Monmouth, Ore. — Aquaponics is gaining popularity in Oregon, and as producers build their systems they can reduce their risk by starting small and designing their operations in modules, a commercial aquaponic producer says.

Doing that allows a scalable operation that can be more easily expanded and isolates any problems that arise, said Joel Kelly, CEO of Live Local Organic, a commercial aquaponic farm in Milwaukie, Ore.

Aquaponics is a system of farming that combines aquaculture — raising fish — with hydroponics — growing produce in nutrient-rich water. The produce uses the fish waste to gain nutrients and simultaneously cleans the water, reducing the amount of water needed to produce the crops.

The Oregon Aquaculture Association sponsored a conference on aquaponics last weekend at Western Oregon University. In the Pacific Northwest, tilapia and coy fish are usually used in aquaponics, said Kate Wildrick, co-chair of the conference. She said the number of aquaponic farms in the region is still relatively small.

Kelly discussed some of the challenges of aquaponic farming on a commercial scale at the conference.

“I think (aquaponics) is possible on any kind of a scale, but I think what has to happen is it has to be modular,” he said.

The idea is to take a small, simple system that works and then replicate it as many times as you have space or resources for in order to produce more crops and fish, Kelly said.

“Not everything that works at a small scale works at a large scale,” he said.

There are some big benefits that come with having a system set up in multiple self-sustained pieces, Kelly said.

“When we modularize everything, if there is something bad that happens to a tank … it is just contained in that one little area so we can still keep producing and keep supplying our customers if there is a fish die off or some kind of disease,” making the method fairly low risk, he said.

However, profit margins are still fairly low, Kelly said. Most aquaponic farms raise herbs, lettuce or some other type of greens because the grow time is a lot shorter than, say, a tomato. A shorter grow time means less risk, he said.

Kelly said no one he is aware of has been able to successfully grow fruit-bearing plants such as strawberries or tomatoes in a commercial setting for profit, but that is where he sees the industry going in the future.

“The golden ticket and what we are really trying to figure out is how to produce something like tomatoes or strawberries or cucumbers profitably,” Kelly said.

“If you are growing basil or lettuce and you plant your crop, four weeks after you plant it you are going to be able to harvest some of it, eight weeks you will be able to harvest pretty much all of it,” he said.

“If you plant a tomato plant … you have to wait four months for it to start producing,” Kelly said. “So if something goes wrong in that four-week period it’s like, OK, you restart and then in another four weeks you will be fine, but if something goes wrong in month four for the tomato plant your whole four months is gone and you have to restart and you don’t get anything.”

The other struggle with fruit-bearing plants such as tomatoes or cucumbers is space. Herbs and greens don’t require as much space to grow as a cucumber plant, Kelly said, because a cucumber grows up and out while something like basil is more contained.

Kelly said the aquaponic community should be seeing more variety of produce in the future that they can farm successfully for profit.

“What we have now, they’re profitable, they’re good. I think we have figured out how to do that,” Kelly said, “I think in the next five to 10 years, we will have a lot more products that can be produced profitably.”

BANDON - Newton and Annabelle (Strain) Haga celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with family at their home in Langlois.

LANGLOIS - The Langlois Lions Club announces that a viewing bench has been installed on the shores of Floras Lake.

Tuesdays

Baker and Douglas counties are the latest to receive an emergency drought declaration from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

Two more Oregon counties have officially declared drought as warm weather and lack of snow catches up across the state.

Gov. Kate Brown declared drought emergencies June 18 in Baker and Douglas counties, bringing the total number so far to six. Drought has already been declared in Klamath, Grant, Harney and Lake counties.

“All signs point to another record-breaking drought and wildfire season for Oregon,” Brown said. “That means we must continue our urgent work to build communities that are ready for the challenges of climate change. I have directed state agencies stand ready to help and work with local communities to provide assistance.”

