After an uncontroversial start, legislation that would require mediation for disputes over biotech crops in Oregon is now facing opposition from critics of genetic engineering.

House Bill 2509, which would direct the Oregon Department of Agriculture to mediate conflicts over genetically modified organisms, didn’t initially meet with objections and passed the House by an overwhelming margin.

The bill arose from a work group convened by Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, that evaluated a range of GMO proposals.

During a May 20 legislative hearing, Clem said he’s surprised by the recent surge of antagonism toward HB 2509, which emerged from the concerns of GMO critics who worried that biotech farmers wouldn’t agree to mediation.

“This came from the anti-GMO community,” he said. “This was designed to be helpful for people worried about being interfered with by GMOs.”

Friends of Family Farmers, a group that favors stronger GMO regulation, participated in the work group negotiations and credited the bill with providing an incentive for mediation during a work session last month.

Now that HB 2509 is before the Senate, however, the nonprofit group and other GMO critics are asking lawmakers to reject the proposal because they say farmers who are harmed by biotech cross-pollination should not be forced into mediation.

“I strikes us that mediation should be a choice farmers make, not a mandated situation,” said Ivan Maluski, policy director of Friends of Family Farmers, during the recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

If a dispute over genetically engineered crops occurs between farmers, the bill calls for ODA to provide mediation to seek a coexistence solution. If a grower refuses mediation and later loses a lawsuit in the dispute, he’d be required to pay the opposing party’s legal costs.

While Friends of Family Farmers believes mediation may be useful in some circumstances, the group has decided to oppose the bill because mandatory mediation could impose a financial burden on small growers.

The mediation requirement may delay a timely court decision when a farmer faces market rejection of his crop due to cross-pollination, the group claims.

Our Family Farms Coalition, which successfully campaigned for a GMO ban in Jackson County, argues that HB 2509 would hinder the ability of organic and conventional growers to enforce that prohibition.

The group argues that small farmers would effectively be blocked from seeking a “quick legal action to prevent contamination of their crop” due to fears of paying astronomical attorney fees.

“This bill would prevent that as a practical matter,” said Kellie Barnes, a representative for the group.

The Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit involved in prominent legal battles over GMOs, alleges that ODA can’t be trusted to oversee the mediation program because the agency has served as the “mouthpiece of the agricultural biotechnology industry.”

Since the mediation requirement lacks any limit on duration or expense, ODA could use it as an obstacle for farmers who need a fast legal remedy to their dispute, the group says.

Scott Dahlman, policy director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group, said he’s disappointed by the hostility toward HB 2509 after the work group tried to establish a middle ground.

The bill was intended to shed light on how many biotech conflicts actually exist in Oregon and encourage compromises that would be difficult to reach in court, he said.

“It might be as simple as communicating your planting schedule with your neighbor and planting at different times,” Dahlman said.

Lebanon, Ore. — Oregon State University plant pathologist Cindy Ocamb reported at a crucifer disease field day May 14 that she is finding seed fields infected with blackleg around the Willamette Valley.

The discovery is not unexpected, she said, given that blackleg infections were severe last year and infected crop residue provides a source for the disease to persist and spread.

Ocamb said she is finding the disease in a “patchwork” pattern and that different fields have different levels of disease — a disparity she attributed to lack of timely management with fungicides.

Ocamb advised growers to refrain from planting susceptible crops within one-quarter mile of a field that hosted a blackleg-infected crop the previous year.

“And the farther apart the better,” she said, noting that the fungus’ windblown spores could be moving “tens of miles” and not just a few miles, as once suspected.

Ocamb also said that she noticed some fields went from less than 1 percent infection to between 80 and 100 percent in a matter of weeks during rainy weather, showing that the disease’s secondary inoculum is readily splashed by rain from infected plant stems and leaves.

While the disease moves systemically down a plant and can cause lesions on storage roots, it does not move systemically up a plant to infect seed, Ocamb said. Seed infection typically occurs from inoculum splashing onto seed heads during pod development.

Ocamb said she started seeing the blackleg fungus in October in commercial vegetable seed fields and in fields planted as part of a three-year OSU experiment to determine the effect of brassica crops, such as canola, on specialty seed production.

Fields that were treated in the fall with a fungicide were performing better than fields that went without a fall treatment, Ocamb said.

Ocamb also reported she has found light leaf spot in fields in recent weeks, a disease relatively new to North America. It started appearing in valley fields during February, she said.

According to literature, growers in the United Kingdom, where light leaf spot is common, report 22 percent yield loss in oilseed crops infected with the disease, Ocamb said.

Many of the seed treatments and fungicide applications that target blackleg are expected to also control light leaf spot, Ocamb said.

Ocamb said she fears blackleg infection in 2016 in Western Oregon could be even worse than this year.

“Seed fields will probably face more pressure next fall,” Ocamb said.

“I think it is going to be critical that we not only treat seed, but have a fungicide campaign with early sprays in the fall,” Ocamb said.

In addition to increasing chances of plants dying from blackleg, plants infected in the fall are more susceptible to other pathogens, Ocamb said.

An ODA proposal that would mandate field inspections for five years provides an indication of how long the scientific community believes it will take for Oregon growers to get the disease under control.

“The industry and the ODA believe a limited time period (five years) of mandatory inspections … is necessary to bring the blackleg epidemic back under control,” the proposal states.

Ocamb added: “I think it is going to be important that everybody joins the control party.”

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is proposing a rule mandating inspection of crucifer fields in the Willamette Valley as part of an effort to quash what is being called “the blackleg epidemic.”

Oregon State University researchers first spotted blackleg infection in the valley last year in certain vegetable seed crops, such as turnips and canola. The disease appears to be more prevalent this year, said Cindy Ocamb, in part because windblown spores from infected plant residue helped spread infections.

