Spring 2003

INSIDE

Chemical NewsPages 2

New Variety - Black MitchamPage 2

Page 3

State ReportsPages 3-5

Mint Research DatesPage 6

Chairman’s CommentsJohn G. Wendel, MIRC Chairman

As I recently sat at my desk signing yet another batch of MIRC checks (my small part to help fill in for our MIRC Treasurer) a couple of thoughts came to mind. First, our continued well wishes to our MIRC Treasur-er, Deanna Hamant, as she is away on family leave. I look forward to welcoming her back to our meetings. The energy and viewpoints that she brings always add to the productivity and enjoyment of the MIRC. Secondly, the checks that I was signing included the research grant payments. This reminds me that we want to give a renewed “thank you” to all of our MIRC

researchers for their continued efforts, talent and expertise in attempting to conquer the technical challenges of producing a premier quality, com-petitively priced US mint oil.

The Scientific Affairs Committee has announced September 29th as the date for their annual fall meeting. The venue will be beautiful San Diego, California. Please plan to arrive early, stay late and bring your golf clubs. While there, Rocky and I are challenging any other twosome to beat our combined gross score by more than twenty one strokes. All wagers must be made before tee-off and sponsorship of the 19th hole will be determined after the round. See Rocky or me for rules of the contest. He and I will make them up as we go and be assured that we will see that they favor us!

More importantly, I encourage all MIRC Directors to attend the Septem-ber 29th SAC meeting. I know that this time of year is busy for all of us, however, it is an opportunity for each of us to improve our knowledge and understanding of each research project. I am sure that our SAC would ap-preciate your presence and constructive input you can offer as they review and evaluate the progress of the funded researchers. Your involvement and commitment as a Director will make our organization stronger and more effective.

As this report is being written, our young men and women are at war in Iraq. Many have already given their lives for the ideals of freedom and de-mocracy for the people of Iraq. Kind of makes our everyday lives, includ-ing mint oil, seem a whole lot less important, doesn’t it?

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CHEMICAL NEWSBy Rocky Lundy

List of 2003 MIRC Registered PropagatorsName Location Phone #

Mint Condition Oregon 541-558-3865

Mount Jefferson Farms Oregon 503-363-0467

Starkel Labs Montana 406-675-8231

Summit Plant Labs Colorado 970-224-2021

Bingaman Enterprises Oregon 541-963-9353

Jolene Brush Montana 406-585-3340

Deborah McGown Wisconsin 608-831-3099

Gray’s Nursery Idaho 208-465-7005

Congratulations goes to the IR-4 Commodity Liaison Committee (CLC) for accomplishing yet another IR-4 Program Budget increase. Congress approved the 2003 IR-4 budget increase in a year where most programs either saw flat budgets or a decrease in funding. CLC members worked very hard and diligently throughout the entire year to carry out this objective despite strong indications of no approved increases and a very lengthy budget decision process.

The zenith of the CLC budget increase campaign came at the eleventh hour when ranking Senate and House Appropriations Committee members were deciding on an Omnibus Budget. The CLC held its Annual Meeting on February 25th in Washington D.C. in conjunction with the Annual IR-4 Meeting. The highlight of the week was the February 26th evening reception on Capitol Hill appropriately entitled: “IR-4: Forty Years of Protecting the US Food Supply.” As CLC Chairman it was an honor and privilege to work with Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Doc Hastings of the State of Washington who sponsored this special event that was attended by over 100 individuals.

All of the IR-4 Regions and CLC members did an outstanding job of presenting posters along with samples of minor crops for the attendees. The reception began with the opening remarks of Congressman Hasting, who graciously outlined the importance of the IR-4 Program and minor crops in the quality of our daily lives. Senator Murray also made an appearance at the reception later giving her own warm and special remarks.

