The hazelnut trees in Ron and Daniel Chapin’s older orchards have remained remarkably productive despite the fact they’re dying.

As eastern filbert blight kills many of their trees, the father and son still hope to get as many hazelnuts from them as possible.

At the same time, they want to get a head start replacing the orchards with new varieties that are resistant to the fungal pathogen.

Their solution is to begin growing young hazelnut trees for two years in 15-gallon containers in preparation for transplanting.

That way, the Chapins won’t have to wait as long for the replacement orchards to begin yielding enough nuts to harvest, which usually occurs in the fifth year, Ron Chapin said. “It gets us to production quicker.”

The strategy also makes sense for fields currently producing other crops, he said. “The biggest thing is the extra two years you’ve got to do whatever with the ground.”

Aside from time savings, the containerized hazelnuts provide an agronomic advantage, said Nik Wiman, orchard crops extension specialist for Oregon State University.

Currently, many yearling hazelnut trees are being planted across Oregon even though they probably should have been culled, said Wiman.

Demand is so high for young hazelnut trees that growers are willing to settle for lower-quality specimens, he said.

“We’re limited by plant material, essentially,” Wiman said.

Trees that have spent a couple years in a container have a more developed root structure and should perform better, he said. “That’s what we really need when transplanting the tree.”

Of course, planting larger trees grown with this system does have a downside — handling 45-pound containers is more difficult than yearling “whips” that can be carried around in a sack.

“Logistics is going to be the challenge for us,” said Daniel Chapin.

The bigger, heavier containers take roughly twice as much time to plant and require preparing holes with a tractor-mounted auger. Transport is another issue — it would take a semi-trailer to haul the 300 trees needed to plant about two acres.

Even so, the Chapins are optimistic about their strategy because fewer than 1 percent of the container-grown Jefferson trees they plant end up dying, compared to roughly 3 percent of the variety that die when planted as whips.

Part of the improvement is that deer aren’t as likely to completely destroy the larger trees, said Daniel. “You have a tree that’s much better prepared to defend itself.”

They’re also experimenting with growing trees in 10-gallon containers, which would be easier to handle.

However, the Chapins are hesitant about the prospect of using smaller pots, since tree roots would be more prone to “swirling” in on themselves, resulting in a weaker root structure in the field.

“We need to make sure it’s a big enough pot to fully accommodate the roots,” Daniel said.

The Chapins have planted about 40 acres with containerized hazelnuts, and plan to replace 250 acres of orchards with this method over the next five years.

“I figure by that time, I’ll understand it well enough that I won’t mind selling it to other people,” said Ron.

Given the time, labor and inputs involved, each containerized tree would have to sell for $25-30, compared to $5.50 for a whip, he said. “It’s a more intensive culture for it.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon standoff defendant Ryan Bundy was involved in an altercation with deputies Tuesday when he refused to be handcuffed for transport, authorities said.

U.S. marshals were scheduled to transport Bundy about 6 a.m. Tuesday, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Multnomah County jail spokesman Capt. Steve Alexander said he didn’t know where Bundy was going, but he said Bundy didn’t want to leave the cell and argued with a sergeant who was trying to handcuff him. Alexander said that when Bundy “spun around” the sergeant took him to the ground.

His supporters said on social media that Bundy sustained bruises.

Alexander said Bundy was examined by medical staff, and no redness or anything like that was noted. “He was fine,” Alexander said.

Bundy was taken to the originally scheduled destination later in the day and then moved to disciplinary housing in the jail. He will be written up for administrative violations including allegedly failing to follow orders, behaving in a threatening or assaultive manner and fighting with staff, Alexander said.

A hearing will be held in several days. If the hearings officer finds that Bundy stepped out of line, his jail privileges will be affected.

In April, Bundy may have planned an escape from the jail. Staff found a 12- to 15-foot section of a bed sheet that was braided into a rope in Bundy’s cell, along with a container of extra food he wasn’t supposed to have, officials said. Bundy has denied he was attempting an escape.

Ryan Bundy is the older brother of Ammon Bundy, the leader of the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.

The Bundys and six other co-defendants are scheduled for trial Sept. 7 for their alleged involvement in the armed takeover early this year. Prosecutors say the group broke into safes, tampered with federal records and left behind a mess, including ammunition, explosives, trash and human waste.

Ryan Bundy is representing himself in the case.

A new invasive species, known as the “crazy snake worm” or “Asian jumping worm,” has been unearthed for the first time in Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the worm, Amynthas agresitis, was found in Clackamas and Josephine counties in 2016.

The significant distance between the two discoveries likely indicates the species is probably found elsewhere in Oregon as well, said Clint Burfitt, manager of ODA’s insect pest prevention and management program.

