HEAT IFE RECAPPING THE 2018 TRI-STATE GRAIN GROWERS CONVENTION

Transcription

1 W HEAT IFE The official publication of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers DECEMBER 2018 L RECAPPING THE 2018 TRI-STATE GRAIN GROWERS CONVENTION Address Service Requested Washington Association of Wheat Growers 109 East First Avenue, Ritzville, WA ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: An update on the battle against falling numbers USW s oldest, newest employee Commissioner bids WGC adieu Wheat quality lab turns 70 The history of Egypt, Wash.

2 W L HEAT IFE Volume 61 Number 11 The official publication of WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF WHEAT GROWERS 109 East First Avenue Ritzville, WA (509) (877) WAWG MEMBERSHIP (509) (877) $125 per year EDITOR Trista Crossley editor@wawg.org (435) AD SALES MANAGER Kevin Gaffney KevinGaffney@mac.com (509) GRAPHIC DESIGN Devin Taylor Trista Crossley AD BILLING Michelle Hennings michelle@wawg.org (509) (877) CIRCULATION Address changes, extra copies, subscriptions Chauna Carlson chauna@wawg.org (509) (877) Subscriptions are $50 per year WAWG EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Michelle Hennings WAWG EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT Jeffrey Shawver Connell VICE PRESIDENT Ryan Poe Hartline SECRETARY/TREASURER Howard McDonald Coulee City PRESIDENT EMERITUS Marci Green Fairfield APPOINTED MEMBERS Andy Juris Bickleton Anthony Smith Richland Wheat Life (ISSN ) is published by the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG): 109 E. First Avenue Ritzville, WA Eleven issues per year with a combined August/ September issue. Standard (A) postage paid at Ritzville, Wash., and additional entry offices. Contents of this publication may not be reprinted without permission. Advertising in Wheat Life does not indicate endorsement of an organization, product or political candidate by WAWG. 2 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018 President s Perspective Exploring the other aspects of farming By Jeffrey Shawver As I prepare to take over as president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG), I wanted to introduce myself to those farmers whom I haven t been fortunate enough yet to meet. I live and farm in Connell, Wash., with my wife, Andrea, and our four children: Giselle, Aubriel, Noelle and Weston. Although I was raised on the west side of the state, my family has farming ties on the east side both of my parents are from here originally, and my wife s family, the Grassls, has deep roots in Franklin County. I became a wheat farmer about 10 years ago when my father-in-law extended an invitation to his four sons-in-law to teach them the farming ropes so he could retire some day. After working as an hourly employee for my father-in-law for a few years, I began leasing nearby land and building up my own operation. From the beginning, I enjoyed being a farmer and raising a crop, but I had this feeling that I was missing something. I knew there had to be more to farming than just plowing dirt, seeding and spraying; there had to be a backbone that supported the business and conservation side of farming, as well as all the politics surrounding agriculture. That s how I got involved in WAWG. I began attending some of the monthly WAWG board meetings and got to know the people that were advocating for our profession. To gain some experience, I first went through the chairs in the Franklin County wheat growers group and then moved into the WAWG leadership chairs. I knew I had to get involved to understand the political side of farming. In my mind, politics are almost as important in agriculture as taking care of the ground is. One thing I ve learned is if you aren t involved, you just don t know enough. There are a lot of younger farmers who are taking over their family s farm that don t want to look beyond the operation. Instead, they rely on others to tell them what s going on instead of educating themselves. That might have worked in the past, but today s agriculture looks far different than what our grandparents and even parents faced, in politics, in technology and even in the farm programs available to us. For example, I used a Farm Service Agency program for beginning farmers that loaned me money to help me start leasing ground. You can t take advantage of those types of programs if you don t know about them. As I write this, we are working on getting the new farm bill approved. Did you know that the programs that underpin our export markets are in jeopardy because until there is a farm bill, they have no funding? Did you know that Congress is talking about combining programs that help fund the purchase and implementation of conservation equipment and practices? If some lawmakers get their way and include a mandatory base acre reassignment in the farm bill, do you know how that will affect your operation? Once again, if you aren t involved, you don t know. And if you don t know, you can only react. I want to see what s coming down the pipe so I can work to change it or at least be better prepared when it hits. That s why I m involved in WAWG. If you feel the same way, jump in. Start by getting involved in your county growers group and think about attending the monthly board meetings. We d love to see you there. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Cover photo: Thanks to the hard work of staff and leaders of the Washington, Oregon and Idaho grain organizations, this year s convention was a success. See more convention photos on page 24. All photos are Shutterstock images or taken by Wheat Life staff unless otherwise noted.

3 2018 Convention WAWG President s Perspective 2 Membership Form 4 WAWG at Work 6 Policy Matters 18 Washington Wheat Foundation 22 A tale told in pictures Photos, photos and more photos 24 Trade, tariffs, farm bill Speakers, panels tackle issues 26 Progress report Battle against falling numbers continues 32 Plowing the Palouse Antique tractors, plows galore 36 WGC Chairman s Column 39 USW s Mark Fowler Oldest, newest employee on his perspective 40 Adieu WGC commissioner steps off board 43 Seventy seasons of service Delving into the history of the WWQL 45 Wheat Watch 48 The Evergreen state s Egypt The Columbia, not the Nile, runs by it 50 The Bottom Line 54 Your Wheat Life 56 Happenings 58 Advertiser Index 59 Inside This Issue Contributors Jeffrey Shawver, president, Washington Association of Wheat Growers Gary Bailey, chairman, Washington Grain Commission Scott A. Yates, communications director, Washington Grain Commission Diana Carlen, lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers Alex McGregor, stakeholder, Pacific Northwest wheat industry Craig Morris, director, Western Wheat Quality Lab David Bolingbroke, history Ph.D. candidate, Washington State University T. Randall Fortenbery, Ph.D., Thomas B. Mick Endowed Chair in Grain Economics, Washington State University Heidi Scott, writer Larissa Zeiler, CPA, Leffel, Ottis & Warwick, P.S. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

4 WAWG MEMBERSHIP FORM Please check level of membership Name Student $75 Grower $125 Landlord $125 Family $200 (up to 2 members) Farm or Business Address City State Phone County Affiliation (if none, write state) Partnership $500 (up to 5 partners) Convention $600 Lifetime $2,500 Return this form with your check to: WAWG 109 East First Ave. Ritzville, WA Or call and use your credit card to enroll by phone. Zip Fax Circle all that apply: Producer Landlord Individual Industry Rep. Business Owner Student Other Thank you to our current members We fight every day to ensure that life on the family farm continues to prosper and grow. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. If you are not a member, please consider joining today. LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP Greensheet Newsletter Wheat Life Magazine National Wheat Grower Newsletter Annual Harvest Prints WAWG Convention Free Registration One Vote per Member Producer/Landowners (Voting Membership) Grower or Landlord $125 X X X X Family $200 (2 family members) X X X X Partnership $500 (1-5 family members) X X X X X Convention $600 (2 individuals) X X X X X Lifetime $2,500 (1 individual) X X X X X Non-Voting Membership Student $75 X X X WAWG s current top priorities are: Helping shape the 2018 Farm Bill. Preserving the farm safety net by protecting crop insurance. Fighting mandatory carbon emission regulations. More member benefits: Greensheet ALERTS WAWG updates Voice to WAWG through opinion surveys National Wheat Grower updates State and national legislative updates Preserving the Snake River dams. Maintaining a safe and sound transportation system that includes rail, river and roads. As Washington state continues to look for more revenue to fund education, farmers tax exemptions and programs are coming under fire. If these are important to your operation, join today and help us fight. Washington Association of Wheat Growers 109 East First Ave. Ritzville, WA (fax) Call or visit

5 YOUR FARM. YOUR WAY. Congratulations on a great 2018 season! One small way we can say thank you for your continued business and support; supporting the community that supports us. Wilbur-Ellis proudly sponsored and donated over $200,000 in 2018 to organizations in our wheat growing communities in the Inland Empire. ADAMS COUNTY FAIR AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY BOHNET MOTORCYCLE PARK VINTAGE WEEKEND BONINA COLT TO COW CONNECTION COLFAX ROTARY CLUB COLTON KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COLUMBIA BASIN FASTPITCH CLUB COLUMBIA BASIN JUNIOR LIVESTOCK COLUMBIA COUNTY FAIR 4-H & FFA DESALES HIGH SCHOOL EASTIN STREBIN MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT EL KORAH SHRINE CIRCUS FAIRFIELD SERVICE CLUB FOUNDATION BRICKS FRANKLIN CONSERVATION DISTRICT FREEMAN BOOSTER CLUB GARFIELD COUNTY MARKET SALE GARFIELD/PALOUSE FFA & 4-H GASB CATHOLIC SCHOOLS GENESEE CIVIC ASSOCIATION INC GENESEE COMMUNITY FIREMEN INC GRANT COUNTY 4-H & FFA HERMISTON LIONS CLUB IDAHO ASSOCIATION OF SOIL CONSERVATION IDAHO FFA FOUNDATION IDAHO MINT GROWERS ASSOCIATION IDAHO-EASTERN OREGON SEED ASSOCIATION JUNIOR LIVESTOCK SHOW OF SPOKANE LATAH COUNTY MARKET ANIMAL SALE LIBERTY FFA FOUNDATION LIBERTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOOSTERS LIND-RITZVILLE FBLA LIND-RITZVILLE FFA ALUMNI MILTON-FREEWATER LITTLE LEAGUE MOSCOW BASEBALL ASSOCIATION - 15 U AL MOSES LAKE BOOSTER CLUB MOSES LAKE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY MOSES LAKE MEN S SOFTBALL MOSES LAKE THUNDER 10U BASEBALL NCWJLS 4H & FFA LIVESTOCK SALE NORTH FRANKLIN BABE RUTH OAKESDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OAKESDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT OTHELLO RODEO ASSOCIATION PACIFIC LITTLE LEAGUE PACIFIC NW FARM FORUM PALOUSE CONSERVATION DISTRICT PALOUSE EMPIRE JUNIOR MARKET SHOW PALOUSE EMPIRE RODEO ASSOCIATION PAWS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION PINK RIBBON CLASSIC POMEROY FFA ALUMNI POTLATCH 4-H/FFA BOOSTERS POTLATCH YOUTH BASEBALL PULLMAN LIONS CLUB QUINCY HIGH SCHOOL BOOSTER CLUB ROCKFORD WA LIONS CLUB SAGE POINT PTO SPC JEREMIAH SCHMUNK MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT TEKOA FLOAT ASSOCIATION TROY LIONS CLUB WA TRAP SHOOTERS ASSOCIATION WALLA WALLA 4-H AND FFA WALLA WALLA COUNTY CATTLEMEN S ASSOCIATION WALLA WALLA HIGH SCHOOL WALLOWA COUNTY STOCK SALE WARDEN DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL WARDEN FOOTBALL BOOSTERS WARDEN HIGH SCHOOL GOLF WARDEN MUSIC BOOSTERS WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF WHEAT GROWERS WASHINGTON FFA FOUNDATION WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY WESTERN PULSE GROWERS ASSOCIATION WHEAT LAND COMMUNITY FAIR WHITMAN COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT 14 WHITMAN COUNTY LIBRARY WSU DRYLAND RESEARCH STATION YMCA OF THE PALOUSE ag.wilburellis.com Wilbur-Ellis leverages our legacy of integrity and trust to offer you the best solutions that fit your operation. For information only. Not a label. Prior to use, always read and follow the product label directions. WILBUR-ELLIS logo and Ideas to Grow With are registered trademark of Wilbur-Ellis Company LLC. K-17588

6 WAWG WORK at ADVOCATING FOR THE WHEAT FARMERS OF EASTERN WASHINGTON 2018 convention wraps up another successful year Nearly everything came up smelling like roses at last month s 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention in Portland, Ore., where approximately 300 growers, stakeholders and industry representatives gathered to hear the latest updates on issues and socialize. This year s convention was a great success, said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). Our speakers really focused on the current trade situation, and what it means for wheat farmers. Leaders from our national organizations made the trip out west to give us the latest farm bill news, and we had a large group of young farmers who took advantage of a free convention registration by participating in our 15x40 program. I want to single out staff from all three state wheat groups who put in a lot of time and effort to plan the convention and make sure it went smoothly. Outgoing Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) president, Marci Green, named Benton County as the WAWG County of the year at the 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention. The award was accepted by county vice president, Anthony Smith. In one of his first acts as the new 2018/19 Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) president, Jeffrey Shawver (left) awards Douglas County grower Ben Adams WAWG Member of the Year at the 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention. The location of this year s convention offered some unique opportunities for convention attendees: A tour of the Wheat Marketing Center in downtown Portland and a Vancouver Export Terminal tour. The tours filled up quickly, and participants had a fun, educational experience. Another highlight of the convention was the keynote presentation by former U.S. Army Ranger, Keni Thomas. Thomas used his experience in a fire fight in Somalia (later recounted in the book and movie, Blackhawk Down ) to talk about how and why people can step up to become leaders and define success. One of WAWG s primary tasks at the convention is to review and revise the organization s resolutions, which help direct leaders and staff. See a list of the new and changed resolutions on page 14. The full resolutions are available on WAWG s website at wawg.org/about-us/. During the all-committee meeting, WAWG members heard farm bill updates from the National Association of Wheat Growers, as well as updates from the Risk Management Agency, the Farm Service Agency, the National Agricultural Statistics Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Two new ambassadors were awarded scholarships: Lacey Miller of Ritzville and Evan Henning of Thornton. Read more about them on page 12. A plethora of awards was handed out during the annual 6 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

7 WAWG AT WORK WL state banquet. Amid much clapping and hollering, Benton County was named the county of the year. Anthony Smith accepted the award on behalf of his county. WAWG member of the year was given to Ben Adams, a former WAWG president (2016/17) and a farmer from Douglas County. In one of her last acts as president, Marci Green exchanged ties with Rich Koenig, interim chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Washington State University (WSU), an annual tradition that symbolizes the ties between WSU and the industry. As Green s year as WAWG president came to a close, she took a moment to thank family, friends and WAWG staff, saying it takes many teams to make the organization run smoothly. Franklin County grower Jeffrey Shawver takes over as WAWG president, while Grant County grower Ryan Poe steps into the vice president s role. Howard McDonald, a grower from Douglas County, will become the new secretary/treasurer. Judy Von Borstel of Grass Valley, Ore., took first place in the photo contest, and a number of drawings were held throughout the convention: Pat Morrill won the early bird registration drawing; Bruce Carter won the overall survey drawing; Katie Gillespie won the exhibitor bingo drawing; Gary Bailey, Mike Wilkens and Bob Zemetra won the education break-out survey drawings; and Bridget Blom, Lonnie Green, Jim Moyer, Charlene Flanigan, David DeGon, Larry Wilcox, Gene Classen, John Schlomer and Donald Walker were the LAF drawing winners. The staffs of Oregon, Idaho and Washington would like to thank all the members and industry supporters who attended this year s convention. Feedback is always welcome, and planning is already underway for next year s convention, which will be held in Spokane, Wash. See more pictures from the 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention on pages Counties meet prior to convention to discuss concerns, take care of business By November, fall fieldwork is typically over, but that doesn t mean that Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) members have a lot of time to relax. In the weeks leading up to the annual grain growers convention, many counties hold meetings to discuss county business, elect new leaders and review resolutions prior to the WAWG resolution meeting, which is held during the convention. Michelle Hennings, WAWG executive director, and Diana Carlen, WAWG lobbyist, attended nearly all of this year s county meetings to update members on state and federal legislation and to hear county concerns. The Washington Association of Wheat Growers is a member-directed organization, so it is important that the growers meet regularly to discuss county issues and then take those county issues to the state board, Hennings said. These meetings also allow the state leadership to update growers on what we ve been working on, both in Olympia and Washington, D.C. We want them to see their dollars at work and know that WAWG is fighting very hard for them. In her presentations, Hennings covered several critical national issues, including the 2018 Farm Bill, issues with incomplete National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) data and a mandatory reassignment of base acres that some lawmakers are pushing for Farm Bill. Most of the delays in the farm bill negotiations are centered on work requirements for the SNAP program and issues in the energy title. The conservation title also has been problematic as the House and Senate ver- Diana Carlen (left), lobbyist for the Washington Association of Grain Growers (WAWG), traveled to most of this year s fall county meetings to update growers on state legislative issues. Here she is speaking to the Adams County wheat growers. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