Almost the entire state is experiencing some stage of drought, from “abnormally dry” to “severe,” according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. The worst conditions are in central and southeast Oregon, though Douglas County becomes the first area west of the Cascade Range to receive a drought declaration in Oregon.

Likewise, snowpack has all but disappeared across the state, with just trace amounts remaining in the Willamette, Crooked and Upper Deschutes basins. Snow melted away at a rapid rate in May, up to several weeks ahead of schedule, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is advising irrigators to prepare for critically low water supplies heading into summer.

Dry conditions are expected to impact farms, livestock, recreation and tourism, while also exacerbating wildfire danger. Two new large blazes have erupted in central Oregon, including the 18,000-acre Boxcar fire burning south of Maupin and the 2,000-acre Graham fire near Culver and Lake Billy Chinook.

Long-term forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center show an increasing probability of hotter- and drier-than-usual weather over the next three months in much of the Pacific Northwest.

The governor’s drought declarations do give state agencies the ability to expedite water management tools, such as emergency water permits, exchanges, substitutions and in-stream leases, to provide relief on the ground. Most of the state’s major reservoirs are also faring well, holding 70 to 110 percent volume.

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has issued a kill permit for one wolf in Wallowa County after three attacks in three days on livestock in a private pasture.

State wildlife officials will allow a northeast Oregon rancher to kill one wolf on privately owned pasture near Joseph Creek in Wallowa County following a string of gruesome attacks on livestock.

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife issued a kill permit June 21 for RL Cattle Company, based in Enterprise, Ore., after confirming the wolf depredations June 13 and 14.

According to the investigative reports, a wolf — or wolves — injured three calves in three days on the same private pasture within an area of known wolf activity in the Chesnimnus Unit.

ODFW counted three wolves in the area at the end of 2017. None are wearing a radio tracking collar. It is not certain whether the wolves are remnants of the Chesnimnus pack or new animals that have moved into the territory.

Under Phase III of the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, ODFW may consider killing wolves in Eastern Oregon found to prey on livestock at least twice. The agency last issued a kill permit in April for two wolves from the Pine Creek pack in Baker County.

But first, ranchers must demonstrate they have tried using non-lethal deterrents and cannot leave bone piles or carcasses that would otherwise attract wolves. In this case, RL Cattle routinely monitored for wolves, maintained a human presence around cattle and removed injured livestock from the pasture.

In his letter to ODFW requesting a kill permit, owner Rod Childers said the impact to his business far exceeds injured or missing animals.

“This harassment of my cattle has caused a change in their demeanor making them more difficult to handle, nearly causing injury to myself while sorting,” Childers wrote. “Additionally, these wolf problems are causing great problems in my ability to utilize my spring range effectively.”

The permit issued by ODFW extends not only to the pasture, but also an adjacent public forest allotment. It expires July 10, when Childers plans to remove his cattle from the pasture.

The action has stirred debate about wolf management in Oregon at a time when ODFW is in the midst of updating its wolf plan, which was last updated in 2010. Since then, wolves were removed from the state endangered species list in 2015.

The species remains federally protected west of highways 395, 78 and 95.

George Rollins, a Baker County rancher and Eastern Oregon wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said the group is advocating wolf management zones with population targets, which would open the door to more lethal control and, possibly, hunting.

“These management zones would be established, and with local decision making, the number of wolves can be managed so that we can reduce potential conflicts,” Rollins said.

Environmental groups, however, oppose killing any wolves, arguing the overall population is still too small and fragile. Oregon had 124 officially documented wolves at the end of 2017 — an 11 percent increase over 2016.

Furthermore, Sean Stevens, executive director of Oregon Wild, said the next iteration of the wolf plan should have stronger requirements allowing non-lethal deterrents the chance to work before rushing to kill wolves.

“According to ODFW’s own reports, depredations appear to have stopped after non-lethal deterrents were put in place. Yet a week after the last conflict with wolves, ODFW is issuing a kill permit anyway,” Stevens said. “This permit is unnecessary. It’s the latest proof that the wolf plan needs to be strengthened, not weakened.”

