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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Second only, perhaps, to being back at work.

Hyslop Farm Field Day

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

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

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

CPL. BEN LEE BROWN

LANGLOIS — Students at the Wilderland School have been busy getting acquainted with the community of Langlois again, said teacher and co-founder Kelly Fleming.

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

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

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

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

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

THURSDAY, MAY 14

Dec. 10, 1947 - May 7, 2015

TODAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We’re ready to go,” Lynch said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PORT ORFORD — Grim statistics translate to reality in Port Orford, as you look around at a tiny town appearing to crumble and fade.

Port Orford has the highest percentage of students in poverty in Oregon — but every year, its kids outperform their South Coast peers.

The Oregon state veterinarian said horses that competed in a high school equestrian meet in mid-April should be quarantined for 28 days following an outbreak of equine herpes virus.

At least four horses developed neurological symptoms of the disease, and five others that were exposed to the disease have developed fevers, state vet Dr. Brad Leamaster said in a Department of Agriculture news release. Horses at eight farms were under quarantine as of May 7, six in Marion County and two in Polk County.

The infected animals or other exposed horses from the quarantined facilities were at the Oregon High School Equestrian Team (OHSET) Willamette District meet at the Linn County Fairgrounds, Albany, on April 16-19; rodeo events at Branton Arena, Jefferson, April 19-20; and at High Prairie Arena, Eugene, April 25-26.

Leamaster said horses that were at the high school event in Albany should not be taken to other shows or meets for 28 days.

“The responsible thing for OHSET Willamette District attendees to do at this time is to stay home and monitor their horse,” Leamaster said in a prepared statement. “Call your veterinarian if you suspect any signs of illness.”

People who own stable mates of the exposed horses should consult their veterinarian to assess the risk of infection, he said.

Equine herpes virus, of EHV-1, is a common respiratory virus among horses. It usually lies dormant or causes respiratory problems, but stress or other factors can cause it to flare up and attack a horse’s nervous system, leading to severe illness.

Symptoms include fever, decreased coordination, nasal discharge, dribbled urine, loss of tail tone, hind limb weakness and poor balance, according to an ODA news release. Sick horses may be unable to rise.

The virus can cause pregnant mares to abort. Severe cases can kill horses. It is contagious among horses, spread through human hands, or infected equipment or clothing.

BANDON — Bandon Dunes Golf Resort's director of guest services, Mark Bergmann, will talk about customer service at the South Coast Development Corporation's first "The Buzz on Biz" meeting 6-8…

LANGLOIS — The Langlois Lions Club would like to remind community members about the Mary Hildebrand Memorial Plant Sale, to be held from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Langlois Lions C…