PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Prosecutors have rested their case against Ammon Bundy and six co-defendants who occupied a national wildlife refuge in southeast Oregon.

The prosecution closed by showing jurors a display of firearms seized at the refuge following the 41-day standoff.

Defense lawyers are expected to begin their case Wednesday by recalling several law enforcement officers who testified for the government. Bundy plans to take the witness stand at some point during the trial, but the date remains unknown.

The Emmett, Idaho, resident and his co-defendants are charged with conspiring to prevent Interior Department employees from doing their jobs at the refuge. Five of the seven are also accused of possessing firearms in a federal facility.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Supporters of a prohibition against genetically engineered crops in Oregon’s Josephine County won’t have to pay the attorney fees of farmers who defeated the ordinance.

Josephine County Circuit Court Judge Pat Wolke has held that such an award isn’t warranted in this case.

Voters approved Josephine County’s ban in 2014, but earlier this year, Wolke struck it down at the urging of Robert and Shelley Ann White, who wanted to grow biotech sugar beets.

The couple then sought to recover $29,200 from an organic company, Siskiyou Seeds, and a non-profit, Oregonians for Safe Farms and Families, that had intervened to defend the ordinance.

The intervenors had relied on several arguments that lacked an “objectively reasonable basis” and thus should compensate the Whites for dragging out the legal proceedings, said John DiLorenzo, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

“All we want is compensation for time that we had to waste,” he said during oral arguments in August.

For example, the intervenor’s attorneys claimed that a state law pre-empting local governments from regulating genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, was unconstitutional, DiLorenzo said.

However, they cited no legal precedent from Oregon to support this theory, and instead pointed to case law from Ohio, he said.

Attorneys for the intervenors said the issue of local GMO bans is a novel legal issue in Oregon and they should not be punished for presenting good faith defenses of the ordinance.

Wolke ultimately sided with the intervenors, noting that attorneys routinely counter lawsuits with multiple defense theories that may not end up proving plausible.

Because at least one defense presented by the intervenors was objectively reasonable, the plaintiffs aren’t entitled to attorney fees, he said.

Mary Middleton, executive director of OSFF, said the plaintiffs were attempting to chill other groups from vigorously defending local GMO bans in the future.

“I’m happy the judge saw it for what it was,” said Middleton.

The additional attorney fees would have been a great hardship for Siskiyou Seeds and OSFF, she said.

“We operate on a small budget and a $29,000 bill on top of other expenses would have been very difficult for us,” Middleton said.

DiLorenzo, the farmers’ attorney, said the judge took a practical approach and seemed to be damning the intervenors’ legal arguments with faint praise.

“The judge noted the case law in the area is not clear,” he said.

DiLorenzo said he wasn’t sure if the plaintiffs would appeal this decision.

In principle, lawyers should be required to present reasonable defenses — but, on the other hand, the attorney fee issue is tangential to the overall dispute, he said.

OSFF and Siskiyou Seeds have challenged Wolke’s ruling that struck down the ordinance before the Oregon Court of Appeals, with the parties soon expected to begin submitting legal briefs in the appellate case.

A new report estimates 64 percent of Oregon’s farmland, nearly 10.5 million acres, could change hands in the next 20 years.

Farmers 55 and older, the ubiquitous Baby Boomers, control that much of Oregon ag land, according to the report. As they leave the profession over the next two decades, they are likely to sell or transfer land to family members, neighbors or other current farmers and ranchers, or to business entities that are “primarily focused on investment, finance, property management, and development.”

“How that land changes hands, who acquires it, and what they do with the land will impact Oregon for generations,” the report concludes.

The report, “The Future of Oregon’s Agricultural Land,” said the average age of Oregon farmers and ranchers is now 60, up from 55 in 2002.

The report was produced by Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems in conjunction with Portland State University’s Planning Oregon/Institute for Metropolitan Studies, and with Rogue Farm Corps, a non-profit striving to train the next generation of farmers, particularly those who weren’t born to the farm or ranch.

Nellie McAdams, director of Rogue Farm Corps’ farm preservation program and one of the report’s co-authors, said bigger farms under fewer owners is a likely outcome of the coming ownership turnover. While farm size is not a problem by itself, she said, consolidation could result in fewer operators and less diversity in crop decisions and farming methods. With larger parcels, ownership becomes an even greater cost leap for beginning farmers, she said.

In addition to rising land costs, other hurdles for new farmers include the high cost of getting started, low income during a farm’s “formative years,” a lack of training opportunities for those without a farming background and “systemic barriers” that exclude “the growing pool of women and people of color who are eager to farm.”

The potential impact of older farmers letting go of land isn’t a new topic — the question of “Who are the next farmers?” is closely related — but the researchers took deeper dives than most into farmland transition.

To verify findings, the authors used USDA data, interviewed farmers, Realtors and others, and went through sales and property tax records.

From 2010 through 2015, 25 to 40 percent of farmland sales in Washington, Benton, Clackamas, and Polk counties were to business entities. Ten to 15 percent of farm sales in those counties involved out-of-state buyers.

Meanwhile, land prices are increasing. The average estimated market value of an acre of farmland with buildings in 2012 was $1,882, compared to $1,534 in 2002, according to the Census of Agriculture. “Realtors and land seekers are seeing much higher land prices, especially for irrigated land near urban areas and along transportation corridors,” the researchers concluded.

McAdams, of Rogue Farm Corps, said there’s evidence to suggest farmers themselves aren’t prepared for the turnover. Instead of being incorporated or formed as LLCs, 84 percent of Oregon farms are listed as sole proprietorships, the simplest and cheapest form of business organization. But it means the farm is tied to an individual, which can complicate succession, McAdams said.

The statistic “suggests that the vast majority of Oregon farmers may not have created thorough plans to smoothly transfer their businesses and assets to the next generation,” the report said.