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission indefinitely postponed its vote on the wolf plan revision earlier this year. ODFW recently hired a professional mediator, Debra Nudelman of Portland, to work with groups to reach a broader consensus. Those meetings have yet to be announced.

In addition to management zones, Rollins said OCA wants to see at least one wolf in each pack fitted with a GPS tracking collar, and local agencies — such as county sheriffs — given greater control over wolf-livestock investigations.

“These people investigate murders and robberies and everything else,” Rollins said. “My goodness, they should be able to do a wolf investigation.”

Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist, has taken the lead on the wolf plan revision since Russ Morgan retired last year. He said the plan may be ready to present to the Fish and Wildlife Commission as early as September, and possibly adopted before the end of the year.

“We feel like we’re in a good spot,” Broman said. “We’re still seeing increases in wolf numbers. Last year, we saw a decrease in depredations. ... We still have a pretty good plan to be working with.”

IRZ Consulting hosted 30 farmers from Brazil for an “international exchange of ideas” about irrigation.

HERMISTON, Ore. — Fred Ziari of IRZ Consulting and most of the 30 Brazilian farmers he hosted in Hermiston this week don’t speak the same language — but they do share a common goal.

“We are blessed because we have food,” Ziari said, gesturing to nearby trays of fruit and pastries laid out for the guests from Brazil. “But I travel to Africa and other places every year where people are extremely hungry. As well, our state of Oregon looks beautiful but we have hunger here, too. All of us, Brazilian and American, need to play a vital role in feeding the world.”

IRZ Consulting, one of multiple businesses that Ziari has founded, helps farmers around the world increase their efficiency and yield through high-tech irrigation. Ziari said the Hermiston-based business hosts visiting farmers from other countries for an “international exchange of ideas.”

Leonel Olivira, a soybean farmer from the Brazilian state of Bahia, said Tuesday he was most impressed by “how you can remote control your farms.”

“You can rule your farm with your cell phone,” he said. “It’s quite different here.”

He said he was also interested to see how integrated farms and suppliers are in the United States.

Marcos Pooter, who grows soybeans, corn, wheat and sorghum, said he admired the “amazing” infrastructure in the country.

“Here, everything works,” he said. “In Brazil, you have to work a lot to do a little.”

He said he was interested in seeing how the pump stations used here are different than in Brazil, and he wanted to study the system further to see if it could be adapted well in the region where he grows crops.

Before the group set out for a second day of tours on Wednesday, Ziari hosted an informal question-and-answer session with one of the bilingual group members translating.

One grower asked how much of the world was using the advanced precision irrigation technology that they had seen at Herb Stahl’s farm during their tour. Ziari said worldwide, irrigation is at about 30 percent efficiency, but Stahl’s farm achieves about 90 percent efficiency.

“I think that it is a global model for efficiency, but we have large areas, many hectares in the United States that are not that efficient, that need to be brought up. But we are progressing fast,” he said.

Other questions were about the growth of agriculture in the United States, and whether the Eastern Oregon region could support more crops. Ziari said growth is limited in the United States not so much by land availability but by political issues. In 1900, 50 percent of Americans were involved in farming, he said, and now it’s less than three percent due to the technological advances that have made farming more efficient, and large corporations who are now operating many of them..

“Because we are now 2 percent of the population, politicians are ignoring the needs of agriculture,” he said.

He told the group that investment in new projects was needed for Brazil’s agricultural economy to grow, and the investment community was interested.

Olivira said Brazil was ready. And if the government stabilized, the country’s agriculture could reach the level of technology used in the United States “very fast.”

Toxic algae blooms are happening more often and lasting longer, including in drinking water reservoirs, and officials and scientists link their spread to climate change

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The words blasted to cellphones around Salem, Oregon were ominous: “Civil emergency. prepare for action.”

