health of the animals,” Field said.


By Shanon QuinnDaily News staff writer

As the cold air dips into the valleys of the Palouse and glittering white flakes cover its rolling hills with a thick blan-ket of snow, two-legged animals tend to make their way to warmer climes — even if only as far as the living room heater.

Four-legged animals, like cattle, don’t have that luxury.

The outdoors, from January to December, is their living room. With a bit of effort and a close eye on diet and accommodations, the bovine outside can remain comfortable.

“If an animal has adequate nutri-tion it will survive some devastating weather,” said Steve Parish, professor of large animal internal medicine at Washington State University.

Parish, who has been a veterinarian for 40 years, said ensuring livestock have a healthy diet is a valuable pre-ventive action a farmer can take in the winter.

“The most important thing is we feed them quality hay, and quality hay

means it’s adequate in protein and ener-gy,” he said.

Parish said to ensure the quality of hay, ranchers can send samples to a laboratory and have them tested.

“The analysis will say whether or not that hay is adequate in protein and energy,” he said. “If it’s not, then the farmer or rancher can take that infor-mation and think about how they can supplement that hay.”

Supplements to a cow’s diet can mean many things, from the addition of a higher quality of hay to a feed supple-ment.

“There are multiple supplements that farmers can get,” Parish said. “One of the most common things are what our ranchers would call a protein tub. Basically it’s a large tub of a supple-ment that’s often based with molas-ses and has other materials in it that contain both protein and energy to the cows.”

The importance of adequate and quality feed have more impact than simply keeping the cattle full.

Keeping the beef warm, healthy all winter a priorityMother Nature knows best

See Best, Page 14A

“From the outside

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level of safeguards there.”Jack Field

Washington Cattlemen’s Association executive director

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14A | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | Moscow-PullMan Daily news Northwest Farm and and Ranch

“With cattle, it’s really important when those days get into the single digits to give them a little extra food. If they have a little more fat, that helps them out, it keeps them warm,” said Bev Shirts, beef unit manager at the University of Idaho.

Shirts said the simple act of digestion in a cow also creates additional heat to keep the winter chill out.

“Cattle that are in good nutrition generally have good hair coats, and if they have good hair coats, they’re able to withstand the wet and the cold that they would be subjected to,” Parish said.

Another way to keep the cows warm is to provide a space of shelter from the winter elements, Parish said. It’s wind chill, he added, that causes the most

problems. “Cattle can take a lot of cold, they can

take a lot of snow, they can take a lot of rain,” he said. “... As long as they have something like a windbreak or a barn or a lean-to or trees or a brush patch or something like that where they can get out of the wind, it’s amazing how much of a cold temperature they can take.”

As with all other seasons, the cattle management plan remains of utmost importance during the winter, which means providing fresh, unfrozen water at regular intervals and a mineral block, which is like a One-A-Day multivitamin for cattle.

The trick, Shirts said, is the quality of care the animals receive.

“As ranchers, we know if we take care of them, they’ll take care of us,” she said.

Shanon Quinn can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to [email protected].

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsA calf lies in a stall in a barn at Washington State University’s Knott Dairy Center in Pullman.

Bestfrom Page 13A


Winemaking is a notoriously fin-icky process. But a recent study by James Harbertson, a Washington State University professor of enology, indicates that winemakers may have one less thing to worry about: seed color.

According to the study, the hue of grape seeds doesn’t impact the tannin levels, or astringency, in the resulting wine. These findings could debunk a popularly held belief in the industry, although Harbertson said he doesn’t expect an immediate effect on wine-making practices.

“It still pretty much is industrywide. I’m not sure if our study will make a big dent in that,” Harbertson said.

He and his graduate student, Federico Casassa, set out to investigate the link between color and tannins expecting to confirm the connection. The traditional theory was that green seeds from immature grapes would impart more tannins into the wine, creating the bitterness and astringen-cy that many drinkers would rather avoid.

“We were kind of the same opin-ion as the rest of the wine industry,” Harbertson said. “If the seed color is a

New study debunks popular belief that hue of grape seeds affect tannin levels

Washington professor shaking up the winemaking industry

See ShAking, Page 15A

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big important thing, then we can really put it to the test.”

The results were a surprise, he said. So much so that they repeated the experiment the following year with the same outcome.

“It didn’t matter,” Harbertson said. “The amount of tannins you had in wine didn’t change.”

