Legislative Action Continues into Fourth Week

/ Scott

The 2017 regular legislative session is now in its fourth week, with most of the action happening in committee hearings. To date, 1927 bills have been introduced this session. The cutoff date for policy committees to act on proposed legislation is Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, the makeup of the Senate continues to change.

Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, announced that he had taken a temporary position with the Trump Administration EPA. This position is not a permanent job, and Ericksen has not resigned from the Senate. However, he will be absent from much of the activity in the Senate, leaving the Senate in a 24-24 tie between the Majority Coalition Caucus and Democrats when he is not present.

The resignation of 7th District Sen. Brian Dansel, R-Republic, last week officially left the Senate tied 24-24 for several days. Dansel left the Senate to join the Trump Administration in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Last Friday, Democrats tried unsuccessfully to take control of the Senate in Dansel’s absence.

This week, Rep. Shelly Short, R-Addy, was tapped to succeed Dansel as senator from the 7th District. Jacquelin Maycumber was appointed to fill the House seat vacated by Short. Maycumber previously served as Rep. Short’s legislative assistant.

2017 Dairy Day at the Legislature

/ Scott

Dairy Day is one of the most anticipated events in Olympia each year. It provides the dairy producers with an opportunity to meet face to face with legislators, and it showcases the importance and bounty of dairy products to everyone on the Capitol Campus.

Below are a handful of pictures from this year’s event on Jan. 24 in the Legislative Building.

Sen. Kirk Pearson with WSDF Policy Director Jay Gordon. Also pictured in the background is Sen. Dino Rossi.

Senate MCC staff member Erik Smith enjoys ice cream.

Rep. Morgan Irwin speaks to FFA members.

Former dairy farmer and current Rep. John Koster considers his options.

Dairy Ambassador Alicia Smaciarz

Diary farmer and Dairy Products Commissioner Juli Loveall

Rep. Joe Schmick takes a picture of his constituent and WSDF Vice President Ed Zurcher.

A group of legislative staff members enjoying their treats.

WSDF board members discussing legislative issues

Dairy ambassadors on their way to pass out treats

Dairy ambassadors at work representing the industry

Rep. Vincent Buys selecting his favorite yogurt

Ice cream available at Dairy Day 2017

Ice cream, yogurt, and cheese available at Dairy Day 2017

WSDA Director Derek Sandison dropping by for a visit

What does the Ecology CAFO permit mean for you?

/ Scott

The Washington State Department of Ecology recently released the final version of the CAFO permits.

The main question we are getting from producers is this: “Am I required to get one of these permits?”

A CAFO is defined as having 200 or more mature dairy cows (milking or not). A Small CAFO is an operation that has fewer than 200 mature dairy cows and has been designated a significant contributor of pollutants to surface or groundwater by Ecology.

  • If you are a CAFO or Small CAFO and have a surface water discharge, you must apply for the combined permit.
  • If you are a CAFO or Small CAFO and have a groundwater discharge, you must apply for the state groundwater permit.
  • If you have neither a surface water discharge nor a groundwater discharge, permit application is not mandated.

The permit is effective March 4, 2017. Applications may be started at any time.

The Washington State Dairy Federation has analyzed Ecology’s work and developed a comparison of the two permits. This comparison document can be found here, and our letter to members can be found here.

We will also be hosting meetings for our members across the state to discuss the ramifications of the permits.

Producer meetings should last no longer than two hours. The producer meetings are as follows:

  • Feb. 13 11:30 a.m. Sunnyside Snipes Mountain Brewery Restaurant (Lunch provided)
  • Feb. 14 11:30 a.m. Enumclaw VFW Hall, 44426 244th Ave SE (Lunch provided)
  • Feb. 15 11:30 a.m. Lynden Dutch Mother’s Restaurant (Lunch provided)
  • Feb. 15 6:00 p.m. Monroe Qualco, 18117 203rd St SE (Pizza Dinner provided)
  • Feb. 22 1:00 p.m. Chehalis Livestock Market 328 N Hamilton Rd (Snacks & drinks provided)
  • Feb. 23 11:30 a.m. Deer Park Dunrenton Ranch (Littrell), 8524 W. Dahl Rd. (Lunch provided)
  • Feb. 23 6:00 p.m. Othello City Hall, 500 E. Main St. (Pizza Dinner provided)

It is not required to RSVP for these producer meetings, but it helps us to plan if we have an idea of how many will attend. Please email darcel@wastatedairy.com to let her know which producer meeting(s) you will attend. Feel free to bring as many people from your dairy, and any industry associates, as you want. We only ask that you help us anticipate numbers so we can have enough handouts and food.

If you have questions, please feel free to call Dan Wood or Jay Gordon. You can reach them at the Dairy Federation office at 360-482-3485, or you can reach Dan on his cell phone at 360-870-6018 or Jay on his cell phone at 360-951-8419.

WSDF Board of Directors Election Results

/ Scott

Elections for several positions on the WSDF Board of Directors were held last fall. The following dairy farmers were elected to fill positions by the membership.

  • Terry Lenssen, District 1, Position 1
  • Eric Johnson, District 1, Position 4
  • Keith Golob, District 3, Position 7
  • Henry Benthem, District 4, Position 10

Tom DeVries has resigned from his seat on the Board (District 3, Position 6). Members in that district have been mailed biography forms for those interested in running for election. Those forms should be submitted to the WSDF office and should be postmarked no later than this Friday, Jan. 20.

At January’s meeting, President Sybrandy appointed two At-Large positions to the Board — Dwayne Faber for Western Washington and Austin Allred for Eastern Washington.