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Wednesday, November 14, 2018 • lyndentribune.com • ferndalerecord.com
National raspberry council ending Vote to keep up its promotion, health research won only 43 percent backing Some tasks may revert to state commission now By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
WHATCOM — The 6-yearold national program for health research and market promotion of red raspberries will end. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Nov. 7 that the vote to continue the National Processed Raspberry Council received only 43 percent support from industry representatives. To survive, it needed to top 50 percent. American producers of raspberries for processing — most of them located in Wash-
ington State and the Lynden area — as well as importers of processed berries voted in a referendum Sept. 10 through Oct. 5 of this year. The shutdown leaves the local raspberry industry to decide what gaps to fill and what new directions to set. “We will be refocusing promotion efforts toward Washington raspberries on the consumer and retailer level as well as fund trade action and legislative efforts to strengthen the domestic raspberry market,” said grower Jon Maberry, also president of the Washington Red Raspberry Commission board of directors, by email. “Other priorities will include product development and access to the school lunch program. Reaction among growers to the news is mixed, said Henry Bierlink, administrator of the Lynden-based commission. The national council, for its work, was taking in an assessment of a penny per pound of raspberries produced or imported. See NPRC on C3
A worker for Curt Maberry Farms wields his pruning loppers in the bramble of a raspberry field south of Birch Bay-Lynden Road. Cutting old canes and then tying the new growth is a big wintertime task in Whatcom County’s thousands of acres of berries. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)
Darigold names Mark Garth new CFO She didn’t plan swine genetics He brings his experience in parallel sectors SEATTLE — Darigold announced Nov. 9 the hiring of Mark Garth as new chief financial officer and treasurer, effective Nov. 27. Garth is an accomplished finance executive with an impressive track record of high standards, developing people, driving commercial success, and creating a results-oriented culture, Darigold says.
Mark Garth Stan Ryan, president and CEO, said Garth will help Dari-
gold, which just celebrated its 100th year, toward goals in international growth, customer focus, consumer innovation and sustainable business practices. “He is a proven business leader who will help take our co-op to the next level.” Garth brings to Darigold significant leadership experience across a broad range of financial functions and financing. He also has substantial business experience in similar food and beverage industries that are directly relevant to Darigold’s business, including See CFO on C3
to be her specialty, but it is Northwestern College is proud of grad Janelle Dunkelberger from Everson, NVHS ORANGE CITY, Iowa — Northwestern College is nominating a 2011 alumna whose home was Everson for the 2019 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Young Alumni
Award. Dr. Jenelle (nee Kleinhesselink) Dunkelberger, now of Lakeville, Minnesota, is a geneticist for the world’s secondlargest swine genetics company. The daughter of Rev. Charles and Jean Kleinhesselink was a 2007 graduate of Nooksack Valley High School. The award recognizes an individual who has achieved uncommon leadership or success in a way that reflects the values of Christian higher eduSee Dunkelberger on C4
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C2 • Wednesday, November 14, 2018 • ferndalerecord.com • lyndentribune.com
IN BLOOM
MIELKE MARKET
Prepare your garden for a winter’s rest
Milk prices looking bleak
With the sun hanging low in the southern sky and frost beginning to appear more regularly on roofs and lawns, autumn in the Pacific Northwest is gradually receding, soon to be replaced with winter. As your garden goes to sleep for winter and you prepare to store your tools for a season’s rest, here are a few final tasks to accomplish around the yard this month. First, it’s not too late to feed your lawn one last time for the year. October gave us more than our normal amount of sunshine and seasonably warm weather, so your lawn likely grew quite a bit in the last month. If you put on your winter blend fertilizer in late September or early October, I would recommend reapplying one more time sometime yet this month. By now, grass is slowing down with its growing above ground, redirecting the energy to root development and nutrient storage for the winter months. Scotts Turf Builder Winterguard lawn food is the perfect formulation for feeding this time of year, with a blend of nutrients designed to build strong roots and keep a lawn healthy through whatever cold weather, rain and snow winter may bring. Second, now is the time to cut down most of your deciduous perennials (those that die down to the ground each year) for winter. Depending on who you ask, some ex-
By David Vos
perts recommend waiting until spring to trim back perennials, and I agree with that in some cases. But for most deciduous perennials like hostas, black-eyed susans and the like, I choose to cut them back in fall. By my reasoning, I would rather remove the foliage now and clean up any insect eggs or fungus spores that might overwinter in the dead leaves rather than wait until spring and start the year with problems I could have avoided. Now, there are exceptions to my recommendations. One major exception in the “deciduous perennial” category is echinacea, or coneflowers. If you’ve ever struggled to overwinter echinacea, it might be because you’re pruning in the fall. Echinacea have hollow stems, and if you cut them back in autumn, you essentially leave the plant with any number of “straws” for water to collect in over winter, rotting out the base of the plant. For that reason, I recommend pruning echinacea only after new growth begins to emerge in spring.