To investigate the link between seed hue and tannin levels, Harbertson and Casassa created different batches of wine from grapes with seeds ranging in color from green to brown in their Prosser, Wash., facility. To isolate seed color as the tested variable, they had to control for fruit maturity and alcohol levels.

“If you have more alcohol in the wine, it tends to extract more seed tannins,” Harbertson explained.

The pair also added sugar or water to the fruit to mimic the sugar levels at different points in grape maturities. For the sake of the experiment, they increased their maceration period, or time spent soaking the grapes to extract the tannins, to 30 days. This would help to highlight any differences in tannin levels between green and brown seeds.

“Thirty days is a long time. If some-

thing were going to change, it would change,” Harbertson said.

In a blind taste test, subjects couldn’t detect a change in astringency based on seed color.

“People behave like instruments and actually rate the attributes of the wine,” Harbertson said. “They couldn’t tell any difference.”

The industrywide belief that seed color dictates tannin levels originated from a study conducted in Australia linking browner, riper seeds to lower astringency, Harbertson said.

There was a gaping hole in those studies, he said.

“The people who did the experi-ment never actually made any wine,” Harbertson said.

In spite of this, Harbertson said, the winemaking community is slow to accept a challenge to the pre-established notion that seed color is an effective way to predict astringency.

“It’s very difficult to change their opin-ion about that. I’m getting a little push back,” Harbertson said. “I’ve caught no end of hell from winemakers who have read these results and gone, ‘bah.’ ”

The response may be slow, but wine-makers are starting to take notice of their findings. At a recent conference in which he presented the results of the study, the crowd was receptive and interested to learn more about how the

study could impact their own harvesting practices, Harbertson said.

“I kind of expected the audience would chuck tomatoes at me or something,” he said with a laugh. “This is why the experiment wasn’t done to begin with.”

Sweeping change across the industry will require more investigation into the (possibly nonexistent) link between seed color and wine taste. Harbertson hasn’t

entirely written off examining seeds to help predict the qualities of a wine.

“We like the idea of looking at the seeds,” Harbertson said. “We just don’t think people need to worry about tan-nins and the extraction of them versus ripe or unripe.”


Courtesy WSUWinemaking equipment from WSU’s Prosser, Wash., facility is shown.

Shakingfrom Page 14A

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By Seth TruscottWSU News

DAVENPORT, Wash. — Along a blustery rural highway, foresters from Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are proving that living snow fences — windbreaks made of live trees — can protect Northwest roads and farms from winter’s fury.

More than a decade ago, a group of WSU, state and federal researchers planted the Davenport Living Snow Fence, two 880-foot double rows of Rocky Mountain junipers designed to catch wind and snow along Highway 25 just north of Davenport, Wash. Ten years later, the scientists returned, measuring poles in hand, to see how the wall of junipers had fared. They discovered that, contrary to popular belief, living snow fences can thrive in Washington’s drylands.

Living fences are common in the Great Plains, where winters are fre-quently harsh and drifts topping 30 feet close highways. The Davenport fence was planted to show that Plains-style windbreaks can grow well in

areas with less than 16 inches of annu-al rainfall.

“There was a belief that trees wouldn’t grow here,” said Don Hanley, an extension forester and emeritus professor with the WSU School of the Environment. “We knew that was wrong. People were using the wrong stock, and they weren’t planting or maintaining them correctly.”

To change that, he, Gary Kuhn and Dennis Robinson, now-retired foresters with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, enlisted help from the Washington State Department of Transportation to find a snowdrift-prone stretch of Highway 25.

Working with a cooperative land-owner, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the local Lincoln County Conservation District, the for-esters laid down tough polypropylene weed-blocking fabric, planted a hardy strain of junipers — and waited.

“We had good stock that was plant-ed correctly and good site preparation,” Hanley said. “We put everything we had into it perfectly. And the trees grew, and grew, and grew — with no

irrigation.” Hanley, Kuhn and Robinson mea-

sured the windbreak at 5- and 10-

year marks, then shared their find-ings in “Davenport Living Snow Fence Demonstration: A 10-year Survival

Living snow fence thrives in Washington’s drylands

Courtesy Andy Perleberg, WSU ExtensionFor the past decade, Washington State University’s Living Snow Fence has survived and thrived near Davenport, Wash.