Emergency use exemptions (section 18s) for the use of Prowl (pendi-methalin) were approved for mint grown in Idaho, Oregon (East of the Cascades) and Washington in 2003. An emergency use exemption (section 18) for fall use of Mocap (ethoprop) for control of Garden Symphylan in the Willamette Val-ley will be submitted this summer. Although the tolerance for the herbicide Command (clomazone) in mint was approved in 2002, the label for use in mint was just recently approved and submitted to the indi-vidual states by FMC. In 2003 there should be three new pesticides regis-tered for use in mint. The registra-tion packages for the pre-emergent herbicide Spartan (sulfrentrazone)

and Acramite (bifenozate) will be reviewed in 2003. Actara (thi-omehtooxam), was recently reviewed and received a tolerance in mint. Ap-proval for use in individual states should be submitted soon.

IR-4 field residue trials and food processing studies approved and to be conducted in 2003 includes Zeal (extoxazole), a mite ovacide/larvacide and Liberty (glufosinate) a non-selective herbicide.

That’s the issues for this issue!

The MIRC Board of Directors recently approved the commercial release of B-90-9 peppermint. B-90-9 is a variety of Black Mitcham that has shown increased yields over Black Mitcham and is slightly more resistant to verticillum wilt than Black Mitcham but not as resistant as Murray or Todds Mitcham.

Note: The MIRC does not guarantee the commercial acceptance (or any other characteristic) of these plants. Each dealer and enduser remains free to accept or reject oil produced by the new variety. Growers should consult with their individual oil dealers on the advisability of planting any new variety. Planting material can be obtained through Registered MIRC Propagators.

New Black Mitcham Peppermint Variety Approved

Washington State Senator Patty Murray and CLC Chairman Rocky Lundy at the IR-4 Program 40th Anniversary Reception.

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STATE REPORTSIdaho

By George McClelland

Winter weather in the West was mild and comfortable. Not once all winter did we need the studs on our pick-ups. This warmer than normal weather was not good for lower el-evation snow packs, however. It has left many Eastern Oregon irrigators and Idaho watersheds with less than adequate irrigation supplies.

This year’s mint production will like-ly be similar to the past few years in spite of the water shortage and high-er fuel and fertilizer costs. A normal mint crop will come at the expense of sacrifices made in lower cost crops as water is rationed to more valuable crops.

It is interesting to note that areas with better water rights are the areas that are in demand for development. Oftentimes this makes these farms in the impact area too expensive for agriculture.

Established mint and new plantings have survived the winter very well with only minor problems being reported. Older stands are showing the effects of age because winter an-nuals had a chance to grow through the mild winter. It is my feeling that growers should maintain healthy younger stands. This, along with timely herbicide applications, should insure your longevity in the mint production game.

With end user inventories manage-able and possibly tight, there is some

optimism as far as price. Time will tell. Farmers are often too optimistic and would rather brag that they sold their last barrel at a high price when in fact they just gave away the bulk of their main crop, or worse yet, ate it. We are victims of human nature.

Research is continuing on mint stem bore. This pest can be ignored on normal healthy plants, but can and will be devastating on older stands. There is also some quiet optimism on new variety trials. A “hairy blue mint” seems to have good growth and insect resistance and is being propagated at this time. This is also true concerning the “menta-arven-sis” plants. We are looking at propa-gation methods and hoping there is a commercial demand for some of the resulting oils.

The 26th Annual Mint Industry Research Council Meeting was held January 22-23 at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas. This meeting is the only event where all segments of the mint industry gather. This years meeting was highlighted by several guest speakers including Mike Munroe of Quest International who gave a presentation on the latest trends in oral care products and flavors and Amy Byholt of AM Todd Co. who spoke on the unique Vanilla industry.

The luncheon guest speaker was Dr. Jerome Goddard a world renown health entomologist who gave an entertaining and enlightening talk on “Public Health and the Benefits of Pesticides.”

Now is the time to mark your calendar for attending the 27th Annual Mint Industry Research Council Meeting on January 14-15, 2004 in Las Vegas, NV.