As for the other category of perennials, namely evergreen or semi-evergreen varieties, I never recommend pruning these in fall. For lavender, prune in spring to remove dead branches, then again after blooming in mid- to late summer. Hellebores, which flower in winter and early spring, can be pruned as needed after blooming. And heuchera can be pruned in early spring after new leaves begin to emerge. Third, November is a good time to prune your rose bushes back for winter to avoid damage from strong winter winds. Sometime this month, simply cut your roses back by half; you can thin out and shape your roses with a closer eye in early spring. Finally, keep your garden tools in good shape by taking time before storing them for winter to clean and oil any metal surfaces and sharpen the blades of pruners and shovels. A clean, sharp, rust-free shovel and set of pruners will last for years to come; blades encrusted with dirt and rust in spring will only cause frustration and extra work. Before we know it, winter will be here, and with it a season of rest in the garden. Enjoy the last hours spent with fingers in the dirt this fall, and then pat yourself on the back for a job well done! David Vos is general manager of VanderGiessen Nursery Inc. of Lynden.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the October Federal Order Class III benchmark milk price on Halloween, a price that has dairy farmers and their bankers more than spooked, being below most dairies’ cost of production. The price is $15.53 per hundredweight, down 56 cents from September and $1.16 below October 2017. It equates to $1.34 per gallon. The news doesn’t get better anytime soon either, looking at Class III futures. Matt Gould, editor of the Dairy and Food Market Analyst newsletter, said on the Nov. 5 Dairy Radio Now broadcast that while 2018 is the fourth year in a row of poor farm-level milk prices, there are some positives: strong domestic demand for cheese and butter, plus “robust” global dairy demand now. “It’s not an issue of demand,” he explained. “It’s an issue of, can we access that demand?” The trade war with China and the tariff spat with Mexico has been the driver of low prices this year, he said, and the silver lining might be a repeal by President Trump of his tariff spat with Mexico, as “that would be supportive.” When asked about pending new trade agreements, Gould said such agreements with Japan, the Philippines and the United Kingdom (once it does Brexit) would be beneficial,
4-H Reports COUNTRY PARTNERS Sarah Klem, reporter Happy fall, everyone! The new 4-H year has begun. Our first meeting was successful. We welcomed a few new families into Country Partners. That’s always exciting. We are doing our annual Baskets of Blessings event at the Everson Community Center pretty soon, coming up fast. We play board games with the seniors and bring in small animals for a meet-and-greet. It’s always nice to see everyone’s reaction to the animals. Also, some of our members play a song with their instruments. And when we play “Farm Bingo,” the seniors get to pick a basket that a 4-H family has made for the occasion. That always gets them excited. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Stay humble and kind. Enjoy the holiday months, as they go by fast. Enjoy every moment.