In addition to concerns about seed lots being contaminated, Ocamb said she now fears the disease could be moving into fresh vegetable acreage.

In January, ODA adopted a rule mandating that crucifer seed be tested, found free of blackleg and treated prior to being planted in the valley.

The newly proposed rule would require that growers also apply to the department for an inspection and cover a portion of the program’s cost at a rate of $6.50 an acre. Each acre would need to be inspected twice, once early in the growing season and at early- to mid-flowering.

Nancy Osterbauer, ODA’s plant health program manager, said the two inspections will help determine if the department’s recommendations for controlling the disease are working.

“Part of (the motivation behind the rule proposal) is an education process for everybody involved,” Osterbauer said.

Under the proposal, if blackleg is found in a field, certain mitigation requirements would kick in, such as fungicide treatments.

Osterbauer said the seed industry came to the department seeking the rule.

The rule will sunset in five years, according to the proposal.

A public hearing on the proposed rule is scheduled for June 22, beginning at 11 a.m., at the department’s Salem research farm, 151 Hawthorne Ave. NE.

Interested parties can comment at the hearing or through written correspondence, Osterbauer said.

“We welcome comments,” she said. “This is an industry rule.”

Whether Oregon’s “right to farm” law extends to the production of genetically modified crops is a central question in the legal battle over Jackson County’s prohibition against such crops.

During oral arguments on May 20, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke questioned whether the statute was intended to protect such technology.

The legislative history seems to indicate that lawmakers passed the “right to farm” statute to prevent urban sprawl from undermining agriculture, he said

“It seems to me this situation doesn’t squarely fit into that now, does it?” Clarke asked.

The ban was approved by Jackson County voters last year, but two farms that produce biotech alfalfa filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance’s validity.

The growers — Schulz Family Farms and James and Marilyn Frink — claim their ability to grow genetically engineered crops is protected by the “right to farm” statute, under which local governments are barred from restricting a common farming practice as a nuisance or trespass.

David Markowitz, the attorney for the farmers, said that the impetus of the law may have been urban sprawl, but “right to farm” protections are much broader.

The statute is intended to preserve the entire resource base of Oregon agriculture, which include biotech crops, he said.

Defendants also argue that Oregon lawmakers expressly authorized the GMO ban by excluding Jackson County from 2013 legislation, Senate Bill 863, that pre-empted local governments from regulating biotech seeds.

The judge asked why the legislature would pass SB 863 if biotech crops were already protected by “right to farm.”

“Doesn’t it indicate the legislature recognized the right to farm law isn’t going to preclude counties from banning GE products?” Clarke said.

“Isn’t that a pretty big pothole for your side?” he asked.

Markowitz responded that lawmakers did not intend to exempt Jackson County from any other state laws by passing SB 863, including the “right to farm” statute.

“It is a much broader and specific ban in relation to seed,” the attorney said.

The exemption created for Jackson County was simply to allow a vote on the ordinance, not to cast a judgment about whether the GMO ban would pass muster under other state laws, the farmers say.

They’re seeking an injunction that will prevent the prohibition against genetically modified organisms from becoming effective, or $4.2 million in damages if they’re forced to destroy existing alfalfa fields.

Under SB 863, Jackson County could have narrowly tailored a law that would reimburse organic farmers for actual damage from imprudent practices, Markowitz said.

However, Jackson County’s ordinance goes much further and thus violates the “right to farm” statute, he said.

“There isn’t even a suggestion that my clients have caused harm to anybody,” Markowitz said.

“It treats the prudent the same as the imprudent,” he said.

The ordinance was supposed to go into effect on June 6 but the county agreed not to enforce it until the lawsuit is resolved.

The ordinance was supposed to go into effect on June 6 but the county agreed not to enforce it until the lawsuit is resolved.

Farming genetically engineered crops is a “generally accepted, reasonable and prudent method” as required by the law, since such plants have become ubiquitous in U.S. agriculture, the plaintiffs argue.

While the Jackson County ordinance tries to avoid the “right to farm” issue by designating the production of GMOs as a “violation,” rather than a nuisance or trespass, the effect is the same, plaintiffs say.

A primary argument in favor of the ordinance was preventing the genetic contamination of conventional and organic crops with biotech traits, which amounts to the county treating GMOs as a nuisance or trespass, the lawsuit claims.

Jackson County and other parties that voluntarily intervened as defendants counter the ordinance isn’t affected by the “right to farm” statute.

Defendants argue a genetically engineered crop is not a “farming practice” that’s protected by the law — the ordinance only applies to plants with altered DNA, not the cultivation techniques necessary to grow them.

The rejection of GMO crops by 66 percent of Jackson County voters also shows that biotechnology is not “generally accepted” in the area, the county says.

Marion County voters overwhelmingly approved a tax measure that will support Oregon State University’s Extension office and 4-H programs in the county.

In Tuesday’s election, voters approved Measure 24-380 by a margin of 72 percent to 28 percent. The measure creates a Marion County service district for Extension and 4-H.

The measure will increase property tax bills by 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It’s expected to generate about $1 million a year for the programs.

About two dozen Oregon counties have approved such special districts in response to state and local funding cuts over the years. The Marion County Board of Commissioners placed the measure on the ballot after judging community support for the idea.

Oregon’s medium-sized ag producers churn out high-quality meat, grain and greens, but gaps in the aggregation, processing and distribution infrastructure make it difficult to put on consumers’ plates at an affordable price.

A new report from Ecotrust, a Portland non-profit, calls for investment in “Ag of the Middle” producers and the network that can sustain a strong regional food economy.

The report, “Oregon Food Infrastructure Gap Analysis,” defines “Ag of the Middle” producers as too big to survive by selling only at farmers’ markets or to CSAs, but too small compete in commodity markets.