8 WL WAWG AT WORK Members of the Washington Grain Commission (WGC) also attend the county meetings to talk about the commission s marketing and research efforts. Here Glen Squires (left), CEO of the WGC, talks to Lincoln County growers while county president Kevin Klein looks on. sions differ on the issue of combining the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Hennings said that WAWG and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) have been pressing members of Congress to pass a farm bill as soon as possible in order to provide growers with certainty. A major concern of both WAWG and NAWG is if the farm bill isn t passed before the new Congress is seated in January, the entire farm bill process will be set back to square one. Issues with NASS data. In recent years, growers in some counties have seen their conservation payments and/or Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program payments reduced or cut off entirely because the data those programs are based on is incomplete or missing. Under direction from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which is tasked with overseeing these programs, must use data collected by NASS surveys to calculate payments. Because the data is submitted voluntarily by growers and the process of filling out the surveys can be time consuming and redundant, not all growers submit all their data accurately. If NASS doesn t receive at least 30 surveys or enough returned surveys to cover at least 25 percent of a county, the agency combines results. This can lead to situations such as happened in Spokane County last year when not enough spring wheat yield surveys were returned. NASS used the winter wheat yield instead. Because winter wheat yields were considerably higher than spring wheat, growers in Spokane County didn t receive an ARC payment on spring wheat. A similar issue has occurred recently in Benton County. Because NASS doesn t split out irrigated wheat from dryland wheat yields, an all-wheat yield was used, which came out to 82 bushels per acre in That year, the average dryland wheat yield was 30 bushels per acre. No payments were issued. WAWG is asking lawmakers to include a provision in the 2018 Farm Bill that allows FSA the flexibility to use the best data available to calculate payments, including data collected by the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Base acres reassignment. The House version of the 2018 Farm Bill includes a provision that would make all base acres that weren t planted to a covered crop between ineligible for commodity programs. WAWG and NAWG HighLine Grain s Ryan Higginbotham (left) gave a presentation to Franklin County growers on the advantages of fall-planted peas. 8 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

9 feel this would unfairly hurt farmers who have base acres currently enrolled in conservation programs and could dramatically lower national wheat acre totals. WAWG supports a voluntary reassignment of base acres, not a mandatory one. Moving to state legislative updates, Carlen talked about how the results of the 2018 midterm elections could impact the upcoming 2019 Washington State Legislative Session. She said both chambers will remain under Democratic control, even though some very close races were headed to a mandatory recount at publication time. See a complete election update on page 20. More than 50 percent of Washington voters rejected I-1631, the carbon-fee initiative that would have taxed fossil-fuel emissions. WAWG was opposed to the initiative, fearing it would raise fuel and fertilizer costs for growers. The 2019 Legislative Session is a budget session and is scheduled for 105 days. Carlen said the budget situation is still pretty bleak as lawmakers will have to address funding for mental health issues, teacher contracts and a recent court decision that requires the state to modify state-owned culverts in order to help migrating salmon. Once again, the Dreaming Up the Ideal Retirement Is Your Job. Helping You Get There Is Ours. It s simple, really. How well you retire depends on how well you plan today. Whether retirement is down the road or just around the corner, if you re working toward your goals now, you ll have a better chance of achieving them later. Preparing for retirement means taking a long-term perspective. At Edward Jones, we spend time getting to know your retirement goals so we can help you reach them. To learn more about why Edward Jones makes sense for you, call or visit today. FARM & HOME SUPPLY Pomeroy, WA Brian E. Bailey AAMS Financial Advisor 303 Bridge Street Ste. 3 Clarkston, WA Chris Grover AAMS Financial Advisor 1835 First Street Cheney, WA Joy Behen Financial Advisor 6115 Burden Blvd. Ste A Pasco, WA Jay Mlazgar AAMS Financial Advisor 609 S. Washington Ste. 203 Moscow, ID New Case IH 580 QuadTrac, PTO... CALL! 08 Case IH 435 HD Steiger, triples, PTO.$140,000 JD 8630 Wheel Tractor, PTO... $12,500/OBO 89 JD 7722 Combine w/25 header...$17, IH 1854 Truck w/16 ft. Bed & Hoist, slip tank, Diesel...$8,975 Kioti PX9020 Loader-Trctr, Cab, 4x4..$49,500/OBO 1750 Gal. BackPacker, 32 Chisel, McGregor 1-1/4 round shanks, tine harrow. $15,500/OBO CaseIH 3020 Header, 35, nice cart...$29,750 Great Plains 36 Folding Double Disk Drill, 7 spacing...$17, Case 621ZF Loader, 2 yard bucket...$32, Donahue Machine Trailer...$3,500 New Great Plains 3000 Turbo Max/Harrow. CALL! Ryan Brault CFP Financial Advisor 3616 W. Court St. Ste. I Pasco, WA Terry A. Sliger Financial Advisor 1329 Aaron Drive Richland, WA Member SIPC Hank Worden Financial Advisor 109 S. Second Ave Walla Walla, WA Greg Bloom Financial Advisor Professional Mall I I 1260 SE Bishop Blvd. Ste C Pullman, WA WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

10 WL WAWG AT WORK In Benton County, Michelle Hennings (top middle) talked to growers about issues the industry is having with incomplete or missing National Agricultural Statistics Service data, which is used to help calculate Farm Service Agency program payments. agricultural industry will be watching for any efforts to close state agricultural exemptions as lawmakers work on budgets. Heading into this session, we will be on defense, Carlen said, adding that with so many new members of the legislature this year, WAWG will have lots of education to do. In other state legislative news, WAWG is watching for two final reports to be issued: one is on pesticide application safety and reporting requirements and the other is from Gov. Inslee s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force, which could include recommendations for breaching the lower Snake River dams. Both groups have been working on topics that could directly impact Eastern Washington growers. Representatives of the Washington Grain Commission also attended many of the meetings where they spoke about the current trade situation, including the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (the new NAFTA), Chinese tariffs and a potential bilateral trade agreement with Japan; the current market situation for club wheat; and continuing research into falling numbers. Each county also addressed county-specific issues and conducted county-specific business. In LINCOLN COUNTY, growers heard from Elsa Bowen, manager of the Lincoln County Conservation District, on getting involved in the local Voluntary Stewardship Program plan, which has been finalized and adopted by the county. Sara Cossio, FSA county executive director, told growers that conservation and commodity program payments are going out. She also told growers that if they haven t signed up for the Market Facilitation Program, they need to do so by Jan. 15, When growers come into the county FSA office to sign up, she recommended they bring all of their yield information with them. Finally, the growers discussed ideas on donating county funds, including donating to the annual Washington State University Wilke Farm Field Day and WAWG s legislative action fund raffle. Kevin Klein will remain as county president and Tim Kintschi as secretary/ treasurer. In ADAMS COUNTY, growers heard an update on the new tax law from representatives of Leffel, Ottis & Warwick. Growers also voted to help one of the new 2018/19 Washington Wheat Ambassadors, Lacey Miller of Ritzville, with her convention travel expenses. In other county business, Jake Klein will remain as county president, with Ron Jirava as vice president and Derek Schafer as secretary/treasurer. In BENTON COUNTY, most of the meeting centered on the issues the county is having with FSA program payments because of incomplete or missing NASS data. Gerry Richter, farm programs specialist from the state FSA office, explained how NASS gets its numbers and how FSA uses those numbers to calculate payments. WAWG National Legislation Chair and NAWG Secretary Nicole Berg, who is also a Benton County farmer, told growers that NAWG is checking with other states to see if they have some of the same problems with their NASS data, since the more states that have issues, the more likely it is that lawmakers will allow FSA to use data from other agencies, such 10 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

11 as RMA. Victoria Barth, FSA county executive director, talked about the Market Facilitation Program and urged producers to make an appointment with the county office to sign up. In county business, Chad Smith will remain as county president, Anthony Smith as vice president and Dave Moore as secretary/treasurer. In FRANKLIN COUNTY, growers began the meeting hearing from HighLine Grain s Ryan Higginbotham about the benefits of fall-planted peas as a crop rotation for wheat. Higginbotham said that in trials, they ve seen a 10 to 15 percent yield bump in the wheat crop following peas. Another benefit is that the peas fix nitrogen, offering some fertilizer savings. You aren t going to get rich growing peas, but you can reduce your fertilizer costs for the wheat that follows, he said. Kevin Cochrane, an employee of Corteva (a unit of DowDuPont), talked about herbicide and rust control, while Jamie Barker of TerrAvion gave a presentation on digital imagery using planes vs. drones. As the first year under a new tax plan comes to a close, farmers and their accountants are busy trying to adjust their finances. Cade Weber Robb Soliday (509) Jason Emerson (509) ADAPT TO EVERYTHING. SAVE UP TO 90% % ON CHEMICALS CONFORM TO NOTHING. Self Calibrating 50 Times Per Second Adjusts Spray Timing with Speed One Button Startup Blanket or Spot Spray with One System Installs on SP s, Pull Type and Wheeled Sprayers vantage-pnw.com SEE US TODAY! OFFER ENDS 12/31/2018 Reap big savings with a used Case IH Axial-Flow combine. They re priced right and, for a limited time, the deal is sweetened with great financing. With 40 years in the field, Case IH Axial-Flow combines set the standard for reliability, throughput capacity and harvesting productivity. Ask about other attractive financing and lease options. 0% AXIAL-FLOW FINANCING UNTIL 9/1/19 FOLLOWED BY CQR ON USED COMBINES 1201 E. YONEZAWA BLVD. MOSES LAKE, WA *For commercial use only. Offer available on units in inventory only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See your Case IH dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Down payment may be required. Offer good through 12/31/2018. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard terms and conditions will apply. Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in suggested retail price. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. Case IH is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

12 WL WAWG AT WORK and Jared King from Leffel, Ottis & Warwick talked about some of the changes in the new tax code, especially the changes in the corporate rates. Instead of a range of rates from 15 percent to more than 30 percent, under the new tax code, there is only one rate 21 percent. For farmers who fell into the 15 percent corporate tax bracket, that could mean a substantial tax increase. Conservation practices and funding were topics Tracy Hangar, the Natural Resources Conservation Service s state agronomist, presented on. She also talked about a tool that NRCS has partnered with that allows growers to estimate their farms carbon footprint. That tool can be found at comet-planner.com. Finally, Dana Herron introduced a resolution to establish a permanent club wheat breeder position associated with Washington State University or the U.S. Department of Agriculture s Agricultural Research Service. That resolution passed unanimously and will be sent to the state board for consideration. There will be a few new officers in Franklin County for the coming year. Leonard Van Buren will take over as president, while Nolan Hollebeke becomes vice president. Bill Harder Jr. will remain in the secretary/treasurer position. Miller, Henning named 2018/19 wheat ambassadors Washington wheat growers have chosen two new high school seniors to represent the industry as the 2018/19 Washington Wheat Ambassadors: Lacey Miller of Ritzville and Evan Henning of Thornton. Both ambassadors submitted a written application and video, as well as made a final presentation at last month s convention. Miller will receive a $2,000 scholarship, while Henning will receive a $2,500 scholarship. The ambassadors will represent Washington wheat farmers at various civic and community events throughout the coming year and will participate in an advocacy trip to Olympia with Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) leaders. Lacey is the daughter of Marchelle and Mike Miller, and Evan is the son of Steven and Heidi Henning. Evan Henning Henning is counting on the wheat ambassador program helping him to develop skills he wouldn t necessarily get to practice while working on his family s multigeneration farm, such as public speaking and advocating for agriculture. After high school, he is planning to continue his education in an ag-related field, such as agricultural technology, and then return to his family s farm. He first learned about the wheat ambassador program from his ag teacher at Oakesdale High School. I love working on the farm. It s a passion of mine. It s something I really enjoy, going out there. I rodweed all the time. I work a full harvest where I drive truck and bank-out. I just love it. It s a lifestyle, he said. Besides his work on the farm, Henning is very active in school and community activities, including playing three varsity sports, FFA, honor society, drama club and band. He also has a passion for metal art and may incorporate that into his college plans. Henning said he is looking forward to his Olympia trip because he ll be able to talk to legislators about something he loves and is passionate about, especially if those legislators are unfamiliar with agriculture. I ll get to give my knowledge to them about how important agriculture is, and what we do. I ll be able to tell them what I enjoy about it, what there is to love about it, what it does. It s going to be fun to interact with them and explain all about farming, he said. This experience will stick with me for the rest of my life. I ll have been a wheat ambassador. Lacey Miller For the past few years, Miller has been waiting for her shot as an ambassador. She knew about the program thanks to her attendance at previous conventions and went to school with a Ritzville-raised former wheat ambassador. I m looking to learn about the different sides of agriculture. We get to travel to Olympia, so that s going to be exciting. I know some of it because of my dad (Washington Grain Commissioner Mike Miller), but I m excited to have my own experience with it. I want to see the business side of agriculture, and how it all connects or could better connect, Miller said. 12 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

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14 WL WAWG AT WORK From a very young age, Miller has been involved in various aspects of her family s multigenerational farm. She helps with harvest and runs the strip trials and test plots on her family s land. Besides her farmwork, Miller is also active in numerous school and community activities, not to mention competing in three varsity sports. She is active in FFA, honor society, community volunteer projects and is a running-start student at Eastern Washington University. After high school, Miller plans to earn a degree in marketing and agricultural communications. She is hoping to get a head start on that degree when she heads over to Olympia with WAWG in January. With a new crop Members pass 2019 resolutions at annual convention During the annual meeting at the 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) membership reviewed, updated and approved the 2019 resolutions that direct policy for the next 12 months. The updated resolutions are listed here. For a full listing, visit wawg.org. NATIONAL LEGISLATION COMMITTEE WAWG supports giving FSA authority to use the most accurate available data whether it is from NASS or RMA. MARKETING COMMITTEE TRADE WAWG supports bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that are favorable to the U.S. wheat industry as a top priority for USTR. (US Trade Representative) WAWG encourages the Administration and USTR s office to fully comply and enforce WTO rules and regulations, utilizing the trade dispute settlement system as the best way to eliminate foreign trade barriers. NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS WAWG recognizes NRCS, Washington State Conservation Commission and local conservation districts as the authorities in conservation technical guidance throughout the state, and urges state and federal regulators to also recognize them as the authorities and support funding them accordingly. WAWG supports ensuring that organic producers are held to the same standards as those set for conventional production. CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) WAWG supports the allocation of higher bid points to CRP for farmland that is located in 12 inch or below precipitation zones to address air or water quality concerns. WAWG supports revising the CRP-TIP program to remove the limitations on payments to the retiring farmer or operator if the covered farmer (TIP application) is a family member as defined in section 1001 of the Food Security act of WATER WAWG supports a legislative fix to the Washington State Supreme Court Foster decision. RESEARCH COMMITTEE WAWG strongly encourages the prioritization of wheat and barley research, including discussions with all interested parties, in the following areas (added): 10. Herbicide resistance in weeds. WAWG supports Washington State Soil Health initiative which provides funding to Washington State University, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and the Washington State Conservation Commission to conduct research, pilot projects and incentivize adoption as practices that improve soil health and improve agricultural productivity. RESEARCH FUNDING WAWG supports the Washington Grain Commission, WSU and USDA ARS to secure sustainable and perpetual funding sources for club wheat research. STATE LEGISLATION COMMITTEE STATE AGENCIES Department of Agriculture WAWG positions on Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) issues are: 1. Supports continued WSDA administration of the regulation of agricultural chemical use versus Department of Ecology or Department of Health. 5. Supports funding for pesticide applicator training program which educates handlers and applicators on how to use pesticides safely and effectively. WAWG supports the funding of Washington State trade promotion for expanding grain markets. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) WAWG opposes DNR utilizing a highest and best use clause allowing early termination of agricultural leases without DNR paying penalties to the lessee for the remaining term of the lease WAWG Resolutions passed at the 2018 Washington Association of Wheat Growers Annual Meeting at the Tri- State Grain Growers Convention on Nov. 15, WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

