ONTARIO, Ore. — If onion growers could push applications of Movento back a little later in the season, they might have more success controlling thrips, Oregon State University research is showing.

Onion thrips are the biggest pest problem for bulb onion growers in Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Besides causing feeding damage, which results in smaller onions, the insects can transmit the iris yellow spot virus, which can devastate onion fields.

According to OSU researchers in Ontario, an aggressive spraying program to keep thrips populations down is the only effective way for onion growers to control the insect.

OSU Cropping Systems Extension Agent Stuart Reitz said Movento is one of the most effective pesticides in controlling immature populations of onion thrips and recommendations have been for growers to start their spray program off with Movento and apply it early in the season because it takes awhile for it to absorb into the plant and become effective.

But if growers in this area apply the pesticide too early, its residual effect is gone by late June or early July, right as thrips populations in the area are starting to soar, he added.

Pushing use of Movento back a little later in the season can result in better control when thrips numbers are exploding, Reitz said.

“If you can push using that to a little later in the season, I think you can get a bigger bang for your investment,” he said. “If you use another material early in the season to hold those low populations in check and put the Movento out a little bit later, I think it will ultimately pay off.”

OSU researchers in Malheur County have been conducting field trials supported by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee to try to find the best way for onion growers to manage thrips.

Nyssa farmer Bruce Corn said the various onion-related trials there have greatly benefited the area’s onion industry over the years and growers have high hopes the thrips trial will help them manage thrips with as little spraying as possible.

“It sounds very reasonable,” he said of Reitz’ Movento recommendation. “We really depend on them and look to them to figure out the best way to do things.”

Because of the roller-coaster weather in the valley this year — it’s gone from hot early to cooler, than hot again and cooler — populations of thrips, which like hot, dry weather, have been spotty, Reitz said.

“Thrips pressure has come up and gone down and come up and gone down,” he said.

Growers have had decent success this year in controlling thrips but they’ve had to spend money to do that, said Nyssa grower Paul Skeen.

According to Skeen, it costs a grower about $50 per acre on average each time they spray for thrips.

“We feel like we’re keeping them under control this year,” he said. “Of course, we’ve already sprayed five times and we still have a ways to go.”

Nursery owner Angela Bailey began work July 18 as the new grass roots coordinator for Oregonians for Food and Shelter, the ag and timber lobbying group.

Executive Director Katie Fast said the OFS board went through a planning process with stakeholders to review the group’s work and focus, especially since the 2015 retirement of Paulette Pyle, the organization’s revered and well-known connection to legislators and regulatory agencies.

The review process made it clear there was a gap in working with producers who need to be telling their story at the local level, Fast said.

“We’re challenged around GE (genetically engineered) crops, aerial spraying and pesticides in general,” she said. “We want to focus on working with people on a community level, and give them the tools to engage around the issues,”

Bailey, owner of Verna Jean Nursery near Gresham, Ore., has the experience to do that, Fast said.

Bailey, known to friends as “Angi,” served as the Oregon Farm Bureau’s second vice president in 2015 and won the Outstanding Farm Bureau Woman Award during its 2014 annual meeting. She’s also a graduate of the American Farm Bureau’s communications “boot camp,” She’s been active with the Oregon Association of Nurseries and other groups.

She and her husband, Larry, have two daughters. Bailey hadn’t planned a career in the nursery business but took over the nursery in 2005 after her mother died unexpectedly. The nursery specializes in ornamental trees, including Japanese maples and monkey puzzle trees.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a change-of-venue request from a defendant charged in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Jason Patrick sought to have the upcoming trial moved out of Portland, citing the extensive media coverage.

In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown agrees that press coverage has been extensive, but says it has been factual in nature and not so overwhelming that a sufficient number of potential jurors could not be impartial.

She also notes the passage of time between the occupation that ended Feb. 11 and the trial scheduled to start in September.

Patrick is among 26 defendants indicted on a charge of conspiring to impede federal officers from doing their jobs at the refuge. Seven men have already pleaded guilty.

SATURDAY, JULY 16

ONTARIO, Ore. — An Interior Department funding bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives includes a provision that blocks a proposed national monument in Malheur County, Ore., that is strongly opposed by local ranchers and farmers.

The bill passed 231-196 July 14 and is headed to the Senate.

It includes a proposal by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., that prevents funds from being used to create a national monument in Malheur County.