“It’s absolutely the most painful place to be as a producer,” said Amanda Oborne, one of the report’s authors and Ecotrust’s food and farms vice president.

The 250-page study describes a haphazard system in which growers and other food producers spend too much time on the supply chain instead of developing their product. They must cobble together outlets, pick, pack and store things themselves and deliver small amounts to multiple buyers.

Neighborhood grocery stores in Portland, especially those catering to consumers willing to pay more for local, organic or sustainably produced food, are besieged by clusters of delivery vehicles. Some of them amount to a cooler in the trunk of a grower’s car. In Portland’s increasingly busy streets, getting from store to store isn’t easy.

The founder of Portland’s Bowery Bagels, which uses Northwest grains, told the report writers he delivers to 114 outlets on weekdays. “I can make more bagels,” CEO Michael Madigan is quoted as saying, “but I can’t deliver any more.”

The report says Ag of the Middle producers often lack branding or marketing strategy and do without communications and strategic planning.

The result is a system that is “highly fragmented, lacking consistent data and information, and dependent on personal relationships,” according to the study.

Ecotrust is investing in the solution. The organization is retrofitting a former ironworks building in Portland’s eastside industrial area to be a food development, storage and distribution hub.

The building on Southeast Salmon Street — called “The Redd” after the egg nests salmon make in streams — will have 16,000 square feet of development, incubator or processing space for meat, grain and greens. A mezzanine will contain 8,000 square feet of offices and educational space.

A building next door will have cold storage and warehousing space, and a delivery company that uses electric cargo bicycles capable of hauling up to 800 pounds of product to restaurants or other customers. Bowery Bagels is moving into the building as well.

Portland has a reputation as a “foodie” city, but Oborne said Ecotrust and its partners are intent on developing a “food system, not a food scene.”

A proposed ban on biotech crops in Oregon’s Benton County has failed by a strong margin.

Nearly 73 percent of voters rejected Measure 2-89, which would have prohibited cultivation of genetically modified organisms.

The proposal was met with alarm by scientists at Oregon State University, which lies in the county, who feared it would stop research projects that rely on genetic engineering.

Even if it had been approved, the initiative was likely unenforceable.

Legislation passed by lawmakers in 2013, Senate Bill 863, precluded most Oregon counties from regulating GMOs.

However, biotech critics now hope to get a ballot initiative on the 2016 statewide ballot that would allow local governments to enact such restrictions.

Voters in Jackson and Josephine counties passed GMO prohibitions last year.

Josephine County’s ordinance is pre-empted by state law, but Jackson County was exempted from SB 863 because its initiative was already on the ballot.

Alfalfa farmers are now seeking an injunction prohibiting Jackson County’s ban from going into effect for allegedly violating the state’s “right to farm” law, which disallows local government restrictions of farm practices.

Small-scale Oregon farmers and entrepreneurs are getting a helping hand from a state law that went into effect this year.

The law, which allows Oregon-based businesses to raise up to $250,000 from state residents, became effective in January. Called the Oregon Intrastate Offering Exemption, the law allows individuals to invest up to $2,500 per offering.

Amy Pearl, founder of Hatch Innovation Lab and the person who spearheaded passage of the new law in the legislature, said, “Local investing equals impact investing.” Oregon is the 14th state to establish an “intrastate crowd funding” law.

“We were the only state to launch the law with companies who had filed their material and were legal,” said Pearl. Every company defines their own terms, such as selling shares or offering convertible notes.

The nine companies and details of their investment offerings are available at HatchOregon — http://hatchoregon.com.

Five of the companies are involved in food and agriculture.

Red Wagon Creamery in Eugene is a handcrafted ice cream company that focuses on using local ingredients, highlighting seasonal fruits and fresh, local hormone-free milk.

Agrarian Farmhouse Ales outside Eugene is a small craft brewery that grows all its own herbs and hops — 15 different varieties — and sources other ingredients such as grains, chile peppers and honey from neighboring farms. It is working toward becoming a true estate brewery.

Both Red Wagon and Agrarian are offering shares of their company.

All Hatch projects are allowed 12 months to raise the funds with an option to extend for another 12 months. They must meet in person with a Local Business Technical Service Provider to review the business plan.

Once the offering materials are complete, including the reason for the raise, the team involved, the risks and benefits and the terms, the company will be listed on the web site within 7 days.

Ton Ton’s Artisan Affections in Talent sells grain-free, gluten-free cookies and fresh, homemade hummus. In its third year of business, owner Michael Antonopoulos, has both a low and high end goal for the public offering. He wants to high-pressure pasteurize the hummus to increase its shelf life and allow for conventional distribution. Depending on funds, this will happen in the shared rental kitchen or in his own production facility that he envisions as an incubator for the region. He is offering convertible notes.

So is Wylie’s Honey Brews in Phoenix. The company makes local artisan honey sodas sweetened with unheated raw honey using herbs and live enzyme cultures.

Gro-volution is a company that’s still in development. Gro-volution is a high-tech farming concept out of Klamath Falls started by Eric Wilson. He’s working on a unit called a PEA Pod that’s a refurbished, recycled and repurposed shipping container.

“We can take the farm and move it anywhere in the planet and have it close to the people who want it,” said Wilson.

The aeroponic growing technique uses an organic fiber recently approved by the FDA. “We’re trying to achieve close to 100 percent nutrient conversion,” said Wilson.

When entrepreneurs create the terms, the deals are more helpful, said Pearl. “That’s a dramatic difference from banks. We call it compatible capital.”

She sees high interest among farmers who are looking to expand, buy land and move into agritourism.