15 TO BUY OR SELL LAND, Work With The Pros! Specializing in Central WA Properties 35 Years of Real Estate Experience Farms, Ranches, Homes, Raw Land & More Mark Miller, Broker Brewster, WA landcompany.net Fundamentals, Fertility, and Food January 8-9, 2019 Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, WA Keynote Sessions David Montgomery - Growing a Revolution Nutrient Management Managing Regulatory Risk Lana Shaw - Farmer Driven Research Shepherd s Grain and Mega Foods Panel Six Educational Tracks Cover Crops Chic Peas/Garbs Precision Ag Soil Health Direct Seed 101 Ag Business Exhibitors Showcasing The Latest Products Unlimited Networking Opportunities Network With Hundreds of Direct Seeders and Industry Members Research Posters Posters Featuring Direct Seed Research WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

16 WL WAWG AT WORK of legislators, many of whom have very little agricultural knowledge, she s looking forward to educating them, especially from a younger person s point of view. We are the future (in agriculture). I want to explain how it pertains to us, and what we can do to get our generation jump-started. Agriculture feeds the world, and you can t do without it, she explained. But agriculture is changing every day, and it s innovating every day. There s new technologies, drones, all this new stuff now. It s going to help farms sustain a growing population with less land. (We need to) help farmers so they don t have to close down farms or sell out to bigger farms. Family farms can still be a thing with a growing population. How are we doing? Like something you read in Wheat Life? Disagree with something you read in Wheat Life? Let us know by ing your comments and suggestions to editor@ wawg.org or mail them to 109 East First Avenue, Ritzville, Wash., Please keep submissions less than 350 words. Submissions may be edited for length. Thank you to our 2018 convention sponsors and exhibitors Without the support of industry sponsors and exhibitors, our annual convention would not be successful. PLATINUM SPONSORS Corteva Agriscience Idaho Grain Producers Association Northwest Farm Credit Services Oregon Wheat Growers League PNW Farmers Cooperative The McGregor Company Washington Grain Commission Wilbur-Ellis Company GOLD SPONSORS Anheuser-Busch Bayer Crop Science BNSF Railway HighLine Grain Growers MillerCoors SILVER SPONSORS CliftonLarsonAllen LLP CoAXium Wheat Production System HUB International Les Schwab Tire Centers Mid Columbia Producers Inc. Nachurs NAU Country Ritzville Warehouse Co. Syngenta Two Rivers Terminal United Grain Corporation INDUSTRY SUPPORTERS AGPRO Marketing & Manufacturing Inc. Albaugh LLC Big Bend Electric Cooperative Central Life Sciences CHS Primeland CHS Sunbasin Growers CoBank Columbia Bank Great Western Malting Helena Chemical Co. Itafos Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S. Mid-Columbia Insurance Inc. Morrow County Grain Growers Mountain States Insurance Northwest Grain Growers Papé Machinery Patton & Associates Pomeroy Grain Growers Inc. Rural Community Insurance Service SAIF Simplot Washington State Crop Improvement Association VENDORS Adams Grain Bins AgraSyst Agri-Tool AgSource Laboratories Almaco Brandt Agricultural Products Central Life Sciences Class 8 Trucks CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Corteva Agriscience Farm Equipment Headquarters Farmers Business Network Harvest Capital Company Intellifarms Kralman Steel Structures Limagrain Cereal Seeds Miller Chemical & Fertilizer LLC Morrow County Grain Growers Nachurs NAU Country Northwest Farm Credit Services Oregon Tilth OSU Wheat Pacific Ag Solutions Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association R&H Machine Inc. Scafco Grain Systems SS Equipment Inc. Total Scale Services Inc. USDA-NASS USDA-Risk Management Agency Washington Policy Center Web Steel Buildings Northwest LLC West Coast Seed Mill Supply Company Western Trailer Sales Co. Wheat Marketing Center Inc. WSR Insurance Services 16 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

17 Receiving your ALERT? With their annual membership, Washington Association of Wheat Growers members can receive industry updates through the weekly digital Greensheet ALERT via . If you are not receiving this ALERT, either we don t have your current address, or our ALERT is going into your spam folder. Call our office at (509) to make sure we have your current address. Insurance for Whatever You Grow Whether you raise cattle or grow nursery stock, row crops, grain, hay or fruit, COUNTRY Financial has got you covered. Your local nancial representative can help balance your need to protect what you have with your desire to build for the future. We o er great coverage for farm vehicles, too. Grow your own way with COUNTRY Financial. James Penning LUTCF Yakima (800) Paul Koethke LUTCF Moses Lake (800) Policies issued by COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL. - HO WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

18 POLICY MATTERS Paid family, medical leave is coming to Washington state By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist In 2017, the Washington Legislature passed a bipartisan bill creating a new Paid Family & Medical Leave Program. Agencies are continuing to work on rules to implement the new law, but parts of the law come into effect on Jan. 1, The law creates a statewide insurance program that lets employees get partial wage replacement while on leave. Eligible employees can to take up to 12 weeks (or 18 weeks in certain cases) of paid leave for a qualifying event, including: recovering from illness or injury, bonding with a new child, taking care of sick or injured family members or certain military-connected events. Most employers and employees, including those in agriculture, are required to participate in the program. Here are a few things you should know about the Paid Family & Medical Leave Program (PFMLP): Starting Jan. 1, 2019, employers are required to withhold premiums (0.4 percent of gross wages) and remit them to PFMLP, regardless of the number of hours an employee worked. - Both employers and employees contribute to the total cost of the premium, with employees contributing up to 63 percent of the total premium, and employers contributing the remaining 37 percent. - Small employers (those with less than 50 employees) are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium, but still must withhold and remit the employee portion. - There is a small business assistance grant program to help cover the cost of hiring temporary replacement employees, up to $3,000 renewable up to 10 times per year per employer. However, small employers must pay the employer contribution to qualify. Employees cannot collect benefits until Jan. 1, To qualify, an employee must work at least 820 hours in the qualifying period (the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters or the last four completed quarters) and have a qualifying event. - If an employee s qualifying event is foreseeable (such as a planned surgery or childbirth), the employee must give their employer 30-days notice before taking leave. Employers also have quarterly reporting requirements. Employers will need to track employee wages, hours and other employee information and report to the Employment Security Department each quarter starting in Quarter 1 of 2019 (January 1 to March 31). The Quarter 1 reports are due April 30, Employers with 50 or more employees are required to restore returning employees to their previous position or to a position with equivalent pay, benefits and employment conditions. PFMLP does not apply to federal and tribal employees, self-employed people (including independent contractors) and workers that typically work out of state. Self-employed people and tribes can choose to opt into the state program. Workers under collective bargaining agreements may have delayed participation in PFMLP. As an example for premiums, if a qualifying employee is paid $10,000 a year, the total annual premium for the program would be $40 ($10,000 x 0.4 percent). Of that, $25.20 would come from withheld employee wages (63 percent employee contribution), and $14.80 would come from the employer (37 percent employer contribution). A small employer would only need to withhold and remit the employee portion of the premium. Employers can apply for a premium waiver in certain cases, generally when the employee usually works out of state. A premium waiver may be granted when the employee usually does their work out of state, they only work in Washington on a temporary schedule and they are not expected to work in state for 820 hours or more. Employers that want to manage their own paid family and medical leave plan can apply to the Employment Security Department to have a voluntary plan approved, though employers will still need to comply with quarterly reporting requirements. Voluntary plans must meet or exceed the benefits offered under the state plan. Washington Association of Wheat Growers members should be ready to begin collecting premiums, budget for the employer share of premiums (if necessary) and be ready to track information for quarterly reporting by Jan. 18 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

19 CLASS 8 TRUCKS 521 N. EASTERN SPOKANE, WA (509) class8trucks@aol.com 䴀漀猀攀猀䰀愀欀攀䄀爀攀愀㔀㤀 ⴀ 㜀㜀 ⴀ 㜀㘀㤀 Home for Christmas Churchill s is your home for Christmas elegance and an exceptional fine dining experience. ChurchillsSteakhouse.com (509) When a farmer calls from Arapahoe, Colo., and says, I ll take the truck. Check is in the mail. My daughter will come and get it. It s an A game, like all our customers, plus logistics. This 2002 IH with an automatic was an emergency life-saver for 2 farmers already this summer, pulling a grain trailer for 28 days! So, with the arrival of the daughter and her husband, Jenni and Brenton Witzel, into the truck with luggage and...away they went. Ha! After a summer of work, the heater hose decided now was the time to burst! A quick road run to help them get running, a big smile & wave as they headed home to haul hay and feed. Three safe days & 1,234 miles later...it did! Colorado, hi and thank you! You don t have to drive that far. Call and let us do the work for you. Marc B. Lange (509) Scott Lund (509) Jeff Miller (509) NOT JUST TRUCKS, TRAILERS TOO! *See us for details JessAuto.com Omak Grand Coulee Pullman WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

20 WL POLICY MATTERS 1, More information on the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave Program is at paidleave.wa.gov. Democrats to control state legislature with higher margins By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Preliminary results from the November general election indicate that Democrats will maintain and significantly increase their majorities in the state Senate and state House of Representatives for the 2019 Legislative Session. Based on election results available at the time of publication, Democrats increased their majority in the House from 50 to 57 and from 25 to 28 in the Senate. The balance of power is now 57 Democrats to 41 Republicans in the House and 28 Democrats to 21 Republicans in the Senate. However, there are a few races that are extremely close and subject to mandatory recounts. Election results are certified by each county on Nov. 27, The Secretary of State certifies final results on Nov. 30, A mandatory recount is required when the difference between two candidates is less than one half of one percent and also less than 2,000 votes. In the Senate, the following seats flipped to Democrat control: 30th State Legislative District (Federal Way)-Democrat challenger Claire Wilson defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Mark Miloscia percent to percent. 47th State Legislative District (Kent, Covington, Auburn)-Democrat challenger Mona Das defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Joe Fain percent to percent. In the House, the following seats flipped to Democrat control: 42nd State Legislative District (Ferndale, Lynden)- Democrat challenger Sharon Shewmake defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Vincent Buys percent to percent. 5th State Legislative District (Issaquah, Maple Valley, North Bend)-Democrats won both House seats in this district, which were previously held by Republicans. Democrat challenger Lisa Callan defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Paul Graves percent to percent. In the other seat, Democrat candidate Bill Ramos defeated Republican candidate Chad Magendanz percent to percent. 10th State Legislative District (Whidbey Island, Camano)-Democrat challenger Dave Paul defeated Republican incumbent Dave Hayes 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent. 28th State Legislative District (Lakewood, University Place, DuPont)-Democrat challenger Mari Leavitt defeated Republican incumbent Dick Muri percent to percent. 44th State Legislative District (Mill Creek, Lake Stevens)-Democrat challenger Jared Mead defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Harmsworth percent to percent. 47th State Legislative District (Kent, Covington)-Democrat challenger Debra Entenman defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Hargrove percent to percent. No Democrats lost their seats to Republican challengers, however, Senate Economic Development & International Trade Chair Sen. Maralyn Chase (D-Shoreline) received percent of the vote and was defeated by challenger Jesse Salomon (D), who had percent of the vote. The following races are extremely close and headed to a recount: 42nd State Senate Legislative District (Ferndale, Lynden)-Republican incumbent Sen. Doug Ericksen is leading against Democrat challenger Pinky Vargas percent to percent. This race is currently 54 votes apart. 26th State Senate Legislative District (Gig Harbor, Port Orchard)-This seat was previously held by Republican Sen. Jan Angel who chose not to run for re-election, leaving an open seat. Democrat candidate Emily Randall is currently leading percent to percent against Republican Marty McClendon. This race is currently 93 votes apart and may undergo a mandatory recount. 42nd State House Legislative District (Ferndale, Lynden)-Both seats in this district are close. Republican incumbent Rep. Luanne Van Werven is leading percent to percent against Democrat challenger Justin Boneau. This race is 90 votes apart and will undergo a mandatory recount. There were several ballot measures this year that were hotly contested. All of the initiatives passed, except for I-1631, the proposed carbon fee. 20 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

21 I-1631 (carbon fee)-this initiative proposed to be the first in the nation to charge large carbon emitters a pollution fee. This measure failed with only percent in favor to percent against. This is the second time the voters have rejected an initiative putting a price on carbon. I-1634 (restricting local taxes on food/beverages)-this initiative prohibits local governments from imposing new taxes on soda or grocery items. The measure succeeded with 55.8 percent in favor, and 44.2 percent against. I-1639 (regulating firearms)-this initiative regulates the sale of semiautomatic rifles, including adding background checks and raising the purchase age to 21. The measure succeeded with percent of the vote in favor to percent against. A lawsuit has already been filed by the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation challenging the new law. I-940 (police use of force)-this initiative changes the use of force rules for police, creates a duty for police to give first aid and requires additional mental health and de-escalation training. The measure passed with 59.6 percent in favor to 40.4 percent against. More information at: NwGrainAugers.com Grain Augers Belt Conveyors Smoothwall Bins Corrugated Bins Seed Tenders Political advocacy is something many of us think we can never get involved in; the Washington Wheat PAC is changing that. These dollars will be used to support candidates that understand what is critical to our industry and the livelihood of our members The Washington Wheat PAC is a nonpartisan, political action committee that supports ag-friendly candidates. The Washington Wheat PAC pledges to promote and support elected officials from all parts of the state that positively influence agriculture. When you make a donation, you are investing in the future of agriculture in Washington State. Information and contribution form is on our website at wheatpac.org WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

22 Working to advance the small grains industry by building support for programs and activities that increase public awareness of farming. WHEAT FOUNDATION WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER STACEY TIMM RASMUSSEN (From Stacey) I grew up in Harrington on my family s wheat farm and moved to Cheney to attend Eastern Washington University (EWU). I received my bachelor s degree in communication studies in 2003 and went on to earn my master s degree in communication and leadership studies from Gonzaga University in My husband, Lance, and I were married in 2005 and moved to Harrington in 2009 to begin taking over the family farm. My husband currently works with my dad, Don Timm, for day-to-day operations of the farm, and I utilize my skills on the business/financial end of the farm. In addition to the farm, I also work for Spokane Community College as an adult education instructor. I am the manager for the Odessa Public Development Authority, an EWU Alumni Association boardmember, and I am also a photographer. LET S GROW TOGETHER CAMPAIGN UPDATE When it comes to securing a social license to farm and garner public support for the priorities of our farmers, it s important to communicate about high-level consumer priorities. Overall, our Washington audience has positive perceptions about farmers in our state. Social content with the greatest resonance centers on the legacy and heritage of farming, stewardship of the land and honoring and thanking farmers for their hard work. Other insights come from careful evaluation of the current state of social media, identifying an effective strategy in the face of significant algorithm changes and shifting consumeruse patterns. At a time when traditional media use is declining, digital media is becoming increasingly important. However, the ways consumers use social media is changing. The platforms themselves are changing, and the types of relatable content are shifting. What we re talking about: We ve carefully balanced feel good and informative content on social media and complemented that outreach with blog and PSA messaging. What resonates with the audience? Posts that reach the most people and have the highest engagement are those that simply frame farming in Washington in a positive light or feature the hard work Washington farmers put into feeding Washington and the world such as: The legacy and heritage of farming Family farming Farming in our state Stewardship of the land Sustainability Challenges faced by farmers Contributions of farming to our state Featuring the real stories of our farmers When it comes to what consumers care about most in the foods they eat, the answer is clear: transparency and sustainability. Consumers want to know what s in their food, and how it s produced. More than 90 percent of consumers place a high priority on transparency in the foods they consume and feed their families. More than 50 percent of consumers say sustainability is an important factor in food choices. Social media conversations: An effective social media campaign engages an audience with shared values and delivers content that connects on an emotional level. The biggest mistake is to post content just for the sake of posting. Less can be more when it comes to social media content, taking care to only post content with relevance to your audience. Reminders: Remember the Foundation in your charitable giving. Go to wawheat.org to find out more about ways that you can support your industry. Washington Wheat Foundation P.O. Box 252 Ritzville, WA (509) wawheat.org 22 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