Within half an hour, a second official alert clarified the subject wasn’t impending violence, but toxins from an algae bloom, detected in the city’s water supply.

In both reservoirs and lakes used for recreation in communities around the country have been experiencing similar events with growing frequency; a trend that researchers say represents another impact of global warming and raises looming questions about their effects on human health.

“When water bodies warm up earlier and stay warmer longer... you increase the number of incidents,” said Wayne Carmichael, a retired Wright State University professor specializing in the organisms. “That’s just logical, and it’s being borne out.”

Technically called cyanobacteria, the ancient class of organisms that create the blooms are present nearly everywhere water is found, but thrive in warm, still bodies like lakes and ponds. They also create a unique class of toxins, the impact of which on humans is only partly understood.

Long linked to animal deaths, high doses of the toxins in humans can cause liver damage and attack the nervous system. In the largest outbreaks, hundreds have been sickened by blooms in reservoirs and lakes, and officials in some areas now routinely close bodies of water used for recreation and post warnings when blooms occur.

But less is known about exposure at lower doses, especially over the long term.

Small studies have linked exposure to liver cancer — one toxin is classified as a carcinogen, and others have pointed to potential links to neurodegenerative disease. But definitively proving those links would require larger studies, said Carmichael, who helped the World Health Organization set the first safe exposure standards for the toxins.

“It’s absolutely certain in my mind that warming temperatures are going to end up causing more of these algal blooms,” said Steven Chapra, an environmental engineering professor at Tufts University.

Chapra led a team including scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in one of the most comprehensive studies to date of the interplay between global warming and the blooms, published in 2017.

Because they prefer warm water, higher summer temperatures and more frequent heat waves help the organisms. More frequent droughts also cause reservoirs to be shallower in summer, causing them to warm faster.

And more intense rainstorms, also conclusively linked to climate change, can wash more nutrients into lakes and reservoirs, especially from farms where nitrogen and phosphorous-rich fertilizers are used, Chapra said.

In Utah, a 2016 algae bloom in a recreational-use lake sickened more than 100, and when the story made national headlines other states reached out.

“We started getting calls from other health departments all over the country saying, ‘Hey, we’re dealing with an algal bloom in a lake that has never ever had one before,’” said Aislynn Tolman-Hill, a spokeswoman for the Utah County Health Department.

Officials only recently started carefully logging the blooms, but they seem to be becoming more intense, said Ben Holcomb, a biologist for Utah’s environmental agency. “They’re starting earlier, they’re lasting longer, and their peaks seem to be getting bigger,” Holcomb said. “I don’t think any state is isolated.”

In Lake Erie, a major bloom in 2014 caused authorities to warn against drinking tap water in Toledo, Ohio, for more than two days, cutting off the main water source for more than 400,000 people.

Now blooms happen every year in Utah and Ohio. Officials in both states say they’ve largely been able to stop them from toxifying drinking water, but they can still sicken people and pets that go in the water, and often hit recreation businesses that depend on lake access.

Other blooms, including flare-ups affecting drinking water, have been logged in recent years in New York, Florida, and California.

In Oregon, officials lifted the capital city’s drinking water advisory after several days, but then had to re-issue the warning.

The water supply serves a population of just over 150,000 in the city, along with residents outside city limits.

Officials also warned that dozens of other water supplies could be vulnerable, and indeed, when workers from the city of Cottage Grove inspected another reservoir, they found a bloom, according to a report by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Officials pointed out that testing for the blooms isn’t required by either federal or state law.

Researchers say that needs to change because blooms are likely to become more common, including in states where low temperatures had previously provided a buffer against the blooms.

“These things like you’re seeing in Lake Erie and in Oregon are kind of like the canary in the coal mine,” said Chapra, the Tufts researcher.

“It’s going to get worse, and it’s going to get worse in a big way.”