Todd Perlmeter, the general manager at Agrarian Ales, said the company has already raised $65,000. The first goal was $50,000 to help pay for permanent bathrooms and heaters for the tasting room. “We’ve already broken ground,” he said.

The next goal is $90,000 total to help with expansion of the brewery and hop yard. “We’ve decided to stop there because we’re going into our busy summer season when we have more cash flow. The Hatch offering is setting us up for success with more traditional loans and we may not have to offer up more equity to raise additional funds.”

Oregon’s high school equestrian team championship has been rescheduled to June 24-27 due to lingering concern about an outbreak of equine herpes virus.

The event will be held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond. Approximately 550 riders from 100 schools will compete in events over the four days.

The championship event was postponed after nine horses became ill following high school meets in April. Multiple horses were quarantined as the disease ran its course. Two horses were taken to Oregon State University’s veterinarian hospital but responded to treatment and have been returned home.

Equine herpes virus, called EHV-1, is a common virus among horses and may lie dormant until activated by stress or other factors. It can cause respiratory or neurological problems and in severe cases can kill horses.

Symptoms can include fever, poor coordination, nasal discharge, urine dribbling, loss of tail tone and hind limb weakness. Horses may lean against a wall or fence to avoid falling, or may not be able to rise.

The illness is spread by horse-to-horse contact, equipment, clothing or human hands.

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) — When a tractor-trailer rig loaded with 80,000 pounds of dairy products overturned on an Oregon highway southeast of Eugene, the main problem did not seem to be spilled milk but sour cream — lots and lots of sour cream.

The Register-Guard of Eugene reports that Oregon State Police spokesman Bill Fugate says the truck driver apparently failed to negotiate a curve Monday morning on Oregon Highway 58 and rolled the rig onto its side. The driver was unhurt.

The crash near Oakridge didn’t block the highway but the fuel tanks needed to be pumped and the cargo removed before the truck could be pulled upright and removed. Oregon highway officials first thought the primary product was cheese but later determined it was mostly sour cream. They were trying to salvage as much as possible for nonprofit agencies.

The plan called for removing the cargo Monday, reopening Highway 58 overnight, then re-establishing a detour Tuesday while the truck is removed.

With just over a month remaining in Oregon’s legislative session, lawmakers have acted on several bills related to agriculture and natural resources.

Controversial proposals that would increase the regulation of pesticides and genetically engineered crops have died in committee, while others — such as restrictions on antibiotics in livestock — are still awaiting committee action.

Following is a summary of bills that have either passed the legislature or crossed significant hurdles on the way to becoming law:

A mechanism for resolving potential disputes over cross-pollination between organic, conventional and genetically modified crops has made headway in the legislature.

House Bill 2509 creates a mediation system in which the Oregon Department of Agriculture would seek voluntary resolutions to coexistence conflicts.

After winning support from proponents and critics of genetic engineering, the bill was approved 57-1 in the House. The lone dissenter was Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, who introduced legislation restricting where biotech crops are cultivated. That proposal died in committee.

The mediation bill is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, which is scheduled to hold a hearing and possible work session on HB 2509 on May 20.

A proposal to increase funding for predator control by assessing rural landowners up to $1 per acre in special tax districts was approved by the House 56-2 and is now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. While House Bill 3188 won by a strong margin, it is opposed by animal welfare and environmental groups that object to lethal methods and local management of wildlife. The legislation was supported by ranchers, who say that such added money is necessary in rural counties facing budget shortfalls and pressure from cougars, coyotes and other predators.

Legal protections for Oregon agritourism operators have passed muster in the Senate, which approved Senate Bill 341 unanimously. The legislation would shield growers from liability for visitor mishaps providing they post warnings, among other conditions.

The proposal got off to a rocky start due to opposition from trial lawyers, but managed to overcome that obstacle with an amendment to the bill.

Proponents hope that greater clarity on agritourism liability will convince more insurance companies to provide coverage for such operations.

A new method of reducing property taxes for urban farmers was approved 50-10 in the Oregon House, but House Bill 2723 will likely face changes on the Senate side.

The bill allows local governments to create agriculture incentive zones within urban growth boundaries where properties would be taxed at a lower rate if they’re devoted to farming for five years.

While HB 2723 appears to have momentum behind it, questions over its potential impact on urban growth boundaries still need to be answered. Supporters are also likely to amend the bill to include a 2023 sunset date and exclude marijuana from the tax relief proposal.

Oregon’s prohibition against raw milk advertising, which hadn’t been enforced for more than a year, is officially no longer a state law.

Gov. Kate Brown recently signed House Bill 2446, which removes the longstanding ban from statute but doesn’t otherwise change restrictions on raw milk sales.

The bill was introduced as part of a legal settlement between the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Christine Anderson, a raw milk producer who sued the agency for violating her free speech rights.

During hearings and work sessions, HB 2446 faced no opposition and sailed through the legislative process without so much as an amendment.

Northwest Farm Credit Services, a major agricultural lender in the region, will be able to participate in Oregon’s “Aggie Bond” program, which is aimed at providing loans to beginning farmers under House Bill 3239. The bill was signed into law by Brown recently and expands the definition of lenders who qualify for the program, which provides companies with a federal tax credit for lending to new growers.

A ban against using drones for hunting and angling was also approved by the legislature and Brown without encountering any objections, though lawmakers did make some adjustments to clarify that such devices can be used for managing wildlife with the approval of state regulators.

House Bill 2534 passed both chambers unanimously. The bill was supported by lobbyists representing hunters and fishermen, who feel that drones threaten the concept of “fair chase.”

House Bill 2432, which expands the use of fireworks for bird control, was another non-controversial measure that was recently signed into law. The legislation allows managers of golf courses, airports, landfills and similar facilities to use fireworks to repel birds. Before the bill was passed, such uses were limited to farms and forests.