The authors concluded that land-sharing models, farm conservation easements, working lands easements, and other creative leasing arrangements may lead to better outcomes both for retiring farmers and those looking for a foothold in the profession. Other programs could connect beginning farmers with experienced ones, allowing them to explore innovative land access arrangements, the researchers said. Nonprofit farm incubators also offer low-cost access to land, and enable beginning farmers to gain experience, they said.

PENDLETON, Ore. — Now that wheat harvest is winding down across northeast Oregon, United Grain Corporation is beginning to focus on how it will upgrade facilities purchased from Pendleton Grain Growers earlier this year.

United Grain has pledged to invest $9 million in the buildings, which include all of PGG’s upcountry elevators, the McNary river terminal and Alicel rail terminal. Regional Manager Jason Middleton said they have not made any decisions yet, but hope to have a plan take shape by November.

Middleton, who was hired from PGG after the co-op voted to dissolve in May, said the goal is to add capacity at elevators where farmers are most likely to store their grain, and increase efficiency at the two terminals to keep trucks moving in and out quickly. Other elevators will likely be shut down for good, though Middleton said the crystal ball is still a little foggy.

“We’ve had a couple meetings about it, but haven’t by any stretch of the imagination come away with a plan of what we’re going to do,” he said.

This year’s winter wheat harvest was a baptism by fire for United Grain, which finalized its deal with PGG on June 10. Fifteen days later, Middleton said, they were already taking wheat from the west end of the county, giving them only enough time for an initial cursory glance at infrastructure needs.

Several elevators were closed right off the bat, including the ones at Mission, Holdman, Elgin and McComas in downtown Pendleton.

“Some of them were safety issues, didn’t meet our standards and hadn’t handled a lot of bushels for a long time,” Middleton said.

Others, such as Rew, Stanton and Brogiotti, were closed by Middleton in 2012 when he took over as director of grain operations for PGG. Since then, Middleton said, the majority of money has been spent at McNary and Alicel, which can hold up to 6.6 million bushels and 1.2 million bushels, respectively.

That has a lot to do with how the grain farming industry has changed, Middleton said. Combines are able to cut wheat far more efficiently than they used to, and farms are sending larger trucks farther distances to get their product out to market.

What used to be smaller farm trucks heading to the closest country elevator are now large semis lining up outside McNary along the Columbia River. Ideally, Middleton said they should be able to weight and unload trucks within 5-10 minutes.

“The terminals are farther along than our upcountry elevators,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at now.”

This year’s harvest wasn’t without its struggles, Middleton said, as they were forced to hit the ground running. But overall, growers in Umatilla County had much better spring and winter conditions and should be closer to their average yields, he said.

“We got some saving rains, and we didn’t have a brutal winter either,” Middleton said.

Already, the Pendleton area has received some good rains that will help farmers plant into better moisture for next year. According to the National Weather Service, Pendleton has received .68 inches of precipitation during September, more than the usual .45 inches.

Middleton said he is encouraged, but growers need more to continue reversing the damage from previous years of intense drought.

“We have some guys seeding now into better moisture this year,” Middleton said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As prosecutors prepare to rest their case in the federal conspiracy trial of Ammon Bundy and his followers, jurors viewed a video Monday of occupiers using assault rifles to fire at a boat launch located on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Assistant U.S Attorney Ethan Knight said the video — pulled from the Facebook account of a Bundy co-defendant who pleaded guilty — refutes defense claims that the armed occupation was a peaceful protest.

“It’s direct evidence of force,” Knight told U.S. District Judge Anna Brown when getting permission to show it to jurors.

Bundy attorney Marcus Mumford argued the mere firing of weapons was not an act of force.

Also Monday, several FBI agents testified about evidence recovered after the 41-day occupation.

FBI Special Agent Christopher Chew said he managed the evidence-collection effort that occurred between Feb. 12 and Feb. 23. Sixty-three people searched 23 buildings, 14 privately owned vehicles and nine outdoor areas on the federal property.

When Chew testified about more than 1,000 spent shell casings found at the boat launch, Mumford questioned if there were any targets found.

“Just birds and wildlife,” the agent said.

Mumford asked if any people got shot at the refuge. Chew said no.

Bundy and six co-defendants are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from the refuge through intimidation or threats. Five of the seven are also charged with possessing a firearm in a federal facility.

Prosecutors plan to wrap up their case by Tuesday afternoon. The defense is expected to start presenting its side of the story Wednesday and continue through October.

Bundy’s group seized the refuge Jan. 2 after a protest in support of two ranchers who were returning to federal prison on arson convictions. The protest grew into a call for the federal government to relinquish control of Western lands.

PENDLETON, Ore. — Now that wheat harvest is winding down across northeast Oregon, United Grain Corp. is beginning to focus on how it will upgrade facilities purchased from Pendleton Grain Growers earlier this year.

United Grain has pledged to invest $9 million in the buildings, which include all of PGG’s upcountry elevators, the McNary River terminal and Alicel rail terminal. Regional Manager Jason Middleton said they have not made any decisions yet, but hope to have a plan take shape by November.

Middleton, who was hired from PGG after the co-op voted to dissolve in May, said the goal is to add capacity at elevators where farmers are most likely to store their grain, and increase efficiency at the two terminals to keep trucks moving in and out quickly. Other elevators will likely be shut down for good, though Middleton said the crystal ball is still a little foggy.

“We’ve had a couple meetings about it, but haven’t by any stretch of the imagination come away with a plan of what we’re going to do,” he said.

This year’s winter wheat harvest was a baptism by fire for United Grain, which finalized its deal with PGG on June 10. Fifteen days later, Middleton said they were already taking bushels from the west end of the county, giving them only enough time for an initial cursory glance at infrastructure needs.

Several elevators were closed right off the bat, including the ones at Mission, Holdman, Elgin and McComas in downtown Pendleton.

“Some of them were safety issues, didn’t meet our standards and hadn’t handled a lot of bushels for a long time,” Middleton said.