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24 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention Portland, Ore., Nov WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

25 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

26 WL FEATURE Trade, tariffs, farm bill 2018 CONVENTION KEYNOTE SPEAKERS, PANELS FOCUS ON ISSUES FACING AG INDUSTRY By Trista Crossley For a few days last month, wheat farmers from the Pacific Northwest traded in the farm for a convention center in Portland, Ore., where trade, tariffs and other agrelated issues featured prominently on the menu. Two panels of experts and presentations from top officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative detailed the state of agriculture and the issues the industry faces, both nationally and at home. National organizations zero in on ag issues The first panel, moderated by Spencer Chase, Agri- Pulse s deputy managing editor, featured Chris Kolstad, chairman at U.S. Wheat Associates (USW); Dwight Little, president of the National Barley Growers Association (NBGA); Ben Sholz, vice president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG); and Tim O Connor, president of the Wheat Foods Council (WFC). This panel focused on some of the issues the wheat industry is currently facing, from tariffs and trade agreements to the 2018 Farm Bill. Chase started the session by giving an overview of the current farm economy, adding that net farm income is forecast to decrease 13 percent in While trade is certainly an important issue, he said the midterm elections could have a large impact as well, especially where the farm bill is concerned. If Congress can t pass the 2018 Farm Bill during the lame duck period, the House s switch from Republican to Democrat control could throw a wrench into the works. He sees House Democrats who are very interested in nutrition but not really interested in farm policy. An education process will be needed, he said. In wrapping up his presentation, Chase said Congress has two main items on their lame duck agenda: Funding the government by finalizing seven appropriations bills; and Passing or extending the farm bill. December is the Representatives from national grain organizations kicked off the 2018 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention talking about the challenges and opportunities their organizations are facing. The panel was moderated by Spencer Chase (left), Agri-Pulse s deputy managing editor. Also on the panel (starting from second left) were, Ben Sholz, vice president of the National Association of Wheat Growers; Chris Kolstad, chairman at U.S. Wheat Associates; Dwight Little, president of the National Barley Growers Association; and Tim O Connor, president of the Wheat Foods Council. 26 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

27 FEATURE WL The marketing sector is also facing issues related to trade agreements and tariffs. Randy Fortenbery (standing), Washington State University ag economist, moderated the panel, which featured (from left) Brian Leidl of United Grain Corporation; Kurt Haarmann from Columbia Grain; and Damon Filan of Tri-Cities Grain, LLC. deadline when most baseline program funding runs out. Reportedly, the ag committees are still struggling to come to agreement on the nutrition, commodity and conservation titles. Turning to the panel, Chase asked the participants to list their organization s biggest issues, as well as the things they are most excited about. The answers included: NAWG. Sholz said one of the industry s biggest hurdles was connecting the dots between producers and consumers, but that he was excited about the new technologies that researchers have been using, such as gene editing and hybridization. USW. For Kolstad, the biggest hurdle is getting the 2018 Farm Bill passed so overseas marketing funds would be restored. Trade issues with Japan and China are also on USW s radar. Kolstad said USW is excited about the potential U.S. wheat markets in south Asia and Latin America. NBGA. On the barley front, Little said U.S. barley acreage continues to shrink, which threatens already scarce resources and the sector s ability to influence policy, but his industry is excited about barley s potential food value. WFC. Nutrition was also on O Connor s mind, as he said nutritional guidelines are his organization s biggest issue. The WFC has been working with personal trainers to focus on well-rounded diets instead of the latest fad diet. He added that there are some amazing foods in the wheat portfolio, from cakes to cookies to bread. People love and eat wheat foods all the time. It s fun to work on a product that touches that many people, he said. PNW export panel Washington State University Ag Economist Randy Fortenbery moderated a panel of exporters who discussed policy implications on grain once it leaves the farm. Fortenbery began by stating that in his opinion, the U.S. is in the midst of the most aggressive renegotiation, realignment of trade from the U.S. perspective that we ve done since the 1920s. This realignment, he explained, is based on the perception that in the last three or four decades, the U.S. has been significantly taken advantage of in the trade arena. He laid out the timelines of the Trump Administration tariffs and gave his perspective on the current trade situation: Supply chains and firms are much more integrated across geo-political landscapes compared to past decades. This makes it very difficult to target individual countries, and trade management can result in significant unintended consequences. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

28 WL FEATURE Trade wars are not easy to win and determining outcomes beforehand is challenging. It is impossible to design compensation schemes that make victims of trade distortions whole in the long term. Many firms can adapt to a change in trading environments that are predictable and stable, but will have much more difficulty in managing the volatility associated with continual rules changes. What often happens in policy, not just trade policy, but policy in general, we sort of think we have this laser beam focus on a particular problem. We invoke a policy remedy, and then there s a second-phase cost that we didn t anticipate that comes back to us, he said. We almost always have a give and take, and the real question about trade policy is what s the net benefit or is it a net cost, and how do we evaluate those going forward? The panel consisted of three representatives of Pacific Northwest grain exporters who introduced themselves and gave their view on the current wheat market: Kurt Haarmann from Columbia Grain. Haarmann said for the last two years, exports out of the Pacific Northwest have run at record levels in terms of total grains, with the last two years seeing 1.55 and 1.6 billion bushels of grain roughly 1/3 wheat, 1/3 corn and 1/3 soybeans moving through the ports. This year, that figure is likely to be closer to 1.3 billion due to the current trade issues. He said that within the tariff discussion, wheat sometimes gets lost, particularly when talking about China, and said the retaliatory tariffs are as much political as they are about economics and goes beyond price. The closure of the Chinese market to U.S. soybeans has forced U.S. farmers to change their whole market structure, forcing them to store soybeans rather than immediately sell them. He also said, in answer to a question about the U.S. Department of Agriculture s (USDA) latest export forecast, that Pacific Northwest prices tend to be a little more stable due to our soft white wheat, so he didn t expect too much of an impact if the industry doesn t meet the USDA s numbers. Brian Leidl of United Grain Corporation. According to Leidl, United Grain Corp. stores about 8 million bushels of grain and is the largest and oldest facility on the Columbia River. He told growers that quality is the region s best weapon. When it comes to quality, nobody can match what we can do here in the PNW, thanks to your efforts and the whole system that has been devised. Referring to USDA s recent export forecast of 1 billion bushels, Leidl said it s not impossible for the market to meet that, but that the window is closing rapidly. He agreed that the situation with China is mostly political and said the country is trying to prove it can go a year without importing U.S. soybeans, which will improve their trading position. One grower asked about including China s wheat stocks in USDA s numbers. Leidl called the Chinese numbers a wheat black hole because it is unclear how accurate they are, but it appears that China is self-sufficient in wheat. He added that three countries hold the most wheat stocks India, China and the U.S. with the U.S. having the biggest stocks-to-use ratio. If there is a supply disruption, he explained, there is really no other supply of wheat other than in the U.S. Damon Filan of Tri-Cities Grain, LLC. Filan focused more on the up-country elevators storage capacity and ability to get the grain to market. He said his business has moved from handling mostly government and country tenders to about 75 percent being private buyers. Filan is an industry representative on the Washington Grain Commission and has participated in many overseas market visits. He said he hears quality, quality, quality in just about every country he has visited, which has changed the way his elevator looks at storing and selling wheat. He said Indonesia is probably the next frontier for Pacific Northwest wheat exports, but it will take years to develop. Jason Hafemeister, special trade council to the USDA Secretary Hafemeister s presentation was given via telephone as a storm on the East Coast disrupted his travel plans. He focused on some of the challenges, threats and opportunities facing U.S. agriculture. He said the top five export markets for U.S. agriculture are China, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the EU, and the U.S. is facing tariffs in all those countries. The tariff situation began when the U.S. Department of Commerce decided that steel was important for national security, and steel imports should be limited to 20 percent of domestic consumption. The administration imposed tariffs, which were quickly matched by other countries imposing retaliatory tariffs. That same reasoning is being used to consider an increase in auto tariffs. Hafemeister said the top six U.S. ag markets are responsible for 95 percent of the auto and auto parts imports to the U.S. If we somehow get into some sort of trade war for 28 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

29 FEATURE WL autos, there is a potential exposure for agriculture to be caught with retaliatory tariffs as we saw with steel. Something to be watched very closely here, he explained. On the China front, Hafemeister said the size of the trade deficit and not protecting intellectual property have been concerns for the U.S. and that it is an unbalanced trade relationship. There have also been concerns that China is taking U.S. manufacturing jobs. Turning to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Hafemeister said approval of the trade agreement has gone up as people realize what the U.S. would be losing. It s hard for us to do much better (in Mexico) than we are right now, he said. Agriculture has a big stake making sure the USMCA (the new NAFTA) gets through Congress. Finally, Hafemeister addressed the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute process. He said in general, agriculture has been very successful in pursuing cases via the WTO, but that the administration has concerns that the judges are becoming more political in how they decide VTX-300 VARIABLE TILLAGE Types of tillage will differ from spring preparation work to fall field work, from a dry year to a wet year, and from vertical tillage to conservation tillage to primary tillage or residue management. All these types of tillage require different machines, until now. The SOILSTAR VTX can do it all, from a light six degree angle to an extreme 22 angle tillage pass with aggressive concave discs; to a 0 vertical tillage pass or seedbed preparation with up to six degree angled straight discs ROTARY CUTTER 15, 26, 30 and 42 Models Hydraulic Phasing Lift Cylinders 1000 RPM Heavy Duty Drive Line Spring Steel Bushing on Major Pivots 1105 Dobson Rd. Odessa, WA Ph: (509) Ph: (800) don@walterimplement.com Visit schulte.ca for more information on our complete line of Rock Removal Equipment, Rotary Mowers, Snow Blowers WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

30 WL FEATURE cases. He added that the WTO needs a common set of rules to judge cases by. Gregg Doud, chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Fresh off a trade mission to Morocco (literally, he flew into Portland straight from that country), Doud gave the audience a bird s-eye view of what the current administration is doing with regards to agriculture and trade. Doud said a big difference between negotiating in agriculture is that we can t grind them (the other guys) into the ground. We have to have a relationship with the person across the table because they are going to be with us for a long time. Nowhere is that more true than in Japan where Canadian, Australian and European wheat will eventually become cheaper than U.S. wheat when the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP is the agreement that replaced the Trans-Pacific Partnership) goes into effect at the end of this year. The U.S. is not part of the CPTPP. The good news, Doud said, is that the administration has announced they are ready to start working on a bilateral trade agreement with Japan. He added that according to some economic analysis, if a deal isn t made, wheat is the commodity that will be hurt the worst, followed by beef and pork. If you lose that market share, I don t know if you ll ever get it back. I understand how important this is to get this right and get this done and get it squared away as quickly as we can, he said. Pivoting to China, Doud said he is hopeful that a planned meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials at last month s G-20 summit meeting will hopefully lead to another conversation, and hopefully that will lead to another conversation and to another conversation, which finally gets us to sit down to talk and sort this out. Doud said one of the main issues the U.S. has with China is the country s subsidies to their wheat, corn and rice farmers, which have been estimated to exceed their World Trade Organization (WTO) limit by $100 billion. They have also imported less wheat than their WTO obligation requires. If they had fully implemented what they agreed to do when they became a member of the WTO in 2001, they should be importing every year about 9.6 million metric tons of wheat. They ve never done that, he said. The U.S. is having many of the same issues with India. In Europe, Doud said there are too many activists making money by talking about the food consumers are eating, and the restrictions some countries in Europe are placing on pesticides and antibiotics are presenting huge challenges to U.S. agriculture. Connell Grange Supply DRY FERTILIZER EQUIPMENT Nurse Boxes Belt Loaders Truck Spreaders Hydraulic Drill Fills C-200 Cleaners/Treaters Brush Augers N. Regal Spokane, WA barberengineering.com Shop With Us Where The Customer Is STILL The Company! We Deliver Top Quality Fuels 24-Hour Pumps Bulk Fuel Tanks For Sale Farm Hardware In Stock Full Tire Services Cattle Equipment 343 S. Columbia Connell, WA WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

31 Washington Wheat Foundation Annex (in Ritzville, Wash.) Rental Includes: Seats 100 Full service kitchen Wi-Fi Free coffee and tea Pull out wall divider 2 large screens Free parking 18 x 22 lobby to gather or serve buffet Separate board meeting room (seats 12) $50 (0-4 hours) or $100 (4+ hours) Contact Chauna Carlson at the Washington Wheat Foundation rental line (509) POMEROY GRAIN GROWERS Serving farmers for over 85 years Pomeroy Grain Growers, Inc. Pomeroy Grain Office Pomeroy Agronomy Farm Commodities-Colfax SAFE & CRP SEED MIXES Seed for Pollinators Dry & Irrigated Pasture Erosion Control Wildlife Habitat Turfgrass CALL: OR Call Todd s cell: Fax: wri@westernreclamation.com WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

32 WL FEATURE Progress report: Moving forward to limit FN risks From Alex McGregor The Hagberg-Perten (H-P) test that grades wheat by measuring the effects of the alpha-amylase (AA) enzyme was developed a long time ago. Its original purpose was not to measure grain quality, but to help bakers wanting to know how much AA to add when making loaves of bread. Back then Dwight Eisenhower was president, Hawaii and Alaska had just been admitted to the Union, and folks were worried about the Soviet Sputnik satellite they d seen in the night sky a few years earlier. I was in fifth grade at the two-room country school at Hooper, Wash., where we measured time by the big wall clock above the teacher s desk, studied numbers by writing them on the chalkboard and were graded by how well we did on the Think and Do tear-out page at the back of our workbooks. I remember one of my fellow students addressing the uncertainty of the test results by borrowing the teacher s handbook and copying the answers verbatim, including the clause any answer substantially similar is acceptable. That was not a wise approach. The year was Technology has advanced rapidly on so many fronts since those halcyon days. But for half a century, the H-P test has remained the tool used to measure starch degradation effects on grain quality. We ve known since the pioneer days that substantial rains on ripe grain can cause losses, and the H-P test measures them. Our typical hot, dry summers fortunately limit the risk. The test also is sensitive to late maturity alphaamylase (LMA), which is caused by extreme temperature variation and cold weather during late grain filling, days after pollen shedding. A French wheat researcher doing work in Australia recently described LMA as the tip of the iceberg and PHS as more formidable the full obstacle, above and below the water line. Does LMA cause declines in quality? he asks and concludes more tests need to be done. PHS is clearly bad for sponge cake. There is likely some correlation, probably not as strong, between LMA and cake quality. Craig Morris, Alecia Kiszonas and the staff at the Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman have been busy doing baking studies to learn more, with funding assistance from the Washington Grain Commission (WGC). See Episode 86 of the WGC s Wheat All About It! podcast at wagrains.org. The real-world consequences of low falling numbers (FN) caused by LMA can be severe. It was the primary culprit in 2016 when losses were staggering, in the tens of millions of dollars. Kudos to grain companies who, this year, were able to handle the crops with minimal, if any, discounts and to our good fortune of not facing a temperature roller coaster as severe as a couple of years ago. We can t find a Think and Do book with the answers inside when a weighted plunger falls to the bottom of a wheat slurry in less than five minutes 300 seconds. Holding onto low FN wheat can help, if the number isn t too low and the days are hot enough. Only an expert can mix high and low FN wheat because it takes only a little low FN to lower the reading for the whole batch. As Washington State University (WSU) researchers put it, the falling numbers test is a test [that] farmers love to hate. The reason is inconsistency both from physical factors in test taking and biological variation. 32 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