Oregon Natural Desert Association, a Bend, Ore.-based environmental group, has proposed creating a national monument on 2.5 million acres in an area of the county known as the Owyhee Canyonlands.

It would cover 40 percent of the county and encompass about 33 percent of the county’s total grazing land. County residents voted 9-1 against the idea during a special election in March.

Walden said in a news release that the House vote sends “a strong message to the president that the overwhelming majority of local residents and the People’s House oppose a monument.”

“The people of Malheur County have already spoken on this issue and they’ve come out adamantly opposed to a proposed unilateral national monument declaration on the Owyhee River canyon,” Walden said. “Now the U.S. House has also voted on my proposal to block a monument in Malheur County.”

Walden’s communication director, Andrew Malcolm, said Walden will do everything he can to stop the proposal.

“We’re going to continue to speak out against it and use every tool available to try to stop this monument,” he said.

The vote was applauded by Jordan Valley rancher Mark Mackenzie, vice president of the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which was formed this year to represent ranchers, farmers and others who oppose a national monument designation.

Regardless of what happens to the bill in the Senate, “it’s sending a loud message ... that, hey, we’re not happy with this proposal,” Mackenzie said.

He said if a monument is created, a completely new set of rules would have to be drawn up for it and that unknown is concerning to ranchers.

“It’s very, very upsetting for the industry because we don’t know what we’re going to get,” he said.

Malheur County is Oregon’s No. 1 cattle producing county with about $134 million in farm-gate receipts annually.

Livestock sales yards in Idaho and Oregon recently donated $17,300 to the OBSC to support its campaign to oppose a national monument.

Producers Livestock Marketing Association donated $11,600 it raised during cattle auctions in June in Vale, Ore., and Treasure Valley Livestock donated $5,700.

Opponents of the national monument proposal worry that having 40 percent of the county’s land designated as a national monument would restrict grazing and access to these lands and harm the local economy.

The national monument proposal “is a huge concern over here,” said Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association. “That’s why we voted 93 percent ‘no’ on it.”

ECHO, Ore. — A headache for farmers and fish on the lower Umatilla River for decades, the Dillon Dam is finally near its end.

The Umatilla Basin Watershed Council and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation plan to remove the troublesome diversion dam near Echo by next summer. Not only has the concrete structure long blocked passage for native salmon, steelhead and lamprey, it has been a maintenance nightmare as gravel bars routinely wash over the irrigation headgate.

But before the dam can come out, water rights for the local Dillon Irrigation Co. need to be rerouted from another source. The watershed council came up with a design in 2014 that taps into the neighboring Westland Irrigation Canal, running 11,000 feet of pipe down Andrews Road and back into the Dillon Irrigation Ditch — completely bypassing the dam.

Funding for the project appears to be in place after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Restoration and Enhancement Board approved a $175,500 grant in May. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission still needs to approve the grant at its Aug. 5 meeting in Salem, but Jon Staldine, executive director for the watershed council, said their proposal has been well-received.

“They saw it was really a collaborative project,” Staldine said.

The watershed council had already received $350,000 from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and $20,000 from the CTUIR to build the pipeline. Staldine said the grant from ODFW will allow them to start construction in November or December, wrapping up by February so farmers can get back to work.

“The pipeline is the key project,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, the dam won’t be removed.”

Dillon Dam is operated by the Dillon Irrigation Co., which was established in 1897. The company is currently made up of three landowners with approximately 1,400 total acres. Mike Taylor owns the Double M Ranch, the largest of the bunch, and also serves as president of the irrigation company.

Taylor has been talking about getting rid of the Dillon Dam for 15 years before the watershed council took the reins. He said the Dillon Irrigation Co. collects $10 per acre from landowners, most of which goes toward paying for maintenance at the dam.

Whenever high flows sweep down the river, it washes gravel and debris that plugs up the headgate and fish ladders at the dam. It’s up to the producers to come in and clean up the mess. Taylor said they’re looking forward to having a more reliable water delivery system from the Westland Canal.

“Getting the dam out of the river is a good thing,” Taylor said. “We’ve been working on it for a while.”

Once the pipeline is complete, the watershed council and tribes can turn their attention to physically removing the dam from the river. Staldine said they are working together on a design and applying for permits, which could take four to six months to be approved.