The Magic of Mint

Above: Sharing ideas during the 2003 Research Poster Session.

Right: Social Hour at the 2003 MIRC Meeting.

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STATE REPORTS Cont’d

IndianaBy Ralph Green

Spring weather conditions that can have a major impact on early mint stand emergence and development are still primarily ahead of us, so it’s difficult to forecast the crop pros-pects for the coming season. One concern is a chronic shortfall in soil moisture due to below normal winter precipitation. This same soil mois-ture pattern has occurred in the past two years, and was followed by sum-mer rainfall and temperature pat-terns that reduced crop growth and oil yields in many areas. Hopefully, “El Nino” (or who-ever!) will choose a different path this year.

The “first annual” Midwest Mint Growers Meeting was hosted by the Indiana Mint Council and growers on February 27-28th in Chesterton, IN, with nearly 100 growers, oil buyers, commercial representatives, researchers, and others from Wiscon-sin, Michigan, and Indiana in atten-dance. The meeting included an eve-ning social, sponsored by oil buyers and commercial suppliers, followed the next day by reports of ongoing research in weed, insect, and disease management in the Tri-State area. The MIRC and IR-4 reports were presented by Rocky Lundy, MIRC Executive Director, and the “Buyer’s Outlook” was from the A.M. Todd Company.

The keynote address for the meeting was by Dr. Rod Croteau, Washing-ton State University, who described the research done in his laboratory over the past several years in defin-ing the genetic pathways for mint oil production in both peppermint and spearmint plants.

The general meeting concluded with a panel discussion and grower ques-tion session of the current status of pest management in the Midwest by researchers from Wisconsin – Larry Binning (weeds); Jeff Wyman and Chris Perry (insects); and Walt Ste-venson (diseases) – and Indiana – Steve Weller (seeds) and Ralph Green (diseases and insects).

The annual business meetings of

the three states followed the general session. At the Indiana grower meet-ing, the financial report on income from the check-off program and expenditures was presented by Dan Gumz, Secretary/Treasurer, and an update on the current mint pilot crop insurance program in Starke and Pulaski counties was given by Ralph Green, Administrative Advisor to the Mint Council. Two new members, Scott Matthys (South Bend) and Jeff Fervida (Milford) were elected to the Mint Council, and Dan Gumz (Me-daryville) was re-elected for a second three-year term. Retiring Council members Steve Matthys (6 years) and Bill Schacht (3 years) were recognized and presented plaques commemorat-ing their service. Also, Ralph Booker, retiring Extension Educator in Mar-shall County, was recognized for his invaluable assistance in helping organize and conduct the Indianan annual grower meeting for the past several years.

In the meeting of the Mint Council after the annual business meeting, Dan Gumz (Medaryville) was elected Coun-cil president, and Joe Griffo (North Jud-son) was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

MichiganBy Tom Irrer

After a very dry fall season and one of the driest winters on record, the folks at the weather bureau tell us that we are in a stage of moderate to severe drought. It looks like for the first time in my lifetime our fields will not be at full moisture holding capacity when crops start to grow. Spring rains could offer relief but the current National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast is for a much drier than normal outlook for the Mid-west mint production area through May. Unless we receive much above normal precipitation at some point in the growing season, the non-irri-gated mint will be adversely affected by dry weather conditions. Besides being dry, we have experienced the coldest winter since 1993-1994. Low temperatures combined with lack of snow cover have probably ruined

fall plantings and reduced plant vigor and stand on older and more exposed fields. In summary, after having a few years of above average yields, I would expect below average yields for 2003.

Those growers who attended the first Midwest mint growers meeting in Indiana were favorably impressed and hope that this meeting will be continued.

Growers continue to look for a re-placement for Tough herbicide and hope that the MIRC will be able to accomplish this.