33 FEATURE WL We have a remarkable, collaborative team making big strides forward to address the challenge We are fortunate to have our three land-grant schools, USDA/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) and the Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman, working to get answers. David Weller, of USDA/ARS, says of the group he leads, We are all working as a team in a seamless effort to address all aspects of this particular problem. We are working night and day, as hard as we can, to find solutions. David Weller, Camille Steber and Craig Morris of ARS; Michael Pumphrey, Arron Carter and their colleagues at WSU; and Jim Moyer, the recently retired associate dean of CAHNRS, the agricultural school at WSU all have been active in meeting the challenge. I ve pitched in whenever I could be of help. Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison has been a stalwart ally along the way. New technology, he has stated, Would go a long way toward mitigating the current problem by allowing better segregation of lower FN wheat. The Washington Grain Commission (WGC), USDA/ARS and WSU were already working on the challenge before the crisis of 2016 hit like a sledge hammer focusing on developing more resistant varieties and finding a better way to assay the presence of proteins with quicker, more reliable results. The Pacific Northwest wheat industry sought and obtained from Congress $1 million in new funding to USDA/ARS that makes possible the hiring of a researcher to do full-time background work on seed varieties. Likewise, efforts of the WGC working in collaboration with USDA/ARS have helped provide $1 million worth of new equipment to replace the tools already well worn when Craig Morris took the lead at the Western Wheat Quality Lab 30 years ago. Putting the pedal to the metal: A fast pace after the 2016 debacle Just over two years ago, in September 2016, as the dismal FN results came in, growers, scientists, agencies, state legislators and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) met in our office to chart a path ahead. My biggest concern at the time was to make sure the FN challenge didn t fall off the radar screen down the road as other issues came to the fore. It hasn t. The following February, a falling numbers symposium in Spokane, Wash., brought together all facets of the Pacific Northwest wheat industry to identify the research being done, knowledge gaps and short- and long-term needs. Craig Morris and I were asked to take the lead in looking for ways to use or modify existing or new technology to develop a rapid and simple test for elevators and growers that is quick, repeatable and accurate. Glen Squires of the WGC points out that one of the needs raised at the symposium was to improve the accuracy of the current test, including updating testing procedures and protocol and ensuring uniformity of processes. WSDA s grain inspection division provided this type of information to the Federal Grain Inspection Services (FGIS). At the same time, USDA/ARS in Beltsville, Md., has been doing work looking at the influence of barometric pressure on FN test results. Factoring in barometric pressure does, in fact, show a linear relationship and improves accuracy of the current test. To date, the FN testing directive has called for an altitude adjustment at 2,000 feet to compensate for elevation changes. FGIS is planning to implement an updated directive next May, including barometric pressure. Resistant wheat varieties are clearly the long-term answer Breeding resistant wheat varieties is a complex balancing act. Though low AA readings can cause painful FN results when the crop heads to market, AA is vitally important to a growing crop, too, in fueling initial plant growth and for healthy plant leaves. Dr. Daolin Fu s group at the University of Idaho is working on wheat AA genes with funding support from the Idaho Wheat Commission. They are using CRISPR technology to edit six AA genes and will find out how specific alpha-amylases attribute to grain falling numbers and their effect on plant growth. Camille Steber explains that the problem comes with production of AA during the wrong time in development. As Steber, Pumphrey and Carter put it in 2013, wheat breeders need to strike a balance between sufficient dormancy at maturity to prevent sprouting without sacrificing the ability of the seed to lose its dormancy quickly enough to obtain good emergence when planted. As they put it last year, If we do our job right, farmers will no longer notice when we have LMA-vulnerable weather because their wheats will be resistant. Andrew Ross of Oregon State University has done extensive FN work for many years including studying the impact of storage time and temperature on low FN wheat and the role of starch and protein in wheat flour noodles. His colleague, Bob Zemetra, has made big strides in building resistant varieties. The germplasm in his program has shown real promise in reducing vulnerability to PHS and LMA. Together, our land-grant schools and USDA/ARS are moving toward fewer susceptible releases. Work has already been done to get a sense of how vulnerable current varieties are to FN. Camille Steber has shared results from several years of testing, funded by the WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

34 WL FEATURE WGC, at steberlab.org/project7599data.php. McGregor research leader Cat Salois has shared a quick reference chart. The FN test equipment is expensive $30,000 plus slow and not convenient to use. Wheat researchers at WSU have had to develop new separate sets for screening, one for PHS and one for LMA. In 2016, 10,000 spikes from 500 lines of wheat were on the docket. In 2017, WSU technicians took to calling the 40,000 spikes from 1,200 lines the falling number mountain. Despite the obstacles, significant progress has been made. Michael Pumphrey of WSU states, Genetics is paramount. I believe in genetics. This is one area where genetics is the solution. But, he adds, Screening is an extremely expensive project. Grading grain doing FN. We need to make it cheaper somehow. If such an inexpensive solution can be found, Cat points out, it could help farmers monitor fields for trouble. It would be less costly and more practical for public and private wheat researchers to monitor the potential of a wide array of potential varieties and cast aside those with low FN resistance. WSU researchers emphasize that it is absolutely critical that growers identify the presence of PHS/LMA as early as possible so that it can be isolated appropriately. As Craig Morris puts it, if there was some quick, easy antibody test, it could be a major breakthrough. Searching for a practical and inexpensive tool to help in the field The H-P test will remain the international standard for the foreseeable future; overseas millers are understandably wary of sprouted wheat that could produce collapsed cakes or spongy noodles. Developing resistant varieties takes a considerable amount of time, for the research itself and for passing foundation and certified standards. We can t copy a Think and Do instruction book in the interim, but perhaps we could come up with a different test for growers and grain companies to get quick results in the field or at the elevator. AS WSU researchers put it, a modern assay could have a transformative impact on Pacific Northwest wheat growers. The potential for a new test: ELISA Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) are widely used in science and medicine. Might they be adapted to detect the presence of AA proteins in cereals? Kudos to Bayer Crop Science and their international wheat lead, Ed Sousa, for giving us permission to proceed with testing an ELISA formula they had patented but decided not to pursue commercially. Once a research scientist at the University of Idaho, Ed is familiar with our Inland Northwest wheat world and has worked with us for two years as we ve gone through a very complicated process to get ELISA testing underway. Jim Moyer has worked with Ed, Craig and me in the search for a tool that could measure AA and limit risk. Craig and his fellow research scientist, Alecia Kiszonas, began by studying three currently available ELISA kits, including one that measures protein in human saliva and another used for measuring proteins in the pancreas. The pancreatic test, they found, successfully measured AA and provides a potential off-the-shelf avenue to use ELISA to evaluate and detect AA in wheat grain samples. We consider it highly serendipitous, they wrote, that the pancreatic kit appears to be detecting increased AA levels associated with PHS and LMA. While this work is underway, researchers are also evaluating other possibilities, including a step beyond near infrared (NIR). As Camille Steber puts it, I am also excited because Dr. Zhiwu Zhang, the quantitative geneticist in the Department of Crop and Soil Science, thinks he can make NIR or something like it work using fancy mathematics. He said that if I can give him many more samples with known FN (and I get these from the variety trials), that he should be able to use machine-learning mathematics used for facial recognition to get a hyperspectral (further outside the visual range of light than near-infrared) calibration that can predict FN. I really hope this could give us a quick approximation at the elevator. She s helping him with a grant proposal to try his idea out for size. Camille and Michael Pumphrey are collaborating on ELISA with WSU professor Andy McCubbin, who did his postdoctoral work on alpha-amylase and has been a major contributor. Working together as WSU and USDA, they are now taking the next step forward, studying antibodies raised to three amino acid sequences from the AA enzyme: one from the same string of amino acids in the Bayer patent, another a variant on that string and a third of their own design. There is a lot of work ahead, fine tuning and selecting the best, most specific tool. As Camille puts it, Luck is involved as an element in finding a good antibody that sees AA and nothing else. We re working together to find a scientific laboratory familiar with grain production to make kits once the best ELISA tool is ready to go. Engineers at WSU have been working on the mechanics of instant delivery of an ELISA test via a smart phone chip. The road ahead Might it be possible to have a kit that growers could use in a couple of years? Yes, I believe it is. Researchers cannot commit to it there could be unforeseen obstacles ahead. But knowing them and the hard work underway, I like our odds. The WGC and USDA/ARS set a goal five years ago of a highly sensitive, easy-to-use tool to help growers 34 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

35 FEATURE WL reduce risks. There have been big strides made since then. We re fortunate to have remarkable people and resources devoted to meeting the AA challenge. The Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman one of four in the nation and the only one west of Kansas with Craig, Alecia, Doug Engle and a half dozen ARS staff. Camille Steber and the USDA/ARS team, including a soon-to-be hired ARS scientist specifically dedicated to solving the AA/FN issue. The University of Idaho, Oregon State University (Pendleton and Corvallis), Washington State University three land-grant schools with scientists working to meet the challenge right next door here in wheat country. A new assay that can have a transformative impact? Who better to make it happen! We ve got a tradition, dating back more than a century, of growers, scientists and local businesses working together and getting results, a remarkable relationship that few regions can match. As Pullman farmer Girard Clark put it way back in 1909, In the world of cereal improvement, there is no limit to the possibilities, hence no stopping place. Kudos to Mike Miller and the WGC, Jim Moyer of WSU, our legislators and the Pacific Northwest wheat industry for getting $1 million in new money to the ARS for FN research to help meet the challenge with many others helping make it possible, among them Mary Palmer Sullivan, Glen Squires, Michelle Hennings, Nicole Berg, Marci Green and Gary Bailey. Pulling together we get results. Always have, always will. I am encouraged by progress made so far by the outstanding team of USDA/ARS and land-grant researchers. They ve made great strides toward a reliable AA test and promising new varieties with improved resistance in the works, even with a slow, complex tool and a mountain of samples. As David Weller put it, a seamless effort, going as hard as they can, night and day it ll make a difference and be a big help in challenging times. The challenge will be met; the battles won; and we ll no longer be stuck with only a test we all love to hate. The motto of the Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman bringing solutions to agriculture says much about the road ahead. We ll all see the day, sooner rather than later, where warm spring days and cold nights will be a lot less risky and much more enjoyable. You have my word on it. A follow-up FN summit is being organized for late January, prior to the Pacific Northwest Wheat Quality Council meeting in Portland, Ore. It will be a time to compare progress reports from all the research work underway around the region. We re looking at other grant possibilities, too, to fill any gaps in the work underway and to continue to expedite this important work. We ll keep you posted. BLACK MAXX VALVE Your Best Choice For Application Of Liquid Fertilzer Hydraulic Pumps & Valves Pressure Vents, 3" & 4" Models COOLERS Vacuum Breakers Manholes For 407 and 412 Applications Vapor Recovery Valves BLOWERS Full Service Driveline Shop Good Supply of Parts In Stock! Trucks-Heavy to Light Ag & Industrial Automotive Hotrod Racing Call Darren Sharkey Over 32 Years of Experience Driveline Fabrication & Repair PTO's & Shields Vibration Analysis & Mitigation Driveline Balancing Parts & Components Custom Applications Metric or American Standard We're Here To Solve Your Problems! Emergency: Office: E Lytle Street Pasco, WA WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

36 WL FEATURE Plowing the Palouse On a breezy October afternoon, nearly 30 antique tractors pulling all sorts of plows showed up to till roughly 75 acres behind the Papé Machinery store in Tekoa, Wash. 36 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

37 FEATURE WL The event drew tractor enthusiasts from Oregon, both sides of Washington state and even Utah. For more photos, check out facebook.com/plowinthepalouse/. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

38 DO YOU HAVE FARMLAND FOR SALE? Your neighbors aren t the ONLY ones who want to buy it. Kincaid Real Estate has QUALIFIED buyers ready to make an offer on your property. Let Thinking our knowledge of selling of the your market add value for you! farmland or surplus equipment? Now booking Spring Take it to & AUCTION! Fall 2012 Locally auctions. Owned Call and early Operated for best dates. Real Estate REAL ESTATE LIVESTOCK Livestock EQUIPMENT Equipment MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM KINCAID REAL ESTATE C.D. Butch Booker Broker/Auctioneer 809 N. Main, Colfax WA kincaidre@colfax.com 䌀刀伀倀刀伀吀䄀吀䤀伀一匀圀䤀䰀䰀䐀伀吀䠀䔀䨀伀䈀 䈀甀椀氀搀礀漀甀爀猀漀椀氀猀昀漀爀琀栀攀昀甀琀甀爀攀 甀猀椀渀最漀氀搀猀挀椀攀渀挀攀琀栀愀琀栀愀猀眀漀爀欀攀搀昀漀爀挀攀渀琀甀爀椀攀猀 圀䤀一吀䔀刀䌀䄀一伀䰀䄀㨀㨀一伀一䜀䴀伀㨀㨀䤀䴀䤀 ⴀ 吀伀䰀䔀刀䄀一吀 刀伀唀一䐀唀倀刀䔀䄀䐀夀嘀䄀刀䤀䔀吀䤀䔀匀䄀䰀匀伀䄀嘀䄀䤀䰀䄀䈀䰀䔀 吀刀䤀吀䤀䌀䄀䰀䔀㨀㨀倀䰀伀圀 ⴀ 䐀伀圀一䴀唀匀吀䄀刀䐀 匀吀䄀刀吀䈀唀䰀䐀䤀一䜀夀伀唀刀匀伀䤀䰀䠀䔀䄀䰀吀䠀一伀圀 匀倀䔀䌀吀刀唀䴀䌀刀伀倀䐀䔀嘀䔀䰀伀倀䴀䔀一吀刀䤀吀娀嘀䤀䰀䰀䔀圀䄀 䤀渀琀爀椀最甀攀搀戀礀挀漀瘀攀爀挀爀漀瀀瀀椀渀最 Ⰰ 戀甀琀氀愀挀欀琀栀攀洀漀椀猀琀甀爀攀琀漀瀀甀氀氀椀琀漀昀昀㼀 䌀甀爀琀椀猀㔀㤀 ⴀ 㘀㔀㤀 ⴀ 㜀㔀㜀吀漀搀搀㔀㤀 ⴀ 㘀㐀 ⴀ 㐀アハ ート㘀 FOR RENT Washington Wheat Foundation Annex (in Ritzville, Wash.) Rental Includes: Seats 100 Full-service kitchen Wi-Fi Free coffee and tea Pullout wall divider 2 large screens Free parking 18 x 22 lobby to gather or serve buffet Separate board meeting room (seats 12) $50 (0-4 hours) or $100 (4+ hours) Contact Chauna Carlson at the Washington Wheat Foundation rental line (509) WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