Residential landowners turned the worms over to officials from ODA and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife after noticing its vigorous flipping.

“The behavior is very distinctive,” Burfitt said. “Earthworms aren’t known for their energetic behavior, but this one is.”

The worm’s detrimental effects on forest health have also been causing growing concern in the Great Lakes region and the East Coast, said Jim Labonte, an ODA entomologist.

“There’s beginning to be a lot of attention to be paid to this there,” he said.

Several pathways may be responsible for the worm’s movement, including earthmoving equipment, compost and fishermen, he said. The species reproduces asexually, so not many individuals are necessary for an established population.

By rapidly consuming the detritus along the forest floor, the worms remove the protective layer that plant seeds need to sprout and outcompete other animals that depend on this habitat.

“That affects the forest’s ability to regenerate,” said Burfitt.

Bare soil isn’t as effective as retaining water, allowing it to run off more quickly — potentially having an impact on agriculture, said LaBonte.

The change in soil structure also disrupts nutrient cycling, harming the forest’s health over time, he said.

At this point, though, it’s unknown whether these impacts will be experienced in Oregon as they have elsewhere in the U.S., since the forest type and climate here are different, LaBonte said.

“When you’re making projections, it’s easy to go to, ‘The sky is falling,’” he said. “Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”

A wildlife biologist said bears might cause problems in the John Day area of Eastern Oregon this fall as they search for food sources to replace the berries and grass burned in the Canyon Creek Fire last year.

Ryan Torland, ODFW district biologist for Grant County, said residents should clean up fallen fruit around trees, avoid leaving pet food outside and keep garbage cans inside a garage or shed if possible. Torland said there have already been a couple incidents with bears poking around homes on the outskirts of John Day.

Bears spend the fall eating heavily to build up fat for winter hibernation, Torland said in an ODFW news release. But the Canyon Creek Fire south of John Day last summer scorched a major food supply, and could send bears searching elsewhere, he said. Bears that raid garbage cans or fruit trees in residential areas could get habituated to them as a food source and cause trouble for homeowners, he said.

The Canyon Creek Fire was started by lightning on Aug. 12, 2015, and burned 110,261 acres. It wasn’t declared contained and controlled until Nov. 5, according to a multi-agency incident command website.

An ODFW website has tips on coping with bears.

Organizers say a two-day “drone rodeo” in Pendleton, Ore., this month will demonstrate the future of digital agriculture.

The event will be held Aug. 18-19 at the Pendleton Airport. The site is one of the national unmanned aerial system (UAS) test ranges and has become a focus of Pendleton’s economic development efforts. Part of the facility is now called the Oregon UAS Future Farm, and is intended be a proving grounds for equipment developed by digital agriculture pioneers.

Steve Chrisman, Pendleton’s economic development director and airport director, said drone and high-tech ag companies are attracted by Pendleton’s wide open spaces and the wide variety of crops grown in the region. While digital ag doesn’t have the economic impact of a 250-employee manufacturing plant, it does have a ripple effect, Chrisman said.

The presence of flight test teams can lead to companies renting office space or workshop space, he said. A Virginia company, Digital Harvest, has opened a branch office in Pendleton. “A certain percentage will take up some level of permanent residence,” Chrisman said.

Industry advocates believe agriculture is on its way to being one of first commercial adopters of drone technology. Equipped with cameras or other sensors, drones could spot irrigation or pest problems, estimate yield, do inventory or other chores. In time, drones could communicate directly with other unmanned farm implements, and send them to take care of problems spotted from the air.

The event is aimed at farmers, and will include flight and data-downloading demonstrations of various types of unmanned vehicles.

“It’s an opportunity for growers and drone guys to be in the field together,” said Jeff Lorton, the event’s promoter and organizer.

The event includes a competition, of sorts. Operators will program their aircraft to launch from the airport, fly to a nearby irrigation pivot and record data with their cameras or other sensors before returning.

“It’s a bit of a shootout,” Lorton said.

Admission to the event is free but registration is required.

Online

Register at http://www.pendletondrone.rodeo

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The federal government is already facing two lawsuits over its plan to manage about 2.5 million acres in Western Oregon that would increase the potential timber harvest by an estimated 37 percent.

The Statesman Journal reports the American Forest Resource Council and Earth Justice have filed suits against the Bureau of Land Management since the plan was enacted Friday.

The BLM estimates 278 million board feet per year could be harvested once the plan is fully implemented. It also predicts it’ll increase job growth, tourism and recreation.

The council claims the logging levels laid out in the plan are still too low, while environmentalists cite concerns over threatened species, such as the Northern Spotted Owl.