MontanaBy Clyde Fisher

Spring is late-coming to Montana with cooler temperatures and little moisture having an effect on the slow emergence of mint.

Reports are that mint stands survived the winter but some acres have been taken out. The winter was relatively open with low snow accumulation.

In February, the Montana Mint Growers joined with Cenex Harvest States to put on a growers workshop. Reports of the research being done at the Northwest Montana Research Center were given.

Ken Smith has been elected to an-other term on the Montana Mint Committee and Charles Jaquette was elected to fill the position that was held by Bill Kleinhans.

Plans are in the works for a field day tour to be conducted by the North-west Montana Research Center in late June or early July.

OregonBy Jerry Marguth

Oregon’s peppermint crop has sur-vived another very mild winter in what appears to be good condition. Rainfall has been better this past winter, and ground water levels in at least the Wil-lamette Basin appear to be normal.

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Acreages in all of Oregon’s growing districts appear to be roughly the same as last year. Some areas have reported possible slight increases, but at a level and confidence that would make them virtually unchanged.

There also appears to be some strength-ening of markets in crops that compete with peppermint (such as grass seed) for available acres. It is possible that may have a dampening affect on over-all peppermint acreage.

It is hard to focus on this newsletter due to all that is currently happening in the world around us. I am reminded that our culture and way of life has not been handed over to us easily. We are reminded of just who our allies are in the world around us. And we are reminded that we have a very special group of people who have agreed to step into “harm’s way” on our behalf. Freedom requires maintenance.

WashingtonBy Devin Dekker

Washington’s winter season was, for the most part, mild and wet in the growing areas of the Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley. A late October recording-breaking cold snap was the only time of potentially-damaging below normal temperatures. Unfortu-nately, precipitation was not as preva-lent in our mountain watersheds. As of March 17, our water supply is predicted to be barely adequate for a full irriga-tion year.

Markets do tend to be slightly higher than last year, especially for pepper-mint and scotch spearmint. How-ever, a large acreage increase is not anticipated. This is primarily due to increasing input costs, especially on the petroleum-based products such as fuel and fertilizers. The increasing labor costs in our state are also a major concern. Potentially higher prices for other alternative crops will also help to limit the acreage increases.

The Tri-State mint meeting (held in January) was a great success, and area growers look forward to next year’s meeting in Idaho.

WisconsinBy Dennis Zeloski

The annual meeting of the Wisconsin Mint Board, Inc. was held during the first Midwest Mint Growers Meeting at the Indian Oak Resort, Chesterton, In-diana, February 28, 2003. Attendance was good with growers, dealers, re-searchers, and industry representatives participating. This is the first time that the Midwest states combined their an-nual meetings and grower educational meetings. Everyone that I spoke with thought that it was a very positive meeting. Wisconsin will organize and host next year’s meeting. Its location will be announced this fall, hopefully, in the MIRC Newsletter.

Guest speakers included Dr. Rod Cro-teau, Washington State University; Dr. Steve Weller, Purdue University; Dr. Ralph Green, Purdue University; Dr. Larry Binning, University of Wiscon-sin; Dr. Walt Stevenson, University of Wisconsin; Dr Jeff Wyman, University of Wisconsin; and Chris Perry, Univer-sity of Wisconsin. John Wendel of I. P. Callison & Sons, Inc., MIRC President, gave the MIRC report. A. J. Todd of the A. M. Todd Company, gave the “Buyer’s Outlook.” Rocky Lundy gave the MIRC Scientific Affairs Committee Report and the IR-4 Report.

Grower enthusiasm was high in spite of low prices and lack of contracts. Older plantings have been destroyed due to low prices and lack of contracts for 2003. Others were destroyed because of age and heavy Mint Bud Mite in-festation. The winter started out mild and dry. However, in February and early March the weather turned very cold, and, to date, it has stayed dry. With the lack of snow cover all winter, the ground froze very deep--four to five feet on mineral soil, and one and a half to two feet in muck soils. The weather turned warm on March 15th. There is little frost on mineral soils, but frost remains deep in the muck areas. It is too early for most muck growers to determine the condition of the roots. Planting could be early for those with plans to plant.

