What s in the 2014 Farm Bill. China is poised to become a growth market for Oregon producers. An Official Publication of the Oregon Wheat Industry

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1 An Official Publication of the Oregon Wheat Industry June 2014 China is poised to become a growth market for Oregon producers 8 What s in the 2014 Farm Bill 12 OREGON WHEAT GROWERS LEAGUE 115 SE 8th St., Pendleton, OR Address Service Requested NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID PONTIAC, IL PERMIT 125

2 OREGON WHEAT GROWERS LEAGUE June 2014 Vol. 66 N0. 3 An Official Publication of the Oregon Wheat Industry Cover photo: Karissa Griggs, Athena OR Jerry Marguth President County Presidents Kurt Feigner, Central Oregon Evan Thomas, Central Oregon VP Brent Cheyne, Klamath County Dana Tuckness, Malheur County Brent Martin, Morrow County Alan von Borstel, Sherman County TJ Hansell, Umatilla County Rob Lane, Union/Baker County Kurt Bowman, Union/Baker Counties VP Kurt Melville, Wallowa County Zach Christensen, North Willamette Valley Brian Glaser, South Willamette Valley Bryan Cranston Chair Eric Orem Vice President Tyler Hansell Secretary/ Treasurer Walter Powell Immediate Past President Committee Liaisons Jerry Marguth, Environment & Regulations Walter Powell, Farm Policy & Transportation Craig Reeder, Research & Technology Ex-Officio Dan Steiner Staff Blake Rowe, Chief Executive Officer Marilyn Blagg, Office Manager Sally Christensen, Membership Director OREGON WHEAT COMMISSION Bob Newtson Vice Chair Members Growers Dale Case, Cove Darren Padget, Grass Valley Tom Duyck, Forest Grove Public Member S. Greg Borossay Handlers Jeff Kaser, Up Country Elevator, Moro Staff Blake Rowe, CEO Tana Simpson, Associate Administrator Diana Thompson, Administrative Assistant SUBSCRIPTIONS U.S. Single Copies: $ Year Subscription: $ Year Subscription: $28.00 Canadian and foreign: 1-Year Subscription: $ Year Subscription: $56.00 Send subscription requests to: Oregon Wheat Growers League 115 SE 8th Street, Pendleton, Oregon SALES AND PRODUCTION Publication Office 115 SE 8th Street, Pendleton, Oregon Phone: Fax: Web site: Sales and Production Offices Sandy Creighton, Ad Sales Manager 966 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Fresno, CA Phone: Fax: screighton@farmprogress.com Michelle Neview, Ad Sales Representative Farm Progress Companies th Avenue, Suite P, St. Charles, IL Phone: Fax: mneview@farmprogress.com Judy Brent, Production Manager Phone: Fax: jbrent@farmprogress.com Lisa Lynd, Design Director Phone: llynd@farmprogress.com ADVERTISING RATES Rates B/W 2/C 4/C Full Page $690 $860 $1025 2/3 Page Vertical /2 Page Vert/Horiz /3 Page Square/Vertical /4 Page /6 Page Vertical /8 Page Horizontal Above rates are gross; 15% discount to recognized agencies. Frequency discounts 2x 3x 4x 5% 7% 10% IN THIS ISSUE 4 President s half acre 5 A new climate change strategy legislative session 8 China is poised to become a growth market for Oregon wheat producers 11 Borlaug granddaughter says: Debate over Farm Bill 17 Research funding for FY 2014/15 18 Oregon Wheat Commission Report Septoria: A growing problem for Oregon wheat growers 21 Benefits of GE crops highlighted in USDA report 22 OSU ranks seventh worldwide in agriculture and forestry 24 Bushels for Betsy/ Farmers Ending Hunger Oregon Wheat is published bimonthly by Oregon Wheat Growers League, 115 SE 8th Street, Pendleton, Oregon Oregon Wheat is sent to all Oregon wheat producers through funding provided by the Oregon Wheat Commission. If you are currently receiving multiple copies, or would like to make a change in your Oregon Wheat subscription, please contact the publication office (above, left). Receipt of Oregon Wheat does not indicate membership in the Oregon Wheat Growers League. Every effort is made to ensure accuracy in articles published by Oregon Wheat; however, the publishers assume no responsibility for losses sustained, allegedly resulting from following recommendations in this magazine. Consult your local authorities. The Oregon Wheat Growers League has not tested any of the products advertised in this publication, nor has it verified any of the statements made in any of the advertisements. The League does not warrant, expressly or implicitly, the fitness of any product advertised or the suitability of any advice or statements contained herein.

3 Jerry Marguth President Political defense is going to be part of our thinking for a long time to come. president s half acre time has come the Walrus said To talk of many things: of shoes of ships and sealing wax of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking Glass We have passed through the period of the short session of the Oregon The legislature, and like many of you I am amazed at the number of bills dropped during a session purported to be for those matters requiring immediate attention to avoid some calamity. The creative nature of the Oregon legislature will never cease to astound me. And with the closing of that session, we are immediately and officially launched into the campaign season for the next biennial election. Along those lines, it seems appropriate to talk a little about how the Oregon Wheat Growers League interacts with the political process. First and foremost, the OWGL is a nonpartisan organization which may only use that portion of their revenue derived from voluntary membership dues to engage in anything political. Since membership dues account for less than one-third of our total revenues, political engagement of any sort is highly controlled and limited and in truth is more accurately labeled educational. This is why a separate organization known as Oregon Wheat PAC was created in the past to solicit and use voluntary contributions to support issues and candidates in state election cycles. To this point, the Oregon Wheat PAC has avoided interaction in Federal races since the funding available is limited and the most efficient use of the resource has been to support wheat friendly candidates and issues inside the state boundaries. You may have noticed in the last membership dues billing cycle that an additional $25.00 donation to Oregon Wheat PAC was included in the suggested dues billing. To be clear, that donation is intended to be voluntary and may be opted out. It has been made obvious to the board of directors by the flurry of bills dropped in the last two sessions by folks that want local control of transgenic plants or the required labeling of GMO s, that political defense is going to be part of our thinking for a long time to come. Add to that the ever increasing interest in water quality and quantity and who gets to write the rules governing both, and we can safely see a need for better funding of our PAC. And yes, of course, you are being barraged on a nearly daily basis with solicitations by other farm friendly organizations to send in dollars that quite frankly you don t have enough of. So what is a responsible citizen/producer supposed to do? I don t have an ironclad answer to that question, but the way I view it is this: even though the money spent towards political campaigns is totally lost to any useful production of value, the failure to spend may generate a huge cost in the aftermath. In other words, much like fire insurance and parachutes, you would like to not spend the money, but the reality is that if you need the insurance or the parachute, the cost does not seem so terrible. So to try and summarize, the OWGL in a non-partisan fashion will look at every issue that may impact our industry and if it appears that we may have useful input, then we will provide it. Beyond that we look to the generous donations of our grower base to the Wheat PAC to help fund candidates that support our issues or at least are not hostile toward us. And let s be perfectly honest here, often times we have all seen a race where we have to select for the lesser evil. Life would be a lot less stressful if it weren t for politics. Anyway, make those final preparations for harvest and then have some fun. Be thankful we re not getting all of the government we re paying for Will Rogers The OWGL welcomes the following new members: Calvin & Marilyn Smith, Edmonds, WA Duyck s Peachy-Pig Farm, Cornelius Thank you for your support A new climate change strategy Blake Rowe, CEO, Oregon Wheat In early April, I had an interesting opportunity to travel to Washington, DC, to support the annual National Wheat Improvement Committee s (NWIC) Research Fly-In. The NWIC group is made up of wheat industry interests, including milling, baking, and biotechnology company representatives, wheat growers, and university researchers, with administrative support from the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). Dr. Robert Zemetra, the winter wheat breeder at Oregon State University, and I represented Oregon at this year s event. The primary reasons for the trip were to get current information on FY 2014 research funding and hear about the President s proposed FY 2015 research budget and funding priorities. We met with USDA s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff, and members of Congress and we advocated for additional funding overall and for specific wheat and barley related projects at all of our meetings. Other than spending way too much time on airplanes and in airports, the trip went very well. I will admit that I photographed two birds with one camera (more politically correct than killing two birds with one stone) by taking the opportunity to visit with our Congressional delegation on the APHIS investigation and several other legislative issues. Federal funding for research was increased in FY 2014, restoring about 64% of the cuts that have occurred since Unfortunately, some of the ARS programs in Oregon were not considered high enough in priority to get full restoration of their sequestration cuts. The President s budget for FY 2015 recommends further overall funding increases, but