Levy said the BLM doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

PORTLAND — Hermiston officials showed Portlanders that life is sweet in Eastern Oregon on Aug. 5 with a giveaway of more than 6,000 pounds of watermelons.

Mayor David Drotzmann, City Manager Byron Smith, members of the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce and a delegation of city councilors and staff arrived at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland and handed out free melons to eager Portland residents as part of an annual tradition to promote Hermiston agriculture.

The tradition was started in the 1980s by then-mayor Frank Harkenrider, who took a pickup truck full of Hermiston watermelons to Portland and challenged then-mayor Bud Clark to a seed-spitting contest. The tradition petered out in 2007 but was revived in 2015.

Produce was donated by local growers. Last year Hermiston also gave away potatoes, but assistant city manager Mark Morgan said that the other options weren’t nearly as popular as the watermelon so this year they just stuck with the city’s famous fruit.

Hermiston won the seed-spitting contest last year and again this year, with city councilor Doug Primmer’s winning effort of 29 feet.

The event is designed to foster better relations between Hermiston and Portland, according to a news release from the city.

“We’re really happy we can continue this great event, and continue to build on our relationship with our partners in Portland,” Drotzmann said.

ASTORIA, Ore. — For farmers such as daughter Laurel and mother Anne Berblinger, much of the challenge is in getting Oregon’s specialty crops into the hands of consumers. They grow about 300 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs at Gales Meadow Farm in Gales Creek near Tillamook.

“Once they try it, they like it,” Anne Berblinger said, adding her farm is starting an on-site tasting event to initiate potential customers.

The Berblingers and other local farmers got some help Aug. 4, when Oregon State University and the state Department of Agriculture held a “crop-up” farmers market and dinner at the university’s Seafood Lab in Astoria, part of an effort to promote Oregon’s bounty.

The “USDA is trying to get more of these specialty crops out into the public,” said Julia Turner, an international trade manager with the Department of Agriculture.

Turner said Oregon ranks fifth in specialty crop production, including vegetables, fruits, tree nuts and nursery crops. Along with Oregon State, her department received a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which they used to fund the crop-up dinners and markets for the next two summers, along with a showcase of Oregon’s specialty crops to foreign food writers at Feast, a culinary event in Portland.

Diners at the event feasted on an eight-course dinner overseen by Jason Ball, a research chef with the university, and Executive Chef Jeff Graham from Fort George Brewery.

“The idea was that we work with farms as local as possible, and we do all the cooking,” Ball said, adding the two first figured out what they were getting, then designed the menu.

The dinner included produce from several of the farms at the pop-up market earlier, along with local seafood. Dishes ranged from confit beet salad and raw sablefish crudo to smoked salmon served with local potatoes and sour cream and barbecue carrots. Ball said part of the purpose was to vary preparation, incorporating baked, smoked, grilled, pickled and confit dishes. For dessert was a mixed berry custard cup with hazelnuts — Oregon leads the production of these nuts — along with marionberries, boysenberries and black raspberries.

Ginger Edwards, who founded R-evolution Gardens eight years ago in the Nehalem Valley at the southern tip of Clatsop County, said the key to marketing specialty crops is in showing people how to use them.

“It’s just a few skills that are missing” from previous generations, she said. “We’ve been really invested in getting people back into the kitchen and cooking again.”

Edwards gets most of her business from farmers markets and community-supported agriculture, a farmer’s choice delivery of vegetables to enrolled members weekly. She also works with the Rinehart Clinic in Wheeler, providing low-income patients with cooking skills and local produce. Along with running her farm, Edwards is the executive director of North Fork 53, a farm-to-table bed and breakfast teaching people how to cook, can and otherwise preserve their produce to last through the winter.

More than 300 specialty crop producers this year have reached Oregon’s students through the state Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School program.

Chief among those was Bornstein Seafoods, a processor based in Bellingham, Washington, with a plant in Astoria. The company on Thursday won the Oregon State Schools Producer of the Year Award.

Christa Svensson, an export and marketing manager at Bornstein, said that when the company’s efforts to get seafood into schools started, the average amount spent per student was $1 per lunch, about one-fifth of it going to milk, and with no state support. In 2011, the state passed House Bill 2800, providing state money for schools to buy food from Oregon producers.

This past school year, Bornstein Seafoods provided seafood to six school districts, including Seaside. Svensson said the company hopes to expand the program to six more school districts in the coming year.

Turner said the crop-up market and dinner will return next year, hopefully in conjunction with the River People Farmers Market, which offers local produce from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays at 12th and Exchange streets.

MONROE, Ore. (AP) — A combine overheated while threshing oats west of Monroe and sparked a fire that spread through farmland and threatened three homes.

