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By Michelle J. Jones
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 10, 1996
As certain areas in Arizona continue to have their wheat crops quarantined due to the Karnal bunt fungus, farmers around the state are seeking federal reimbursement for their lost profits.The fungus affected less than 4 percent of the wheat crops in Arizona, yet the entire state's yield was placed under a strict quarantine in March, meaning it could not be sold for use as food or transported out of the state, said Keith Meyer, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
These restrictions meant a large loss of profits to Arizona farmers. Although much of the quarantine has been removed, parts of the state, including Maricopa and Pima counties, remain affected.
Other states, including California and Texas, were also quarantined, he said, but only certain counties in those states had restrictions.
"We were unjustly quarantined. It was a terrible thing for wheat," Meyer said.
He said the tight restrictions have raised unjust fears on national and international levels. The United States is the number one wheat exporter in the world, and Arizona produces the most Durham wheat per acre, he said. Other states and countries are now shying away from buying the wheat, even though most of it is unaffected, he said.
Karnal bunt does not possess any health hazards to humans or animals, University of Arizona Plant Science Specialist Michael Ottman said. It affects the quality of the wheat and produces an off-color and smell, as well as affecting the elasticity of dough made with the wheat, he said.
Although farmers around the state lost profits, the state and country did not see a noticeable gain in wheat and flour costs due to the outbreak, Meyer said, because droughts in Oklahoma and parts of Texas had already raised the costs.
Ned Townsend, a bulk buyer for the Food Conspiracy Co-op, a natural food store on North Fourth Avenue in Tucson, said that he did not notice any cost increases over the normal 3-to-5 percent gains at this time of year.
Meyer said that the United States Department of Agriculture has already compensated some farmers for their losses because of the unfair quarantine. The amounts are based on the current price for wheat, but he didn't know how many people had already been compensated or how much they had received.
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