several Oregon based projects have been targeted for re-direction, including projects focused on cereal grains and tillage systems. This means the funding will be redirected to higher priority projects in the Administration s plan, including climate change, plant genetics, and pollinator health. ARS assured us that, while the specific projects would change, the funds and work would stay at Oregon s ARS facilities. These assurances are welcome, but the re-direction process is still a significant potential risk. Zemetra and I reviewed the research funding situation in our delegation meetings and they assured us they will help us track this through the budget and appropriations process. Somewhere in the process of figuring out our talking points for our agency and delegation visits, we began to realize that the choice between conventional agricultural research and the new climate change initiatives was really unnecessary. In fact, the press to shift money into new research efforts was actually doing harm to our most effective approach to climate change in the agricultural research arena. Our traditional approach to agricultural research has been developed over more than a hundred years. It was anchored in the creation of our land-grant university system and, over time, has expanded to include the extension service, experiment stations and other ARS facilities. Initial research priorities were focused on agronomy and basic crop breeding work, and have expanded to include our modern breeding programs, with their biotechnology tools, to more fully understand the genomes of key crops. What we have today is a system of research facilities and programs that stretch across the nation, covering a wide range of climatic zones, moisture regimes, soils, crops, and production strategies. It includes dry land and irrigated systems and it covers a wide range of pests and diseases. It also provides a critical and practical network of connections between researchers and individual growers and farms. An observation made by Zemetra in one of our meetings, was that when confronted by a new disease or pest problem in Oregon, he doesn t start from scratch to address it. Instead, he reaches out to this research network to get information from another location that is already dealing with the same issue. Most likely there is someplace that is already hotter, colder, wetter, drier, with more or less intense weather events, etc., where we can look for guidance on how to adapt to changing conditions. I would much rather have full knowledge of crop genomes and how to improve yield, quality, drought tolerance, fertilizer efficiency, and disease and pest resistance, than I would a fancy climate model that predicts summer rainfall or temperature in the year Next time someone asks me what we should do in agricultural research to prepare for climate change, my response will be to fully fund our current research facilities and programs. Keep a priority on fully understanding the crop genomes and knowing how to adjust varieties to changes in weather, pests, and diseases. Maintain our extension and experiment station programs and their practical connections to local growers and farms. Many people consider climate change to be a new problem that needs new solutions and, in some areas, they are probably right. However, in agricultural research it is hard to see a more effective strategy than the system we already have in place, as long as we can provide the funding to do the job. 4 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 5

4 2014 legislative session Paladin Public Affairs, Inc., Jana Bader Jarvis, Tualatin, OR Annual sessions approved by voters during the 2010 general election proposed to allow the legislature to address pressing policy concerns and tweak the state s budget allowing for a more efficient budgetary process. With the second short session a distant memory in the minds of Oregonians, it is noteworthy that this session was replete with a wide variety of complex policy discussions that may prove valuable to some during the upcoming election cycle. While legislators were limited in the number of bills that could be proposed, they were not limited in the scope. Discussions ranging from legalizing marijuana, restructuring the Treasurer s office, requiring labeling of genetically modified foods and gun control were prevalent. Most of these topics were limited to an introductory hearing, but undoubtedly they will be promoted during the election cycle and designed to take center stage during the 2015 regular session. February s forecast provided good news for legislators job growth is up, school property tax revenue is up, and a small boost to the state budget helps to address lingering issues. The state economist warned legislators they wouldn t have a clear picture of revenue until April and their forecast could be wrong. Legislators had held back over $150 million from state agencies last year, and after taking into consideration the state s current status, returned about a quarter of that money to the respective agencies. While the state s forecast provided for the expectation of more stable funding than in recent history, the budgetary process itself was not immune to politicking. OHSU used the session to request a $200 million grant which will provide them with a portion of the funding needed to match Phil Knight s pledge of $500 million for the OHSU Knight Cancer Center. SB 5703, passed in the waning hours of the session, included $200 million in the state bonding bill for Oregon Health & Science University for the purpose of constructing a new cancer research center. However, there were a number of requirements attached that define construction practices as well as requiring that OHSU raise the additional dollars prior to authorization of this bonding. Cover Oregon was center stage during the 2014 legislative session. After spending $58 million with Oracle to build a health exchange, not a single person has been able to sign up for insurance on the site. In response, the legislature passed three bills aimed at providing additional oversight on all contracted technology projects as well as some additional 6 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 flexibility to the federal deadline. The final budget package was approved without much controversy and the legislature adjourned at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7th. While only a limited number of the 265 bills proposed passed, there remains controversy around how this short session should be handled. The following highlights of the 2014 session are grouped by topic. Technology, Jobs, and Economic Development A bill to protect Oregonians from a practice referred to as patent trolling is now Oregon law. SB 1540 will give businesses and individuals recourse against those that seek to extort money from small businesses and individuals by issuing a bad faith demand letter alleging an infringement of patent rights. It will make this practice a violation of Oregon s Unlawful Trade Practices Act and allow those that are targeted the ability to sue for attorney s fees. Oregon s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), enacted in the 2007 legislature, requires utilities to deliver a portion of their energy from renewable sources as defined in Oregon statute (excluding hydropower). Larger utilities have differing standards than smaller utilities, but the development of data centers in rural Oregon have challenged some of the smaller utilities to meet these higher standards at a disproportionately higher cost for rural Oregonians. HB 4126, carefully negotiated by smaller utilities, larger utilities and the Governor s office, creates the ability for smaller utilities to purchase unbundled renewable energy certificates to meet these standards at a significantly lower cost to their consumer. Two bills designed to boost Oregon s rural economy passed with bipartisan support. SB 1563 authorizes the Oregon Business Development Department to assist entrepreneurial development activities for traded sector industries and in rural communities by increasing the cap on loans from $70,000 to $100,000 and extends the length of the loan period from five to ten years. Business Oregon estimates that over 50 small businesses have already utilized these loans and notes that their emphasis will be on businesses in rural Oregon. HB 4005 was amended to add five new e-commerce enterprise zones throughout the state, raising the number of e-commerce zones from ten to fifteen. Established in 2002, these zones allow qualifying businesses that engage in commercial or retail transactions over the internet to receive a credit against state income or corporate excise tax liability of 25% of the investment cost made in capital assets used in their operations. Oregon WheatPAC Political pressures that threaten our farming practices are not just out there on the horizon, they are with us today. We must be proactive in order to protect our industry and we MUST work together to be effective. Your contribution is more than tax deductible it is a tax credit! Contact the OWGL office at to contribute. Agriculture & Natural Resources One of the more controversial pieces of legislation during the 2014 session was SB 1531, which was introduced to allow cities and counties the ability prohibit the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries outright. The Seed Preemption Bill passed during last fall s Special Session created uncertainty about local government s ability to provide this regulation. After much political maneuvering and negotiation, this bill was amended to allow cities and counties to regulate the time, place and manner of marijuana dispensaries and gives them until May 1, 2014 to decide if they want to impose a one-year moratorium on these dispensaries outright. This fix relieves the pressure for a year, but undoubtedly this issue will be battled again in The controversial bee kill in