Monroe Fire Chief Rick Smith said Friday that the blaze started around 6 p.m. Thursday spread to a field of oats and then to a timber farm in the area west of Interstate 5 between Salem and Eugene.

Residents were told to prepare to evacuate late Thursday but about 50 firefighters were able to contain the blaze overnight.

Elsewhere, a 1.2-square-mile blaze in Crater Lake National Park was 12 percent contained and another fire to the east, near Unity, was 5 percent contained after charring more than 10 square miles.

A smaller blaze near La Pine was 80 percent contained.

Five Oregon cheesemakers won awards in the recent American Cheese Society’s annual competition, held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Rogue Creamery, of Central Point, won six awards. The creamery took second place for its Flora Nelle Organic and third for its Caveman Blue and third for its Tolman Organic in the category of blue-veined cheeses with a rind; second for Echo Mountain Blue Cheese in the rindless/goat’s milk category; third for two-year-old Organic Cheddar; and third for Smokey TouVelle in the smoked cheese open category.

Ancient Heritage Dairy, of Portland, won first place for Hannah in the “American Originals” category.

Ochoa Queseria, based in Albany, won first place for its Queso Oaxaca in the Hispanic- and Portuguese-style melting cheeses.

Oregon State University Creamery, in Corvallis, won third place for its Smoked Cheddar.

Tillamook County Creamery Association, of Tillmook, won second place for its hot habanero Monterey Jack; second place for its white sharp cheddar aged two years or less; third place for its extra sharp cheddar aged two to four years; and third place for its salted sweet cream butter.

Contest results were announced July 29. The contest is the nation’s largest cheese competition. Entries are judge on flavor, aroma, texture and technical accomplishments. The contest this year attracted 1,843 entries from 260 processors in North and South America.

Initiative Petition 28, on track to be called Measure 97 on the ballot, levies a 2.5 percent tax on certain corporations’ Oregon gross receipts exceeding $25 million.

“I have spent my career fighting to make Oregon a place where everyone can thrive, Brown said in a statement. “I support Measure 97 because there is a basic unfairness in our tax system that makes working families pay an increasing share for state and local services, including public schools, senior services, and health care. By some measures, Oregon is among the lowest in corporate taxes, and Oregon ians expect everyone to pay their fair share.”

The tax would pour an estimated $3 billion a year into state coffers but slow job growth and bump up consumer prices, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office.

“Our state cannot move forward and meet Oregon’s growing needs over the next decade without a stable revenue base,” Brown said Thursday. “Measure 97 is an important step forward, and I will make sure the funds the measure yields go towards schools, health care, and seniors, as the voters expect.

“State leaders before me have repeatedly tried and failed to solve the problem of adequate and stable funding for schools and other state services. Every solution has had strengths and weaknesses in terms of fairness and economic impact. None has succeeded in bringing the business community, individual and family taxpayers, service providers, and advocates together.”

Many of the public employee unions backing the measure also support Brown’s election.

Bud Pierce, Brown’s Republican challenger in November’s governor’s race, said he was disappointed that Brown is supporting what would be the largest sales tax increase in Oregon’s history.

“If passed, this tax increase would greatly raise the cost of living in Oregon,” Pierce said in a statement. “Everyone, including low-income families would be paying on average more than $1,800 (sic) per family more for goods and services. A tax increase like this will not help anyone. It will hurt low-income families in Oregon the most.”

The Legislative Revenue Office estimated that the tax would cause price increases that would cost a family earning median income more than $600 more per year in the form of increased prices on daily needs, such as food, fuel and electricity.Brown said that state leaders have repeatedly failed to come up with another solution to Oregon’s unstable funding system for schools and other state services.

“Every solution has had strengths and weaknesses in terms of fairness and economic impact,” she said.

DILLARD, Ore. (AP) — Fording a flood of cheaper lumber imported from Canada, local timber executives met with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden to jointly call for a new trade agreement or risk whittling the industry at home.

“What we need is a fair system that allows individuals and companies on both sides of the border to feel they are being treated fairly,” Wyden, D-Oregon, said. “... What this comes down to, folks, is what I call trade-done-right.”

Wyden stopped at a Roseburg Forest Products mill in Dillard on Tuesday to share the latest on talks to hammer out the agreement, which would succeed the Softwood Lumber Agreement that limits the amount of lumber Canada can export to the U.S.

The agreement, which was ratified in 2006, expired last October and gave way to lumber from the neighbors up north to come pouring in. According to Grady Mulberry, CEO of Roseburg Forest Products, lumber from Canada is up 43 percent since the deal expired and prices have been driven down by nearly a quarter on the dollar.

“It’s certainly very impactful on Oregon mills like ours and it certainly makes it very hard for us to compete,” Mulberry said.