Others, such as Rew, Stanton and Brogiotti, were closed by Middleton back in 2012 when he took over as director of grain operations for PGG. Since then, Middleton said the majority of money has been spent at McNary and Alicel, which can hold up to 6.6 million bushels and 1.2 million bushels, respectively.

That has a lot to do with how the grain farming industry has changed, Middleton said. Combines are able to cut wheat far more efficiently than they used to, and farms are sending larger trucks longer distances to get their product to market.

What used to be smaller farm trucks heading to the closest country elevator are now large semis lining up outside McNary along the Columbia River. Ideally, Middleton said they should be able to weigh and unload trucks within 5-10 minutes.

“The terminals are farther along than our upcountry elevators,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at now.”

This year’s harvest wasn’t without its struggles, Middleton said, as they were forced to hit the ground running. But overall, growers in Umatilla County had much better spring and winter conditions and should be closer to their average yields, he said.

“We got some saving rains, and we didn’t have a brutal winter either,” Middleton said.

Already, the Pendleton area has received some good rains that will help farmers plant into better moisture for next year. According to the National Weather Service, Pendleton has received .68 inches of rain during September, more than the usual .45 inches.

Middleton said he is encouraged, but growers need more to continue reversing the damage from previous years of intense drought.

“We have some guys seeding now into better moisture this year,” Middleton said.

The prosecution is starting to wrap up its case as the trial of seven occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge enters its third week.

They estimate they will rest their case at the end of the day Tuesday.

The first two weeks have been eventful, as it’s been revealed that an informant tipped off law enforcement on the day several occupation leaders were taken into custody and another was killed. The jury also heard testimony that detailed threats against Harney County Sheriff David Ward in the lead up to the occupation. As the trial enters its third week, here’s what we can expect:

The prosecution has moved swiftly through its case as it has presented evidence that the occupiers conspired to prevent federal employees from doing their work through the use of intimidation, threats or force.

Testimony from Harney County Sheriff David Ward shed light on the lead-up to the occupation. Malheur refuge manager Chad Karges and several other refuge employees testified as to how the occupation prevented them from doing their jobs.

FBI agents have testified about the actions of occupiers during the 41-day takeover, as well as tense negotiations in the final days.

Testimony from Harney County Rancher Andy Dunbar, whose land borders the refuge, offered key testimony about what was heard and seen on the refuge during the occupation.

During the final days of the prosecution’s presentation, the jury will start seeing a lot of the evidence collected by the FBI after the occupation ended in February. The FBI seized dozens of guns from the refuge, and the prosecution is expected to present some of them in court. Though it is unclear just how many of weapons will actually be presented.

During testimony last week from refuge employee Linda Beck, the jury also saw photos of hundreds of spent ammunition casings near the boat launch at Malheur Lake. This week, the prosecution is expected to present the jury with video taken from fellow occupier Jason Blomgren’s Facebook page of several occupiers firing guns near the boat launch. In this video, the occupiers appear to be lined up in an organized manner engaging in a form of target practice. We’re expected to learn more about the evidence the video provides as the prosecution concludes its case this week.

Blomgren was originally scheduled to testify for the prosecution during this trial, but it now seems as though those plans have changed.

The defense is expected to begin making its cases as early as Wednesday morning. This is the part of the trial with the most variables as there are seven different defendants, each with different approaches to their case. Three occupiers are representing themselves, some have court-appointed public defenders, and then in the case of Ammon Bundy, a pair of experienced private defense attorneys.

We do not know what each defense team has planned, but based on opening statements it very much appears the attorneys will try to convince the jury that their clients’ actions were protected under First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Many on the defense have framed the occupation as peaceful political protest of government overreach.

It will be also interesting to see which defendants, if any, take the stand to testify in their own defense. Occupation leader Ammon Bundy testified in pre-trial hearings in July, Ammon Bundy took the stand and acknowledged taking over the refuge. In that testimony, Bundy tried to downplay his role in the takeover. “It was more of a combined effort,” he said when prosecutors described him as the occupation’s leader.

Prosecutors had intended to introduce that testimony as evidence in this trial, but later decided not to. They now say they will only enter it as evidence upon cross examination if Ammon Bundy takes the stand during the trial.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown issued the first sentence against an occupier of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Friday.

Scott Willingham will not have to serve his sentence of six months in prison because of the 190 days he has already served, but Brown ordered an additional two years of supervised release. Brown also required Willingham to pay fines to the federal government for stealing FBI cameras from the refuge in January.

Willingham was not one of the defendants charged with conspiracy for the 41-day occupation, but participated in the refuge occupation with Ammon Bundy and other leaders in January.

The sentence comes after Willingham pleaded guilty in April to theft of government property as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Willingham agreed not to contact defendants in the ongoing trial of Bundy and six other occupiers as part of his plea deal, but his lawyer emphasized that Willingham was not a government informant and did not testify against the Bundys.

Willingham made headlines when he turned himself in to Grant County police in March. At that time, he threatened to shoot federal law enforcement officers if he was not jailed within a day.

Brown said in court Friday Willingham looked like a new person.

In a court statement, Willingham said he turned himself and pleaded guilty because “I wanted to come forward and be accountable for my actions because I had intentionally and knowingly done things I knew to be wrong. I want to put my actions behind me and move on.”

Willingham described himself to the Oregonian as an unemployed musician from Colorado. His lawyer says he is now “absolutely destitute” and will stay in Portland until he can get back on his feet.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Rail officials are investigating after 13 railcars derailed on a Union Pacific train in Eugene.

The Register-Guard reports that Eugene police and Eugene Springfield Fire personnel were called Sunday when a black tanker car fell to its side in west Eugene on the Union Pacific tracks. Ten empty rail cars were behind the tanker, tilted at awkward angles. Two grain cars also derailed.

Union Pacific spokesman Justin Jacobs says the train was headed around a curve when the cars left the track. The track’s main line wasn’t affected and no hazardous material was released.