Wilsonville last year prompted legislation introduced by Rep. Reardon in HB As introduced, this bill would have classified four active ingredients in the neonicotinoid class of insecticides as Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs), allowing these products to only be available for purchase and use by licensed pesticide operators. Concern from the agricultural community prompted an amendment to the bill which creates a task force to look at issues surrounding pollinator health and pesticides. The bill instructs ODA and Oregon State University to develop materials on bees and pesticides to be integrated into the current applicator training program. An issue surrounding expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary in Washington County came to the legislature for a solution in HB A Court of Appeals decision that had changed a 40-year growth plan brought developers, conservationists and agriculture to the table to negotiate a compromise. Dubbed the Land Use Grand Bargain, it received unanimous support from the Legislature. In like manner, compromise language allowed for the passage of HB 4093 which creates a public record exemption for written agreements entered into voluntarily for conservation efforts focused on sage grouse. These agreements, handled through Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), contain personal identifiable information such as operation size, phone numbers, and addresses that may make landowners wanting to enter into these agreements hesitant to participate if available to the public at large. SB 1541 was introduced at the request of the Oregon Food Bank to correct the two-year absence of a crop donation tax credit for donations to hunger relief groups across the state of Oregon. The percentage for the tax credit was increased from 10 percent to 15 percent on the wholesale value of the donation in an effort to increase participation by producers in Oregon. With unemployment rates above the national average, hunger remains an issue in our state and it is estimated that every $1 in donation equates to 11 pounds of donated food. Unfinished Business The I-5 Bridge Replacement Project, formerly referred to as the Columbia River Crossing, had one last opportunity to receive funding during the 2014 session. The bill passed last session required Washington to match Oregon in its investment, but the Washington legislature refused to include funding for a transportation package when they adjourned last year, and declined to take this issue up in their 2014 session as well. Efforts in the interim to re-work this into an Oregon-led project in HB 4113 failed to garner the necessary support from Senate leadership. More than a decade of work costing over $180 million has gone into the planning process to date, and it is unlikely that this issue will move forward in the near future. One of the most controversial bills of the session, HB 4143, which would have substantially changed long-standing common laws of court class action lawsuits, died a very public death on the floor of the Senate. It would have changed the size of class eligible and the amount of damages awarded by allowing a judge s discretion to determine the criteria. It also would have changed existing law by providing that unclaimed funds from a successful lawsuit would go to Legal Aid rather than be returned to the company paying the damages. As Oregon is one of only two states who return these unclaimed funds, this issue will likely be up for debate again during the 2015 regular session. A bill that would have sent a referendum to voters asking them to decide whether genetically modified food should be labeled got a long, contentious hearing but ultimately died in committee. HB 4100 would have required that genetically engineered (GE) raw and processed foods be labeled to indicate their modification, and would have created a private right of action if a consumer believed the food was mislabeled. The Governor has created a task force to address GE issues; and voters in Jackson County will be voting on allowing GE crops to be grown in their county during the May election. This issue is far from over. Legislation passed in the 2013 session created the opportunity for individuals who could not provide proof of legal presence in the United States, but had otherwise complied with all of the requirements for driving privileges and had resided in Oregon for more than a year to be allowed a limited duration driver card. Opponents of the legislation gathered enough signatures to have this issue placed on the November 2014 ballot, but the ballot title assigned provided concern to those supportive of the original concept. HB 4054 was introduced in order to rewrite the ballot title for this referral to better convey the intent of the original legislation which was to provide access for licensed driving and insurance. This bill passed in the House but was unable to move forward in the Senate, so the ballot title assigned will be on the November ballot Election In all, 15 members of the House of Representatives and one member of the Senate are vacating their seats to either run for another office or retire from public office all together. Much prognosticating occurs, especially in non-presidential election years, and most expect this coming November s election to provide some surprising results. June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 7

5 China is poised to become a growth market for Oregon wheat producers Fred Schneider, former director of the U.S. Wheat Associates office in Hong Kong, once remarked that he used an old Chinese proverb to explain the size of the market to first-time visitors. He said, it is like trying to describe the ocean to a frog that has lived his life in a well. The market is so vast that we cannot begin to comprehend its potential. Recently, Fred s remarks flashed into my head when I stepped off the airplane in China to participate in the U.S. Wheat Associates Crop Quality seminar. This high profile event held in Qingdao, attracted about 120 Chinese millers and wheat buyers. My job was to present the World and US Supply and Demand Situation and Outlook for wheat, but this year was different. During the seminar when I thanked the Chinese for their wheat purchases, they all applauded because China was the largest single buyer of U.S. wheat year to date. U.S. Wheat Associates has nurtured a close relationship with government officials, flour millers, bakers and grain traders over the last 34 years. The hearty applause was recognition that this effort is finally paying off. Today, China is poised to become a growth market for high quality U.S. wheat. A large Chinese population and continued steady economic growth, combined with political reform is creating a new market for U.S. wheat farmers and opportunities for Oregon wheat producers. Last summer after a twenty-two week decline in wheat futures, China entered the market and purchased 3.5 MMT (128 million bushels), of Soft Red Winter (SRW) wheat from the US Gulf. This big wheat purchase made many in the wheat industry take note that this country, because of its size, has the ability to move markets. China s population is 1.3 billion, accounting for nearly one fifth of the world s total population. While most of these consumers are poor, incomes are on the rise because of steady economic growth over the last decade. Per capita annual income of the average city dweller is $9,100 as compared to half that amount only a decade ago. Higher incomes are creat- Sino State Farms Grain and Oils Company Team that visited Portland Oregon December 18-19, 2013 China s supply and demand balance sheet Production area located in the Northern China plains ing demand for new products. The first thing many Chinese want to improve when they have more purchasing power is their diet. After generations of want, Chinese are choosing to consume more western-style foods. Fast food chains such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Papa John s Pizza and Subway are experiencing double-digit growth. Chinese are consuming record levels of pork and chicken, which is fueling demand for feed grains, including wheat. China is the largest wheat producer and consumer in the world with a harvest of 122 MMT (4,482 million bushels) and domestic consumption of 125 MMT (4,592 million bushels), respectively. Nearly a third of the world s carryover stocks are located in China. They will be one of the largest wheat buyers in the world this year, importing an estimated 8.5MMT (312 million bushels). U.S. producers are familiar with China s dramatic increase in pork and poultry production and the corresponding increase in soybean and corn imports. However, many are unaware that China also feeds 25 MMT (918 million bushels) of wheat each year, up from only 3.5 MMT (128 million bushels) only seven years ago. Growing demand for feed has put pressure on China s domestic wheat market. Lower quality domestic wheat is a major feed-grain in China and its higher use has created a market for high quality imported wheat. China s primary wheat production region is Henan province located in the North China Plains. This province is south of Beijing and accounts for 25 percent of total wheat production, followed by Shandong with 15 percent, and Hebei and Anhui each accounting for about 10 percent of total production. Overall, the total area seeded to wheat is 24.1 million hectares (59.5 million acres), comparable to the 22.9 million hectares (55.7 million acres) in the United States. Winter wheat accounts for about 95 percent of China s production with the remainder being spring wheat. So how do the Chinese produce nearly twice as much wheat as the United States using virtually the same amount of land? In China, the average farm size is only one hectare (2.4 acres) as compared to the average farm size in the United States of about 175 hectares (434 acres) according to the latest USDA census. These