The last agreement was established in 2006, but trade deals over lumber between Canada and the U.S. date back to the 1980s. Domestic lumber companies have contended that harvests up north were aided by subsidies from the Canadian government and created a product too cheap for local companies to compete with.

But the pact expired last fall, bringing along with it a one-year freeze on trade tariffs and paving the way for Canadian companies to import freely until this October. With that deadline approaching, some fear what will happen to the domestic market if a deal isn’t struck soon.

Talks between the Obama Administration and that of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been underway for some time. And, on July 19, 25 U.S. senators signed a letter commending the American ambassadors for work in negotiations.

“A strong lumber industry is essential to the U.S. economy, and securing fair trade in lumber is of critical importance to domestic lumber manufacturers and their workers, as well as tree farmers and landowners, and the communities they support,” wrote U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Should talks stall, it would be particularly problematic for timber-reliant communities like Douglas County. Wyden went so far as to call the area, “near the epicenter of the debate,” during his remarks.

“What we’re seeing at Roseburg is being replicated all across the country,” Wyden said. “We’re seeing executives, union folks, people all across the political spectrum — Democrats and Republicans — coming together because what is on the line is the ability to have high-skill, high-wage, good paying jobs in natural resources.”

According to Mulberry, Roseburg Forest Products has continued with business as usual, but something needed to change if it was going to succeed in the future.

“We continue to invest and be more-and-more competitive, but at the same time, without a level playing field, it doesn’t matter how competitive you get you can’t offset all of that import supply,” Mulberry said.

Roseburg Forest Products has about 300 employees.

Douglas County Commissioner Susan Morgan drove the point further by talking of how county residents rise and fall with its economy. The county, like much of Southwestern Oregon, has high rates of substance abuse, domestic violence, child poverty and more, she said.

“The one that helps with the economic and social stability here in the county are the jobs in the timber sector. Not just the jobs in the mills, (which) are a really important piece of it, but this reaches out across the economy and across all parts of this county,” Morgan said.

Timber and wood products jobs comprise about 30 percent of jobs in Douglas County, Morgan said. And, according to Wyden, there are about 32,000 employees in those fields throughout the state.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A panel of agricultural, business, political and social leaders called for comprehensive immigration reform Wednesday, saying the current system is broken, hurts families and hampers economic growth in Oregon.

The gathering was part of a coordinated national campaign, called “Reason for Reform,” that kicked off in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The effort is the work of a bi-partisan group called the Partnership for a New American Economy.

The group released reports that detail the economic impact of foreign-born residents, including data on businesses started by immigrants, the number of people they employ, their tax payments, spending power and the types of jobs they fill in Oregon and elsewhere.

Speakers in Portland included state Rep. Tina Kotek, who is Speaker of the House of Representatives. She said immigrants make “an enormous and growing contribution to our culture and economy” and the current immigration system is disjointed and chaotic.

State Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said immigrants and refugees in Oregon are not here to “game the system.”

“They are here to work and work hard,” he said. “Without their labor, agricultural areas all over the U.S would be in serious distress.”

Immigrants’ contribution to Oregon agriculture was a highlight of the state report.

Leigh Greschwill, whose family owns F&B Farms and Nursery of Woodburn, said a lack of labor is the top issue for agriculture, and the immigration problem is weakening Oregon’s economic health.

She said some members of the Oregon Association of Nurseries could grow their businesses 20 percent, but due to a lack of workers will grow only 2 percent because “we can’t get off our butts and get this done.”

Ryan Deckert, president of the Oregon Business Association, called immigration reform a moral and economic “no-brainer.”

Among the report’s Oregon highlights:

• Nearly 390,000 Oregon residents were born outside the U.S., and 14,599 people immigrated to Oregon between 2010 and 2014.

• Immigrants make up 10 percent of the state’s population but 13 percent of the overall workforce and an estimated 56 percent of the workers who hand-harvest crops. About 73 percent of immigrants are working age, between 25 and 64, compared with 51 percent of the native-born population.

• In 2014, undocumented immigrants earned an estimated $1.6 billion in wages and paid $61 million in state and local taxes and $104 million in federal taxes.

The report’s authors acknowledged that immigration issues cut both ways.

“Of course, there are many compelling reasons that having a large undocumented population is a problem for a society,” the report said. “It undermines law and order, permits a shadow economy that is far harder to regulate, and is simply unfair to the millions of people who have come here legally.”

But the problem of undocumented immigration has “gone largely unaddressed” for 30 years, they added, while undocumented workers have come to fill an integral role in many industries.

Other speakers in Portland included state Rep. John Davis, a Republican from Wilsonville; and Andrea Williams, executive director of CAUSA. Jeff Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, served as moderator.