Bartels Packing, a defunct Oregon meat company, wants to pay out more than $600,000 in trust claims to livestock suppliers.

A defunct Oregon beef packer wants to pay out more than $600,000 of the $1.3 million in USDA trust claims that cattle suppliers have filed against it.

Bartels Packing of Eugene, Ore., shut down in March, citing declining sales and the loss of a major customer, among other factors. A court-appointed receiver has since overseen the company’s dissolution.

Under the federal law, certain assets of meat packers are held in trust for the repayment of cash livestock sellers, who must file claims to obtain the funds. Livestock suppliers who sell their animals to packers on credit generally aren’t protected by the trust.

The USDA has received more than $1.3 million in trust claims since Bartels closed, with the agency determining that about $624,000 of those claims are valid.

The receiver hasn’t yet finished analyzing the remaining claims, some of which the USDA has determined aren’t valid under the Packers and Stockyards Act.

Pivotal Solutions, the receiver, has now asked a judge for permission to turn over the $624,000 “after holding back a reasonable amount for the estate to be able to maintain the necessary liquidity” of the operation as it dissolves.

The majority of livestock suppliers who’d receive payment are auction yards, with the largest claim — about $330,000 — owed to Toppenish Livestock Commission of Toppenish, Wash.

Though Bartels has shut down, the receiver is using its facilities to re-process certain cuts and sell meat to make money available for creditors.

The USDA hasn’t objected to the receiver’s request, which will be the subject of a hearing scheduled for July 23 in Lane County Circuit Court in Eugene.

When Bartels Packing closed, it claimed to have roughly $14 million to cover its $8.3 million in liabilities, including nearly $4.7 million owed to cattle suppliers and feedlots.

Documents filed in the receivership case show that representatives of Pivotal Solutions have actively been trying to sell the company’s facilities, which include a processing plant and slaughterhouse.

The receiver has had numerous meetings, tours, emails and phone calls with undisclosed potential buyers and held talks with local government representatives and state economic development officials, according to invoices submitted to the court.

Odds increase for warm Northwet winter

Chances are rising that next winter will be warmer than usual in the Pacific Northwest, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center reported Thursday.

The outlook is largely based on the likelihood that the Pacific Ocean will heat up to El Nino conditions by fall, according to forecasters,

“Odds for above-normal temperatures continue to increase during the winter 2018-19 from the Pacific Northwest east to the Northern Great Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley,” according to center’s new seasonal forecast.

An El Nino generally brings warmer weather to the Northwest, though the effect on summer water supplies have varied. A weak El Nino prevailed during Washington’s snowpack drought of 2014-15. There was a strong El Nino the following winter, but the state’s snowpacks were normal.

Some forecasting models show sea-surface temperatures along the equator peaking at 1 degree Celsius above normal between November and February, according to the prediction center. That would put the El Nino just into the “moderate” category.

A La Nina, lower-than-normal sea temperatures, prevailed this past winter. The ocean has warmed to neutral conditions and likely will stay that way through the summer, according to the center.

The outlook for July, August and September favors above-average temperatures across most of the country. The odds are especially high for a warm summer in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Basin, including Idaho.

Below-average precipitation is favored for summer for Oregon, Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. Northern California and the southern half of Idaho have equal chances of being wet, dry or average, according to the center.

Project operates, maintains a nearly 1,500-mile network of canals, laterals and drains servicing about 165,000 acres.

The Boise Project Board of Control, a major player in southwest Idaho’s water system, continues to deal with the area’s population growth as a leadership change nears.

The project stores water behind two of the three Boise River dams, operates a large canal system and an off-site reservoir, and services a handful of irrigation districts.

“Urbanization is a big issue,” said project Assistant Manager Bob Carter, who will replace retiring Tim Page as manager Aug. 1. “As the population is growing and with all the new subdivisions, it’s a challenge to operate, maintain and keep our easements.”