Jacobs says Union Pacific will not know what caused the derailment until its investigation is completed.

Despite not being on the main track, the derailment delayed passenger train service.

Barry Cook doesn’t want passersby to get too excited about the new crop he’s got growing at his nursery in Boring, Ore.

The distinctive palm-like, serrated leaves that identify the plants as cannabis are bound to attract some unwanted attention, which is why Cook has posted his fields with signs that identify them as industrial hemp, marijuana’s non-psychoactive relative.

The signs clarify that hemp contains zero THC, the psychoactive compound, and will produce no mind-altering effects if smoked, so stealing the plants is “not worth the headache.”

“If we get robbed, we’ll probably only get robbed once,” Cook said.

The name of Cook’s new venture — Boring Hemp Co. — is a double entendre referring to its physical location and the crop’s lack of psychoactive properties.

While the legalization of marijuana in Oregon has spawned a multitude of new businesses seeking to capitalize on the crop, Cook believes hemp also presents big opportunities with fewer risks.

“I don’t have the same security concerns as medical and recreational growers have,” he said.

For now, the Boring Hemp Co. is focusing on producing hemp seeds, which have been in short supply as the nascent industry finds its legs in the state.

Next year, Cook plans to begin segregating male plants, allowing the females to produce seedless flowers from which one can extract cannabidiol, or CBD, a medicinal compound used to treat pain, seizures and inflammation.

The stems and stalks of the plant will be dried and stored until Oregon’s hemp industry becomes more mature, in the hopes that processing facilities will be built to turn these byproducts into textiles, paper, rope, building materials or other goods.

“The plant has multiple income opportunities,” said Cook.

At this point, Cook is taking a conservative approach by growing hemp on land that’s resting fallow between rotations of nursery stock.

This strategy will allow Boring Hemp Co. to get a sense of how much money can be earned from the crop and whether it’s worth expanding.

“We’re not quitting the nursery industry, but here is an annual crop that has a potential up side not only financially but environmentally,” he said.

Research has shown that hemp’s deep roots are valuable for soil structure and reduce the presence of undesirable nematodes and fungi. They’re also used in “phytoremediation” of land by drawing heavy metals from the soil.

Hemp is already grown on a large scale in Canada for oilseed and fiber, but Cook thinks Oregon growers can establish a niche industry on a smaller scale because the plant’s flowers are the primary product.

“We’re doing it for different reasons,” he said.

Boring Hemp Co. is starting as a family affair, with Cook’s wife, Lee Ann, and three grown sons, Bo, Sam and Ty, involved in different aspects of the operation.

Bo is charged with growing the plants, Sam will be developing a business plan and Ty will work with vendors and customers.

“They all communicate really well with each other,” Cook said.

Venturing into hemp isn’t the first time Cook has reinvented his agricultural enterprise.

In the early 1980s, upon buying his property, Cook raised raspberries, strawberries and blackberries but eventually grew tired of insufficient labor and weather fluctuations that damaged the crops.

In 1996, he switched to growing various types of ornamental nursery stock while operating a hydro-seeding and erosion control company, Northwest Hydro-Mulchers, that continues to be the family’s primary business.

Now, he’s aiming to put his plant knowledge to use while exploring new territory by breeding hemp to maximize CBD while minimizing THC.

“We’re hoping we can become more refined and accurate,” Cook said.

Barry Cook

Occupation: Business owner, nursery producer, hemp grower

Hometown: Boring, Ore.

Age: 58

Education: Attended the University of Montana

Family, Wife, Lee Ann, and three grown sons, Bo, Sam and Ty

BEND — In their first public sparring, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. William “Bud” Pierce went head to head on three topics: the economy, land use and the “urban-rural divide.”

The debate was intended to focus on rural Oregon.

Although the candidates agreed that rural communities needed a say in land use issues, better access to healthcare and more jobs, they disagreed on taxes and state expenditures.

“We cannot cut our way toward a better Oregon,” Brown said, summarizing a key difference in messaging between the two campaigns.

Brown reiterated her support for Ballot Measure 97, the proposed tax on certain corporate gross sales receipts, saying that additional investment was needed in basic services, while Pierce said more broadly that promoting prosperous rural economies would have ripple effects in areas such as education and healthcare.

In her opening statement, Brown said her vision for the state encompassed improving educational outcomes, investing in infrastructure and preserving “the beauty and bounty of Oregon.”

She touted her administration’s “progress” in the past year and a half in implementing automatic voter registration and passing legislation to convert Oregon from coal to clean sources of energy.

Pierce’s criticism of Brown began with his opening statement, in which he said Brown was “distant from the people” and seldom visited rural areas. He said he also wanted to address education, and also said improving mental healthcare, the state’s rural economies and homelessness were central to his platform.

The first third of the debate focused around the economy.

Brown, in response to a question about the effects of the increased minimum wage on rural business, defended the state’s mandated minimum wage increases, which will vary by area, saying she would not apologize for advocating for “working families.”

Pierce, asked about recreational marijuana, said the state’s law legalizing recreational marijuana was “well-crafted,” and that he supported local control over regulations. He also said he wished to bring the industry into mainstream banking, saying that a cash-only system was open to corruption.

Brown, in reiterating her support for Measure 97, said that state government needed sufficient revenue for basic services and that large corporations should pay a “fair share.”

Brown, in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting last month, acknowledged consumers in Oregon would bear some of the burden should the measure pass. But in Saturday’s debate she said the measure was the only viable option to remedy the state’s projected budget $1.35 billion shortfall. Measure 97 is projected to pull in an additional $6 billion in revenue per budget biennium.

In a rebuttal, Pierce disagreed, citing figures from the Legislative Revenue Office estimating that the average family would pay $600 more annually in costs.

Brown said she sought to improve education and infrastructure in rural areas, and touted the state’s recent investment in “innovative technologies,” citing cross-laminated timber and unmanned aerial vehicles.