Legislation that would streamline the permitting process for artificial beaver dams in the Malheur Lake drainage basin passed the House 51-7 and is now under review in the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Artificial beaver dams are intended to restore the function of “flashy” streams by slowing them down, which also improves forage conditions for ranchers.

Environmental groups are split on House Bill 3217, with the Oregon Natural Desert Association supporting it but several other groups worried about reduced fish passage restrictions.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The state Drought Council has endorsed seven more county drought declarations and sent them on to the governor.

Water Resources Department spokeswoman Racquel Rancier says the council on Thursday forwarded drought declarations from Deschutes, Grant, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Morrow and Umatilla counties to the governor’s office.

The governor’s declaration allows increased flexibility in how water is managed to ensure that limited supplies are used as efficiently as possible.

According to the state Water Resources Department website, 14 of Oregon’s 36 counties have declared drought disasters, and the governor has followed up with declarations in seven of them. Federal declarations, which make it possible to apply for drought loans and aid payments, have been made in 15 counties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Running flat out for a new term at home and tiptoeing through tough issues in the Capitol, Ron Wyden brags that he’s “different, like Oregon.”

Not everyone sees that as a good thing, though, at least in the Senate. In the space of just a few hours this week, Wyden managed to offend Republicans and Democrats alike over legislation he co-authored permitting President Barack Obama to cut “fast-track” trade deals that Congress could approve or reject, but not change.

It’s part of Wyden’s effort to show he’s for trade, against government intrusion and pragmatic — even if it means embarrassing his president, irking his colleagues and angering labor and environmental groups back home. As the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Wyden is at the center of the debate.

“Wyden trying to pull a fast one on fast track,” blared the headline of a recent Oregon AFL-CIO newsletter.

“Save the Internet, Stop Fast Track,” read a 30-foot blimp by a company called Fight for the Future that flew over the senator’s town hall meeting last month.

Wyden acknowledges the hubbub and shrugs it off.

“It comes with the territory,” he said this week, hurrying from the Capitol to his office nearby. “I’m a big guy.”

Six-foot-four, to be exact — tall enough to play Division I basketball in college. Instead of a sports career, he opted for law school and politics. At 66, Wyden is a 35-year veteran of the House and Senate, facing re-election to a full fourth term amid a dizzying array of other details. He’s a father of five — including twin 7-year-olds and a toddler — a cancer survivor and a key negotiator on tax policy, privacy law, health care policy and trade.

“Some days I look at him and I know he’s got to be tired,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

What’s high-energy and a “wide bandwidth” to some is considered frenetic and unpredictable by others in the Senate. But no one doubts that Wyden commands an unusually large portfolio of high-profile legislation or that his brand of pragmatism can be effective.

Wyden, from his post on the finance panel, is his party’s chief negotiator of trade legislation that would allow Obama to negotiate trade deals, such as an historic accord with 11 Pacific Rim nations.

And should Senate Republicans try next week to extend the Patriot Act’s expiring spying powers, Wyden says he’ll try to block the effort with a filibuster.

If he does, little love would be lost between him and majority Republicans, who spent the week openly questioning Wyden’s credibility. A dozen Democrats who support the legislation weren’t happy, either. On the brink of Senate action, they let Wyden know they would vote against it — unless Republicans agreed to demands on other measures that would give them political cover with unions and other groups.

Abruptly, Wyden abandoned the legislation he had helped write. He joined the dozen protesting Democratic senators in the last-minute ultimatum, demanding that majority Republicans also offer votes on bills to enforce labor standards with the U.S. trading partners and crack down on currency manipulation by foreign governments.

An only-in-the-Senate spectacle ensued: Wyden and the dozen Democrats voted against moving ahead on the package they, and Obama, support.

Stunned, the White House sputtered about the “snafu.” Obama summoned Senate Democrats for a meeting. And Republicans thundered about the perceived double-cross by Wyden, in a chamber that operates substantially on relationships and trust.

“Words,” grumbled Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch ominously, “have been broken.”

Does he think Wyden, his negotiating partner on the Finance Committee, had been dishonest?

“I’m not going to talk about our relationship,” replied Hatch, the committee chairman. “Was I disappointed? Yes. That’s all I’m going to say.”

It remained unclear what had transpired between the two, but Wyden insists he did not promise to move forward without the enforcement and currency bills.

“I would not have agreed to that,” he says.

Within 24 hours, Republicans had agreed to the Democratic demands. And the legislation allowing Obama to strike a historic Pacific trade agreement inched forward. Pro-trade lawmakers can say they voted for giving the United States a bigger piece of overseas markets. Democrats could tell labor unions they tried to force through additional bills to enforce existing labor standards with overseas trading partners, and to crack down on currency manipulation by foreign governments. And Wyden could claim both, including co-authorship of the main bill to grant Obama the authority to strike the Pacific Rim deal.

“He did the right thing,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

From Wyden’s viewpoint, the gambit succeeded. He’s pro-trade, but can now say he stood up for the enforcement of labor standards some in the Democratic base demand — both answers to the backlash he’s facing over the issue in Oregon.

Within hours of voting down the initial bill, Wyden’s re-election campaign issued a release bragging about the ultimatum.

“I remain committed to expanding trade opportunities for Oregonians and all Americans,” he wrote. “But we’re going to do it right.”

Several Oregon farms have filed crop liens against an out-of-state seed company they claim is past due on more than $1.5 million in payments for radish seed.

Other growers whose contractual payment dates are still upcoming have also filed liens against Cover Crop Solutions, based in Pennsylvania, bringing the total to 35 grain producers liens worth $4.85 million.