ONTARIO, Ore. — USDA will prepare an environmental impact statement that evaluates a petition to deregulate a genetically engineered creeping bentgrass plant that escaped field trials in 2003 and has taken root in two Oregon counties.

A notice of intent to prepare the EIS was published in the Federal Register Aug. 3, and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will accept public comments through Sept. 2.

The bentgrass, which is resistant to applications of the glyphosate herbicide, was developed by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Monsanto Corp. for use mainly on golf courses.

It escaped field trials in 2003 and has spread throughout parts of Malheur and Jefferson counties.

Farmers and water managers in those areas worry that because the bentgrass is resistant to glyphosate and is hard to kill, it could clog irrigation ditches and affect shipments of crops to other nations that don’t accept traces of genetically modified organisms.

Some farmers in the affected counties have criticized a 10-year agreement USDA reached with Scott’s in October that lays out Scott’s responsibilities to help control the bentgrass.

They believe it essentially allows Scott’s to walk away from its responsibility to control the grass after two years, a claim the company and USDA officials deny.

Malheur County farmer Jerry Erstrom, one of the most vocal opponents of the agreement, said it’s critical that growers comment on the petition because the bentgrass could have a major impact on them.

“It’s very important to comment because the people from APHIS have no concept of the impact it could potentially have on Malheur County and other counties downstream,” he said. “We’re looking at the possibility of a major economic and ecological impact....”

By law, USDA is required to conduct either an environmental impact statement or a less rigorous environmental assessment of the petition.

Because of the degree of controversy involved, “We thought it was in the best interest of everybody to do an environmental impact statement,” Sid Abel, assistant deputy director of APHIS’ Biotechnology Regulatory Services, told Capital Press.

The agreement USDA reached with Scott’s last fall is “distinct and separate from the request for deregulation” and will not be impacted by it, Abel said.

However, he added, the information included in the agreement will have an impact on the EIS and will be the basis for how it’s written.

Federal law requires USDA to determine whether the creeping bentgrass is a plant pest and the agency will look at whether it poses a risk to other plants, agricultural production systems and biological resources.

According to the Federal Register, the petition for deregulation by Scott’s and Monsanto states the plant is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be (regulated).”

A preliminary review has determined the bentgrass likely isn’t a plant pest, Abel said.

In its review, USDA will also be looking at the agronomic consequences of the bentgrass out-crossing to weedy species, including the possible impact on crop rotation practices, herbicide use and tillage. It will also examine the possible impact on farm exports.

Oregon’s Clackamas County canceled a meeting this week on its bid to redesignate farmland following critical remarks from communities, a conservation district and a key state land-use agency.

That doesn’t mean the idea is dead, however. A majority of county commissioners want to review the status of 1,625 acres now designated “rural reserves.” The land, three parcels south and southeast of Portland, was designated to remain farmland for 50 years under a 2010 agreement signed by Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties and Metro, the Portland area’s land-use planning agency.

The Clackamas commissioners now want to review that decision. They believe their county needs more “employment land” that can be developed for industrial or commercial use and jobs. This summer, they announced a plan to review the status of 800 acres south of Wilsonville, 400 acres adjacent to the urban growth boundary of the city of Canby; and 425 acres south of the Clackamas River along Springwater Road. County officials believe the land should revert to “undesignated” rather than rural reserves.

The proposal caught the attention of groups such of Friends of French Prairie, which opposes development spilling over from the Portland area into the northern Willamette Valley.

The Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, which usually steers clear of political arguments, took the unusual step of expressing its concern in a letter to the commissioners. The district’s board said the county’s plan “may not adequately consider the long-term value of high-value farmland,” which it called an “irreplaceable natural resource.”

Officials in Wilsonville and Canby, which might have to provide services such as water, sewer and police and fire protection to new development, said their cities have already designated other areas for development, and don’t favor adding land that is outside their city limits and urban growth boundaries.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Land Conservation and Development said the county’s intended review goes beyond the narrow issues detailed in a court-ordered remand of the rural reserves issue.

In a letter to the county, regional representative Jennifer Donnelly said DLCD “encourages the county to maintain the rural designations of the three study areas and focus on completing the reserves process.”

Oregon State University’s hazelnut research program was awarded a $3.1 million in a round of USDA grants announced Aug. 2.

The five-year grant will be used to continue hazelnut research at OSU, where breeder Shawn Mehlenbacher is credited with saving the industry by developing varieties resistant to Eastern filbert blight. Mehlenbacher, who submitted the grant application, could not be immediately reached for comment.