Subdivisions ultimately become water users to which the project and its client irrigation districts deliver, often via existing infrastructure linked to a pressurized system the developer installs.

Potential encroachment poses a challenge.

“We have to protect our facilities and easements,” Carter said. The project constantly works with developers “to maintain our easements so we can do operations and maintenance.”

Most of the water the Boise Project stores on behalf of its water-rights holders is in Anderson Ranch and Arrowrock reservoirs under a 1926 operation and maintenance agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, including the Lake Lowell storage reservoir between Nampa and Caldwell, and a nearly 1,500-mile network of canals, laterals and drains servicing about 165,000 acres.

The project does not store water in Lucky Peak Reservoir, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Anderson and Arrowrock dams prioritize irrigation while Lucky Peak prioritizes flood control. But the Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation have a joint agreement to operate the three reservoirs to help with flood control. The dams maintain minimum winter flows to benefit fish, wildlife and riverside public space.

The project is also an operating agency for five irrigation districts, which are essentially taxing districts; they return a portion of their assessments as tolls to the project to cover system operation and maintenance. These are the New York, Boise-Kuna, Wilder and a portion of Nampa-Meridian Irrigation District in Idaho; and the Big Bend district near Adrian, Ore. Water rights are held by the Bureau of Reclamation and the irrigation districts for Boise Project patrons.

Carter said the nonprofit project aims to keep tolls as low as possible while maintaining good service to users. Farming is the biggest user category, and servicing pressurized irrigation systems for subdivisions and individual homeowners is a growing segment.

The project has automated some of the outlet and check structures used when canal water levels are raised and lowered. Automation can increase the efficiency while keeping levels consistent and maintaining head pressure for making deliveries, Carter said. Because automation helps maintain exact water levels while reducing tailwater spillage, water is conserved.

The project for the past decade or so has also operated small hydropower plants. It has two on dams and three in its canal system. The project, which can deliver about 0.5 to 4 megawatts, sells the electricity to power companies that put it onto the larger Northwest power grid.

“We’re always looking to add more” power customers, Carter said. “It’s green power, and that money can go back in and help keep end users’ costs down.”

The project would be impacted by any changes to system infrastructure.

Adding as much as 30,000 acre-feet of storage capacity at either Arrowrock, Anderson Ranch or Lucky Peak dams is the subject of current studies by the Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers, Carter and Page said.

Current capacities of the reservoirs east of Boise are 272,200 acre-feet at Arrowrock, 413,100 acre-feet at Anderson Ranch and 264,400 acre-feet at Lucky Peak.

Gov. Butch Otter and House Speaker Scott Bedke on June 21 announced an agreement between water users and water managers on prioritizing water rights from Boise River reservoirs. The agreement involves the state Department of Water Resources, municipal water system operator Suez, the Boise Project Board of Control and the irrigation districts the project serves.

The agreement includes specifics about processes for prioritizing and appealing water-right allocations, the governor’s office, the governor’s office said in a release. Water users were concerned about the right to refill the reservoir space opened up by flood-control releases in order to ensure their water-rights allocations could be met. They wanted assurances that allocating water to fill new storage capacity within the system was not prioritized over filling established reservoirs.

C

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that marijuana will be legal nationwide on Oct. 17.

Mail-order weed? You betcha!

With marijuana legalization across Canada on the horizon, the industry is shaping up to look different from the way it does in nine U.S. states that have legalized adult recreational use of the drug. Age limits, government involvement in distribution and sales, and access to banking are some big discrepancies.

And yes, Canadians will be able to order cannabis online and have it delivered through the mail — something that’s illegal in the United States.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that marijuana will be legal nationwide on Oct. 17. In the meantime, Canada’s provinces and cities are working out issues concerning how cannabis will be regulated.

Here’s what to expect:

It’s up to the provinces and territories to determine how to handle distribution, and they’re taking a variety of approaches.

