Grain Alliance urges support for Columbia River jetty repairs
Washington Ag Today The deepening of the Columbia River Channel from the river’s mouth to Portland will be completed this year and industries reliant on the river system for exports have another project that needs federal funding. Kristin Meira, Government Relations Director for the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, says that project is repair of the jetties that protect the entrance to the mouth of the Columbia. Meira: “Those jetties have been taking a beating for decades from severe winter storms that roll in off the Pacific. They require major maintenance and that is the next major project we will be looking to fund on into the future. It seems there is always something to ask for and the jetties are our next big project on the horizon.” The Washington Grain Alliance, which represents the Washington Grain Commission and the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, recently wrote the state’s Congressional delegation urging support for funding to repair the 100-year-old jetties. The Alliance joined the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association in requesting 8.5 million dollars for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on the structures. The journal Weed Science reports on research in Australia that suggests the directional orientation a crop is grown can impact yield. Maximizing sunlight and competitiveness to weeds is the reason. Wheat and barley grown east to west saw 24 and 26 percent yield increases respectively compared to a north-south orientation. The study says latitudes up to 55 degrees would benefit from north-south crops in the summer and east-west crops the rest of the year. Direction did not impact broadleaf crop yields significantly. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.