small Chinese farms are intensely managed and 75 percent of them have access to irrigation. In some areas, rural farmers hand weed and carry water to each wheat plant in times of drought. Like farmers in the United States, individual Chinese farmers decide which varieties to plant. Many of the varieties available in China have high yields but low quality. These semi-hard wheats make good noodles, the single largest use of wheat in this market, but they lack the gluten strength (protein) to make high quality western style breads. Wheat used for noodles accounts for 49 percent of the market, followed by 40 percent for Chinese style steamed bread. Only about six percent of total Chinese consumption is for biscuits and a smaller amount for western style breads and cakes. China does not produce large amounts of soft wheat (weak gluten) used for cookies, crackers and biscuits. Chinese mills complain about the quality of their domestic wheat and many prefer to use better quality imported wheat. They say the problem is that small farmers are using different varieties with a wide range of quality. These same small farmers will also pool the harvested wheat into one large grain bin without regard the end-use functionality. Sometimes even hard and soft wheats are mixed. Under this type of production and grain handling system, it is difficult for the flourmills to buy high protein wheat that is suited for western style breads and very soft low protein wheats that make superior cookies and cakes. Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) free trade agreement China has set a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for wheat import up to 9.6 MMT (352 million bushels) which can be imported at a preferential tariff of one percent ad valorem, while imports above the TRQ pay an import the duty of 65 percent. Of the total TRQ, roughly 10 percent or just less than one million metric tons (35 million bushels) is allocated to the commercial sector trade, while 90 percent remains under the control of the government. China s wheat purchases over the last five years have shown healthy growth. Marketing year to date (June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014), China has purchased 4.02 MMT of wheat. These purchases include 3,570 TMT of Soft Red Winter, TMT of Hard Red Spring and TMT of Soft White wheat, as well as 4.0 MT of Hard Red Winter. For Oregon wheat producers, it is noteworthy to highlight the solid growth of the Soft White wheat market. When you look at these exports on a calendar year basis, Soft White imports in 2013 reached TMT the highest level since This growth comes despite phyto-sanitary concerns from the Chinese over Tilletia Controversa Kuhn (TCK) fungus. In 1999, the U.S. and China signed an Agricultural Coopera- 8 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 9

6 A mini-combine with a header only six feet wide harvests wheat in China. tion Agreement in which China agreed to accept shipments of U.S. winter wheat that are certified by the USDA/Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) to have levels of 30,000 spores or less in a 50 gram sample. FGIS collects the samples and the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland tests the samples. The Chinese phyto-sanitary officials remain convinced that TCK fungus is a threat to wheat production, while in the U.S. there is no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level and the naturally occurring fungus in not regulated. US Wheat Associates and the industry are working towards a solution that will provide the needed levels of assurance for the Chinese to further open the market for PNW wheat producers. Recently, there were signs that China will adopt a more liberal policy allowing more wheat to be imported. China s government officials are looking to world markets to ensure that Chinese consumers demands for high quality food products are met. Competitive international markets combined with free trade agreements are the way to ensure food security, not previously long held self-sufficiency production targets. In December of last year, U.S. Wheat Associates hosted a group in Portland from Sino State Farms Grain and Oils Company. Many of the same mill managers and government officials that participated in the U.S. Wheat Associates crop quality seminars in Qingdao were on this team. All were very excited to be in the United States learning about our wheat marketing and grain handling system. They also indicated that the Chinese government will issue additional TRQ for WANT TO PURCHASE Minerals and other oil/gas interests. Send details to: P.O. Box Denver, CO Crop Year (June May) HRW HRS SRW SW Total , , US Wheat Associates Crop Quality Seminar November and they are interested in buying U.S. wheat. They were impressed by the high quality that is available in the Pacific Northwest. While in Qingdao, as part of the in country briefing, Matt Weimar, the current Director of U.S Wheat Associates in China remarked, China is a large country with many regions and sub-cultures, all at different stages of economic development, but all with a taste for more and better, across a huge population. China s doors have only been open to reform for less than 50 years, but advancements that took Europe and the Americas over a couple of hundred years to accomplish, have gripped China in just three decades. Rest assured that the government of China will continue to take pragmatic steps to open the door further for improved trade. A generation ago, Lester Brown asked Who Will Feed China and painted a very bleak outlook for world food supplies. However, with new technology, functioning markets and good trade policy the world will help feed China. With forward-thinking policy, China can become an integrated part of the world economy. Wheat producers in Oregon will also have a stake in this growing market as the Chinese develop a taste for high quality soft white wheat. Borlaug granddaughter says: Debate over Reprinted from Agri-Times Northwest, Friday, March 21, 2014 debate on GMOs is over, Julie Borlaug, granddaughter of the late wheat scientist Norman Borlaug, told an audience of agricultural media and The industry members. She continued that although the scientific community has repeatedly demonstrated the safety and value of biotech crops, advocates of biotech need to do a better job of explaining to the public why biotech is vital to our future. At the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues forum on Tuesday, February 25th, Borlaug instructed scientists and agriculturalists alike to dumb down and shorten our message. Borlaug further explained that the scientific explanations of the why and how agricultural research works is much more difficult to explain than the emotional misconceptions perpetuated by biotech opponents. And she would know. Borlaug s grandfather, the father of the Green Revolution, was an active influence on her life literally since the day she was born. Norman Borlaug earned a Nobel peace Prize for his work developing semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease resistant varieties, which have saved more than a billion people worldwide from starvation. Julie Borlaug now continues his legacy as the associate director for external relations for the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University. Borlaug breaks down the science behind biotech in more than just her professional life. She detailed her experience in emotionally connecting the science to the food we eat at a garden party that one of her friends held for their children at which the host detailed the lack of flavor, poor appearance and diminishing supply of her attempted GMO-free garden. Borlaug reiterated, We desperately need to tell the world about biotech and encouraged those working in agriculture to do so in a way that consumers around the globe can understand. She even gave a shout out to the importance of wheat research in her speech, saying without disease resistance and other attributes there would be no more pasta dinners, no more birthday cakes. Norman Borlaug s legacy, familial and vocational, illustrates that advances like biotechnology and associated technologies (marker-assisted selection, double haploid breeding, etc.) will help the Julie Borlaug world grow more and better wheat with less impact on the environment. And that is a message worth sharing. 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7 Thank you for making 40 years of dreams possible. What s in the 2014 Farm Bill for Farm Service Agency Customers 2014 Farm Bill The Agricultural Act of 2014 (the Act), also known as the 2014 Farm Bill, was signed by President Obama on February 7, The Act repeals certain programs, continues some programs with modifications, and authorizes several new programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Most of these programs are authorized and funded through OVERVIEW The Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program and the Average Crop Revenue Election program are repealed and replaced by two new programs: Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC). Upland cotton is the only covered commodity that is no longer eligible to participate in these programs, but rather, becomes eligible for the new Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) offered by the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Until STAX becomes available, upland cotton is eligible for transition payments made by FSA for 2014 and 2015 crops. The Marketing Assistance Loan program and sugar loans continue mostly unchanged. The Milk Income Loss Contract Program continues through Sept. 1, 2014, unless it is replaced by the Dairy Margin Protection Program prior to that date. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), USDA s largest conservation program, continues through 2018 with an annually decreasing enrolled acreage cap. The contract portion of the Grassland Reserve Program enrollment has been merged with CRP. The Biomass Crop Assistance Program is extended and funded at $25 million per year. The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program has been expanded to include protection at higher coverage levels, similar to buy-up provisions offered under the federal crop insurance program. The Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm- Raised Fish, and the Tree Assistance Program are continued, with modifications starting in October 2011, and succeeding years. The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which covered losses through Sept. 30, 2011, is not reauthorized. The credit title of the Act continues and improves the direct and guaranteed loan programs that provide thousands of America s farmers and ranchers the opportunity to obtain the credit they need to begin and continue their operations. The changes in the Act provide FSA greater flexibility in determining eligibility including expanded definitions of eligible entities, years of experience for farm ownership loans, and allowing youth loan applicants from urban areas to access loans. FSA s popular microloan and down payment loan programs, 12 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 important to furthering the Administration s objective of assisting beginning farmers, have been improved by raising loan limits and emphasizing beginning and socially disadvantaged producers. The Act also provides greater enhancements for lenders to participate in the guaranteed conservation loan program and eliminates term limits for the guaranteed operating program, allowing farmers and ranchers the opportunity for continued credit in cases where financial setbacks may have prevented them from obtaining commercial credit. ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME Adjusted gross income (AGI) provisions have been simplified and modified. Producers whose average AGI exceeds $900,000 are not eligible to receive payments or benefits from most programs administered by FSA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Previous AGI provisions distinguished between farm and non-farm AGI. PAYMENT LIMITATIONS The total amount of payments received, directly and indirectly, by a person or legal entity (except joint ventures or general partnerships) for Price Loss Coverage, Agricultural Risk Coverage, marketing loan gains, and loan deficiency payments (other than for peanuts), may not exceed $125,000 per crop year. ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN FARMING Producers who participate in the Price Loss Coverage or Agricultural Risk Coverage programs are required to provide significant contributions to the farming operation to be considered as actively engaged in farming. The Act requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations to define significant contribution of active personal management as part of this determination. COMPLIANCE The Act continues to require an acreage report for all cropland on the farm. The acreage report is required to be eligible for Price Loss Coverage; Agriculture Risk Coverage; transition assistance for producers of upland cotton; marketing assistance loans; and loan deficiency payments. Compliance with Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions continues to be required for participation in most FSA and NRCS programs. These provisions place restrictions on the planting of an agricultural commodity on highly erodible land or wetlands. Further, they prohibit the conversion of a wetland to make possible the production of an agricultural commodity. Thanks, Oregon! For four decades, your generous support of The Oregon Community Foundation has benefited thousands of people in your own communities. Thank you also to the 1,622 volunteers whose hard work and dedication made it happen. We look forward to the next 40 years of helping you create charitable funds that directly support your region. For more information, call us at or visit 4O Y E A R S

8 The Act adds premium assistance for crop insurance as a benefit subject to compliance with HELC and WC provisions. New provisions are created for determinations, administration, and penalties relating to HELC and WC provisions that are unique to crop insurance. FSA will make HELC/WC eligibility determinations for crop insurance participants based on NRCS technical determinations of HELC/WC compliance. PRICE LOSS COVERAGE (PLC) AND AGRICULTURAL RISK COVERAGE (ARC) Base Reallocation and Yield Updates: Owners of farms that participate in PLC or ARC programs for the crops have a one-time opportunity to: (1) maintain the farm s 2013 bases through 2018; or (2) reallocate base acres (excluding cotton bases). Covered commodities include wheat, oats, barley, corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, sunflower seed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, crambe and sesame seed, dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, large chickpeas and peanuts. Upland cotton is no longer considered a covered commodity, but the upland cotton base acres on the farm are renamed generic base acres. Producers may receive payments on generic base acres if those acres are planted to a covered commodity. A producer also has the opportunity to update the program payment yield for each covered commodity based on 90 percent of the farm s average yield per planted acre, excluding any year when no acreage was planted to the covered commodity. Program payment yields are used to determine payment amounts for the Price Loss Coverage program. Price Loss Coverage: Payments are issued when the effective price of a covered commodity is less than the respective reference price for that commodity established in the statute. The payment is equal to 85 percent of the base acres of the covered commodity times the difference between the reference price and the effective price times the program payment yield for the covered commodity. County ARC: Payments are issued when the actual county crop revenue of a covered commodity is less than the ARC county guarantee for the covered commodity and are based on county data, not farm data. The ARC county guarantee equals 86 percent of the previous five-year average national farm price, excluding the years with the highest and lowest price (the ARC guarantee price), times the five-year average county yield, excluding the years with the highest and lowest yield (the ARC county guarantee yield). Both the guarantee and actual revenue are computed using base acres, not planted acres. The payment is equal to 85 percent of the base acres of the covered commodity times the difference between the county guarantee and the actual county crop revenue for the covered commodity. Payments may not exceed 10 percent of the benchmark county revenue (the ARC guarantee price times the ARC county guarantee yield). Individual ARC: Payments are issued when the actual individual crop revenues, summed across all covered commodities on the farm, are less than ARC individual guarantees summed across those covered commodities on the farm. The farm for individual ARC purposes is the sum of the producer s interest in all ARC farms in the state. The farm s ARC individual guarantee equals 86 percent of the farm s individual benchmark guarantee, which is defined as the ARC guarantee price times the five-year average individual yield, excluding the years with the highest and lowest yields, and summing across all crops on the farm. The actual revenue is computed in a similar fashion, with both the guarantee and actual revenue computed using planted acreage on the farm. The individual ARC payment equals: 65 percent of the sum of the base acres of all covered commodities on the farm, times the difference between the individual guarantee revenue and the actual individual crop revenue across all covered commodities planted on the farm. Payments may not exceed 10 percent of the individual benchmark revenue. Election Required: All of the producers on a farm must make a one-time, unanimous election of: (1) PLC/County ARC on a covered-commodity-by-covered-commodity basis; or (2) Individual ARC for all covered commodities on the farm. If the producers on the farm elect PLC/County ARC, the producers must also make a one-time election to select which base acres on the farm are enrolled in PLC and which base acres are enrolled in County ARC. Alternatively, if individual ARC is selected, then every covered commodity on the farm must participate in individual ARC. The election between ARC and PLC is made in 2014 and is in effect for the crop years. If an election is not made in 2014, the farm may not participate in either PLC or ARC for the 2014 crop year and the producers on the farm are deemed to have elected PLC for subsequent crop years, but must still enroll their farm to receive coverage. If the sum of the base acres on a farm is 10 acres or less, the producer on that farm may not receive PLC or ARC payments, unless the producer is a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher or is a limited resource farmer or rancher. Payments for PLC and ARC are issued after the end of the respective crop year, but not before Oct. 1. In 2015, producers in PLC have an additional option. Producers enrolling in PLC, and who also participate in the federal crop insurance program, may, beginning with the 2015 crop, make the annual choice whether to purchase additional crop insurance coverage called the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). SCO provides the producer the option of covering a portion of his or her crop insurance deductible and is based on expected county yields or revenue. The cost of SCO is subsidized and indemnities are determined by the yield or revenue loss for the county or area. Crops for which the producer has elected to receive ARC are not eligible for SCO benefits. Producers who enroll their 2015 crop of winter wheat in SCO may elect to withdraw from SCO prior to their