OSU’s grant proposal indicated the money would be used to expand commercial hazelnut production in the U.S. The work will focus on the Pacific Northwest, where Oregon accounts for nearly all of U.S. production and growers have added 3,000 acres since 2009; the temperate “fruit belt” region of the eastern U.S., where new blight-resistant cultivars are expected to be released in three to four years; and the Midwest and Great Plains, where new hybrids are being identified that have superior nut quality, yield, and adaptation to demanding climates, according to a news release.

OSU’s application describes hazelnuts as a “profitable, high-value, low input, sustainable crop for which steadily increasing world demand now exceeds supply.”

Producers and consumers are enthusiastic about increased U.S. production, the grant application says, but susceptibility to Eastern filbert blight remains a problem. In addition, existing cultivars lack climatic adaptability, which severely limits production in the East and Midwest and threatens the sustainability of production in Oregon, according to the application.

OSU’s grant application said there is a $3.26 billion national and international market for hazelnuts and “powerful environmental and economic benefits” would be generated by large-scale production of hazelnut hybrids.

“Hazelnuts are an ideal choice to integrate into profitable, sustainable agricultural or agro-forestry production systems, and are family-friendly for small producers focused on local food issues,” the application states. Hazelnuts could become a third crop in the Midwest and Great Plains, joining corn and soybeans, and would have considerable value as a specialty crop in the Eastern states, according to the application.

Hazelnuts require relatively few inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides, can be grown without irrigation in many areas and don’t require honeybees for pollination, according to OSU. Hazelnut kernels are a healthy food, have a long storage life and open up “robust local-to-international markets” for a variety of value-added products, according to OSU.

The grant money comes from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative that was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The grant program is coordinated by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. OSU’s hazelnut grant was one of 19 nationally, worth a total of $36.5 million.

Farmer Kevin Hobbs realized that inducing consumers to drive out to his property near Turner, Ore., just to buy eggs would be a tough sell.

Agritourism operations usually offer numerous other products and attractions, so Hobbs decided to find a retail establishment to buy his eggs.

To do so, however, he needed an egg handler’s license from the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Obtaining the license involves fees and regulations, but Hobbs said the process paid off when he found a retail buyer in Portland.

“They’re taking everything we produce,” Hobbs said. “We can’t produce enough pastured eggs.”

Other egg producers across Oregon are taking a similar approach as Hobbs.

Between 2005 and 2015, the number of licensed egg handlers in Oregon more than doubled, from 81 to 189, according to ODA records.

Though growers don’t need a license to sell eggs directly from a farm stand or at a farmers’ market, many want to be able to supply grocery stores and restaurants, said Carl Buchholz, who raises eggs near Mount Angel.

“You see a lot of restaurants where a selling point for them is they buy local,” he said.

Buchholz said he obtained his license to sell to the Bon Appetit Management Company, which provides food service to corporations and institutions, as well as a food retailer in Portland.

The license also allowed him to sell eggs on behalf of a neighbor who also raises chickens on pasture. Several other producers wanted to supply Buchholz with eggs, but he was concerned with maintaining consistency and quality control.

“When you’re selling at a higher price point, people are picky, and rightly so,” he said.

Though he’s now taken a full-time job and sells eggs directly to the public, Buchholz has elected not to let his handler’s license lapse, in part because ODA’s $25 annual fee and other requirements are reasonable.

“I was really impressed,” he said of working with the agency.

Licensed handlers can sell eggs produced by other farmers as long as the product undergoes the same grading, sanitation and packaging procedures, said Sarah Schwab, operations and automations specialist with ODA’s food safety program.

For example, eggs must be free of dirt, cracks and similar defects, and they must be held up to a candling light to inspect the air cell — which indicates freshness — and to ensure they contain no internal blood spots or signs of bacterial infection, she said.

Packages must also be labeled with the handler’s permit number to allow for traceability, Schwab said.

Large producers are inspected by ODA quarterly, while smaller ones are inspected every other year, she said. The agency also inspects eggs at the retail level to check that handlers are complying with regulations.

In some cases, farmers’ markets are requiring that egg producers obtain licenses, even though it’s not mandated by law, she said.

“They want to ensure someone is overseeing their process,” Schwab said.

Demand for local eggs among grocery stores and restaurants is strong despite competition among the growing number of egg handlers, particularly for eggs raised on pasture, said Buchholz.

Apart from the marketing angle, Buchholz said he’s been able to save money on feed by allowing his chickens to forage freely.

Hobbs, who started raising chickens last year, plans to increase his flock from 250 to 1,000 birds and invest in mechanized equipment for washing and grading.

Maintaining the egg handler’s license involves additional steps for his operation, but the expanded marketing opportunities it offers are valuable, he said. “It’s worth it.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Arizona man who took part in a pair of armed standoffs over federal land policy has pleaded guilty to a charge in Oregon and is expected to do the same in Nevada.