Ontario plans to open up to 150 stores run by its Liquor Control Board — a model of public ownership that is unusual in the U.S. The tiny Washington state town of North Bonneville has one city-owned pot shop.

British Columbia is planning for a mix of public and privately owned stores, while Newfoundland and Saskatchewan will have only private pot shops. In some remote areas where stand-alone marijuana stores might not be economically feasible, including in the Northwest Territories, cannabis could be sold at existing liquor stores.

Just like U.S. states with legal pot, the provinces also differ on home-growing, with many allowing up to four plants and others, including Quebec, barring it.

And rather than a minimum age of 21, as U.S. states have set, Canada’s federal minimum age to use marijuana will be 18, with most provinces adding an additional year.

The varying approaches make the provinces something of a laboratory for determining the best ways to legalize, said Matt Gray, founder and chief executive of Herb, a Toronto-based news and social media platform for the pot industry.

“It’s this amazing case study for countries globally to see the amazing benefits that legalizing cannabis can have on things like the economy, eradicating the black market and getting cannabis out of the hands of minors,” he said.

Whether run by the government or private entities, the stores will obtain their marijuana from federally licensed growers. Officials also will set a minimum price.

Canada’s finance ministers have pegged it at about $10 per gram, but the Yukon minister in charge of marijuana says the government hopes to displace more of the illegal market by setting the base at $8.

The government wants to tax legal marijuana at either $1 per gram or one-tenth of a product’s price, whichever is greater, plus federal and provincial sales taxes. It’s likely to be less than the taxes imposed in the states.

Washington state’s tax rate is 37 percent, plus state and local sales taxes. In California, licensed pot businesses are blaming total tax rates that can approach 50 percent for driving people back into the black market.

The Canadian government agreed to give provinces and territories 75 percent of the tax revenue.

Canada’s cannabis businesses have a massive advantage over their American counterparts: access to banks.

Because the drug is still illegal under U.S. law, major banks have been loath to do business with the industry, even in legal marijuana states.

U.S. Treasury Department data show a slow increase in the number of banks and credit unions maintaining accounts for marijuana businesses, with 411 reporting such accounts last spring.

But many of those institutions don’t provide full-service banking, making it tough for businesses to get loans.

“The major Canadian banks were slow to warm to this,” said Chris Barry, a Seattle-based marijuana business attorney who handles industry transactions in both countries for the law firm Dorsey and Whitney.

He said smaller independent banks, investment banks and brokerage firms got the work started.

“That has pretty much dissolved as a problem,” Barry said. “The majors are coming around to participate in the market.”

Some consumers are disappointed that store shelves will only stock dried flower, oils and seeds when sales begin — no edibles. The government has said it needs about another year to develop regulations for edibles.

There’s also a labeling issue: Health Canada has dictated large warning labels on otherwise plain packages, with strict restrictions on font sizes, styles and colors. The idea is to discourage misuse and to avoid appealing to youths, but it also leaves very little room for company logos or branding.

“It looks like each bag is housing radioactive waste,” said Chris Clay, owner of Warmland Cannabis Centre, a medical marijuana dispensary on Vancouver Island. “It’s a tiny logo with this huge warning label. It doesn’t leave much room for craft growers that want to differentiate themselves.”

And that, Clay said, is one of many things that will make it difficult for mom-and-pop growers to thrive. Giant cannabis companies have been entering deals to supply marijuana to the provinces.

While micro-producers are allowed, Clay is worried that by the time rules are released, “all the contracts are going to be scooped up.”

While getting marijuana by mail may be a novel concept in the U.S., it’s nothing new in Canada. Its postal service has been shipping medical marijuana to authorized patients since 2013.

“Many of our processes are in place today for medicinal cannabis and will continue for any regulated product sent through Canada Post from licensed distributors,” Canada Post said in a written statement.

The agency requires proof of age upon delivery and won’t leave the package in your mailbox or on your doorstep if you’re not home.

———

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.