acreage reporting date without any penalty. This allows producers additional time to make an informed decision related to whether to enroll in the Average Crop Revenue Program (ARC) or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. If they choose ARC, they will not be charged a crop insurance premium so long as they withdraw from SCO prior to their acreage reporting date. MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS (MALS) AND SUGAR LOANS The Act extends the authority for sugar loans for the crop years and nonrecourse marketing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payment (LDPs) for the crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, extra-long staple cotton, long grain rice, medium grain rice, soybeans, other oilseeds (including sunflower seed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, crambe and sesame seed), dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, large chickpeas, graded and nongraded wool, mohair, honey, unshorn pelts and peanuts. Provisions are mostly unchanged from the 2008 Farm Bill, except marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments are subject to payment limitations. CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) The Act continues CRP with modifications. The acreage cap is gradually lowered to 24 million acres for fiscal years 2017 and The requirement to reduce rental payments under emergency haying and grazing is eliminated. Rental payment reductions of not less than 25 percent are required for managed haying and grazing. Producers also are given the opportunity for an early-out from their CRP contracts, but only in fiscal year The rental payment portion of the Grassland Reserve Program enrollment has been incorporated into the CRP. The Transition Incentive Program (TIP) continues to allow for the transition of CRP land to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher so land can be returned to sustainable grazing or crop production. TIP now includes eligibility for military veterans (i.e., veteran farmers). BIOMASS CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (BCAP) BCAP provides incentives to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to establish, cultivate and harvest eligible biomass for heat, power, bio-based products, research and advanced biofuels. Crop producers and bioenergy facilities can team together to submit proposals to USDA for selection as a BCAP project area. BCAP has been extended through 2018 and is funded at $25 million per fiscal year. 14 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 15

9 Farm/Business Name Representative Address city STate zip Phone Producer/Landlord Member: Less than 320 acres...$100 Member: acres...$150 Member: More than 2000 acres...$200 Affiliate: Retired grower or landlord...$75 Business Associate Member Agribusiness companies serving producers Associate: 1-10 employees...$100 Associate: employees...$150 Associate: 26 or more employees...$200 WheatPAC Donation: Your support helps! Please enclose a separate check made payable to Oregon WheatPAC. Your credit card will be charged separately. Thank you. Payment Information Check Please make payable to Oregon Wheat Growers League MasterCard Visa Credit Card NumberE Name on Card Signature Thank you to our current members. The League engages in the battle for your bottom line every day. We are proud to represent you, offer quality educational opportunities, and keep you informed of industry issues and concerns. In the last year, the OWGL has worked on your behalf on the following issues: The discovery of genetically engineered (GE) wheat, Funding and staffing for our research programs, Annual Dues Schedule amount check number expiration Date Regulatory pressure on pesticides, water quality management plans, and Local control of which crops farmers can grow. We Need Your Support. If you are not a member, please consider joining today. Fax Making Every Resource Count Would you prefer to receive the OWGL biweekly newsletter: Via (also on our website) Via fax Via U.S. Postal Service Not at all Please return this form with your payment to: Oregon Wheat Growers League 115 SE 8th St., Pendleton, OR P: (541) F: (541) Research funding for FY 2014/15 Bryan Cranston, Chair, OWC I hope that everyone is having a good spring. We have been seeding and spraying when the weather cooperates. In March, the OWC met in The Dalles to discuss the fiscal year research funding and budget. The Commission received approximately $1.1 million dollars in requests for research funding from researchers throughout the state. The bulk of the requests were associated with the wheat variety development program and the block grant to support experiment stations. The Wheat Breeding Team made up of Bob Zemetra, Breeder; Mike Flowers, Variety testing and Agronomic Evaluation; Andrew Ross, Quality; Jeffery Leonard, Marker Development; and Chris Mundt, Disease Screening requested a total of $553,000. The breeding team is focused on the development of soft white, hard white and hard red winter wheat. They have had several successful releases in recent years and are very excited about the availability of Bobtail certified seed this year and small amounts of Rosalyn. The team also has several exciting varieties in the pipeline including a two-gene Clearfield. The Barley Breeding Team led by Pat Hayes has requested $52,969 to develop and conduct statewide testing of barley varieties for food, feed and malting. The Wheat Breeding Team works closely with the Weed Management group. They have a proposal for $62,150 to look at new herbicide products and weed control measures, evaluate herbicide tolerance in the OSU 2-gene Clearfield varieties and other OSU germplasm, and strategies to control herbicide resistant Italian ryegrass. Alfonso Cuesta Marco has also requested $41,643 to continue the development and optimization of a more efficient protocol for production of dihaploids through isolated microspore culture. Dihaploids are currently being used heavily in most breeding programs and can reduce varietal development time by 2-3 years. Richard Smiley has requested $14,132 to continue his examination of Root-lesion Nematodes. He intends to measure the impact of nematode density on winter wheat yields and the interaction of phosphorus fertility and root-lesion nematodes. Marvin Butler and Neil Christensen are requesting $13,450 to evaluate nitrogen fertilizer rate and application timing on winter wheat yield and protein and the fate of nitrogen in the soil and wheat using micro-plots. Stephen Machado has requested $38,988 to maximize nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency and disease management efficiency using site specific farming. Lastly, Bruce Sorte and Mallory Rahe have requested $13,265 to examine the economic impact of the wheat industry on the Oregon economy. oregon wheat commission R E P O R T The experiment stations have requested $300,000 with $200,000 of the request going toward the Columbia Basin Agricultural Experiment Stations (Pendleton and Moro locations) and the remaining funding going to experiment stations proportionally based on the amount of wheat research being conducted on the station. As the Commission considered the budget they approved funding for just over $1 million in funding for research, a similar level to last year. We will be carefully examining crop estimates and reserve levels and making final decisions on research and the Commission budget at the June meeting. Our goal is to only use our reserve funds in lower than average years, and to add to the reserve in better than average years. In all, good luck getting your spring work done and hopefully some wheat to cut this year. Thank you. June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 17

10 oregon wheat commission Septoria: A growing problem for Oregon wheat growers This article describes the growing problem of fungicide resistant Septoria in western Oregon. The article outlines the current efforts in identifying and incorporating genetic resistance to Septoria in new wheat varieties. In addition the use of fungicides to control the disease and best management practices to reduce the development of fungicide resistant Septoria are discussed. Michael Flowers, Associate Professor and Extension Cereal Specialist and Chris Mundt, Professor and Cereal Pathologist Stripe rust is the main foliar disease of wheat that we focus on controlling in Oregon and the greater Pacific Northwest. Control of stripe rust is accomplished mainly through the use of resistant varieties and fungicide applications when required. Stripe rust is generally cyclic in nature and we experience both high disease and low disease years depending on environmental factors, such as temperature and rainfall. Given its importance to wheat production there have been, and continue to be, many research projects to determine recommendations for the control of stripe rust in any given situation. Wheat growers in western Oregon also contend with the foliar disease Septoria leaf blotch on an annual basis (Figure Figure 2. Septoria tritici leaf blotch. 18 OREGON WHEAT June 2014 R E P O R T Figure 1. Typical symptoms of Septoria leaf blotch in western Oregon. 