By Lee Mielke
as they are large dairy markets. “The tailwinds of the dairy industry are global population growth and rising per-capita consumption by those that can afford dairy,” he concluded. “So the long-term outlook is certainly positive.” Cash dairy prices started November looking for direction. The cheddar blocks fell to $1.4550 per pound Nov. 1, the lowest level since June 25, but closed that Friday at $1.4575, down 5.75 cents on the week and 25.75 cents below a year ago. The barrels, which the previous week had fallen within earshot of a 9-year low, climbed but then relapsed, closing at $1.34, 9 cents higher on the week but 37.5 cents below a year earlier. Butter closed Nov. 2 at $2.30 per pound, up 6.75 cents on the week and 6.75 cents above a year ago. Grade A nonfat dry milk closed at 90 cents per pound, 18 cents above a
U.S. joins in supporting genome editing WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Nov. 2 announced that the United States has joined with 12 other nations to support policies that enable agricultural innovation, including genome editing. The International Statement on Agricultural Applications of Precision Biotechnology was released in Geneva at the World Trade Organization Committee on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. “Precision biotechnologies such as genome editing hold great promise for both farmers and consumers around the world. These tools can play a critical role in helping farmers address many of the production challenges they face while improving the quality and
year ago. A higher U.S. All Milk price average nudged the September milk/feed price ratio a little higher, to the highest level since January 2018, although feed prices crept higher as well. The national average corn price in September averaged $3.39 per bushel, up 3 cents from August and 12 cents per bushel above September 2017. Soybeans averaged $8.77 per bushel, up 18 cents from August but 58 cents below a year ago. Alfalfa hay averaged $180 per ton, up $3 from August and $31 per ton above a year ago. The September cull price for beef and dairy cattle combined averaged $60.80 per cwt., down $2.20 from August, $9.10 below September 2017 and $10.80 below the 2011 base average of $71.60 per cwt. The Northwest Dairy Association makes these price projections for the Class III price and Pacific Northwest blend price: Month Class PNW III Blend Oct. $15.53 $15.90 (current) Nov. $14.50 $15.20 Dec. $14.60 $15.20 Jan. $14.70 $14.90 Feb. $14.90 $15.00 March $15.10 $15.20 April $15.40 $15.40 May $15.50 $15.60 June $15.70 $15.80 Lee Mielke, of Lynden, is editor of the Mielke Market Weekly. Whatcom County has about 100 dairy farms.
nutritional value of foods available to consumers worldwide,” said Perdue. “Unfortunately, such technologies too often face regulatory roadblocks that are based on misinformation and political posturing. Therefore, it’s gratifying to see Argentina and other allies come together under the WTO umbrella to publicly embrace science-based regulatory systems that will allow us to unlock the huge potential of these new technologies.” Countries and organizations supporting the statement, to date, are: Argentina, which led this effort, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Paraguay, the United States, Uruguay, Vietnam and the Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States. The text of the joint statement, which is updated as additional countries sign on, is available on the WTO website.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2018 • lyndentribune.com • ferndalerecord.com • C3
NPRC: Meeting to take place in Lynden on Nov. 27
Whatcom County is the nation’s center of production of red raspberries for processing. (File photo) Continued from C1
“Growers with tight cash flows will look forward to not investing the cent per pound in 2019 and beyond,” Bierlink said. “But the work initiated by the NPRC will wind down over the next months and will leave the industry without a funded marketing and promotion plan.” The uncertainty about NPRC was evident already at a meeting of the state commission board in Lynden Oct. 31, with the verdict on the national referendum then unknown. Dealing with their own deadlines, the board set a budget for 2019 and struggled to decide on an assessment level for Washington growers, eventually settling on one cent, too. It means the state assessment will be in force
CFO: Continued from C1
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while the national one ends. The WRRC, for now, focuses more on research supporting actual field operations, such as plant breeding and pest and soil concerns. But the state group may have to add more duties in time. “Our goal will be to pick up on the work initiated by the NPRC and fund it with Washington grower dollars,” Bierlink said. “Some of the health research projects will need to be completed on our dime. And the marketing program will need to continue, albeit in a scaledback manner.” Growers will pay only the single cent of assessment now. They had been paying a penny and a half between the national and state levels. “Next October will require us to make that deci-