In response to a question about shrinking rural economies and populations, Pierce said he wanted to renew natural resource industries in rural areas and support entrepreneurs through incentives such as tax credits or enterprise zones.

In the second part of the debate, which centered on land use, Brown was asked to clarify her stance on the proposed designation of the Owyhee Canyonlands in Eastern Oregon as a national monument.

The incumbent said she supported collaboration in coming to a decision.

Asked to expand on her answer, Brown maintained a “process” needed to be in place for taking public input. She would not say explicitly whether she was for or against the designation.

“I think there needs to be a collaborative approach and parties need to come to the table,” Brown said.

Pierce rebutted that the community around the proposed monument opposes the designation.

“The people who lived on the lands overwhelmingly said no,” Pierce said, and said he opposed what he characterized as an additional layer of bureaucracy.

Pierce and Brown also disagreed more broadly about the federal government’s management of public lands in Oregon. Pierce said that he supported a gradual transfer of federal public lands to state and local agencies, a move Brown called unrealistic.

“I think there’s a third way,” Brown said. She said the state was already cooperating with the federal government, and cited the state’s “good neighbor agreement” with the U.S. Forest Service regarding forest management.

She also attributed what she said was a 15 percent increase in timber harvest off federal public lands in Eastern Oregon in 2015 to such collaborations.

Brown, in a response to a question about easing tensions between various levels of government and the communities they serve, said that she fought on state and federal levels to reimburse Harney County and state law enforcement for costs incurred by the response to the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year.

While Pierce said that employment and basic healthcare can improve individual health, Brown said Pierce would “kick people off the Oregon Health Plan” and that she sought to remove barriers to healthcare.

“Every time we have a budget cut in this state, we cut people or we cut services,” Brown said.

Pierce objected, noting he was in favor of the recent Medicaid expansion in the state, but that rural communities suffered from a lack of affordable health insurance.

“All the great words in the world from the governor will not provide affordable insurance,” Pierce said.

He said that both health and educational outcomes could be bolstered by improved rural economies.

“If we have prosperity in rural areas, prosperous families can take care of their children,” Pierce said, arguing that rural areas have been neglected by Brown’s administration.

He also emphasized his background as a private citizen in contrast to Brown’s 25 years in state government and said her record was poor in those years.

But Brown said the state needed to continue investing in education to improve outcomes, citing the state’s comparatively short school years and large class sizes. She pointed to her appointment of an education innovation officer, whom she said would provide school districts sufficient resources to allow graduates to have a “plan.”

In response to a question about how far to go when making exceptions for rural communities on state policies. Brown said there were a “number of circumstances” where exceptions were created for different communities based on need — including the tiering of the minimum wage increase and local discretion on recreational marijuana.

She criticized Republicans’ response to the state’s low-carbon fuel standard.

“We put on the table an exemption for rural Oregon, but Republican legislators chose to align with the petroleum industry” and did not heed the wishes of constituents, Brown said.

Asked about how she would balance healthy natural environments in rural communities while allowing rural communities to capitalize on their natural resources, Brown said that climate change was the most significant issue, and that it was “imperative” that the Oregon Department of Forestry and other state agencies have adequate resources to collect data.

Pierce called Brown’s response a “non-answer” and agreed that while climate change was an issue, he supported a “triple aim” of lower carbon emissions, reliable supply of energy and lower costs.

He said he wanted to help industries that rely on water thrive, but also encourage more “judicious use of water.”

Brown, in a counter-response, also called Pierce’s response a non-answer and said that she wanted to preserve the state for future generations.

“I don’t think we want to look like Idaho,” Brown said. “I want us to keep Oregon green.”

Saturday’s debate was moderated by the Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, with questions offered by representatives of the East Oregonian, KTVZ-TV, Jefferson Public Radio and the Bend Bulletin

Brown and Pierce are expected to debate again four more times before the Nov. 8 election: On Sept. 30, they will square off before the City Club of Portland.

As the Oregon state liaison to the IR-4 Project for the past 10 years and as a researcher for the project for more than 20 years, Oregon State University Assistant Horticulture Professor Joe DeFrancesco has helped thousands of minor crop producers in Oregon gain access to crop protection products.

Those days are coming to an end, however. DeFrancesco is retiring Oct. 1 after 30 years with Oregon State University.

To calculate the value of DeFrancesco’s work to Oregon agriculture, one has to understand that the majority of Oregon agriculture involves specialty crop production. And many of the pesticides cleared for use on specialty crops obtain their registrations through the Rutgers University-based IR-4 Project.

“Joe has been very central to getting all of these specialty crop products through the IR-4 process, both here in Oregon and in the IR-4 system itself,” said Bryan Ostlund, administrator of six Oregon commodity commissions.

“I’ve been to some of the IR-4 meetings and seen how well respected he is,” Ostlund said. “When Joe speaks, oftentimes what he represents get priority.”

The project determines which pesticides to research in a Priority Setting Workshop, held annually in September.

DeFrancesco’s history with the IR-4 Project dates back to the early 1990s when he and Bob McReynolds, a former OSU vegetable crops extension agent, saw a need for registering chemicals for minor crop uses and started working with the national project.

“Bob and I did a couple of (field) trials,” DeFrancesco said. “Then they proposed we do more.”

In the late 1990s, the North Willamette Research and Extension Center became an official IR-4 Field Research Center, guaranteeing the center a certain amount of trials per year and a certain amount of funding for the trial work. DeFrancesco’s program also obtains funds through research grants from the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon commodity commissions. The IR-4 Project is funded through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

In 2006, DeFrancesco became the Oregon liaison to the project, and, when McReynolds retired in 2010, DeFrancesco became director of the North Willamette IR-4 Field Research Center. The center today has two full-time researchers on staff who conduct trials under DeFrancesco’s management on crop chemical efficacy, crop-safety and crop chemical residue levels.

Nationally, IR-4 data supplied 1,175 chemical clearances, or registrations, on food crops in 2015, the highest number of annual clearances in the organization’s 53-year history.