39 By Gary Bailey Research, marketing and education are the three legs of the stool that underpins the efforts of the Washington Grain Commission (WGC). We talk a lot about research and marketing on this page, but less about education, which is equally important. Because if we aren t telling farmers, landlords, agribusinesses and politicians where we re coming from, what difference does it make? I m happy to report that just as the WGC is well known throughout the industry for its innovative and forwardthinking research and marketing efforts, the same holds true for its educational activities. The magazine, Wheat Life, is the crown jewel of national wheat publications, which includes our WGC section. Editor Trista Crossley is superb at her job, juggling her creative eye for writing with editing and designing most of the magazine s pages. Another innovative educational program is Wheat Week, an effort underwritten by the WGC that teaches fifth and sixth graders across the state about wheat and natural resources as part of Washington state s curriculum. The program reached more than 26,000 students in You wouldn t have any doubts the program is educational if you read the postcards kids send at the end of their participation. Education is part of everyone s job at the office. Joe Bippert has updated the commission s PowerPoint presentations for customers, creating dashboard-like charts that are easier for our customers to understand. And he administers the WGC s Twitter account and Facebook page. Like us! Mary Palmer Sullivan, WGC vice president, may have among the toughest educational jobs, as she is primarily responsible for escorting trade teams around the state. Keeping the WGC s message fresh throughout an increasingly long and busy tour season for overseas buyers is an educational effort extraordinaire. WGC CEO Glen Squires is educator-in-chief. Since he got the top job in 2012, he s not in the trenches as much busy as he is with phone calls, travel and the bureaucratic details of running the commission. But education, like our two other priorities, is under his authority. As director of communications and producer relations, Scott Yates leads our educational efforts. Scott came to the commission from the Capital Press in As a reporter for the newspaper, he was known for his hardball journalism, the stuff that s great to read when it s not about you! Besides fielding phone calls, talking to reporters and creating educational displays, Scott writes, takes photos, organizes, assembles and edits the WGC s portion of Wheat Life each month. For his first eight years, the WGC s portion of the magazine ranged from 18 to 22 pages each month. Within the last two years, we have returned to our contracted 11 page count because Scott has undertaken a new project. If you haven t listened to the Wheat All About It! podcast, you re missing a very important part of your wheat education. After experimenting with a simplified podcast for a year, Scott went to a once-a-week, 20-to-25 minute interview format in January As someone who awaits every new podcast and has participated in his own episode (Payday on the Palouse #35), I can attest to the power of listening to people tell their own stories. The podcast tackles issues that are important for farmers to understand like falling numbers, wireworm control, weed resistance and weather. But they also veer into entertainment with stories of rural life like the Combine Demolition Derby, a visit to the Ritzville Museum, even a profile of Capital Press reporter, Matthew Weaver. Podcasts Scott posted in October included a two-parter entitled, Dennis Solbrack Doesn t Bleed Green, But He Lives Green, John Deere Green ; a conversation with a National Weather Service meteorologist entitled, Wolf s Guide to Wacky Northwest Weather ; a visit with software engineer/farmer Andrew Nelson about monitoring his crops with sensors and drones called, The Brave New World of Farming Comes to Farmington ; and finally, an episode on retirement, What? Me Retire? Lessons on Life After Farming, in which he talks to Jim Walesby and Randy Suess on retirement lessons they ve learned. Like anything worthwhile, it may take learning a new trick to listen to the podcast. Smart phones are wonderful, but I admit, I have only scratched the surface of my pocket computer s capabilities. I m happy to report, however, that I was able to figure out how to download and listen to the podcast without enlisting the help of my kids or grandchildren! Once your phone is set up, it s easy to listen to programs anywhere. You can Google various podcast apps to get started including Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Radio FM and, of course, itunes. If you have an iphone, it s especially easy to listen. Just touch the podcast icon and type Wheat All About It in the finder. If you don t have a smartphone, you can listen on your home computer. Go to the WGC website at wagrains.org. Scott has done a terrific job of making the podcasts informative and entertaining. I urge those of you who haven t already gotten into the habit to begin your educational listening experience. I highly recommend it. WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

40 EPORTS RWASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION Checking in with Mark Fowler USW S OLDEST, NEWEST EMPLOYEE ON BRINGING A MILLER PERSPECTIVE TO OVERSEAS OPERATIONS Farmers can appreciate better than most how a parent s choices can transform their children s lives. In Mark Fowler s case, his father s path led him away from his parents Kansas farm, to be the first in the family to receive a college degree and onward to a career as a Spanish teacher. Although Fowler spent time on his grandfather s wheat and cattle ranch growing up, his father was whetting his appetite for international travel, taking him on trips to Mexico with his Spanish classes. When it was the younger Fowler s turn to go to college, his grandfather took him aside, letting him know there would be a place for him if he came back to the farm. The young man took the offer under advisement, but wanted to try his own thing. That thing turned out to be getting a degree from Kansas State University (KSU) in milling sciences and management, and from his first job, a desire to work overseas. It took a few years to get there, employed first with Cargill in Wichita. Jumping to Seaboard, an international grain processing and trading business, he became milling specialist in the corporate office, visiting and offering advice for the company s milling operations in South America, Africa and the Caribbean. Later, he served as the technical director for the Seaboard Overseas Group working out of their office in Durban, South Africa. Even when Fowler returned to KSU to work for its International Grains Program (IGP) for 14 years, he reveled in the opportunities to teach people from other countries as well as travel overseas. Deciding to scratch an entrepreneurial itch, Fowler left KSU to lead Farmer Direct Foods, a small cooperative specializing in stone-ground hard white wheat. Two years in, he realized it was the first time in 20 years he d been away from the international milling industry and he missed it. Enter Vince Peterson, who had recently been elevated to president of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and was looking for an individual to replace him as vice president of overseas operations. Although Fowler gave his wife and two daughters veto power over the USW offer and another move it s easy to imagine the family couldn t stand in the way of a job that had overseas in its title. It s been a little more than a year since Fowler took on his new duties at USW. Scott Yates, director of communications and producer relations for the Washington Grain Commission, thought it a good time to check in. WGC: What do you think as you look back over your career so far? Fowler: I think of it as different chapters of my life. At a relatively young age, I had the opportunity to gain a lot of experience with Cargill in the domestic industry and then with Seaboard, the international industry. When my family was of an age not to travel so much and we returned to Kansas to be closer to family, I continued to be involved in international milling at IGP. We spent 14 years in Manhattan, Kan., raising a family. Having a hometown provided stability that my wife and I felt was important for our daughters. WGC: Were you familiar with U.S. Wheat Associates? Fowler: I like to say I m U.S. Wheat s oldest, newest employee because I have worked with them for more than 20 years. When I was with the Seaboard Corporation, I was U.S Wheat s customer. I was receiving the U.S. crop quality information and meeting staff and talking about different mills and locations and which wheat would work best. I was the target of their trade servicing activities. Then, when I went back to Kansas, I cooperated with U.S. Wheat to provide training for groups that came through the IGP. I also worked for them, traveling once or twice a year as a milling consultant. I m very familiar with U.S. Wheat and U.S. Wheat is very familiar with me! WGC: Do you think your history in the milling industry is an advantage? Fowler: Knowing all the variables and dynamics of 40 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

41 WGC REPORTS WL the global wheat industry, the different products made in different regions, the different options companies have to buy grain and especially having the perspective of a miller or a milling company, that gives me a solid foundation. I m bringing a different perspective to U.S. Wheat because of my background. WGC: But is your experience a double-edged sword? You look at the world through the lens of a miller. What are you missing? Fowler: When I compare myself to Vince, my weakness is in the ability to analyze the markets from a technical perspective. But U.S. Wheat as an organization has a history that is very strong in market analysis. My background in the milling utilization side brings a perspective on export quality, technical service, mill utilization and grain origination, and how grain from different origins is used. Vince and others are very strong in developing a market analysis perspective. I like to believe my perspective is adding to the strength of the organization. As the global industry becomes more competitive, U.S. Wheat has to match that competitiveness and add more layers to customer service. Price was the dominant variable for many years. Now, as we become more competitive, we have to add the quality variable. WGC: We in the Northwest have been beating the quality drum for quite some time, but I ve also heard it said that a good miller who knows what he or she is doing can basically make a poor wheat perform well enough. Is that true? Fowler: You can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear, but there is a lot you can do. Wheat producers are three steps away from consumers. The first customer for wheat is the mill because nobody eats wheat or flour for that matter. You have to convert the commodity into an edible product. The type of wheat you choose is dependent on the flour you need. The type of flour you need is dependent on the quality of the product you are making for the consumer. The quality of the wheat needed is dependent on the quality of the market. While you can make a cake out of almost any kind of wheat, if you want the finest cake with the best texture and melt in your mouth feel, you need soft white wheat from the Pacific Northwest. Yes, you can make a cake out of wheat from Argentina, as an example, but it is going to have a tougher texture. WGC: Is the average consumer really going to care about the texture? Fowler: No, not in every market, but in the markets where we are successful, Japan, Korea, China among WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) vice president of overseas operations, Mark Fowler (on right, second row), participated in roundtable meetings with flour quality managers in Seoul. He was joined by members of the Washington Grain Commission; Joe Sowers, USW regional vice president; CY Kang, country director; and David Oh, food/baking technologist. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

42 WL WGC REPORTS WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION others, the consumers are aware of quality and have a definite preference. Your average consumer may or may not know the difference or even the quality they want, but they know the quality they don t want. Again, it depends on the market. Think about Italians. They know good pasta from bad pasta. Americans not so much. It s market dependent. It s also important to think about value. U.S. wheat is low moisture and has a big kernel size. That can make a difference in flour extraction of up to 1 percent compared to an origin with higher moisture and a variable kernel size. WGC: In terms of wheat exports, Asia has been the Pacific Northwest s bread and butter. We are now hoping to expand the Latin American market. Is it possible the countries to our south will become another Indonesia? Fowler: There s no doubt we need a larger presence in Latin America. It is a growing market. In fact, sales in our two regions that make up Latin America has grown from almost 27 percent of total U.S. wheat exports in 2008 to more than 38 percent of our total in the last marketing year. But when you compare it to Indonesia, the population in Latin America is not growing as fast. And the region is very competitive. Canada is a strong presence in this hemisphere, and Argentina continues to be a strong competitor for wheat markets in Brazil. WGC: I recently checked how far it is from Indonesia to Australia versus the U.S. to Indonesia. Australia is 7,000 miles closer than the U.S. Can Indonesia really be a consistent market for us when Australia is so near? Fowler: It really comes down to a simple math equation. Given the population growth in Asia, Australia cannot supply all the U.S. Wheat Associates vice president of overseas operations, Mark Fowler, traveled with regional vice president, Matt Weimar, to the Philippines where they met with industry partners, including the Filipino-Chinese Bakery Association, Philippine Foremost and Morning Star Milling. wheat necessary. Yes, Australia has a competitive advantage on freight and logistics, but it can t produce all the wheat needed to supply the growing Asian population. WGC: Vince Peterson was in your position for 12 years. How has he been at letting go? Fowler: The transition has been pretty good. Vince has needed to move on and take over the job responsibilities in his new role. I think we have worked together long enough that he has confidence in his decision to bring me on board. There have been bumps along the way. Being a new person at USW is a rare thing. One of the strengths of the organization is that in nearly every one of our offices, we have someone with 20 plus years of experience. That kind of longevity is rare in today s environment. Bringing in a different perspective to a very mature organization has presented opportunities to look at operations in a new way. I believe one of the reasons I was hired was the need to strengthen the perspective of millers and milling operations and continue the development into a more multidimensional organization not just market analysis but product development and business analysis too. WGC: Are you concerned about the trade war that s developing with China? Fowler: I think the long-term benefits to improving trade relations with China are positive for the U.S. wheat producer. Our history with China, even in 2017 when they imported 1.7 million metric tons that s still less than 2 percent of their consumption. Anything that improves our access to China is going to be positive. WGC: It s been suggested that soft white, as a specialty wheat, is in an enviable position compared to some other classes. No other country grows soft white like ours. Are we in the catbird seat? Fowler: Soft white is a wheat that provides unique qualities, but there is always going to be competition. When you have a product like soft white that does provide unique qualities, your competitors are going to work hard to replicate it. You can never rest on your laurels. The only constant is change, and if we aren t changing to meet the needs of our consumers, somebody else will. 42 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

43 WGC REPORTS WL Claassen bids the WGC adieu By Scott A. Yates After serving nine years on the Washington Grain Commission (WGC) and a previous four years on the Washington Barley Commission (which was rolled into the grain commission in 2009), Steve Claassen says it s time for new blood. It s time to let newer, younger minds be engaged and have the opportunities to learn about the grain industry beyond the elevator where they dump their trucks, he said. Besides, Claassen has a new challenge coming up. After serving for nine years on the board of the Tri- State Memorial Medical Campus in Clarkson, Wash., he s scheduled to become its chairman. He anticipates that leading an organization involving a branch of knowledge he hasn t been learning about since the time he was a child will require a lot more of his attention. I need to focus on that because it s totally out of my wheelhouse, he said. Now 67, Claassen considers himself to have been farming his entire life. It s been more than a career, he said, or as he put it, I do it because I love it. I ve loved it since day 1. Otherwise, it s just not worth it. Claassen s other love is his wife, Kathryn, with whom he recently celebrated their 41st anniversary. She too has been on his mind as he made the decision to step down from the WGC. She deserves more of my time. We want to do activities together and get more involved in each other s lives, he said. Claassen and his wife met in high school, but she had dreams of being a dancer in New York and his own Mr. Liu Yizhou (right), general manager of China s Guangdon Baiyan Grain and Oil Industrial Co., shares a toast at a dinner with Steve Claassen during the latter s 2012 overseas trip to three countries. dreams never extended far beyond the farm. Kathryn danced for six years before returning home for a visit and, as the cliché goes, the rest is history. Claassen s father s family was originally from Germany. Wheat and cattle ranchers in Nebraska, they headed further west during the Dust Bowl era and started a dairy in Colfax, Wash. In 1946, his father sold the dairy and purchased a sheep pasture west of Clarkson. There, he broke out the pasture and began planting wheat. The farm has grown to 5,000 acres of summer fallow ground. Prior to serving on the WGC, Claassen said he lived in a much smaller world, a place he called Planet Wheat. As he described it in a 2012 article he wrote for Wheat Life, his personal planet was a place where I grow, tend and harvest my crop, truck it to the elevator, dump the grain and expect to be paid. During his time serving on the grain commission, however, he has learned there is a whole universe beyond the tailgate of his truck. We think our grain has come a long way when we bid it goodbye, but really, it s only the beginning of its journey, he said. Maintaining relationships with customers along that journey are even more important today in a world where the usual rules of trade are being rewritten. Or, as he put it, when it comes to challenges ahead for the WGC, the biggie is trade. Keeping those relationships intact, no matter how things come out, is important. Maintaining current markets and expanding into newer markets is paramount, he said. In fact, when frustrated farmers buttonhole him to ask what they re getting WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

44 WL WGC REPORTS WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION As Derek Sandison (second from left), director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, looks on, Steve Claassen signs a wheat purchase memorandum of understanding with representatives of Taiwan. from the assessment they pay on each bushel of grain they produce, it s marketing Claassen talks about first. If we didn t have the assessment support that funds the teams that go out and move our commodity, we wouldn t be anywhere. Our markets just would not be there, he said. The assessment also pays for research, and Claassen said there s certainly plenty of challenges ahead for the next generation of farmers in that regard. He is particularly worried about weed resistance and the lack of new chemicals in the pipeline. As a Washington State University alum (class of 1973), he also commends breeders who leverage WGC funding to address an array of agronomic issues with better varieties. Claassen urges the younger generation to get involved in the grain commission, but he warned the investment is more than five meetings a year. There s a commitment there, and you shouldn t consider it if you can t be committed all the way, which has happened a few times during my tenure. Unless you can be fully engaged, you miss the boat, he said. What a person takes away from the experience, however, is priceless. It s not just what you learn about in terms of the wheat industry and all that goes on behind the scenes, he said. It s developing relationships with the other commissioners. There s phenomenal opportunities. Everybody on the board is so engaged with the industry. You are learning something whenever you are around these other committed commissioners. You really absorb their knowledge by sitting around the board table, he said. He also gave kudos to the staff, calling them one of the best you could ever work with, while singling out WGC CEO Glen Squires for special praise. He s a workaholic and a nice guy, a combination that is hard to pull off, but through his efforts, he has put Eastern Washington s wheat industry at the forefront of every major issue both nationally and internationally, he said. Claassen said his son is interested in coming back to the farm, and he s beginning to think about retirement in two or three years, but his version of that eventuality does not include folding the tent. From his hospital board position, he said he s learned that as a general rule, most people still have good health and all the wheels still turning for about 10 years after 65. He plans to take advantage of that timeline by playing more golf, snow and water skiing and spending time with his grandchildren, watching them as their lives unfold. In addition to Claassen, the WGC s Nov. 20 meeting was also Dana Herron s last. New commissioners will be announced in January. Working on a combine in the summer heat is Steve Claassen s briar patch, a place that feels like home. 44 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