Grower concern for the Mint Bud Mite remains a topic of considerable discus-

sion. Research for it will be continued with funding by MIRC and the Wis-consin Mint Board. This is probably the most important research project funded. Hopefully, it will solve the problem in the Midwest. For 2003, Dr. Wyman has been funded $3,000 by MIRC for Investigations on Squirrelly Peppermint. He still has the $12,000 from the 2002 MIRC grant available for use in 2003. In addition, the Wis-consin Board has budgeted Dr. Wyman $19,500 to continue investigations on Squirrelly Peppermint and Spearmint in 2003. This includes the $3,000 from MIRC. Dr. Wyman’s graduate student, Chris Perry, attended the MIRC’s annu-al meeting held in Las Vegas this past January and reported his preliminary research at the Midwest Regional meet-ing. Chris is a very energetic young man who is working hard on the Mint Bud Mite problem. He met with re-searchers from all attending states at the meeting, expanding his research information base.

Although the Mint Bud Mite is a pri-mary concern, it is not the Board’s only interest. Dr. Larry Binning has retired, leaving a huge void in weed research for vegetable and specialty crops in Wisconsin. Dr. Walt Stevenson has been granted $2,000 to fund the MIRC mint line evaluations under Wisconsin soil conditions.

The Wisconsin Mint Board received $22,000 from a one time Federal Spe-cialty Crop Grant. This money will be used to supplement the Mint Bud Mite research.

STATE REPORTS Cont’d

Dennis Zeloski receiving award from Richard Gumz for serving as President of The Wisconsin Mint Board (January 1995-January 2003).

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MIRC Board of DirectorsIndustrial/Commercial

John Wendel, ChairmanRCB International Ltd.Dan Labbee, Chairman-ElectLabbeemintDeanna Hamant, TreasurerProcter & Gamble Co.Jeff Spencer, Past ChairmanA.M. Todd Co.Greg Biza I.P. Callison & Sons Inc.Michael GlassAdams ConfectioneryRuth MoysenQuest InternationalRichard Pisano, Sr.Citrus and Allied Essences Ltd.Nigel RodenColgate Palmolive Co.Pat MitchellWm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

State/Grower Representatives

IDAHO - George McClellandINDIANA - John Bobek, Jr.MICHIGAN - Thomas IrrerMONTANA - Clyde FisherOREGON - Jerry MarguthWASHINGTON - Devin DekkerWISCONSIN - Dennis Zeloski

Executive DirectorRocky LundyLegal CounselLaura Zervic, Winston & Strawn Executive SecretaryHollie Kaiser, The Maurer GroupP.O. Box 4298Pasco, WA 99302509-547-5538Fax: 509-547-5563hkaiser@mcmgt.com

Mint Research Field DatesListed below are the dates and locations for 2003 Mint Research Field Days. The research field days are excellent opportunities to see mint research in the field and visit with researchers, industry representatives and other mint growers.

IDAHO - Friday, July 11th. The tour will start at 1:00 pm at the Parma Ag Research and Extension Center, Parma, ID. Call 208-888-0988 for more information.

OREGON - Thursday, June 26th. The tour will start at 7:00 pm at the OSU Botany and Plant Pathology Farm, Corvallis, OR. Call 503-373-3756 for more information.

MONTANA - Friday, June 27th. The tour will start at 4:00 pm at the NW Montana Ag Research Center, Creston, MT. A barbeque will follow the tour. Call 406-755-4303 for more information.

WASHINGTON – Thursday, June 5th. The tour will start at the Irrigated Ag Research and Extension Center, Prosser, WA at 4:00 pm. A barbeque will follow the tour. Call 509-585-5460 for more information.