1). Septoria leaf blotch in western Oregon is caused by two species, Septoria tritici and Septoria nodorum (Figure 2). The life cycles of these species are slightly different, but both result in elongated brown to gray-brown lesions with a yellow outer edge on leaves. The centers of these lesions have black (Septoria tritici) or brown (Septoria nodorum) fruiting bodies called pycnidia. The first infections are caused from windblown spores in the fall (Septoria tritici) or spring (Septoria nodorum), with subsequent infections moving up the crop canopy through splash dispersion from rainfall. If infections persist through heading, the glumes may also be infected. This is particularly problematic with Septoria nodorum as it can significantly reduce grain fill and result in low test weights and/or substandard grain. Unlike stripe rust where genetic resistance is very effective in controlling the disease, there is less genetic resistance to Septoria. When genetic resistance has been deployed, such as in the variety Gene, it has been rapidly overcome by the disease. This is due to the fact that Septoria goes through sexual reproduction annually, giving the disease the ability to rapidly pass along the genes required to defeat the plant s resistance, and to the large size of the overwintering population. In the case of Gene, the variety only maintained Septoria resistance for two to three years. Oregon State University has continued to look for more stable genetic resistance to Septoria. Each year, the OSU statewide wheat variety trial is screened for Septoria resis- Michael Flowers Associate Professor and Extension Cereal Specialist Grant Title: Variety Testing and Agronomic Evaluation of Winter and Spring Wheat in Oregon; Funding Level: $67, Grant Title: Variety Testing and Agronomic Evaluation of Winter and Spring Wheat in Oregon; Funding Level: $69, Grant Title: Fungicide Timing and Class for Stripe Rust Management in Winter Wheat; Funding Level: $30, Grant Title: Variety Testing and Agronomic Evaluation of Winter and Spring Wheat in Oregon; Funding Level: $71, Grant Title: Fungicide Timing and Class for Stripe Rust Management in Winter Wheat; Funding Level: $8,050 Grant Summary: The Oregon statewide variety testing program provides growers with performance information on commonly grown and newly released wheat varieties from the public and private breeding programs throughout the Pacific Northwest. Wheat varieties are split into three categories (Oregon Winter Elite Yield Trial or OWEYT; Hard Winter Elite Yield Trial or HWEYT; and Oregon Spring Elite Yield Trial or OSEYT) for evaluation. Each year the testing program has approximately 17 winter and eight spring locations throughout Oregon, eastern Washington, southeastern Idaho, and northern California. The southeastern Idaho and northern California trials are done in collaboration with Idaho and California extension programs, respectively. Trial locations are chosen to capture a range of environmental conditions and/or cropping systems in the wheat production areas of Oregon and the greater Pacific Northwest. Trial results are reported through alerts, web publications, grower meetings, crop tours, and field days. Agronomic studies provide growers with critical information regarding variety selection and management. Current study objectives include the evaluation of fungicide efficacy and optimum fungicide application timing for the control of foliar diseases in winter wheat as well as the development of recommendations for the use plant growth regulators in winter and spring wheat. Trial sites are located throughout Oregon and represent a range of environments. This research will provide growers with important new information and management recommendations for wheat production in Oregon. tance. Through this trial the variety Bobtail has been identified as having improved resistance to Septoria. Additional trials funded through the Oregon Wheat Commission have shown that in this high disease pressure environment Bobtail has excellent resistance to both Septoria and stripe rust. In fact, these trials show that the yield of Bobtail is unaffected by fungicide application, indicating that growers may be able to reduce or Chris Mundt Professor and Cereal Pathologist Grant Title: Screening for Resistance to Major Wheat Diseases in Oregon; Funding Level: $40, Grant Title: Screening for Resistance to Major Wheat Diseases in Oregon; Funding Level: $42, Grant Title: Screening for Resistance to Major Wheat Diseases in Oregon; Funding Level: $43, Grant Title: Screening for Resistance to Major Wheat Diseases in Oregon; Funding Level: $44,599 Grant Summary: A combination of locations, production practices, and inoculation techniques are used to provide high levels of disease pressure in trials of stripe rust, Cephalosporium stripe, Fusarium crown rot, strawbreaker foot rot, Septoria tritici blotch, and barley yellow dwarf virus. Resistance levels of entries in elite and advanced yield trials are determined to evaluate potential varietal releases and to allow growers to make the best varietal decisions when new varieties are first available to them. Evaluation of disease resistance in two mapping populations with high yield potential and resistance to multiple diseases contribute to the next generation of disease resistant, higher yielding winter wheat varieties for Oregon growers. Additional mapping populations and nurseries are employed to address specific disease issues. The overall project results in data collection from 12,000 to 16,000 plot observations. The studies are crucial to continued progress in the OSU Wheat Breeding Program, increased profitability for Oregon wheat growers, and ability to adopt conservation tillage practices. eliminate fungicide applications without a yield reduction (Figure 3). An added plus is that Bobtail has consistently been one of the highest yielding wheat varieties in western Oregon with or without applying a fungicide. However, it is unknown whether the Septoria resistance in Bobtail will be stable for multiple years, or quickly erode like the variety Gene. To identify new sources of Septoria resistance, OSU has partnered with Limagrain to screen a European mapping population developed by Limagrain for Septoria resistance. The goal of this project is to identify molecular markers for Septoria resistance so that multiple resistance genes can be pyramided in new wheat varieties. This project started a few years ago and it will take time to identify and deploy new genetic resistance to Septoria, but it is an example of how public and private breeding companies can work together to bring growers improved varieties with niche traits. Given the lack of genetic resistance, fungicides have been used regularly for the control of Septoria in western Oregon, with a single application at flag leaf emergence being the most common practice. Since the mid 2000 s, stripe rust epidemics have greatly increased fungicide use throughout the state, June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 19

11 Benefits of GE crops highlighted in USDA report Figure 3. Graph describing the grain yield of the variety Bobtail in a 2013 fungicide trial near Shedd, OR. Treatment 1 is a no spray control; all other treatments received one or more fungicide applications. There is no statistical difference among the fungicide treatments. and three or more fungicide applications per year in western Oregon to control foliar diseases are common. At present, fungicidal control of foliar wheat diseases in Oregon depends on two chemical classes: the triazoles and the strobilurins. In Europe, where intensive fungicide use has a longer history on wheat, development of resistance of Septoria against these and other fungicides has been a substantial problem. In the spring of 2011 it was noticed that several fungicide applications did not provide acceptable control of Septoria in a Washington county wheat field. Subsequently, in the spring of 2012 we sampled Septoria from field plots designed to study fungicide timing in both Forest Grove (northern Willamette Valley) and the OSU Hyslop Farm outside of Corvallis (southern Willamette Valley). At the beginning of the season, the frequency of isolates resistant to azoxystrobin was 60% in Forest Grove and 7% at Hyslop (Figure 4). After two applications of a fungicide containing azoxystrobin, the resistance level rose substantially at both locations. The resistance to strobilurin fungicides is controlled by a single gene and thus is relatively easy to overcome. Resistance to triazole fungicides is more complex and is controlled by multiple mutations of small effect. There appears nonetheless to be selection for resistance to the triazole fungicide propiconazole (the active ingredient of Tilt ), however, as two applications decreased sensitivity of Septoria to propiconazole by about half. Given the data collected in 2012, it is clear that we are Serving eastern Oregon rural communities since OREGON WHEAT June 2014 Figure 4. Graph indicating the level of strobilurin resistant Septoria before and after fungicide application in a trial near Forest Grove, OR in developing fungicide resistant Septoria in western Oregon. Currently, it is unknown how widespread of a problem we have. This spring a more thorough survey of wheat fields in western Oregon will be initiated to determine the extent of the problem. Initially the survey will focus on strobilurin resistance, but if/as time and funds allow triazole resistance will also be analyzed. This multiyear survey will allow us to better understand the scope of the problem and how best to manage these fungicide resistant pathogens. In the meantime, what can be done to delay fungicide resistance? Research indicates that reducing the total number of fungicide applications within and over seasons is most important. Thus, it is crucial to grow the most resistant varieties possible and to avoid spraying when disease levels are below economic levels. In western Oregon, this would mean growing a stripe rust resistant variety and returning to a single application of fungicide at flag leaf emergence. By growing a stripe rust resistant variety, growers can reduce or eliminate the need for a fungicide application at jointing (typically tank mixed with herbicide) and at heading. Mixing and alternating fungicides from different chemical classes also can be of help. We have recently found that there is little cross resistance among the three trizazole fungicides most commonly used in Oregon (propiconazole, tebuconazole, and prothioconazole). Thus, continuing to utilize a diversity of fungicide classes, and different products with major chemical classes, will be