Joseph O’Shaughnessy, 44, acknowledged in court Monday that he conspired to prevent U.S. Interior Department employees from doing their jobs after ranchers and others took over a national wildlife refuge this winter near Burns, Oregon.

O’Shaughnessy said he didn’t participate in the occupation led by Ammon Bundy but felt a duty to provide security for those protesting federal control of public lands and the imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers.

“I did support their message,” he said, becoming the 10th of 26 defendants to plead guilty in Oregon.

Prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence on the low end of a 12- to 18-month range, and it will be served at the same time as the term he could receive for his role in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents at a Nevada ranch owned by Ammon Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said.

Portland defense attorney Amy Baggio confirmed that O’Shaughnessy has a plea deal with prosecutors in Nevada and that resolving the Oregon case was part of the agreement.

O’Shaughnessy’s attorney in Nevada, Andrea Luem, did not return a phone message seeking details about the plea there.

Prosecutors in Nevada have described O’Shaughnessy as a midlevel organizer of the confrontation at Cliven Bundy’s ranch. The defendants there are accused of conspiring to assault federal officials who were rounding up Bundy’s cattle over unpaid grazing fees.

In Oregon, the 16 defendants who have not pleaded guilty are awaiting their day in court. Half of them, including brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, are scheduled to stand trial starting Sept. 7. The rest were granted a trial delay until Feb. 14, 2017.

SILVERTON, Ore. — As the Willamette Valley Pie Co. grows at its new location, sales manager Jeff Dunn said it wants family farms to grow with it.

The pie-making company has been in its new 67,000-square-foot production home in Silverton, Ore., for six months. Owner Jeff Roth decided to move the production arm of the company after outgrowing its previous space, which it shared with the pie retail store and the Willamette Valley Fruit processing facility.

Willamette Valley Pie makes all-natural handmade pies with local ingredients that are sold in the bakery and frozen sections of grocery stores such as Whole Foods, Roth’s, Albertsons, New Seasons, Market of Choice and Safeway.

Gerald Dunn started the company in 1999 as a processing operation. In 2001, the Roths purchased a pie company from LaSuisse Specialty Foods and it became Willamette Valley Pie Co.

The company primarily distributes to grocery stores on the West Coast but Dunn said the increased production at the new facility has given the company room and space to think about growing into new regions.

Jeff Dunn expects to move into the Midwest and East Coast starting in 2017, increasing sales, production and the amount of fruit the company buys from growers.

Willamette Valley Pie Co. buys 3 million pounds of fruit from Northwest growers every year and Dunn said that number is getting bigger.

“As we grow and use more fruit, it will help the fruit market,” Dunn said. “Anything we can do to help support the local agriculture market is all the better.”

The company contacted CD Redding Construction to explore its expansion options. After considering several options, the company decided to convert a grass seed warehouse on Eska Way into the production headquarters.

Project manager Jeremy Kuenzi said the facility was built with expansion in mind. Willamette Valley Pie is currently only using two-thirds of the building and has 20,000 square feet available for lease.

CD Redding worked for nine months to turn the empty warehouse into office space, a large kitchen, an 8,500-square-foot storage freezer and loading and packaging areas.

Dunn said the kitchen is four times bigger than what the company had at its old location and the freezer is three times bigger.

Bakery production manager Marlene Ganderson said production has changed tremendously since moving to the new facility.

Ganderson said the 68 bakery employees were cramped at the old location.

When Dunn started working in sales in 2005, the company was grossing $500,000 in sales per year. He said he expects close to $10 million in sales by the end of 2016.

Dunn said the company held back while it was getting used to the new facility but he expects 2017 to be a big year in regard to expansion.

As the company expands, Dunn said key considerations will be maintaining handmade quality products and continuing to support local agriculture.

“Our story starts with the growers, where we get our fruit.” Dunn said. “Our entire goal is to support local farm families.”

MEACHAM, Ore. (AP) — About 20 homes in Eastern Oregon have been evacuated, and officials on Sunday told residents in the nearby small town of Meacham to be ready to leave because of a wildfire.

Also on Sunday, authorities reopened the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 84 that had closed overnight due to the fire.

Fire spokeswoman Jamie Knight said the 1-square-mile fire burning grass, brush and ponderosa pine stands is being fought by about 280 firefighters. Two helicopters and a small aircraft are also trying to slow the blaze.

A Type 3 Incident Command Team has taken over managing the fire.

The team is assessing when it’s safe for evacuated residents to return home. The American Red Cross has set up shelters for the evacuees at the Sunrise Middle School in Pendleton.

The fire is burning on lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Thirteen fire engines and two bulldozers are assigned to the blaze.

Knight advised caution for motorists on the interstate because of firefighting equipment in the area.