“I don’t know of any small business owners in Oregon that can take that kind of hit for an extended period of time. It’s a scary situation,” said Anna Scharf of Scharf Farms, which filed a $250,000 lien against the firm. “When we’re asked to be the banker, it’s hard for farmers.”

David Weaver, CEO of Cover Crop Solutions, said he could not yet discuss the situation but would soon respond to a request for comment from Capital Press.

Jim Gardner of K&J Farms, which filed a $97,000 lien, said his family is relatively new to producing radish seed but it was a major crop for their operation last year.

“I haven’t seen a penny and I need to pay people,” he said.

The uncertainty over payments from Cover Crop Solutions will probably make farmers think twice about growing radish seed, Gardner said. “A farmer can’t grow something for nothing.”

A recent oversupply in the market for radish seed, which is planted as a cover crop, was aggravated by weather in the Midwest last year, said Gary Weaver, president of Weaver Seed of Oregon.

A wet spring in 2014 delayed the planting and harvest of corn and soybeans, which left many farmers in that region with insufficient time to plant cover crops in autumn, he said.

Seed producers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley also overestimated demand for radish seed, Weaver said. “The whole valley planted too many acres.”

However, the oversupply is likely to ease over the next 18 months as seed companies work through their inventories, he said.

Gardner of K&J Farms said that growers file liens because they’re nervous about an eventuality similar to the bankruptcy of Agribiotech, which defaulted on contracts with grass seed farmers in 2000.

“I think it opened a lot of farmers’ eyes about what they need to do to protect themselves,” he said.

In a bankruptcy, liens ensure that farmers are treated as secured creditors who have collateral in the company’s assets, said Tim Bernasek, an Oregon attorney specializing in agriculture.

“Being first in line to get paid enhances your ability to get paid,” Bernasek said.

Under a grain producer’s lien, a company’s entire inventory serves as collateral for the grower — not just the crop he delivered, said John Albert, an Oregon attorney who specializes in agricultural liens.

Farmers therefore don’t have to show the company still has possession of their crop, he said.

“That makes it a pretty powerful tool in the hands of a grower,” Albert said.

However, grain producers liens aren’t effective indefinitely, since they expire after six months.

Before the expiration, growers can enforce the liens to foreclose on a company’s inventory, which is then sold as part of a sheriff’s sale and used to compensate farmers, he said.

Scharf said she doesn’t intend to bash Cover Crop Solutions but is disappointed farmers in the Willamette Valley don’t have the opportunity to plant canola, a related crop that’s restricted in the region.

Canola is a commodity crop that buyers pay for shortly after delivery, unlike contracted seed, she said. “The power is not with the farmers, it’s with the companies.”

From the surface, all will appear normal when Andy Hulting gives his presentation on weed control in grass seed at Oregon State University’s Hyslop Farm Field Day May 27 in Corvallis.

The OSU Extension weed specialist has been a regular on the field day’s agenda during the past nine years.

But this year’s appearance likely will mean a little more to Hulting and those close to him. It will be one his first grower presentations since he suffered a stroke on Jan. 31 that sidelined him for most of three months.

“It is good to be back,” he said. “It beats a hospital room. I can tell you that much.”

Life is slowly returning to normal for Hulting, who spent two weeks in a drug induced coma and another month in professional medical care. Hulting said he still doesn’t have full range of feeling in his right leg, but he has no memory loss, no cognitive impairment and no issue with concentrating. He returned to work part-time in mid-April and started back full-time on May 11.

Hulting suffered the stroke while delivering a talk on weed control at an extension meeting in Prineville. Five minutes into his presentation, Hulting reportedly sat in a chair, announced he didn’t feel well and passed out.

Paramedics transported Hulting from Prineville to the St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, then airlifted him to Oregon Health and Science University.

“I have nothing but good things to say about OHSU,” Hulting said. “And I want to thank the Prineville Fire and Rescue, because they were the first ones there.”

At OHSU, doctors placed Hulting in the coma to stabilize him, identify the cause of the stroke and operate on him. They brought Hulting out of the coma in mid-February, with his family gathered around his bedside.

“My parents were there and everybody,” said Hulting, who is married and has three children. “It was a pretty surreal experience.”

Hulting spent another two weeks in recovery at OHSU, then two weeks at a rehabilitation center in Eugene before returning home in mid-March.

“It was pretty tough for a while,” Hulting said, “but once I got home, things started improving.”

Hulting, 40, said he had no sign that anything was wrong until the moment he suffered the stroke.

“I drove over (from Corvallis) in the morning, had lunch, and everything was fine,” he said.

Hulting said there is no history of stroke in his family. Also, he said, doctors were unable to explain why the stroke struck when it did.

“It is probably a birth defect, and it just picked that day to happen,” he said.

Hulting, who has been at OSU nine years, wanted to thank the many people who have supported him over the past few months.

“I just got tons of emails from growers and industry people,” he said. “I want to thank them for all of their support.

“To be missed and be thought of is a pretty neat experience,” he said.

Second only, perhaps, to being back at work.

Hyslop Farm Field Day

Oregon State University’s Hyslop Farm Field Day includes presentations on winter wheat cultivars, an update on canola and disease management trials, and looks at weed, disease and insect control in Willamette Valley cropping systems.

The field day starts at 8:15 a.m. May 27, and ends with a complimentary lunch served by the OSU Crop and Soil Science Club.

Hyslop Farm is at 3455 NE Granger Ave., Corvallis.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed a bill that allows advertising of raw milk

Oregon is among 30 states that allow the sale of unpasteurized milk, but it can be sold only on the farm. Sellers have not been allowed to advertise since the 1950s.

In 2013, a McMinnville farmer challenged the ban, filing suit after state inspectors told her to remove milk prices from a website.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture settled the case in February 2014 by ordering staff to stop enforcing the ban and asking the Legislature to repeal it.

