Milling & Baking News - July 31, 2018 - 10

Business

Wildfires torch soft white wheat
fields in Oregon during harvest
threatening farmers who battled the fire
with water tanks mounted on pickup
trucks and tractors. The fire generated its
own winds as well.
"It's devastating to that whole area
where it came through," said Kevin Gray,
general manager of Morrow County Grain
Growers, Inc., with headquarters in Lexington, Ore. "And the speed at which it came
through, we weren't able to get control of it

ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE DALLES, ORE. - Walls of fire up to 30
feet high swept across the dry countryside
of northern Oregon in mid-July, destroying
an estimated $5 million worth of soft white
wheat just a few weeks into harvest.
With the major fire now under control,
damage appeared to be limited to about
3% of Oregon's $186 million wheat crop.
But other small fires continued to burn,
and hot, dry conditions may lead to further incineration of standing wheat before the region's harvest concludes.
"Down in the Dalles area and south
from there, they'll probably wrap up in
mid-August," said Steve Yorke, a merchant
with Northwest Grain Growers. "Other areas, like up north in the Spokane area, the
Palouse region, they haven't even started
yet. They'll probably continue through that
first week in September. We always say
harvest goes from about July 1 through the
first couple weeks in September."
The winter wheat harvest in Oregon
was 32% completed as of July 22, the
U.S.D.A. said, ahead of 28% a year ago
and slightly behind 33% as the 2013-17
average for the date.
Although lightning fires have popped
up around the state, the most severe blaze
was believed to be human-caused. The
Wasco County Sheriff's Office has initiated
a criminal investigation into the Substation
Fire, ignited July 17 on private land southeast of The Dalles, a city along the northern
Columbia river border with Washington.
The blaze developed into the nation's
top priority wildfire, claimed at least one
life and threatened farmland in north
central and northeast Wasco and far western Sherman counties at the onset of the
soft white wheat harvest. Strong winds
sent embers far across the leading edge,

A wildfire burning July 18 near The Dalles, Ore.

before it got into wheat. It just grew so fast
and so quickly that it only makes sense that
it would get into standing wheat."
Some estimates say 1.5 million bus of
wheat may have been burned, nearly half
of the Wasco County crop, worth more
than $5 million, and consisting largely of
soft white wheat, much of which is sold to
the Philippines and Japan for use in sponge
cakes, noodles, crackers and cookies.
While estimated losses are a small percentage of the Northwest's 260-million-bu
annual production, individual farms may
see losses totaling $250,000 or more.
"From a financial standpoint, it definitely would have been better had the grain

Bimbo shuttering Canada Bread
plant in New Brunswick
WOODSTOCK, N.B. - Canada Bread
Co., a subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo S.A.B.
de C.V., said it will close its baking facility
in Woodstock in August. The plant, which
opened in 1946 and operated for many
years as Karnes Bakery, employs approximately 70.
"We made the difficult decision to close
the bakery due to the fact that it is an aging
facility that requires a significant investment to operate optimally," a company
spokesperson said. "Coupled with declining site utilization at the bakery and available capacity in Moncton (N.B.) and at oth10 / July 31, 2018

Milling & Baking News

been harvested, put into a bin and marketed through the market channels than to
take crop insurance on this crop," Mr. Gray
said. "That crop that got burned up was excellent. Good quality, really high yields. It
will have an impact."
The Pacific Northwest spring season
included significant rain and good growing conditions, not only for wheat but for
brush and underbrush. Heavy growth
became fuel for the fires when dry weather set in during summer. Producers and
support industries were taking extra precautions, including keeping quadtracs

er bakeries, we made the decision to close
Woodstock. All of our efforts are focused
on supporting our associates through this
transition."
Canada Bread's brands include Ben's,
Dempster's, Villaggio and Vachon.
Grupo Bimbo has closed a number of
Canada Bread bakeries since acquiring the
company in 2014. Canada Bread closed
its bakery in Calgary, Alta., in September
2017, its bakery in St-Côme-Linière, Que.,
in May 2017, its bakery in North Bay, Ont.,
in August 2016 and its bakery in Halifax,
N.S., in November 2015. MBN

and other four-wheel-drive vehicles
hooked up to disk rippers nearby to be
able to try to work the ground and create fire lines to stop fires from spreading.
Loaded tender trucks are at the ready.
"Everybody is being cognizant of the
weather conditions and the heat prior to
going out into the field and starting to harvest," Mr. Gray said. "But at the same time,
you've still got to get the crop harvested."
Fire lines typically are constructed
about 40 to 50 feet wide as time allows before a fire advances. That width wouldn't
have stopped the Substation Fire, which
was seen jumping over 60- and 100-footwide fire breaks.
The fires may affect wheat that survived
in close proximity to the destroyed fields.
"Smoke can definitely get in the kernel and cause an odor, and there is a
discount for odor, when you get it tested and graded down at the lab in Portland," said Mr. Yorke in St. John, Wash.
"I haven't heard of any smoke odor
damage yet, but that is definitely a possibility that an odor discount could be
taken at the export facilities."
Looking further ahead to next season, the charred fields will take time to
rebuild and return the wheat stubble in
no-till fields to pre-fire levels. The organic
matter in the burned wheat stubble will
likely impact fertility levels and affect the
amount of fertilizer producers apply. But
that won't prevent the fields from being
planted next season. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - July 31, 2018

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