If all goes smoothly, in-stream construction will take place sometime between July 15 and Sept. 30 of next year. Staldine said they haven’t yet worked out the cost, but said it will be paid for out of the tribes’ Fish Accords with the Bonneville Power Administration.

Dillon Dam was originally built in 1915 and replaced sometime in the mid-1970s. It does have fish and lamprey ladders, though Staldine said they’re not up to current standards. Bill Duke, fish biologist with ODFW in Pendleton, said the dam has been a complete barrier to lamprey in past years, and a partial barrier to salmon.

“In some years, it’s a significant portion of the fall chinook run that gets delayed down there,” Duke said.

Staldine said the problem affects juveniles as well as adult fish stuck below the dam. The likelihood of survival for juveniles reared below the dam are virtually non-existent due to high water temperatures in the summertime, he said.

Yanking the dam will allow more fish, including fall and spring chinook runs, to make it to their traditional spawning grounds farther up the Umatilla River, boosting survival and providing more fishing opportunities.

“We won’t have fish caught below that are essentially getting fried every year,” Staldine said.

Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences has named David Stimpson, who has spent the past 20 years working in seed science and technology for Dow AgroSciences, as its new Seed Laboratory manager.

Stimpson will start in his new position July 29.

He replaces Adriel Garay, who retired Dec. 31 after 19 years as the lab’s manager.

Dan Curry, director of seed services for OSU, said he has known Stimpson for 15 years through their participation in the society of Commercial Seed Technologists. Stimpson currently is vice president of the organization and is in line to be its president next year.

“He is a good guy,” Curry said. “A lot of people are telling me, ‘You picked the right person.’ We feel pretty good about it.”

“Dave has extensive experience in seeds, seed industry development, seed physiology, seed analysis and commercial seed quality and compliance,” said Jay Noller, head of the college’s Crop and Soil Science Department.

Curry, who has been serving as interim director of the lab since Garay’s retirement, said he is anxiously awaiting Stimpson’s arrival.

“My arms are open for Dave to get here,” Curry said. “We need a full-time manager, and we are really happy that Dave has decided to take the job.

“He is the right person, and we are anxious for him to get started,” Curry said.

Curry said the college conducted an international search to fill the position.

PORTLAND — Love it or despise it, this quirky city can make or break the fortunes of Oregon’s farmers and ranchers.

With 610,000 people living within the city limits, and 1.7 million in the three counties that make up the greater metro area, Portland is the chief consumer, shipper, marketer and brander of the state’s agricultural production.

What happens here ripples far beyond the city, which makes Portland politics important from Pendleton to Prineville and from Powell Butte to Paisley.

When current state Treasurer Ted Wheeler decided to run for Portland mayor and won enough votes in the May primary to avoid a runoff in November, rural producers took notice.

He won’t take office until January, but some in agriculture believe Wheeler’s ascendancy could improve urban-rural relations.

Wheeler lives in Portland, but he’s a sixth generation Oregonian with rural roots. His family was in the timber business; the Tillamook County town of Wheeler, on the Oregon Coast, was named after his great-grandfather, who started a mill there. His mother’s side comes from the Fossil area, in Eastern Oregon.

Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said Wheeler has a “very strong affinity” for Oregon ag due to his background.

“Because of his experience, he has that statewide perspective,” she said. “He’s very sensitive to the fact that Portland does have a big influence on the rest of the state.”

Coba knows Wheeler; among other encounters, he stood in for then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski to accompany Coba on an Oregon ag trade mission to Asia several years ago.

“He hasn’t consulted me (on ag issues),” Coba said, “but if he had a question I think he would be very comfortable calling on me.”

For his part, Wheeler said he’s fully aware of both the urban-rural divide and urban-rural interdependence.

“You can’t talk about success in the agricultural industry without talking about the role urban areas play,” he said. “Urban communities in America are increasingly clueless about the challenges facing rural communities.”

But he said urban and rural areas also have issues in common. During a visit to Roseburg, he heard people express concern about the homeless, just as they do in Portland. In Klamath Falls, there was worry about escalating housing costs, another Portland concern.

“If we just assume urban and rural communities are so different that we have nothing in common, then we’re losing an opportunity to collaborate, share ideas and find common solutions,” he said.

Wheeler said he has interacted with the Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and nursery groups in the past.

“The urban-rural divide has been around a long time,” Wheeler said. “It’s not new, and it’s not unique to Oregon. There’s always been people who exploit it for political gain. You won’t see me do that.”