45 WGC REPORTS WL Seventy seasons of service The Western Wheat Quality Lab becomes a septuagenarian Craig Morris, director, Western Wheat Quality Lab David Bolingbroke, Washington State University history Ph.D. candidate By Craig Morris and David Bolingbroke Interest in the baking quality of wheat is as old as agriculture itself, but the ability to quantify and research methods to improve it are of a more recent vintage. In the U.S., the revolution in technology, transportation and industrialization in the latter half of the 1800s brought about a keen interest to better understand wheat quality and to improve it through breeding and selection. The discovery of Mendel s laws of genetics rediscovered by Washington State College (WSC) professor and wheat breeder William Jasper Spillman more or less coincided with the invention and development of the steel roller mill, know-how that turned the centuries-old process of stone milling into a highly efficient, industrialized process. The 1884 Annual Report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) included a detailed analysis of this relatively new roller milling gradual reduction process. The earliest study of wheat quality conducted at WSC was completed by professor R.W. Thatcher. As he stated in a 1907 publication, only a minor amount of wheat produced in Washington was consumed by its citizens. As a result, the majority was exported and had to...compete with grain from other wheatproducing countries. In order to command a satisfactory market, it must be at least equal in quality to the other wheats which are offered for sale. Thatcher s study included the varieties Fife, Red Russian, Genesee Giant, Gold Coin and Turkey Red, among others. Analyses included many of the measures we still use today: test weight, protein content, milling, gluten content and bread baking. Around the same time (beginning in 1908), the USDA, in cooperation with the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, performed milling and baking studies on wheat samples collected across America. In 1917, this activity was moved to Washington, D.C., due WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION An every other year event, a tour and workshop of the Western Wheat Quality Lab brings together farmers, industry and staff to participate in a hands-on understanding of the science conducted at the lab. At the 2016 event, individuals represented Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The next event will be held in June WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

46 WL WGC REPORTS WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION probably to the need to support the United States Grain Standards Act of In the late 1930s, this function of the USDA was decentralized, and two labs, the Federal Soft Wheat Quality Lab and the Hard Winter Wheat Quality Lab, were established in Wooster, Ohio, and Manhattan, Kan., respectively. Eventually, sentiment grew that Pacific Northwest farmers needed a wheat quality lab of their own, focused on the particular types of wheat and environments found here. In 1943, the Pacific Northwest Crop Improvement Association (PNCIA) was established by the region s farmers. Although farmers began to reap the benefits of a collaborative relationship with the USDA and agronomists at the region s land-grant universities, they still lacked the research expertise and effective quality testing necessary to increase production yields in their fields. Orville Vogel, a USDA employee based at Washington State College, had already been in Pullman for several years mostly focused on helping to breed diseaseresistant wheat when the federal government allocated funding for a wheat quality lab as part of the Flannagan- Hope Act, or the Research and Marketing Act of The following year, the Washington State Legislature also provided funds for Washington State College to use on joint projects with the USDA. Although it s not clear, it s possible a portion of these funds also supported the newly established Western Wheat Quality Lab (WWQL). Many years later when Vogel was interviewed, he remarked that the lab s opening was a joint effort between the USDA, the college, grower organizations, PNCIA and the Oregon Wheat Growers League (OWGL). The WWQL was the first of its kind in the American West and promised to serve as an important resource for both wheat breeders like Vogel and farmers across the region. Shortly after allocating funds for the quality lab, the USDA brought in Dr. Mark Barmore, known as a seriousminded midwesterner, to head it. Barmore assembled staff and equipment, and by the spring of 1948, the lab was ready to begin milling and analyzing wheat samples to determine their quality. One initial complication was acquiring a miller with the right expertise. Ed Seeborg was the man Vogel and probably local growers wanted but the Tacoma native didn t have a college degree, and the USDA wouldn t hire him. Vogel recommended Seeborg because he felt his experiences as a miller outweighed his lack of educational training, remarking that...it is true that he has only two years of college, but to me his 15 or more years of experience in Technicians at the Western Wheat Quality Lab measure gluten strength by blowing bubbles of dough. Other tests might look at kernel hardness, the extensibility of dough and protein quality and quantity. Testing how different varieties of wheat perform in end-user products is only part of the mission of the Western Wheat Quality Lab. 46 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

47 WGC REPORTS WL The Western Wheat Quality Lab has their own mill, which they use for testing how different wheat varieties mill. They also produce their own flour for testing. our own area is worth a darn sight more than two years of college. To solve the problem, the OWGL pitched in to pay his salary for the first couple years until he had taken enough courses to meet the USDA s requirements. Choosing a local miller exemplifies the significant role local and regional efforts played into the WWQL s creation. The WWQL not only needed to service a specific region and the particular type of wheat grown here (soft white), it also needed workers who had experience with local wheats and connections to the wheat farmers supporting the endeavor. The PNCIA felt that the WWQL was highly beneficial to regional farmers. In 1948, their field secretary, Robert O. Fletcher, offered the organization s whole-hearted support for the lab. Two years later, in a report, he noted that the lab was...undoubtedly the key project to the improvement of wheats from a quality standpoint and is a tremendous aid to the agronomists in locating high quality strains early in the breeding program. He continued his praise, saying that the lab was truly a service to the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. At the time, the lab operated with a budget of just under $43,000. That was not an insignificant sum, having the same buying power in 2018 as more than $450,000. The process of testing and milling wheats sped up as a result of the WWQL s establishment. Vogel mentioned the role of new equipment like a micro-mill and the creation of the standardized cookie bake still used today for testing quality. With the help of the lab, Vogel tested the quality of the semidwarf soft white wheat he developed, Gaines. Upon commercial release in the 1960s, Gaines became famous for its record-producing yields. Washington State University agronomist Rodney Bertramson mentioned how Barmore advised he and Vogel to be cautious pertaining to Gaines release because of its poor milling qualities. Bertramson said he liked to call Barmore their conscience. In a 1965 letter nominating the WWQL for a USDA Superior Service Award, Vogel doled out high praise for the work the lab had accomplished since opening 17 years before. He wrote that...the high milling and baking qualities of new Pacific Northwest wheats resulted largely from the ingenious and skillful testing services and from the effective liaison between wheat breeders and processors, which had been provided by the laboratory personnel. Despite the accolades, in 1966, the federal government nearly shut down the WWQL as part of a reduction of agricultural research funds. Alerted to the lab s impending closure, the region s congressional delegation was asked by farmers and others to oppose the measure. A few months later, the fund reduction plan failed to pass in the House. The WWQL s current director, Craig F. Morris, has overseen the lab s work for the past 30 years. Surrounded by a sea of societal change, the mission of the lab remains essentially the same as when it was established. The same standard cookies are baked to test flour quality, and the lab s technicians remain busy researching how to improve quality. After having completed the 2017 crop milling and baking analyses, the lab celebrated 70 seasons of service. Craig Morris is director of the Western Wheat Quality Lab, and David Bolingbroke is a history Ph.D. candidate at Washington State University. Research assistance was provided by Ujwala Ganjyal. Several of the sources used were obtained through the Washington State University Library s Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections. WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

48 WHEAT WATCH WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION U.S. exports fail to meet USDA outlook By T. Randall Fortenbery The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to believe U.S. wheat exports will pick up significantly in the coming weeks. Their export forecast for the 2018/19 marketing year has actually increased from their initial estimate of 925 million bushels coming into the marketing year June 1 and as of November, sits at 1,025 million bushels. With the marketing year half over, however, export activity will need to improve significantly and quickly to come close to the current estimate. Figure 1 shows cumulative export shipments through mid-november this year compared to each of the past two crop years. Last year (June 1, 2017, through May 31, 2018), we only shipped 901 million bushels of wheat, and we are well behind that pace entering the second half of the current marketing year. Through mid-november this year, we were running about 20 percent behind year-ago export volumes and almost 30 percent behind where we normally would be if we are going to hit USDA s current export forecast. Some market analysts still believe we can hit the USDA export number. It is worth noting, however, that USDA has over-estimated marketing year export volume in November in three of the last four wheat marketing years (Figure 2). These previous over-estimates occurred without the current export challenges we face as a result of the ongoing tariff wars. As a result, I am not as optimistic as either the USDA or some other analysts concerning wheat exports this year. I think we will be challenged just to meet last year s export volume. Disappointing export numbers to date are not confined to a single country or even region of the world. We are currently off pace compared to both last year and the current USDA estimate with all our important buyers. While we are currently up slightly compared to where we were a year ago in wheat shipments to the Asian continent and Oceana, shipments are down to some of our most important Asian customers. U.S. wheat exports to Japan are off about 2 percent compared to last year, while shipments to Taiwan are off 23 percent, and we have shipped no wheat to China at all. Historically, China has accounted for about 5 percent of our wheat exports, and total shipments had actually been increasing in recent years. While not nearly as important to us as Asia, shipments to Africa are down significantly year-over-year. Through mid-november, U.S. wheat exports to the continent were sitting at only 34 percent of exports from a year earlier. U.S. exports to the Western Hemisphere are off about 24 percent compared to a year ago. Most importantly, exports to Mexico, our largest customer in 2017/18, are off about 26 percent on a year-over-year basis. Some have pointed to the recently negotiated U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), designed to replace the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as a reason to be optimistic concerning future export volumes to Mexico. However, the trade agreement still needs to be ratified by Congress, as well as legislatures in both Mexico and Canada. As of this writing, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) has indicated he does not anticipate the Senate taking action on the agreement before the first of next year. By then, the U.S. House of Representatives will have shifted from Republican to Democratic control, and there will also be a change in the presidency in Mexico. The current trade restrictions are likely to stay in place until the agreement is ratified. Given the political 1200 Figure 1: U.S. cumulative wheat exports* million bushels June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan 2016/ / /2019 * Each year is slightly below the final USDA export number because the graphs do not include exports of wheat products Feb Mar Apr May 48 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

49 WHEAT WATCH WL 1400 Figure 2: U.S wheat exports / / / / /19 November Export Foreast Final Export Volume Figure 3: U.S cumulative white wheat exports* million bushels June July Aug Sep Oct Nov 2014/ / / / /19 changes coming, it is possible that the agreement will actually not pass all three legislatures, but even if it does, it may be too little too late to have a significant impact on U.S. wheat exports for the 2018/19 marketing year. White wheat export shipments through mid-november totaled about 67 million bushels, compared to a USDA forecast for a total of 220 million bushels exported for the full marketing year. The current estimate for 2018/19 is about 14 percent higher than actual white wheat shipments last year, but similar to the all wheat export picture. We are currently running about 8 percent behind last year s pace, and nowhere near where we would normally be to hit USDA s current marketing year forecast. On the positive side, white wheat exports to Japan are running well ahead of last year s volumes, and increases have also been experienced for shipments to Indonesia and the Philippines. However, these are partly offset by a reduction in South Korean purchases compared to last year. Dec * Each year is slightly below the final USDA estimate because the graphs do not include exports of wheat products Jan Feb Mar Apr May? White wheat shipments to both Africa (Nigeria is our only real white wheat buyer there) and North America are down compared to a year ago. Most significantly, white wheat exports to Mexico are off more than 80 percent compared to a year ago. Despite white wheat exports running below year-ago levels and well behind the pace we would expect to meet the current USDA estimate for the 2018/19 marketing year, they are still doing well compared to other recent marketing years. Figure 3 shows cumulative white wheat exports this year compared to several previous wheat marketing years. While the picture is encouraging, one potential challenge going forward may come from pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That revised agreement (the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans- Pacific Partnership) has been ratified by enough of the remaining 11 countries that it will go into effect on Dec. 30 this year. Without the passage of a free trade agreement between the U.S. and the Asian countries in TPP, we will face additional export challenges shipping to Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and other Asian countries. The good news is that the administration has announced we will be entering a bilateral trade agreement with Japan that could provide us competitive access to their market compared to other TPP wheat export countries (primarily Australia and Canada). Unless we start to see improvement in the pace of U.S. wheat exports in the next few weeks, I believe it will be difficult for market prices to improve much over the next couple of months. There is some price optimism around production issues in other parts of the world (Australia and Russia for example), but I believe over the next few weeks, U.S. markets will be more focused on U.S. export opportunities then global production issues. Randy Fortenbery holds the Thomas B. Mick Endowed Chair in Grain Economics at Washington State University. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. WASHINGTON GRAIN COMMISSION WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

50 WL FEATURE Evergreen state s Egypt Instead of ancient pyramids, there s fields of wheat as far as the eye can see. Instead of the Nile, there s the Columbia River. By Heidi Scott It is hard to say why the little community 15 miles north of Davenport, Wash., is called Egypt. Some residents believe Egypt was the last name of the first post officer. Others think it was chosen because the area looked the way early settlers imagined the country of Egypt to look like. Perhaps they saw the distant Mount Lilienthal range and thought it looked like the Great Pyramids. Rodney Reinbold, who grew up there, wonders if early Lutheran settlers randomly chose the name out of the Bible. I think maybe they didn t realize it was a geologically significant place. It was just an imaginary part of the Kingdom of God, he said. Regardless, Egypt grew into a charming community with a rich history of unity and compassion. One group of early settlers came from the Black Forest region in Germany. After the Prussian War, a farmer named Matthias Reinbold believed his family would have a better life in America. He told his 14 children that the best place to farm was near the convergence of the Columbia and Spokane rivers. He wasn t wrong. By some accounts, top soil in Egypt once measured as much as 30 inches deep. Today hundreds of Reinbolds attribute their American citizenship to three brothers who first came: Andrew, Simon and Jacob. They were joined by other relatives until a total of 27 Reinbold farms worked the rich Egypt soil. When people learned you were a Reinbold, they always asked how were you related, and it was tough to answer. Since Matthias had four wives (three died from small pox and childbirth), we were all related somehow, Rodney said. A highly religious family, the first order of business for the Reinbolds was to establish the church. According to a family historian, eight members gathered in 1890 with the Reverend Paul Hein in the home of Andrew Reinbold to organize the Christ Lutheran Church. Services were held in that home for a number of years until Will Reinbold, the youngest of Matthias sons to immigrate, donated land to build a church. The treasured building that was constructed there became the spiritual and social heart of the community. Those living in Egypt in the 1950s remember when the church was turned. The old road, which originally passed in front of the church, was moved by the county. Suddenly, the church was facing the wrong direction. The Egypt community came together to lift the church, pour a new foundation with a basement, turn the whole thing around and set it back down. Donald F. Reinbold, one of the few remaining third-generation Reinbolds, was a part of that undertaking. I was one of the younger guys, so I had to do all the high work. I climbed up on the roof and the steeple. The old farmers were a lot smarter than us young guys and stayed on the ground. Families took great pride in going to church every week. The men wore ties and fedora hats. They regularly bought new suits. They looked good. Women were dressed to the nines. Young women were slam-dunk gorgeous. Going to church was a big deal, Rodney remembered. His brother, Orlin Reinbold, added, We thought it was the center of the universe. The church served as backdrop for major life events, including baptisms, marriages and funerals. The church provided a place of comfort in the most difficult of times. In 1908, 18-year-old Jay Barnhart drowned in the Spokane River. His obituary gives a glimpse into the way the community operated: The alarm was immediately given, and the sawmill located near the scene of the accident was shut down, and the entire crew turned out and united in the effort to recover the body. 50 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