In retirement, DeFrancesco said he plans to continue participating in a project he started working with two years ago in his off-time, the USDA’s Global Capacity Development Residue Data Generation Project in Africa. Also, for at least one year, DeFrancesco will work part-time at OSU with the intent of training his replacement.

“Fortunately, we have seen some real leadership at OSU who are keeping this position a priority,” Ostlund said. “And it certainly should be. It warrants that.”

Work to fill the position today is in the interview stage, DeFrancesco said, with four finalists still in the running.

“Joe will be missed,” said Mike Bondi, director of the North Willamette Valley Experiment Station. “Joe is very good at his job, and he is highly respected nationally, as well as locally. Finding the next person who will walk in his shoes is a little bit of a daunting task.”

SALEM — If a downtown pumpkin patch doesn’t draw a crowd, a 30-foot salmon on the Capitol steps ought to reel people in.

Oregon Capitol Foundation hosts “Oregon’s Bounty: A Celebration of the Harvest” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.

The event will raise awareness of agriculture and familiarize the public with the workings of the Capitol.

In its second year, its number of partners has doubled to two dozen agriculture-related businesses, agencies and groups.

All of the partners provide displays and hands-on activities that teach people about raising fruit, vegetables, dairy cows and other livestock and informs about natural resources, and school programs, including FFA.

Among the attractions inside the Capitol and around the Capitol Mall will be baby animals, a free pumpkin patch, antique tractors, live music and dancing, face painting and Claudia the Chinook Salmon.

“We hope to double last year’s 600-800 visitors,” Stacy Nalley of the Oregon State Capitol said. “We have Claudia the Chinook Salmon from Polk Soil & Water Conservation District. At 25-30 feet long and probably 9 feet tall, she should be a real draw to people driving by.”

Steve Johnson, Early Day Gas Engine Tractor Association president, is modifying the selection of antique tractors he’s bringing this year.

“Last year I had a couple of really unique tractors,” Johnson said. “The kids didn’t care about that. … I had a couple little ones there that I didn’t care if they climbed on and that’s all they wanted to do.”

This and other Saturday events, including Cherry Blossom Day in March, seek to bring the public into the Capitol in a celebratory way.

“All of these have come about because of the Capitol History Gateway Project,” Nalley said. “When they come through those doors we want them to know that this is the people’s building and they are welcome here. During our building tours we try to deliver the message that they’re able to participate in everything that happens in the chambers and hearing rooms — and if they’re not able to be here it’s all streamed on the internet.”

In the House, a giant Douglas fir tree is woven into the carpet’s design; the Senate carpet incorporates a chinook salmon and wheat.

“At the time this building was built, forestry, agriculture and fishing were the top industries in our state, forestry being No. 1,” Nalley said. “We’re still leading the way in agriculture; Oregon is No. 1 in almost 20 different crops.”

Just as with local government, a disconnect persists between the public and the source. Events like this, organizers hope, will narrow the gap in ways other methods cannot.

“Last year there were a number of families who actually took public transportation to get here,” Nalley said. “That was really eye-opening. Maybe we really are serving a market that really can’t get out to a farm.”

Oregon’s Bounty: A Celebration of the Harvest

Time: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 8

Place: Oregon State Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, Salem

Parking: Free

Rain or shine.

Schedule

All day: Booths, activities, tractor display, Claudia the Chinook Salmon display

10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Face painting

10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Roundhouse Band

11-11:30 a.m.: Cherry City Cloggers

1-1:30 p.m.: Independence Wagon Wheelers Square Dancers

11:30 a.m. & 1:30 pm: Capitol building tours

11 a.m., noon & 1 p.m.: Tower tours (weather permitting; 50-guest limit)

More info: www.oregoncapitol.com; Oregon State Capitol Visitor Services Department, 503-986-1388

WALLOWA, Ore. — Following a growing national trend, state licensing is making it easier for small farms to bring locally raised chickens to market. As of Sept. 1, Hawkins Sisters Ranch in Wallowa is the only Oregon Department of Agriculture processing facility in Eastern Oregon.

ODA-licensed facilities are exempt from FDA regulations and allow up to 20,000 chickens to be processed a year. Mary Hawkins raises chickens on her family’s farm in Wallowa, a small town in northeastern Oregon.

Hawkins said she and her sisters moved with their mother to Portland when they were in elementary school and spent summers on the farm. She started raising chickens on her own not long after she graduated from Smith College.

“I came straight home after college, had various jobs and raised and sold chickens,” Hawkins said.

After a few years she said she took what she called a “walk about”; she left Eastern Oregon and worked on farms in New York. While raising and preserving food was still the norm back home, it was becoming a movement across the country in the late 2000s.

“My time in New York pushed me into the idea that sustainable, local food is a growing national concern,” Hawkins said.

While on the East Coast, she worked in a chicken slaughterhouse. While Wallowa County is known for its beef, Hawkins decided to continue raising chickens when she returned to Oregon.

“I thought meat processing was something practical that could work here,” Hawkins said.

With microloans from the USDA Hawkins bought chicks, feed, coops, feeders, water troughs and wire cages. She raised around 800 chickens a year, processing them at an ODA facility in Cove, an hour’s drive. But last fall the family who ran the processing plant moved to South Dakota.

She said she purchased their scalder, plucker and vacuum sealer, took out a home equity loan and combined with her savings she bought a pre-fab, 14x40 shell made outside of Baker City. Once delivered she and her partner, Mark Kristiansen, followed the ODA specifications to install washable walls, hand and commercial sinks, proper lighting and ventilation, and insect and rodent-proof.

“I can’t believe how supportive ODA has been throughout,” Hawkins said. “If I had a question about what paint to use I could email them and get quick reply.”

On Sept. 1, with license in hand and two helpers, Hawkins butchered and packaged chickens in her new facility. She said she expects to process about 150 a day two times a week through Thanksgiving and will start getting chicks again in May.

