8 J The Lovell Chronicle J December 30, 2010 www.LovellChronicle.com
Snowpack down slightly
Throughout Wyoming, cent of average, Wind River
four basins gained average 122 percent, Big Horn Ba-
Snow Water Equivalent sin 106, Shoshone 112. As
over the last week and nine of Monday, sites were all
basins lost SWE. Basins lower than the snowpack
that affect local water sys- report released the previ-
terns are down slightly this ous Monday: Upper Yel-
week, but still above histor- lowstone Basin (134), Wind
ical state averages. River Basin (130), Big Horn
Currently, the state av- Basin (112) and Shoshone
erage is 119 percent with a Basin (118).
low ot"86 percent and a high The weighted state av-
of 175 percent of average, erage of 119 percent of av-
Last year at this time the erage is down slightly from
state average was 81 per- the previous week at 122
cent with a low of 51 per- percent.
cent and a high of 112 per- A weekly report and
cent of average, map showing SWE percent-
Basins of local interest ages for the state can be
are down slightly from last found at http.'//www.wrds.
week, with the Upper Yel- uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/nrcs.
lowstone Basin at 126 per- html.
Fence lines, power lines and mountain skylines
make up this scene on a quiet and cold afternoon
day in Lovell.
Bmm Dmre~trx
using Roundup Ready seed
in the past growing sea-
son, Crosby speculated that
there might not be enough
traditional beet seed avail-
able to meet the demands
of growers nationwide if the
ban on genetically modified
RR seeds is upheld.
On the other hand, if
there is enough tradition-
al beet seed to go around,
Crosby said farmers will
have to make huge adjust-
ments to go back to the old
way of doing things.
For example, Mexican
migrant workers used to
come to beet fields of the
Lovell area annually to
help pull weeds and spray
the crop. Roundup Ready
beets eliminate the need for
weeding because farmers
can just spray Roundup her-
bicide all around the plants
and on the plants them-
selves to kill weeds without
harming the beets. With no
need for migrant workers
for the past several years,
relationships faded and lo-
Continued from page 1
cal farmers became discon- by said. "I'd sell my shares
nected from their southern if I had to go back."
sourceoflabor. If enough traditional
With the increased con- seed is available to farmers,
venience of Roundup Ready many would be obligated to
beets, costs have decreased grow a crop of sugar beets
"What would happen if farmers
weren't allowed to grow Round-
up Ready beets? That's a good
question. The answer is we
don't know,"
- Cowley area farmer Chris Crosby
and production has about
doubled in recent years,
CrosbY said. RR beets are
more disease-resistant
than past varieties.
"I absolutely wouldn't
want to go back to the old
way of doing things," Cros-
or potentially face fines of
hundreds of dollars per acre
for any beets not delivered
to the Western Sugar Coop-
erative. Farmers could opt
to sell their shares to get
out of their contract, but
there is no guarantee that
anyone would want to pur-
chase the co-op shares.
"Nobody signed up for
old seed," Crosby said, add-
ing that he and his team are
looking at other options
for the coming season, but
said it is late in the season
to secure contracts for oth-
er crops. But he would re-
ally like to be able to plant
GM beets this year and in
the future.
"We're hoping the
judge comes through and
lifts the ban," Crosby said.
With sugar beets mak-
ing up roughly half the na-
tion's sugar supply (cane
sugar is the other half),
Crosby said the loss of pro-
duction through eliminat-
ing RR beets would cause
a surge in sugar prices.
Speaking about the
safety of the herbicide
chemical, Crosby said it is
much less hazardous than
che cals used in tradi-
tional cultivation meth-
ods.
"Why they're fighting
this chemical is a mystery
to me," he said.
Environmentalists ar-
gue that the use of GM
seeds would inevitably
contaminate tradition,
non-GM varieties. The RR
genetics would intermix
with traditional varieties
simply by drifting over in
the wind, according to the
original complaint filed in
U.S. District Court by a
group of environmentalist
organizations.
Crosby's son, Chris
Crosby, is involved with
the overall operations
of the family farm and
agreed with his father
that infrastructure for tra-
ditional farming methods
that were used just a few
years ago is eroded today,
and it would be a scramble
for many farmers to find
laborers and ready spray-
ing equipment to get the
job done.
"What would happen if
farmers weren't allowed to
grow Roundup Ready beets?
That's a good question. The
answer is we don't know,"
Crosby said.
Crosby holds a mas-
ter's degree in ag econom-
ics and said the switch to
traditional methods would
increase risk for farmers,
as they would have higher
costs to put into producing
a viable crop. He said tradi-
tional methods would also
require more management
than when using RR seed
and the use of strong chem-
icals.
"I would seriously ques-
tion going back to the old
methods," Crosby said
about what would happen
if the RR ban is made per-
manent. "When Roundup
Ready seed was introduced
and used, there was a par-
adigm shift in how farm-
ers did things and how they
thought."
Abo t. 95 percent of
sugar beets grown ili
United States in 2009 were
of the Roundup Ready vari-
ety.
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Powell Valley
Healthcare .~. the US C0nlmittee for UNICEF
Compassionale Quallh Care
BHC School Distdct No. 1 Board, 2rid Thursday, RMES, 8 p.m.
BHC School District No. 2 Board (Lovell), 2nd Monday, board room,
7 p.m.
BHC Treasurer at County Annex, 1st and 3rd Thursday each month,
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Big Horn Basin chapter of Gold Prospectors Association of America,
Skyline Cafe in Powell, 2nd Tuesday, 7 p.m 754-5921.
Big Horn County 4-H Leader's Council, 1st Monday, Extension Office
on Hwy 310, 6:30 p.m.
Big Horn County Weed and Pest monthly board meeting, 2nd Tuesday,
1 p.m W&P office at 4782 Hwy. 310, Greybull.
Byron Lions Club, 548-7543.
Cancer Support Group, 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m NHCC multi-purpose
room.
Cowley Riding Club, 3rd Monday, 7 p.m 307-664-2235.
Home School Club, twice monthly, Friday, 1 p.m. Call Wendy, 548-
9336, for more information.
Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting, 3rd
Monday, noon, Lange's Kitchen
Lovell Bulldog Booster Club, 3rd Wednesday, Big Horn Federal Hos-
pitality Room, 7 pm."
Lovell Library Story Time, every Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.
Lovell Riders, Inc. meeting, 2rid Thursday, Big Horn Federal, 7 p.m
548-6192.
Lovell Town Council, 2rid Tuesday, Town Hall, 7 p.m.
Lovell Woman's Club, 2nd Wednesday, Big Horn Federal Hospitality
Room, 1 p.m. Contact Deanna Wagner, 548-7793.
Narcotics Anonomous, Mondays at Big Horn Federal at 7 p.m contact
Permillia, 272-8384.
North Big Horn County Health Coalition, 3rd Tuesday, noon, rotating
locations, 548-6410.
Ostomy Support Group meeting, 2rid Tuesday, 6 - 8 p.m North Fork
room, West Park Hospital in Cody.
Pindroppers Quilt Club, 4th Thursday, 7 p.m Mayes Fabric, 406-788-
9689.
TOPS @ WY169, every Thursday, St. John's Episcopal Church base-
ment in Powell, 6 p.m. 664-2394
Tri-Mountain View Masonic Lodge, 2nd Thursday, dinner 6:30 p.m
lodge meeting 7:30 p.m.
WyDOT Driver Licensing Facility open in Lovell every Tuesday, 9:30
a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call the Lovell Chronicle at 548.2217 to list your club here.
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