He’ll take office in a city that decides every election and can swamp statewide discussions of pesticides, labor, GMOs, wages or regulatory issues. Its land-use, water use and traffic patterns can affect what farmers grow, how they grow it, how they get it to market and how they use and move equipment.

“Land and transportation are the two things he can make a difference in,” said Jeff Fairchild, produce director for 18 New Seasons grocery stores in the Portland area. He deals with about 50 growers who sell to New Seasons, and must find ways to deliver their products to the city.

Dan Arp, dean of Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, said he would remind Wheeler that agriculture is the state’s second largest economic driver. Oregon ag produces $5 billion in annual farm-gate value and is a major source of jobs, Arp said.

The state produces more than 200 commodities and is equally diverse in terms of acreage and farming methods, he said. Portland’s celebrated “foodie” culture is supported by an agricultural sector that provides high-quality foods and beverages, with an emphasis on sustainability, Arp said.

Coba, the state ag director, said development of the proposed James Beard Public Market, named for a renowned chef from the city, could showcase Oregon agriculture in downtown Portland.

“Clearly there’s a passion around food in Portland, we all know that,” she said.

Others in agriculture note Portland’s influence on issues ranging from gas taxes to the minimum wage. Another said Portland ought to take greater advantage of nearby agricultural production to eliminate the city’s food “deserts,” the areas where poor people don’t have ready access to fresh, healthy food.

Many in ag hope the new mayor realizes the Port of Portland and Portland International Airport are agriculture’s pipeline to world markets, whether it’s hazelnuts to China, wheat to Japan or blueberries to South Korea. Port delays, labor strife and an inadequate transportation infrastructure cost producers time and money, and they believe fixing those problems should be a priority.

Wheeler agrees, and said it is a statewide issue.

“A lot of the future success of the agricultural industry hinges on partnering with the urban area and the Port of Portland,” he said.

“I think there’s a general lack of understanding about what it takes to make agricultural enterprises successful from an economic standpoint,” he said. “That’s an area where I have a lot to learn and to share with my constituents, and I look forward to those opportunities.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal court judge has allowed an Oregon standoff defendant Kenneth Medenbach to be released from jail while awaiting trial, but he will keep the last holdout in the armed takeover in custody.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones said Wednesday he remained concerned about David Fry’s mental instability and threats of “suicide by cop” before his surrender to FBI agents.

Jones also said a psychological report on Fry states that Fry is concerned about invasions from outer space and has spoken of a wish to be reincarnated as a woman.

Fry objected to the judge’s characterization of those statements. The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to impede federal officers from doing their work at the refuge.

Fry was the last occupier to surrender at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Feb. 11.

BANDON -- The 38th annual Oregon Coast Music Festival will kick off with a free picnic concert at noon Saturday, July 16, in Mingus Park in Coos Bay. The festival will continue with 12 concerts in 12 days in various…

LANGLOIS -- The Friends of World Famous Langlois (formerly the Langlois Sign Committee), an ad hoc volunteer committee, would like to report on the progress and completion of certain projects that had been suggested as way to make Langlois more…

A combination of old friendships and new technology resulted this summer in about 80,000 pounds of fresh cherries being distributed to food banks that help hungry Oregonians.

John Burt, executive director of Farmers Ending Hunger, said he approached prominent orchardist Ken Bailey a couple times in the past and said, “Ken, we need to talk about cherries.”

Farmers Ending Hunger is a non-profit that lines up donations of fruit, vegetables and meat from Oregon farmers and ranchers — 4 million pounds last year. Burt, a retired OSU Extension supervisor in the Mid Willamette Valley, works his connections to reach producers. The donations flow through Oregon Food Bank, which distributes to local food banks that give food boxes to needy families.

Burt said it wasn’t a hard sell with Bailey, part of the multi-generational family that operates Orchard View Farms in The Dalles. “Great operation, great farm, great family,” Burt said. “He already knew what he wanted to do.”

Orchard View is providing about 14 1,000-pound totes per week, about 55,000 pounds through mid-July. The original target was 100,000 pounds, but Burt said the donation will probably reach 80,000 pounds.

The donated dark cherries are culls that the commercial market doesn’t want because they are perhaps under-sized, off color, or slightly bruised. Burt said the cherries are fine. “The fruit is gorgeous,” he said. “What we’re getting is just beautiful.”