sion for the 2019 crop, with a clearer understanding of what the needs and ability to pay will be,” Bierlink said. The national council’s demise, once it is fully effective, may cause the Washington commission to pick up some health-oriented research and some marketing in early 2019, he said. Just this past July, for instance, one NPRC-funded trial found that human participants had experienced short-term improved vascular function after adding frozen red raspberries to their diet. The national council has had significant Whatcom representation, with veteral local grower John Clark as current board chairman. But opinion about its value turned in the past year or so, especially as growers continue to battle berry prices that are less
than break-even. It is complicated by ongoing difficulty in competing against foreign berries allegedly “dumped” (at below costs of production) into the American market, Clark said. “Some members thought our promotion wasn’t directed enough to protect our market,” he summarized about the NPRC vote. Clark notes that the U.S. has been able to prove in the past that other countries were dumping product illegally, but it is a costly and challenging legal process. “The difficulty is figuring out what their costs of production are,” he said. Berries may come into the United States intended for the fresh market, but then get diverted into processed forms, very much affecting the Washington
He most recently served as the chief financial officer of Country Fresh Holdings LLC in The Woodlands, Texas. Earlier, Garth was chief financial officer and treasurer at Perdue Farms (Maryland) and Wells’ Dairy (Iowa) and he held significant senior finan-
cial roles at Plexus Corp. (Wisconsin), Conagra (Nebraska) and Maytag (Iowa). “I’m looking forward to joining Darigold and working with a tremendous team during this exciting time of growth and international expansion,” said Mark Garth.
Garth earned an MBA degree from Drake University and a BA in accounting from Central College in Iowa. He is a certified internal auditor, management accountant and CPA. Garth and his family will relocate to the Seattle area from the Houston area.
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industry. American growers’ field prices are “definitely at a low point,” Clark said. Those prices have been in decline over the past three years — $1.42 per pound across all grades in 2015, 90.6 cents in 2016 and 78.5 cents in 2017 — and are reported to be at about 61 cents for 2018 berries. The National Processed Raspberry Council will have a meeting starting Tuesday, Nov. 27, in Lynden, flowing into the Nov. 28-30 Small Fruit Conference and annual meetings of the Washington raspberry and blueberry commissions at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds. Clark said he expects the council to be phased out within 180 days, with three trustees engaged by USDA to oversee the process. He said any remaining grower money held by NPRC after all bills are paid will be made available, determined by an application process, to an entity that promotes raspberries.
State growers chart direction, set penny-perpound charge LYNDEN — The 2019 budget will draw down a reserve fund about $200,000 in order to hold the line on any higher asssesments to growers, Washington Red Raspberry Commission board members decided Oct. 31. The board struggled to find the right balance to fund tasks to be done, eventually settling on a charge of a penny per pound of berries produced. The commission is at a point of some big changes,
and this meeting was billed as “the most important in decades.” Many looked on to the board proceedings at WRRC headquarters, often entering into the discussion during a meeting that lasted more than three hours. Motions to have more than a penny assessment, contingent on the outcome of the National Processed Raspberry Council referendum, failed to get support. Grower commission board members Jon Maberry and Brad Rader, who recently were in Washington, D.C., to lobby on raspberry industry issues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and with the Trump Administration, said it will take continued pressure to have a chance of success on trade, funding and market access issues. At the WRRC meeting they urged enough funding to keep up the political momentum. The 2019 proposed budget is $941,188, which includes the reduction of a reserve account from $360,000 down to $160,000. The budget will be officially approved at a January meeting. Other areas covered are production research, health research, marketing and fair trade issues, about $740,000 across all of them. The commission commits to pay $1.5 million, over the next seven-plus years, for an endowed Washington State University horticulture position that will be focused on berry research in northwest Washington. Offices are expected to be in the new Agriculture Education Center at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds while a research station may be on a Whatcom County berry farm. The commission is working toward a Washington Grown logo that would go on Washington-originated berry products.