Hawkins said she sells her own chickens directly from the farm and at a local farmers’ market and processes birds for other farmers as well. She said her goal is to process 2,000 of her own and another 4,000 to 6,000 a year for customers.

For Hawkins, raising her chickens holistically is as important as creating a viable business and part-time employment in a rural county. She said she gets her wheat and barley grown and milled from a local farm and can use the effluent from the processing plant on her compost piles or pump it onto her fields. She said Oregon Department of Environmental Quality permitting allows her to use up to 10 tons of effluent a year on her farm, which is mostly water, some bleach and detergent and guts and feathers.

In her second week in business Hawkins said she didn’t expect to be so busy right away.

“The plant solves a problem for the area and its fun to be in there getting it done,” Hawkins said.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Conservation groups argue in a new lawsuit that Oregon violated its own Endangered Species Act by removing the endangered status of gray wolves.

The Bulletin reports that the lawsuit was filed Tuesday, coinciding with preparations to update the state’s wolf management plan. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission removed the wolf from the endangered species list last year, saying the species had rebounded within significant portions of its range.

But the Center for Biological Diversity’s West Coast wolf organizer Amaroq Weiss says wolves are still in danger of extinction in Oregon and should not have been delisted. The group argues in its brief that wolves occupy only 8 percent of their natural range in Oregon.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy had no comment on the conservation groups’ filing.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — U.S. District Judge Anna Brown warned Ammon Bundy’s lawyer that she will hold him in contempt of court if he keeps trying to bring up Robert “LaVoy” Finicum’s death in front of jurors.

Police fatally shot the occupation spokesman Jan. 26 during a traffic stop north of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The judge has repeatedly said this trial is about whether Bundy and his co-defendants engaged in a conspiracy during last winter’s armed occupation of the refuge.

The judge told Bundy lawyer Marcus Mumford on Thursday that she will fine him $1,000 each time he raises the Finicum issue while questioning witnesses.

“I have ruled on this issue and it appears to me you disregard it,” Brown told him while jurors were away.

“Do you understand what I’m saying ... yes or no?” the judge asked.

“I don’t understand. Your honor says I’m asking improper questions?” Mumford said.

The judge reminded Mumford that he had just tried to question a rancher whose property is adjacent to the refuge about the Finicum shooting.

“You are not to do that,” Brown said.

“You’re telling me I’m allowed to inquire about the shooting, but not the circumstances of the shooting?” Mumford asked.

Brown reminded Mumford that he can’t mention anything about the Finicum shooting, beyond that it occurred and the date.

“I can understand the words,” Mumford said.

“I hope you can comply,” the judge replied.

The trial resumes Monday after a three-day weekend.

The government plans to conclude its case by Tuesday afternoon. Defense lawyers are expected to start presenting their side Wednesday.

The seven defendants are charged with conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs at the remote bird sanctuary. Five of them are also charged with possession of a firearm in a federal facility.

They occupiers wanted the federal government to free two ranchers imprisoned for arson and relinquish control of Western lands.

SALEM — Labor disputes are often blamed for discontinued ocean container shipping at Port of Portland’s “Terminal 6,” but the facility faces broader problems, a port executive said.

Even if conflicts between the port, the terminal operator and the longshoremen’s union were resolved, turmoil in the global shipping industry would affect the facility, said Keith Leavitt, the port’s chief commercial officer.

“There’s no one silver bullet here,” Leavitt said during a Sept. 22 hearing before the Oregon House Interim Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Ocean carriers ordered gigantic “megaships” nearly a decade ago that can carry a huge number of containers with the idea of improving efficiency, he said.

Now that the vessels have come online, though, there’s not enough cargo to justify the investment, Leavitt said.

“They are not filling those vessels because the demand for space on those vessels is not keeping up with capacity,” he said.

As a result, the price of freight on ocean liners has dropped so low that shipping companies aren’t able to pay off debts, which recently caused the bankruptcy of Hanjin, a company that long serviced the Port of Portland before stopping service last year, he said.

Because ports are afraid of not getting paid for loading and unloading containers from Hanjin ships, that’s left a lot of cargo stranded across the globe, including Northwest farm goods, Leavitt said.

Leavitt said he expects the shipping industry’s problems will be sorted out over the next several years, but even then, Port of Portland’s Terminal 6 will face some headwinds.

The new “megaships” carry up to 25,000, 20-foot-long containers, but the Port of Portland can only handle ships that carry 7,000 such containers, he said.

“The megaships are just not going to be calling on the Columbia river,” said Leavitt.

However, it’s difficult to imagine that Pacific Ocean shipping will be reduced to megaships traveling between large ports in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, he said.

Terminal 6 should be able to attract some vessels, but the facility’s niche is likely to be more “surgical” than it was in the past, he said.

“We’re a niche port, we always have been,” Leavitt said.

Shelly Boshart Davis, whose family owns farming and trucking operations, agreed that the resumption of activity at Terminal 6 “wouldn’t fix everything,” but it would help Oregon agriculture remain competitive.

Baled straw was, by volume, the largest Oregon export commodity to depend on containerized shipping from the Port of Portland, said Boshart Davis. Even so, less than 40 percent of the state’s straw volume passed through that facility.

When productivity at West Coast ports severely declined during labor contract negotiations between longshoremen and port operators in late 2014, straw that would have been exported to Asia backed up in Oregon, she said.

That higher inventory, in turn, depressed prices for growers, Boshart Davis said.

Shipping complications have also affected the Christmas tree industry, particularly in export destinations like the Philippines, where retailers expect to display trees by mid-November, said Gayla Hansen of Kirk International, which exports trees.

The more time Christmas trees spend on the dock, the less profit there is for exporters, she said. “There is no one to call to help you. You’re on your own. There’s no hotline.”