As it turned out, Orchard View put in a new optical scan sorting system over the winter that made the donation process even easier. The system essentially photographs each cherry 25 to 30 times, working at a rate of 1,000 cherries per second, and automatically routes each cherry to cull or market totes. The system practically eliminates hand-sorting labor costs and results in a product of uniform quality, size and color.

But even the culls are good cherries, Bailey said.

“Generally it looks good,” he said. “It may be a little soft, but as long as it gets moved in a couple few days, it’s a very good product.”

Orchard View Farms and other producers can claim tax credits for the crop donations.

Farmers Ending Hunger bought pallets of plastic clamshell containers. Volunteers with Oregon Food Bank fill the containers with 4-pounds of cherries, and they’re included in food boxes given away by various organizations.

The value of the donation is undetermined at this point. Burt said he recently saw a similar 4-pound clamshell container of cherries on sale at a Costco store for $9.95.

Bailey said providing the cherries doesn’t slow down his processing line, as they flow into the same type of totes he uses otherwise and Oregon Food Bank handles the transport.

“This seems to be working out very well this year,” he said.

A dispute is brewing between an Oregon farmer and an irrigation district over the ownership of land underlying a canal.

Farmer Jim Gordon and his company, Kodiak Ventures, claimed ownership of the land beneath the canal through the “quiet title” process, under which property ownership uncertainties are resolved.

The previous owners of the property deeded all the land to Gordon, but mistakenly excluded the land beneath the irrigation canal and laterals, said Paul Sumner, his attorney.

After Gordon issued a public notice of the legal action, the North Unit Irrigation District — which operates the canal — filed a motion to intervene in the case.

The irrigation district claims to actually own the land beneath the canal, which it has operated since 1948, and has requested a state judge to reject Gordon’s claim.

Capital Press was unable to reach the NUID’s manager, Mike Britton, or its attorney, Alan Stewart, for comment as of press time.

Sumner said the implications of the NUID’s claim are “very troubling” because it would effectively mean that irrigation districts own the land beneath canals.

“If this argument is correct, it would be correct for every canal,” he said.

Sumner said the irrigation district simply has the right to operate the canal, but Gordon should have the right to own the underlying property.

Otherwise, he and other farmers could face land use restrictions based on parcel size or be denied access across property owned by irrigation districts, Sumner said.

It’s likely that NUID wants ownership of the property underling the canal to build hydroelectric facilities without having to buy the land, he said.

AMITY, Ore. (AP) — A fire has destroyed a building near Amity in Western Oregon.

John Stock with Amity Fire told KOIN the building housed a machine shop and antique farm equipment such as tractors and cars inside.

Fifty firefighters were battling the Wednesday morning blaze at one point. The building and its contents were destroyed. No one was injured.

LANGLOIS -- Experience the hospitality of Langlois at the first Langlois Music Fest on Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23, at the Old Langlois Cheese Factory, 94179 Allen Boice Drive.

LANGLOIS -- Experience the hospitality of Langlois at the first Langlois Music Fest on Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23, at the Old Langlois Cheese Factory, 94179 Allen Boice Drive.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ammon and Ryan Bundy will be reunited at a downtown Portland jail.

The men who are awaiting trial on charges related to the armed occupation of an Oregon bird sanctuary were recently separated, with Ammon Bundy shipped to a jail in outer northeast Portland.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones granted Ryan Bundy’s request to have them housed in the same jail as they prepare their legal defense ahead of the September trial.

Though jail officials prefer to have co-defendants separated, the judge said this is “an exceptional case and an exceptional relationship.”

Also Monday, the judge allowed standoff defendant Jason Patrick to be released from custody before trial.

ALBANY, Ore. — The State of Oregon is urging the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges state forest management prioritizes environmental concerns to the detriment of logging.

Earlier this year, Linn County filed a complaint against Oregon for allegedly depriving multiple counties of more than $1.4 billion due to a forestry rule that emphasizes wildlife, water quality and recreation over timber harvest.

During oral arguments Monday in Albany, attorneys for Oregon said the case should be thrown out because the forests are meant to be managed for the greatest permanent value to the state, not to the counties.

This “greatest permanent value” is allowed to include many factors beyond timber production under laws that allowed counties to donate their burned and logged forests to the state government, said Sarah Weston, an attorney for the state.