beneficial. In addition a new chemical mode of action, the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SHDIs,) have recently become available and should be incorporated into fungicide programs. Trials are currently underway in western Oregon looking at incorporating this new class of fungicide in our production system. Attend a western Oregon field day or crop tour to view the plots and learn more about this growing production problem and the best way manage the problem and maximize your yield. Farmer adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops is associated with time savings, lower insecticide use, and more conservation tillage, according to a new USDA study. The report, Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States by Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo, Seth James Wechsler, Michael Livingston, and Lorraine Mitchell was released by USDA s Economic Research Service on February 20. According to USDA: Genetically engineered (GE) crops (mainly corn, cotton, and soybeans) were planted on 169 million acres in 2013, about half of U.S. land used for crops. Their adoption has saved farmers time, reduced insecticide use, and enabled the use of less toxic herbicides. Research and development of new GE varieties continues to expand farmer choices. An unfortunate article by Reuters claims GMO crops are under intense scrutiny despite the latest ISAAA report released two week ago affirming that biotech crops are the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history. This adoption rate speaks for itself in terms of its resilience and the benefits it delivers to farmers and consumers, says ISAAA. The Reuters report also fraudulently urges the reader to believe that some scientific studies are reporting that the chemicals used on the crops are linked to disease and illness, when thousands of studies have found no such links. What is regrettably lacking in media coverage of this report is a summary of most of the report s key findings, such as: The adoption of Bt (insect resistant) crops increases yields by mitigating yield losses from insects. The yield advantage of Bt corn and Bt cotton over conventional seed has become larger in recent years as new Bt traits have been incorporated and stacked traits have become available. Planting Bt cotton and Bt corn continues to be more profitable, as measured by net returns, than planting conventional seeds. Farmers generally use less insecticide when they plant Bt corn and Bt cotton. Corn insecticide use by both GE seed adopters and nonadopters has decreased only 9 percent of all U.S. corn farmers used insecticides in Insecticide use on corn farms declined from 0.21 pound per planted acre in 1995 to 0.02 pound in This is consistent with the steady decline in European corn borer populations over the last decade that has been shown to be a direct result of Bt adoption. HT (herbicide-tolerant) soybean adoption is associated with an increase in total household income because HT soybeans require less management and enable farmers to generate income via off-farm activities or by expanding their operations. The adoption of HT crops has enabled farmers to substitute glyphosate for more toxic and persistent herbicides. It s important to note that the ERS report does look at trends in glyphosate use and concludes: An overreliance on glyphosate and a reduction in the diversity of weed management practices adopted by crop producers have contributed to the evolution of glyphosate resistance in 14 weed species and biotypes in the United States. Weed resistance is indeed a concern for all of agriculture not just for biotech crops but can be mitigated through the use of best management practices (BMPs). BMPs include applying multiple herbicides with different modes of action, rotating crops, planting weed-free seed, scouting fields routinely, cleaning equipment to reduce the transmission of weeds to other fields, and maintaining field borders. A world of benefits Welcome to Your New Member Benefits Marketplace. The Oregon Wheat Growers League is excited to announce our partnership with AmVantage! We are now able to provide our members one of the most comprehensive offerings of insurance, benefits and discount programs available. AmVantage benefits include access to: GROUP RATES ON BENEFITS & INSURANCE Protect your home & property with the right insurance coverages Guard your future by ensuring you ve got coverage for disability, illness, or to supplement Medicare gaps PROFESSIONAL ADVICE Plan for major life events, like weddings, college or retirement. Work with mortgage specialists to refinance or purchase a new home. DISCOUNTS Save up to 80% on dental, vision, and hearing products. Get more for your money with the Discount Purchasing Program. Visit to see ALL of the options that are available to you! June 2014 OREGON WHEAT 21

12 OSU ranks seventh worldwide in agriculture and forestry Daniel Robison Oregon State University has been recognized as a worldclass center in agriculture and forestry, ranking seventh in a new international survey of more than 200 schools. For the second year, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings has compiled a list of top agriculture and forestry institutions. The service considered nearly 3,000 universities in 30 subject areas in its overall review. In 2013, OSU s agriculture and forestry programs placed eighth in the world. Our rising world ranking is a testament to the continued great work of our faculty and researchers, said Dan Arp, dean of OSU s College of Agricultural Sciences. We re excited about another top global ranking that recognizes the breadth and depth of our research and teaching, and our great partnership with the College of Agricultural Sciences, said Thomas Maness, dean of OSU s College of Forestry. It s very satisfying to see the excellence of our faculty and students recognized internationally. Considered one of the most influential and respected firms Wheat Marketing Center earns prestigious designation David Shelton, WMC Director The hard work of Dr. Gary Hou, Wheat Marketing Center s Technical Director and Wheat foods Specialist, has resulted in a very prestigious designation for the Center. Chopin Instruments, a French manufacturer of wheat, flour, and dough testing instruments has designated Wheat Marketing Center as a Strategic Partner. Chopin has designated a total of three (3) laboratories in the world as Strategic Partners. surveying higher education, QS World University Rankings uses a variety of metrics to score universities in teaching and research, including academic and employer reputation surveys, the number of articles published in academic journals and the amount of citations generated by publications. As the state s Land Grant University, Oregon State and its agricultural and forestry programs have been a vital component of the school s mission since its founding in The College of Agricultural Sciences is Oregon s principal source of knowledge and research in agricultural and food systems, environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences and rural economies. In recent years, OSU s agricultural programs have also received national top-tier rankings from the Chronicle of Higher Education for research, with wildlife science and conservation biology ranking first, fisheries science second, botany and plant pathology and forest resources at fifth, and agricultural and resource economics seventh. Reprint from Hood River News 3/11/14 As a result of this designation, Wheat Marketing Center has received, free of charge, four (4) instruments: 1. Infraneo (NIR analyses) - $25, Mixolab (dough testing) - $67, Quatuor II (wheat cleaner) - $20, SDmatic (starch damage) - $25,000 Total value of instruments - $137,000 (USD) These instruments were installed at the Wheat Marketing Center by a factory representative in March. OREGON WHEAT FOUNDATION 115 SE 8th St, Pendleton, OR Congratulations! Oregon Wheat Growers Please accept my gift in the amount of: $500 $100 $50 $25 Other $ FARMERS ENDING HUNGER PO Box 7361, Salem, OR Because of your generous wheat donations Farmers Ending Hunger and the Oregon Wheat Foundation were able to deliver 200,000 lbs. of pancake mix to Oregon food Bank in January This donation marks the fifth delivery of pancake mix since our two organizations joined forces in To date we have delivered 715,000 lbs. of pancake mix that has helped to feed hungry Oregonians. Of course, our programs begin with you the growers who donate a portion of your harvest. When each donation is combined with others we are able to make a huge difference. The wheat is milled by Pendleton Flour Mills, blended and bagged by Continental Mills and distributed by Oregon Food Bank through the Oregon Food Bank Network. The need in Oregon has not subsided. Last year over 1.1 million food boxes were distributed in Oregon. Over 260,000 people eat from a food box each month and 35% of these are children. Now is not the time to back off or lessen our efforts. Please join us once again and consider making a donation to help us in Every dollar you donate goes to the purchase of the right blend of wheat to make the high quality pancake mix that makes its way to a food box. You will join with the other Oregon farmers and ranchers who donated over 2.5 million pounds of food commodities to Farmers Ending Hunger in Use the form below to make your donation and mail it to either address above. Thank you! Tom Winn, Past Chair Oregon Wheat Foundation Oregon Wheat Foundation Partners in the Fight Against Hunger in Oregon Fred Ziari, Chair Fred Ziari Farmers Ending Hunger Bushels for Betsy/Farmers Ending Hunger Contribution Form Name Farm Name My Check # is enclosed (Payable to Oregon Wheat Foundation) Charge: Visa MC Card Number: Exp: Name on card: Signature: OWF TIN # Thank you for helping in the effort to feed Oregon s hungry! 22 OREGON WHEAT June 2014

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