The lack of containerized shipping at the Port of Portland has indirect effects on the nursery industry, because fewer trucks are available in the area, said Leigh Geschwill, president of the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

“Not having a fully functional port reduces the number of trucks willing to come,” she said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon State Police trooper testified a government informant was driving Ammon Bundy when the Oregon standoff leader was arrested on his way to a community meeting north of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Trooper Jeremiah Beckert said Wednesday that informant Mark McConnell alerted police that Bundy and other occupiers were traveling Jan. 26 and provided their location.

Beckert then described the ensuing traffic stop and arrests. He said he did not see what happened to Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, the occupation spokesman shot by police after fleeing the stop.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown warned attorneys not bring up the circumstances of the Finicum shooting in front of jurors. When it was mentioned, she told jurors this trial is not about the Finicum shooting.

Bundy and six co-defendants are charged with conspiring to impede federal officers from doing their jobs at the wildlife refuge.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The federal government’s 5-year, $67 million rehabilitation effort following a 2015 rangeland wildfire in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon is entering its second year with another round of herbicide applications combined with plantings of native species.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has started applying the herbicide Imazapic on federal lands to knock out invasive weeds in Oregon and will begin in Idaho in October, officials said this week.

The rehabilitation is part of the federal government’s plan to develop new strategies to combat increasingly destructive rangeland wildfires, mainly in Great Basin states that contain significant habitat for greater sage grouse, a bird found in 11 Western states. About 200,000 to 500,000 remain, down from a peak population of about 16 million.

About 100 square miles of aerial spraying is taking place in Idaho and Oregon and visitors are asked to stay away from posted areas.

Other areas previously treated with herbicide will be re-planted with bluebunch wheatgrass, squirrel tail and Sandberg’s wheatgrass, to name a few, said Cindy Fritz, a natural resource specialist with the Boise District of the BLM. It is hoped the native plants will keep out invasive species, particularly fire-prone cheatgrass.

The 2015 wildfire scorched about 436 square miles of sagebrush steppe that supports cattle grazing and some 350 species of wildlife, including sage grouse.

Federal officials chose not to list the ground-dwelling bird as endangered last year but that decision will be reviewed in about four years, and what happens with the wildfire rehabilitation in Idaho and Oregon could play a role.

“The sage grouse wasn’t listed but it will be reviewed for listing soon enough, and some kind of evidence that you can recover habitat for the bird is an important habitat question that they’re trying to get right,” said John Freemuth, a Boise State University professor and public lands expert.

Part of the new strategy on the rehabilitation is extending the effort to five years rather than the typical three, as well as applying what scientists call adaptive management that allows changing plans if something doesn’t appear to be working.

Fritz said the adaptive management is currently being used with about 8 square miles treated with herbicide last year that failed to eliminate invasive species.

Previously, Fritz said, with the shorter three-year timeline, “we would have walked away. The fact that we get to do multiple treatments is something very new to us.”

Much is riding on the rehabilitation effort that is expected to produce proven strategies to help restore future rangeland wildfire areas with the goal of making them more resistant to fire and resilient if a fire moves through.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell toured the area in May to get an update on the work that’s a result of her order last year calling for a “science-based” approach to safeguard greater sage grouse while contending with fires that have been especially destructive in the Great Basin.

Freemuth said adaptive management has been talked about for a long time but is rarely used due to staffing levels and lack of resources.

“I think they needed a signal, as Jewell gave, to monitor things long term and change things if something doesn’t work out,” he said.

The BLM has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to quantify results with some 2,000 sample monitoring plots being tracked.

SALEM — Groundwater depletion problems Oregon discussed during a recent legislative hearing in Salem potentially foreshadow policy proposals during the upcoming 2017 legislative session.

While participants in the “legislative days” informational session did not address the recent newspaper series by name, the Oregonian’s “Draining Oregon” package obviously loomed over the hearing.

Printed stacks of the series, which was printed last month, sat on a table near the entrance during the Sept. 21 hearing.

The newspaper’s allegations that state regulators are allowing farmers to over-pump groundwater were also clearly on the minds of lawmakers on the House Interim Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water — as well as those of Oregon Water Resources Department staff called to testify.

Committee chair Brian Clem, D-Salem, said the topic will likely be a source of conversations during the next series of “legislative days” in November and during next year’s legislative session.

To avoid “brutal neighbor-on-neighbor warfare,” lawmakers should try to find a collaborative approach for water conservation, he said.

With the caveat that he didn’t want to attack journalists who “buy ink by the barrel,” Clem said he was concerned about loaded terms that imply farmers are greedy and wasteful.

“Farmers don’t become farmers to become rich,” he said. “There are much easier ways of getting rich.”

The basic thesis of “Draining Oregon” was that OWRD had insufficient information about groundwater levels across much of the state but nonetheless freely allowed well drilling, depleting aquifers.

Tom Byler, OWRD’s director, conceded that over-pumping in past decades had led to several critical groundwater areas across the state, which led the agency to restrict uses.

“We haven’t done as good a job as we should on that item,” he said.

Byler said groundwater is tough to manage given the complex geology of underground aquifers and because farmers have become more reliant on this irrigation source when surface waters dwindle during the dry months.

Since 1955, when legislators passed a law requiring groundwater regulations, the number of wells across the state has increased from 4,660 to 256,800, said Justin Iverson, groundwater section manager for OWRD.

Agricultural wells — which require permitting — make up roughly 10 percent of the total number, but they represent about 90 percent of total groundwater usage in Oregon, Iverson said.

While domestic users must only report the location of new wells, drillers of agricultural wells must also provide information about water levels and irrigators must report their usage, he said.

OWRD also monitors groundwater with more than 1,200 observation wells, Iverson said.

Rep. Ken Helm, questioned whether water regulators were “driving in the dark” in regard to well-drilling and the effects of climate change on water availability.

“Does that change the paradigm under which we should be operating?” Helm said.

He also asked if the OWRD is simply short of funding to robustly study groundwater, or if policy changes are also needed.

Byler replied that the agency already has many regulatory tools but is always open to looking at new ones.