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Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | 17ANorthwest Farm and Ranchand Growth Update,” a technical bulletin pub-lished in December by WSU Extension. Read it at https://goo.gl/kO25Jd.

They found that the trees had crown closure — they had grown their branches together to form a complete wind barrier — in five to six years.

“With a live snow fence, you want them to close quickly, so they can start doing their job,” Kuhn said.

“Growth has been tre-mendous,” Hanley said. “More importantly, it’s been observed by thou-sands of people driving that highway.”

“Living snow fences are like an insurance policy,” said Kuhn. “About every 10 years or so, we get bad winters in Washington. When we do, roads are closed and people have big problems.”

Living fence benefits are widely documented, Hanley said. The trees keep roads clear of snow,

making them safer while minimizing the expense of plowing. They help homes and barns stay warmer, saving on heat-ing costs.

Windbreaks shelter barns, pastures and live-stock pens, for example, protecting newborn calves from cold while saving on feed costs — cold livestock eat more. Windbreaks also keep valuable topsoil from blowing away in the wind.

Live fences require less maintenance than their wood or metal counterparts, while also providing cover for wild birds. Increased plant-ings of windbreaks could benefit the Northwest’s conservation nursery industry, Kuhn said.

The Davenport fence is expected to live for at least another 25 years with little maintenance. Knowledge gained from the experiment has helped develop other liv-ing fences near Anatone, Wash., and Athena, Ore.

Associated Press

BOISE — Two seed compa-nies are working together to develop a new variety of sugar beet that is resistant to three different herbicides.

Monsanto Co. and German plant breeding company KWS Saat want to create a genetically engineered beet that would allow growers to better control weeds, reported The Capital Press.

They plan to hold trials over the next three years and have the sugar beet on the market in eight to 10 years.

Most sugar beets grown in the Snake River region have already been engineered by Monsanto Co. to resist its widely-used Roundup herbicide.

KWS signed an agreement with Monsanto this year to develop the new sugar beet vari-ety, which will tolerate the her-bicides glyphosate, glufosinate

and dicamba. The two companies also

worked together to develop the Roundup Ready sugar beets.

“We’re very excited about it. We think it’s going to increase grower productivi-ty,” KWS scientist Aaron Hummel told growers dur-ing the Snake River Sugar Beet Conference earlier this month.

Researchers say the combination of three herbicide-resistant traits will be helpful because weeds resistant to one chemical will still be killed by one of the other two herbicides.

Hummel said the new beet won’t be a silver bullet, “but it’s a very good solution that will help you have more options to

manage glyphosate resistance in weeds.”

University of Idaho weed sci-entist Don Morishita said the

new variety is a good idea, but added that some kochia weeds in the area are resistant to both dicamba and glyphosate.

The third herbi-cide, glufosinate, works well in the Midwest but isn’t as effective in this region’s dry, low-humidity environ-

ment, he said. “I think this idea of stack-

ing traits is a reasonable one but I’m not entirely sold that (dicamba and glufosinate) are the best two traits to stack into sugar beets grown in Idaho and Oregon,” he said.

Idaho plant breeders developing new herbicide-resistant sugar beet

“We think it’s going to increase grower

productivity.”Aaron Hummel

KWS Saat scientist

466018LZ_15

Like us on Facebook466026LZ-15


By Aaron WeinbergSkagit Valley Herald

BURLINGTON, Wash. — Skagit Valley Malting founder Wayne Carpenter ducked his head inside one of two sprawl-ing metal silos that are under construction on a 10-acre lot at the Port of Skagit’s Bayview Business Park.

His voice echoing inside the silo, Carpenter described how in July the silos will be packed with 850 tons of grain for drying and storage.

“When it’s done, computers and stirrers will make sure the grain dries evenly,” he said. “It’s not a normal way of drying grain in the U.S.”

Skagit Valley Malting has been doing things differently since forming five years ago.

Originally conceived in col-laboration with the Port of Skagit to increase the value of local grain, Skagit Valley Malting is malting and ger-minating grains no one else

can. That means brewers and

distillers can unlock new fla-vors, and bakers can produce food with better flavor and more nutrients.

Companies have been lin-ing up to work with Skagit Valley Malting, with repre-sentatives from all over the world visiting the plant.

“We have 54 customers already, and we haven’t even advertised,” Carpenter said. “And this is all happening here in the Skagit Valley.”