Consumer demand for raw milk has increased in recent years. Health officials say raw milk can carry harmful bacteria that can make you sick.

SALEM — Opponents of a proposal to extend canola production in Oregon’s Willamette Valley want to stop the bill in the Senate after its resounding win in the House.

House Bill 3382, which would allow 500 acres of the crop to be grown in the region for an additional three years, passed the House 42-16 and is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

A six-year moratorium on canola production in the Willamette Valley was established under 2013 legislation, but 500 acres were allowed to be cultivated for the first three years as part of an Oregon State University study.

Proponents of HB 3382 say that extending production on a limited acreage for the full six years will avoid disrupting their market, but opponents who fear cross-pollination with related seed crops argue the bill will double the “seed bank” of potential volunteers.

“It’s unnecessary and should be rejected,” said Nick Tichinin, president of the Universal Seed Co., during a May 11 hearing.

Leaving the Willamette Valley free of canola for the final three years of the moratorium was intended to provide insights about problems with volunteers, he said.

Opponents say that canola seeds have been shown to persist in the soil and remain viable for several years.

Tichinin said canola threatens specialty seed production in Oregon just as it did in France, Italy and Britain, which were dealt a severe blow as seed buyers decided to source product from elsewhere.

Allowing additional canola production undermines the carefully crafted legislation from 2013 and “jumps the gun” because OSU’s study is still incomplete, according to opponents.

Supporters of HB 3382 counter that the legislation wouldn’t have a negative impact on the specialty seed industry.

“Five hundred acres is a drop in the bucket in the Willamette Valley and I don’t think it will hurt to continue for three more years,” said Eric Bowers, a farmer near Harrisburg, Ore.

Tomas Endicott of Willamette Biomass Processors argued that canola poses no bigger threat to related brassica seed crops than turnips or radishes, which are grown without any regulation in the area.

Halting canola production in the Willamette Valley will prevent Endicott’s company from using its full oilseed crushing capacity and delay any possible investment in expanding the facility, he said.

Scott Setniker, a farmer near Independence, Ore., said he already grows closely related crops like chard and sugar beets without cross-pollination problems.

While canola opponents say their market is threatened, the current system is already harming farmers who want to grow the crop for its rotational and financial benefits, Setniker said.

Canola supporters say the crop gives them more weed treatment options when grown in rotation with grasses and is more easily marketable as a commodity compared to other seeds, which are produced under contract and typically aren’t paid for as quickly.

“I can’t have all my eggs in that one basket,” Setniker said.

Morrow County is joining the line to ask Oregon Gov. Kate Brown for an emergency drought declaration, as farmers and ranchers deal with oppressively dry conditions.

The county court signed off on its request May 6, which will be considered when the state Drought Council and Water Availability Committee meet in Salem on Thursday.

Requests have also been submitted by Umatilla, Grant, Deschutes and Josephine counties. Gov. Brown has already declared drought in Baker, Crook, Harney, Klamath, Lake, Malheur and Wheeler counties.

“We all consider this drought situation important, not only to our individual counties but also to the region,” said Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman.

Across the region, snowpack is all but gone in the Umatilla, Willow and John Day basins. Water releases from McKay Creek Reservoir near Pendleton began about two months earlier than usual, and the reservoir itself is just 71 percent full. Cold Springs Reservoir in Hermiston is even lower, at 51 percent full.

In southern Morrow County, regulators are on the verge of imposing restrictions from Willow Creek. Ken Thiemann, district watermaster based in Condon, said the creek is flowing at 6 cubic feet per second above Willow Creek Dam near Heppner, well short of the average 26 cubic feet per second.

The reservoir is also about two feet lower now than it was at this time a year ago, Thiemann said. Such depleted water supplies pose a threat for ranchers who rely on irrigation to support their pastures and livestock, according to the county’s drought resolution.

Meanwhile, dryland wheat farmers are suffering a lack of rain to produce a solid yield on this year’s crop. The National Weather Service reports precipitation in Heppner has been below normal every month since January, and is down 1.93 inches overall for the calendar year. That’s already 15 percent of the area’s average annual rainfall.

County Commissioner Don Russell said he drives from Boardman to Heppner about five times every month, and he can see a difference in this year’s wheat stands.

“I’ve noticed the wheat crop looks pretty stressed,” Russell said. “It’s shorter than normal, and not as green as it should be.”

Several farmers talked to the county court about pursuing a drought declaration, Russell said, to help them through a potentially difficult year. If approved, the declaration could allow the Oregon Water Resources Department to issue temporary water rights and transfers where necessary.

The OWRD has said drought is “unavoidable” in the John Day River basin and likely in the Umatilla basin, given this year’s extreme lack of snow in the mountains to recharge streams.

As of May 5, the U.S. Drought Monitor has all of Umatilla, Morrow, Union, Gilliam and Sherman counties listed in severe drought. Umatilla and Morrow counties already qualify for federal drought assistance since they are contiguous with Grant County, where the Department of Agriculture has identified disaster conditions.

“Morrow County is no exception to our neighbors. We’re very dry,” Russell said. “Unless we get some very late rain, it’s going to be a very dry summer and dry fall.”

The Drought Council and Water Availability Committee will make its recommendations following review Thursday. The governor has the final say in whether to declare a local drought emergency.

As farmers’ markets open across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, the economic vitality that accompanies the direct grower to consumer connection shows no sign of wavering.

The Oregon Farmers Markets Association estimates the state has about 160 markets, 40 of them in the Portland area. The state had 12 in 1987.

John Eveland, whose Gathering Together organic farm in Oregon is in its 27th year of selling vegetables at farmers’ markets, said markets are a response to consumer unease over “industrial” agriculture.