51 FEATURE WL A group stands in front of the Egypt Store and Post Office located in Egypt, Wash. The store and post office were run by Jack Moore from 1895 until 1899 when W.G. Duncan took over. Photographer and date taken are unknown. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln County Historical Society. (lch0042, washingtonruralheritage.org) Ralph and Frank Moore (sons of Willis D. Moore) are shown harvesting wheat with a four-horse team. One is gathering bundles of cut wheat and stacking it in the fields in vertical shocks. Exact date is not known; some time between 1910 and Photographer unknown. Photo courtesy of the Davenport Public Library. (lcca0002, washingtonruralheritage.org) WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

52 WL FEATURE The Egypt Lutheran Church before it was turned around in 1957 when the highway was rerouted. The church was built in Photographer and date taken are unknown. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln County Historical Society. (lch0043, washingtonruralheritage.org) The surrounding community joined in the search, and Jay s body was recovered after several hours. After his funeral at the church, 35 teams of horses followed the procession to his final resting place. Near the church, the North Star Grange Hall was arguably the second most important part of the community. Regular meetings were a staple of life in Egypt, along with dances every other weekend. It also had the largest junior Grange of anywhere in the state. Siblings Diane Martin and Dean Reinbold enjoyed being Junior Grangers. We went to Grange and did a lot of fun stuff. Of course we also went to church. Seemed like we always had something to do, Diane said. As with small farming communities, people built relationships as they worked together. Everyone thrashed the grain with big thrashers that went from farm to farm. It took many tractors to hook up the belts. They d shut down for an hour to eat lunch and then get back to work. In those hard days of farming, it took teamwork, Dean said. Team work was needed year round. After grain harvest came butchering. The men travelled place to place to make sure everyone had the help they needed. Dean was a part of that. We didn t have refrigerators, so we had to keep the meat cold in the wintertime, where you could hang it outside and keep it frozen. If we got a warm spell in January, families had to can like crazy to save the meat. Nothing got thrown away. It was all used, he said. I never realized how great it was until one year, I was working for some people out of the area during harvest. I drove around the field and saw smoke. The neighboring wheat field was on fire, and a combine was sitting right there. The boss came over asked me why I had stopped working. I said That wheat field is on fire, and that combine needs to be moved. He didn t lift a finger to help, and that combine burned up. That would never happen in Egypt. That spirit of cooperation extended to all spheres of life. When phone lines were first brought in, homes were connected by party line. Children were taught from a young age how to distinguish the special signal indicating an emergency. Karen Conrad Caisse remembered, We were taught as children that if there was an emergency, we were to crank five long rings, our version of 911. Everyone would answer their phones and come help. The whole community was on the same party line in the beginning. As a standard courtesy, we did not talk on the phone around noon, so when the men came in from the fields Today, weekly services are still held at the Christ Lutheran Church in Egypt. The church also functions as a community center. Photo by Heidi Scott. 52 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

53 FEATURE WL and had to order a part, they had the phone free. At other times, you certainly didn t say anything you did not want everyone to know about! Farmers also grew close as they worked for the national good. As always, farming was critical during war time. Karen said, Nobody left during WWII. They were frozen into their position as farmers. You could only leave if you had a brother or sister who could keep the farm. We had to have that wheat! That sense of significance did not quickly fade. My dad and the other Reinbolds felt like they were really important, Orlin Reinbold said. They believed the amount of wheat being raised there had a major effect on the world wheat market. Local farmers benefitted greatly when the grain elevator was constructed in 1956, sparing them the countless truckloads they had to drive all the way to Davenport. But that long drive was not spared on the children. In the very early days, young people in Egypt could attend up to 8th grade in one of two, one-room schoolhouses taught by local mothers. Eventually, those closed, and all the school children were sent to Davenport. Daily bus rides took about an hour each way. That s pretty tough on kids as young as six to be confined to that bus seat, but it formed a tremendous sense of community. We knew each other intimately, Rodney said. Orlin added, I think I learned more on the school bus than I did in school. For many, those relationships felt more like family than friends. Karen explained how the closeness impressed one outsider, her Boston-raised husband. I met my husband stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. He asked what we do on a Saturday night. I told him, W.W. Moore s store at Egypt, Wash. Photographer and date taken are unknown. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln County Historical Society. (lch0044, washingtonruralheritage.org) Well, we go to Grange, if you want to come. He agreed, and when we got there, everyone was lined up to meet him because word had spread. Hey everyone, Karen s dating a new guy! I began introducing him by saying, I want you to meet Herman and Beulah. My husband was raised to be very formal, so he said, Oh, you can t call them Herman and Buelah. So I said, I d like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Reinbold, and this is Mr. and Mrs. Reinbold, and this is Mr. and Mrs. Reinbold. See, that s why we say, meet Herman and Beulah! My husband thought it was great! Karen s family, the Conrads, decided to build a new home around They planned to pour the concrete foundation themselves with just one hired man to help. Word got out, and just as they began to mix and pour the concrete, people started showing up. Farmers turned up with mixers and wheelbarrows and worked all day, Karen said. All of a sudden, they were just popping up everywhere. I don t remember how many, but it was a huge representation of the community that came to help us. It was wonderful! Debbie Whiteside Graedel described Egypt as an, Andy Griffith life, an Opie childhood. We would play barefoot in the hay, and we all had our animals and chores. But the magic didn t last forever. Through the years, young people grew up, graduated and started families of their own. Some stayed on the family farm, but many left. The nature of farming changed. As things became more modernized, fewer of us wanted to be farmers, so the population diminished, Steve Whiteside said. Many of my generation wanted to go to college and do something different. Farms were sold to other farmers. Farms became larger and fewer. It just sort of died off. There is just a handful of my generation left there now. Ten maybe, but not much more. The air in Egypt is no longer filled every week with voices and music from the Grange. The post office is long gone, and the schoolhouses have been repurposed. But through the years and the changes, the little Christ Lutheran Church still sits as a gem in the center of the community, facing the county road with pride and welcoming visitors to come and enjoy the good life. WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

54 THE BOTTOM LINE How the new tax law affects farm C corporations By Larissa Zeiler, CPA Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed on Dec. 22, 2017, is the largest overhaul to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. With it comes sweeping changes and strategic tax planning opportunities available to agricultural producers. Tax Rates Perhaps the most impactful change is to income tax rates at both the corporate and personal level. In a nutshell, there has been a significant increase in corporate tax rates at lower income levels, and a significant decrease in personal income tax rates. The TCJA eliminated the graduated tax bracket structure for corporations, replacing it with a flat 21 percent tax rate. For most typical farm corporations falling within the old 15 percent tax bracket, the new changes could mean a 40 percent increase in corporate tax. In light of the new tax rate changes, the previous tax planning strategy of capturing farm income at low corporate rates may need to be reconsidered. With the corporate tax rate increase and personal tax rate decrease, it now makes sense to shift more income from the corporation to the personal tax return. This opens the door for new planning strategies. Section 199A Deduction The Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD) previously available to farmers and cooperatives has been repealed. Fortunately, a new Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction has been enacted in its place. The QBI deduction is a 20 percent deduction on qualified business income, which includes net farm and rental income, subject to limitations. For example, a farmer having $100,000 of qualified business income from farming would have a QBI deduction of $20,000 available to offset taxable income. There are deduction limitations, but these typically only come into play at taxable income levels greater than $315,000 for married taxpayers ($157,500 for single taxpayers). Unlike DPAD, the QBI deduction is only available to pass-through entities, including S corporations, partnerships and estates, as well as individuals. Corporations are not eligible for the deduction. This may be one more reason to shift income away from the farm corporation and onto the personal tax return. Tax Planning Strategies Sponsored by the Agricultural Marketing & Management Organization. For more information and a schedule of classes visit wawg.org/ammo-workshops/ The TCJA has presented farmers and their tax advisors with new tax planning opportunities and a modification in how the typical farm C corporation is used. The C corporation can remain an important piece in the farming structure, as a means to minimize FICA taxes and take advantage of tax-free fringe benefits. However, the recent tax law changes now place additional emphasis on distributing any extra income to the individual level where wealth can be more effectively accumulated. Fringe Benefits. Farm C corporations may deduct living expenses such as groceries, on-farm housing and utilities, medical expenses and health insurance. These are effectively tax-free income and should be fully utilized as part of the tax-planning strategy. Rental Income. Another tax planning approach is to shift more income out of the corporation to the personal tax return in the form of rents. This can be in the form of land, buildings and/or equipment rents. The benefit is twofold. It allows us to transfer income out of the 21 percent corporate tax rate and utilize lower personal tax rates of 10 to 12 percent. Second, while we are still awaiting final interpretation on the regulations, it appears that most rental income is eligible for the QBI deduction on the personal return. This can result in significant tax savings! Commodity Wages. Commodity wages have been used for decades as a means to pay corporate officer wages while avoiding self-employment taxes. They now play an important role as a vehicle to transfer income out of the corporation and tax it at historically low personal rates. For farm C corporations that have typically pushed crop inventory into the following year, the next few years may be an opportune time to bleed off some of this crop 54 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

55 inventory carryover in the form of a commodity wage and utilize these historic rates. One caveat: commodity wages do not qualify for the QBI deduction. Change Entity Structure. Recall that the QBI deduction is not available to C corporations. The question arises whether it would be beneficial to convert the C corporation into an S corporation, which is eligible for the QBI deduction. This may make sense if the corporation s income level is high, thus yielding a potentially large QBI deduction. In many cases, however, the value of the tax-free fringe benefits available to a farm C corporation outweigh the S corporation s QBI deduction. We must also keep in mind the ever-changing political climate. Section 199A may be temporary, and it may be premature to change an entity s structure in order to take advantage of a temporary deduction. The TCJA presents new tax savings opportunities for farmers and historically low personal tax rates. Planning, with the help of a tax advisor prior to the end of the tax year, will be paramount to successfully reaping the benefits of the new tax law. Larissa Zeiler grew up on her family s dryland wheat farm near Odessa, Wash. A Whitworth University graduate, she has been employed with Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S. for the past eight years. Larissa can be reached at (509) or by at lzeiler@leffelotiswarwick.com. For more information, please visit leffelotiswarwick.com. Knowledge - Experience - Dedication GO WITH EXPERIENCE! We Have Over 100 Years of Combined Ag Experience - We sell and manage farms and ranches and have an extensive list of cash buyers - Do you need to know the current value of your farm or ranch? - Do you need a current market evaluation? Dayton WA 254 E Main St BLAINE BICKELHAUPT blainb@nwfm.co View our farm listings at: bluemountainrealtors.com MARK GRANT mark@nwfm.co As experienced farm real estate experts, we have established this partnership to manage farm and ranch properties in both Washington and Idaho. 317 N. Colville St. Walla Walla WA northwestfarmland.com Walla Walla WA 317 N. Colville St Blaine Bicklehaupt, left & Mark Grant WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

56 Raelynn Smith (19 months) can hardly wait for a ride with her dad, Matthew, on the family farm in North Franklin county. Photo by Lauren Smith. Preston Hatfield (1) in Pasco. Photo by Ashley Hatfield. The 2018 harvest crew on the Robert Plucker Farm in Touchet. Photo by Derey Edmonds.

57 Your wheat life... Ross Wiswall (2) in awe during harvest in Franklin County. Photo by Tara Wiswall. Colter Johnson (3½) and Codee Jo Johnson (1½) back when the wheat was still standing. The Johnsons farm in Walla Walla. Photo by Beth Stafford Photography. Near Pomeroy. Photo by Makayla Brown. pictures to Include location, names of all people appearing in the picture and ages of all children.

58 HAPPENINGS All dates and times are subject to change. Please verify event before heading out. DECEMBER HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS. Santa, parade, shopping. Waitsburg, Wash. cityofwaitsburg.com 7-9 CHRISTMAS LIGHTING FESTIVAL. Sleigh rides, Christmas songs, carolers, roasted chestnuts. Leavenworth, Wash. leavenworth.org 11 WAWG BOARD MEETING. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. at Washington Wheat Foundation Building, Ritzville, Wash. (509) , wawg.org WSU WHEAT ACADEMY. Increase your knowledge of wheat and barley management. Limited to 75 participants. Pullman, Wash. smallgrains.wsu.edu CHRISTMAS LIGHTING FESTIVAL. Sleigh rides, carolers, music, roasted chestnuts. Leavenworth, Wash. leavenworth.org JANUARY WAWG BOARD MEETING. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. at Washington Wheat Foundation Building, Ritzville, Wash. (509) , wawg.org CROPPING SYSTEMS CONFERENCE. Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Wash. Registration and more info at directseed.org/events/ annual-conference/ NORTHWEST HAY EXPO. Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, Wash. For more information visit wa-hay.org/convention LAKE CHELAN WINTERFEST. An event for the whole family! Winterfest is two weekends of ice sculptures, music, wine tasting, ale tasting, kids activities, polar bear splash, beach bonfire, fireworks and more! Chelan, Wash. lakechelan.com/winterfest/ CASCADIA GRAINS CONFERENCE. Connecting growers, processors, brokers, investors and policymakers across the grain value chain. Olympia, Wash. Registration required. cascadiagrains.com 19 WINTERFEST. Experience the fun and excitement of winter games in Deer Park! A community celebration with events for the whole family. Deer Park, Wash. deerparkchamber.com BAVARIAN ICE FEST. Snow sculptures, games and fireworks. Leavenworth, Wash. leavenworth.org FEBRUARY SPOKANE AG EXPO. The largest farm machinery show in the Inland Northwest. More than 250 agriculture suppliers and service companies all under one roof. Held at the Spokane Convention Center, Spokane, Wash. greaterspokane.org/ag-expo/ 12 WAWG BOARD MEETING. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. at Washington Wheat Foundation Building, Ritzville, Wash. (509) , wawg.org Submissions Listings must be received by the 10th of each month for the next month s Wheat Life. listings to editor@wawg.org. Include date, time and location, plus contact info and a short description. Rock Steel Structures, Inc. Grain Storage For Farms or Warehouses Grain Handling Grain Bin Accessories Shops Warehouses Equipment Storage Steel Buildings Steel Stud Pole Buildings Water Storage Tanks Aeration Systems Hopper Bottom Bins Catwalks, Ladders and Towers Contact Scott Rock scott@rocksteel.com Moses Lake, Wash. VISIT US AT wheatlife.org MORE INTERACTIVE AG NEWS 58 WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER 2018

59 Advertiser Index AGPRO...59 Barber Engineering...30 Battery Systems...21 Blue Mountain Realtors...55 Butch Booker Auction...38 Byrnes Oil Co Central Machinery Sales...11 Churchill s Steakhouse...19 Class 8 Trucks...19 CO Energy...19 Connell Grange Supply, Inc...30 Country Financial...17 Edward Jones...9 Eljay Oil...29 Farm & Home Supply...9 Great Plains Equipment...13 Jess Auto...19 Kaput-Scimetrics...17 Kincaid Real Estate...38 Land Company...15 Landmark Native Seed...38 North Pine Ag Supply...23 Northwest Farmland Management...55 Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association...15 Perkins & Zlatich PS...11 PNW Farmers Cooperative...23 Pomeroy Grain Growers, Inc...31 Rock Steel Structures...58 Second Harvest...55 Spectrum Crop Development...38 Spokane Ag Expo...15 T & S Sales...21 Tankmax, Inc...35 Vantage-PNW...11 Walter Implement...29 Washington Genetics...60 Western Reclamation...31 Wilbur-Ellis...5 Thank you to all of our advertisers. Support those who support your industry. Your ad could be here getting read by thousands of Pacific Northwest farmers and growers. What are you waiting for? Call Kevin Gaffney at (509) AGPRO designs the drill to YOUR specs.. Three Drill Frame Designs! Two Opener Styles! Four Seed/Fertilizer Point Options! Seed Boxes from bushel! Drill Widths up to 53 Feet! Ultra-Low Disturbance Cross Slot Openers! Seed, Fertilizer & Chemical Application Equipment Drill Frames with 2 or 3 Ranks and High Flotation Tires Call for details at Airway Ave. agpro@agproinc.com Lewiston, ID WHEAT LIFE DECEMBER

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