Expanding capacity and helping farmers

The skeleton of a 14,000-square foot grain sorting and drying facility stands next to the two silos. The building will be completed in January and ready for operation a few months later.

The construction on the 10 acres is a step toward great-ly expanding Skagit Valley Malting’s production.

The company has been

important for local agricul-ture since it formed.

Farmers have to grow wheat or barley every few years to recondition the soil, but the wheat and barley earn only commodity fee prices.

Carpenter and others came up with the idea to pay farm-ers a premium price for that rotation crop for malting and germinating purposes. That adds value to agriculture in Skagit County.

Dave Hedlin, owner of Hedlin Family farms, sold about 100 acres of barley to Skagit Valley Malting this year.

“With the land values and import costs, it’s difficult to make a margin on grain,” he said. “Places where you can add value, like Skagit Valley Malting, are really important. It’s worked out well for us.”

Skagit Valley Malting is working with two other local farms, including Knutzen Farms and Washington Bulb

Co., on producing grains. It’s also working with three others outside the county.

As production expands, Carpenter said he’ll bring in more farms.

Skagit Valley Malting on the cutting edge

Associated PressSkagit Valley Malting founder Wayne Carpenter and Skagit Port executive director Patsy Martin stand ouside two large silos under construction that are part of the malting company’s expansion Dec. 10 at the Port of Skagit County in Burlington, Wash.

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Moscow-PullMan Daily news | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | 19ANorthwest Farm and RanchThis year, the company

harvested 1,700 tons of grain. With the new facility, Carpenter anticipates being able to har-vest 2,800 tons this summer and 4,500 tons the following year.

The property has more than enough land to manage grain in the Skagit Valley, Carpenter said.

As many as 28 grain silos will fit on the new property, although Carpenter said the number built will depend on how much grain the valley produces.

“We have to build a facility that doesn’t slow down the farmer,” Carpenter said.

More expansion planned

Carpenter unrolled a blue-print on a desk in the waiting room of the malting facility, showing another glimpse into the future of Skagit Valley Malting.

The company has plans to build a 40,000-square-foot malting facility on the 10-acre lot. It will house up to 30 of the company’s custom-engi-neered malting machines.

Construction won’t start until next year or even later, Carpenter said.

The current malting facil-ity has two of the company’s full-size custom-engineered malting machines running, with a max capacity of six. The machines are capable of malting types of grains oth-ers can’t.

For instance, brewers use about 10 varieties of grains among the 21,000 avail-able. Skagit Valley Malting’s machines can malt thousands of varieties of grains. This allows brewers to unlock fla-vors previously unknown to the market.

Lead scientist Bob Rock does a lot of work with the machines.

“No one is doing this right now,” he said. “It’s mind-numb-ing the number of possibilities we have here.”

The company is keeping its machines mostly under wraps until international patents are granted.

Windows that could offer glances into the malting room are covered by cardboard.

Guests must sign non-disclo-sure agreements before step-ping inside. No photos are allowed.

Last week, one of the large metallic malting machines spun around as a milling machine shaved one of its openings to exacting measurements.

Each malting machine,

which can malt any seed as long as it’s not too tiny, can handle up to 22,000 pounds of grain per batch. Similar machines cost about $1 mil-lion, but Carpenter said his are much more efficient.

“We are trying to make malting as efficient as pos-sible for prices on par with

European imported prices,” he said. “But the grain is going to be mechanically better, so they are basically cheaper.”

Carpenter still has a few secrets up his sleeves. One is hidden inside his current sort-ing and drying facility.

It’s his homemade malting machine, which he and Rock made in his garage about five years ago. The machine, tucked in a dark corner behind sacks of grain, represents the birth of the company, even if Carpenter won’t admit it.

“It’s too ugly,” he said. “Someday when we’re more established, I’ll show it to peo-ple.”

Other secrets involve fur-ther expansion. The company is exploring creating new facili-ties in a half-dozen cities.

There is also a third phase in construction planned for the 10-acre lot, but Carpenter can’t talk about most of that yet because he’s still working out details with other companies.

In the meantime, he’s get-ting constant visits from those interested in working with the company.

Associated PressSkagit Valley Malting founder Wayne Carpenter checks out barley Dec 10 in Burlington, Wash., grown last summer by Skagit Valley farmer Kraig Knutzen.

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Northwest Farm and Ranch, Winter 2015

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