Anyone who is half-aware realizes how important food is, he said. With most people a couple generations removed from the farm, many look for a re-introduction to farmers.

“You start wondering where it comes from and how they produce it,” Eveland said. “I think it’s inherently reassuring to look at the people who actually had something to do with it.”

His employees make the rounds of up to nine markets in season, including several in the Portland area, 90 miles north of the farm. Market sales make up about 40 percent of his $2.5 million annual business. He also sells at his farm stand and to grocery stores, restaurants and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscribers.

“They feed off each other quite well, it’s a little bit synergistic,” Eveland said. Having the farm’s name on the menu of high-end restaurants increases its visibility, and pays off in more sales when customers see Gathering Together’s booth at farmers’ markets.

Farmers’ markets also are a good outlet for excess production, he said. Farmers serving CSA customers, for example, often produce much more than subscribers require.

“You need a place to move product, and farmers’ markets are great,” he said. “If you show up to sell something this week and you don’t have it next week, it’s not the end of the world.”

Julie Laube hits the road from Greens Bridge Gardens, of Jefferson, about an hour south of Portland, while her husband, Jason, runs the family berry operation. The route includes markets in Beaverton, where they’ve sold for 26 years, and Portland, Lake Oswego, Salem, Lebanon and Lincoln City, in addition to a home fruit stand.

This month, Julie Laube found an eager reception for the family’s Jefferson Reds, one of the earliest strawberry varieties.

Markets also are an entry point for beginning farmers. Partners Sarah Lynch and Matthew Willis used a USDA micro loan to get started. They own Super Natural Farm in Willamina, a 9-acre organic operation about 60 miles southwest of Portland. They make the rounds to markets in Portland, Beaverton, McMinnville and Lincoln City. Lynch recently set up a booth at the Moreland Farmers’ Market in Southeast Portland to sell gleaming spring garlic, intensely purple kohlrabi and other early veggies.

Lynch said she’s been farming since 2006 and, with Willis, is committed to the lifestyle and to the work needed to succeed at it. At this point, farmers markets make up 75 percent of their business.

“We’re ready to go,” Lynch said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s wine industry has come into its own in recent years, spurring the growth of wineries and newly planted acres of vineyards from the California border to the Columbia River.

Now the wine industry wants in the trans-Pacific trade agreement that President Barack Obama came to Oregon to promote. Vineyard owners and wine makers say the trade deal would help open up foreign markets and increase job growth in Oregon.

“It’s a big world out there, and there (are) a lot of thirsty people,” said Alex Sokol of Sokol Blosser Winery. “Wine is a heavily regulated thing. But if tariffs drop, it will be that much easier and will make us more competitive.”

Obama gave a shout-out to the Dayton-based winery in his speech Friday at Nike’s Beaverton headquarters — spelling out how the trade deal would cut tariffs in Japan, Sokol Blosser’s top export market, and increase sales.

The industry has grown substantially in recent years. Planted vineyard acreage in Oregon doubled in the last 10 years to 25,000 acres. According to a study released earlier this year, Oregon’s wine industry now has a $3.3 billion economic impact on the state, including crop values, jobs, services and sales.

Wine-related jobs total about 17,000 in the state. That includes direct employment in vineyards, wineries, distribution, retail and restaurants, as well as indirect jobs in production, marketing and distribution.

A trade deal that would break down tariffs and other barriers would give an even bigger boost to the industry, said Jana McKamey, government affairs director of Oregon Winegrowers Association. The association would like to see the specifics of the trade agreement before giving the deal a full blessing, though it generally supports agreements that ease trade, McKamey said.

“Access to international markets is very important to our industry’s expansion,” she said. “Tariffs put American wines at a disadvantage, so having a level playing field is important for our wines to compete.”

That’s especially key in countries like Japan, which is one of the top destinations for Oregon’s wine. Japan currently has a tariff on wine, McKamey said, which means Oregon’s wines — already an expensive, premium product — sell at above-average prices. Oregon wines have a hard time competing with those from other countries, such as Australia, which has recently signed an agreement with Japan to phase out tariffs.

Japan is one of the 11 countries that are negotiating the trade agreement with the U.S.

Selling Oregon wine abroad also indirectly boosts economic activity in the state by bringing in wine tourists, who leave their money not just in wineries, but also in local hotels, restaurants and stores. Wine-related tourism contributed $208 million in revenues to the state’s economy in 2013, data show.

The ability to increase exports would also boost jobs in the U.S., A to Z Wineworks founder Sam Tannahill said.

“Every 10 acres of vineyards we plant in rural areas of Oregon, that’s one job. We cannot move those jobs anywhere else,” Tannahill said. “The more markets we have access to, the more wine we can sell, the more jobs we create here.”

Tannahill, whose Newberg-based company is one of Oregon’s leading wine producers, exports his wine to seven countries and would like to export to more places. “In some places, the barriers are just too high,” he said.

But critics say a trade agreement could harm agricultural workers — because that’s what happened in Mexico after NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was implemented in 1994.

NAFTA’s goal was to remove barriers to trade and investment between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. But under NAFTA, as the U.S. vastly increased corn exports to Mexico, millions of small Mexican farmers couldn’t make ends meet — leading many of them to cross the border illegally into the U.S. to seek agricultural jobs in places like Oregon.

“The NAFTA labor side agreement proved too ineffective in protecting farmworkers against the negative consequences of agricultural trade in both the United States and Mexico,” Bruce Goldstein, president of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., said in an email.

“Any new trade agreement,” he said, “is likely to have major negative consequences for many workers.”

The trade deal envisioned by Obama is not a sure thing. Congress is debating whether to give Obama so-called fast-track authority to complete the deal. Obama’s toughest sell is with his own Democratic allies, who fear the loss of American jobs and weakened financial and environmental rules.