“The statute does not require revenue maximization,” she said. “The statutes have always provided for multiple values and multiple uses.”

Counties acquired these forest lands by foreclosing on property tax liens during the Great Depression but turned them over to state ownership in exchange for a portion of future logging revenues.

Oregon’s attorneys claim that Linn County cannot sue the state to receive compensation for breach of contract, and that the county’s challenge to the “greatest permanent value” rule can only be heard by the Oregon Court of Appeals, rather than in a county court.

Because the lawsuit seeks to recover damages for insufficient logging in the future, it clearly intends to alter the meaning of “greatest permanent value,” said Scott Kaplan, another attorney for the state.

Either the state changes its definition or it’s potentially liable for hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.

“This is absolutely a challenge of state policies of forest management,” Kaplan said.

Linn County argued that contracts between the counties and the state government are enforceable.

“The counties gave up assets in exchange for promises,” said John DiLorenzo, attorney for Linn County.

Counties would not have donated vast tracts of land if they’d known the state would change the terms of the deal at will, he said.

“We believe that’s precisely what the state has done in this case,” DiLorenzo said. “Counties must have a way to enforce their bargains.”

More than 650,000 acres in Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, and Washington counties were given to Oregon based on “promises and assurances” on which the state government has since fallen short, the lawsuit claims.

The law that lays out Oregon’s forest management obligations was written when the United States was preparing to enter World War II and must be understood in that context, DiLorenzo said.

At the time, the greatest value of the land was to produce a large amount of timber for the war effort, rather than to preserve wildlife habitat or aesthetic beauty, DiLorenzo said.

Legal precedents also indicate that Oregon was obligated to maximize revenue from those lands, he said.

Several environmental and fishing organizations claim this interpretation is erroneous.

The optimum management of state forests was bound to be contentious and so that question was left to the discretion of the Oregon Department of Forestry, said Ralph Bloemers, an attorney representing the groups.

“It’s not up to the county, or the timber industry, or the conservation community, what that should be,” he said.

There’s also nothing in the law stating that revenues take priority over other uses, Bloemers said. “It continues to be a huge gaping hole in their complaint.”

Linn County also argues the lawsuit should be certified as a class action, which would allow other counties to participate in the litigation.

There are numerous potential plaintiffs with common legal arguments that would be more efficiently resolved as part of a single case, Linn County claims.

The issue of class certification will be heard at another hearing that’s scheduled for Aug. 17 in Albany.

Hermiston, Ore. — Hermiston watermelons, savored by Northwesterners for their distinctive sweetness, are back in season.

Growers began harvesting last week, and Finley’s Fresh Produce of Hermiston was the first to arrive with melons in tow at the Pendleton, Ore., Farmers’ Market.

“I tried them yesterday. They’re so sweet and good,” said Naomi Sanchez, who owns Finley’s Fresh Produce with her husband, Ildefonso Zuniga. “We plan on selling out.”

While early season watermelons might be a little smaller than average, Sanchez said the quality remains consistent. She credits Zuniga for knowing when they’re ripe for the picking.

“I don’t know how, but he always picks them when they’re perfect,” she said.

Hermiston watermelons have earned their reputation thanks to the Columbia Basin’s unique combination of climate and soil. Watermelons are desert plants, which take in heat during the day to produce sugar as a source of energy.

Not only are the days hot enough for melons around Hermiston, but cooler nights slow down the respiration process, which allows the plants to retain all that sugar. Light, sandy soils also allow water to filter down deep to plant’s roots. The result is a sweet and juicy summertime treat.

“What isn’t good about watermelon?” Sanchez said, with a smile. “They’re so good.”

Jack Bellinger, of Bellinger Farms in Hermiston, said they started cutting melons off the vine last week. He said they’ll start shipping to stores across the Northwest this week, including the Portland and Seattle metro areas.

The growing season this year has been hit-and-miss, Bellinger said, with some weeks topping out around 65 degrees and others reaching triple digits. That type of variation can interrupt watermelons while they’re growing, but he anticipates the crop will fare well over the next couple months.

“The quality looks really good,” Bellinger said. “We’re cutting really solid watermelons right now.”

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson, from Coast Community Health Center, will be at the Langlois Public Library 3-6 p.m. the third Wednesday of every month (July 20). She will be introducing individuals in Curry County to self-sufficiency programs. June is Men’s…