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C4 • Wednesday, November 14, 2018 • ferndalerecord.com • lyndentribune.com
Dunkelberger: Work takes Everson native to Netherlands Continued from C1
cation, the college says in a press release. The winner will be chosen by a committee in December and be recognized at a CCCU conference in February. Felipe Silva, a 2012 Northwestern alumnus who founded and directs a climbing gym as a way to reach out to at-risk children and teens in an economically depressed region of Romania, won the award in 2017. Dunkelberger’s path to becoming a Ph.D.-trained geneticist began rather inauspiciously. The biologyhealth professions major planned to become a medical doctor. She accepted a genetics-oriented summer research position with a Northwestern professor the summer before her junior year because she thought it would look good on her medical school applications. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting to enjoy it, but I did. I found it very fascinating,” she said. Dunkelberger continued working on the project for her honors program research. After graduation, she worked in a pathology lab for a year while she consid-
Dr. Janelle (Kleinhesselink) Dunkelberger wasn’t much interested in animals while growing up in Whatcom County, but she came to enjoy the science of animal genetics. (Courtesy photo/Northwestern College) ered her future and some of the reservations she had about medical school. Late that summer of 2011, she decided to apply for the genetics Ph.D. program at Iowa State University for the subsequent year, willing to
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accept however God would lead, Northwestern reports. Not long after, she was offered a USDA fellowship to begin the program in two weeks. She felt God had spoken to her. The focus of much of Dunkelberger’s research and study at Iowa State was the genetic improvement of livestock for enhanced disease resistance. She collaborated on several scholarly papers and presentations, won the 2016 National Swine Improvement Federation’s Lauren Christian Graduate Student Award, and placed third in the American Society of Animal Science’s Ph.D. oral competition that year.
Dunkelberger spent two months of 2016 in the Netherlands, working as a research intern for Topigs Norsvin, the second-largest swine genetics company in the world. She was hired by the firm upon completing her doctorate in 2017 and currently oversees all of Topigs Norsvin’s research trials that are conducted within the U.S. out of its national headquarters in Burnsville, Minnesota. Dunkelberger’s role includes conceiving ideas and experimental designs for research trials, implementing them, and then collecting and analyzing the data to help improve Topigs Norsvin’s breeding program.
“We want to identify the genes and genomic regions associated with increased disease resistance,” she said. “This will help us to facilitate selection decisions in order to breed animals that are naturally more resistant or robust to infectious disease stressors. Doing so will help to reduce antibiotic usage, increase animal welfare and ultimately lead to healthier and more sustainable pork production.” Janelle’s upbringing puts an interesting twist on what she does now. “She had no interest in any of this,” says her mom, Jean, and so was not in FFA or 4-H as a kid. However, dad
Chuck has a hobby farming sideline of breeding sows to supply pigs for the Lynden Christian and Nooksack Valley FFA programs, Jean relates. Dunkelberger says that she enjoys the interaction with farmers that her job provides. “It’s fulfilling getting to interact with the farmers and to see how what we’re doing is improving their livelihood. For many of the farmers that we work with, their farms have been in their families for generations. It’s a joy to be able to help them succeed. And our larger goal is certainly noble: We want to feed the world.” Dunkelberger frequently gives research presentations, including at international meetings such as the Gordon Research Conference on Quantitative Genetics and Genomics in Italy and the International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals in the Netherlands. She has had numerous articles published, including in the Journal of Animal Science, BMC Genomics and Livestock Science. This is all no surprise to Dr. Sara Sybesma Tolsma, the Northwestern biology professor who worked with Dunkelberger on her first foray into genetics in 2009. “She was bright, thoughtful, creative, precise and enthusiastic, and she worked well with the other team members,” Tolsma said. “It was easy to for me to see her potential as a scientist because she both knew what she was doing and she had good ‘lab hands.’ When she did experiments, they worked.”
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