Farmers and ranchers in north-central Oregon are already dealing with lost crops and forage following a rash of wildfires that charred hundreds of thousands of acres this summer across Wasco and Sherman counties.

Now, an environmental crisis may also be looming on the scorched, barren landscape.

Clinton Whitten, acting district conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in The Dalles, said high winds are eroding soil in burnt fields and rangeland, robbing the ground of vital plant nutrients and water-holding capacity.

On Monday, the NRCS announced funding for conservation projects in the wake of the Substation, Boxcar and Jack Knife fires, which combined to burn roughly 300 square miles in prime wheat and cattle country.

Financial assistance is available through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, to control soil erosion by planting cover crops and range grasses, while stopping the spread of invasive species like cheatgrass and medusahead.

The top priority, Whitten said, is in fields where standing wheat went up in flames, since they will be entering fallow next season.

“If (farmers) don’t do anything, it would be left bare until next fall when they plant,” Whitten said.

According to NRCS estimates, the Substation fire, which started July 17, affected roughly 31,000 acres of cropland over 86 farms in both Wasco and Sherman counties, including 18,500 acres of standing wheat. Up to a quarter of the region’s crop went up in flames, and one farmer — 64-year-old John Ruby — died trying to fight the blaze as he dug a firebreak to protect his neighbor’s property.

Wind erosion causes further damage, Whitten said, because it strips away soil and makes the ground less productive.

“The deeper your soils are, and the more silts and clays it has, the more water it will hold,” he said. “As you lose that with wind, it will lose more water, and that will affect crop yields.”

Yet another large fire ignited July 26 in the same area, sparked by farm equipment south of Dufur in Wasco County. The Long Hollow Fire was 33,451 acres and 95 percent contained as of Tuesday.

The Boxcar and Jack Knife fires were started by lightning in June, primarily affecting grazing pastures around Maupin and Grass Valley located farther south in the two counties.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, along with U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, have recently called upon the USDA to provide additional aid for local farmers affected by wildfires. In a statement, Merkley said this EQIP funding is a step toward recovery.

“While we need significant funding for recovery beyond the usual crop insurance or disaster assistance, conservation treatments will help restore land in the aftermath of this devastation,” Merkley said.

The initial deadline to apply for EQIP funding is Aug. 10. Whitten said they are still gathering information about how many producers are affected by the Long Hollow fire, and a second sign-up period will likely run through Aug. 24.

Producers may apply at the USDA service centers in The Dalles or Moro, or contact Whitten at 541-289-8559 ext. 112.

Capital Press

Idaho farmers recently hosted executives from South Korean flour-milling companies in an effort to cultivate continued growth in wheat demand from that country. U.S. wheat exports to South Korea increased 14.3 percent during the most recent marketing year.

Hantop Corp. Director Bong-tai Ryu, Daehan Flour Mills Co. Ltd. General Manager Boong-hee Han and C.J. Cheiljedang Corp. Senior Specialist Shin-hyong Park were among visitors to southeast Idaho July 23-25. They were part of a trade delegation sponsored by U.S. Wheat Associates, the Idaho Wheat Commission, Montana Wheat and Barley Committee and the Oregon Wheat Commission.

U.S. Wheat spokesman Steve Mercer said 1.6 million metric tons of U.S.-grown wheat went to South Korea in the marketing year spanning June 1, 2017, through May 31 of this year, up by nearly 14.3 percent from 1.4 million a year earlier.

“They do buy quite high quality,” Mercer said. An example is Western White Wheat, a blend of soft white and club wheats that can command some price premium depending on protein content. It is used in fine cakes and confections.

South Korea, consistently among the top five markets for U.S. wheat, challenges U.S. producers, the Idaho Wheat Commission said in a news release. The country’s wheat-foods market is developing to be similar to that of the U.S. market. End-product flour specifications in South Korea “are becoming more complicated because consumers demand quality and an increasingly wide range of products.”

The commission, which emphasizes market and trade development, provides visiting trade teams with harvest, quality and export-price information in relation to the country’s end-user preferences. For the recent team visit, this included demonstrating factors that help ensure South Korea buyers get the most value from U.S. wheat, the commission said.

The trade team visited Ririe Grain and Feed Co-op, Thresher Artisan Wheat in Blackfoot and the University of Idaho Research and Extension Center in Aberdeen. The team also toured the farms of Gordon Gallup and Idaho Wheat Commission member Clark Hamilton, both near Ririe, and met with representatives from Lansing Trade Group in American Falls.

The first picture I am sharing this week was probably taken sometime in the 1920s, and although I have seen several different views, I did not realize that the Bandon Library was in the building at the end of Alabama…

BEND, Ore. (AP) — On a rugged hillside south of Antelope, wildlife biologist J.D. McComas spent two nights last week waiting to shoot a feral pig that was destroying nearby farmland.

Each night, McComas drank coffee to stay awake as he used night-vision equipment to spot the pig in the darkness. But it never showed.

Hunting the last of the feral swine in Oregon takes patience.

McComas, a Madras-based wildlife biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, was assigned to lead Oregon’s effort to eradicate the invasive feral swine species in January 2017.

About a decade ago, the feral swine population in the state grew to more than 3,000. The pigs are one of the most dangerous invasive species in Oregon and cause damage to agricultural crops and fish and wildlife habitat.

Through aerial hunting from helicopters and corral trapping, the population has been reduced to less than 200. The remaining swine are roaming in the vast wilderness of Central Oregon, from Madras to Shaniko, and in the open terrain along the California border.

Finding the stragglers takes long nights of hunting and corral trapping in the remote terrain, McComas said.

“For the most part, they inhabit some of the roughest country Central Oregon has to offer,” he said. “That High Desert country and canyons that have seen nothing but cattle for years. We had to cover a lot of ground just to find them.”

State officials started to address the feral swine problem nearly two decades ago. In 2001, a law was passed to reclassify the pigs from livestock to predatory animals, allowing them to be hunted without regulation.

In 2009, the Oregon Legislature passed a law requiring landowners to notify the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife if they see feral swine on their land. The law also made it illegal to sell swine hunts because those operations bring in pigs and if any escape, the population problem will worsen.

Feral swine spread in Oregon mostly through people bringing in exotic European and Russian boars for private hunts.

Some of the boars would escape and breed with escaped domestic pigs, said Rick Boatner, ODFW’s invasive species wildlife integrity coordinator.

“People were bringing in Russian boars, and they cross bred with domestic swine,” Boatner said. “Fairly often, we found hybrids.”

Feral swine can start breeding as early as 6 months old, and produce at least two litters per year with up to 12 in a litter.

They can grow to nearly 300 pounds, and as omnivores they eat almost anything in their paths. They can eat small birds and young deer but also dig up roots in farmland and protected riparian areas.

Most of the damage is done during the night because they are nocturnal animals.

“They can go in and damage acres of pasture land,” Boatner said. “Then you have weed patches instead of grass for your cattle.”

Besides the environmental damage, feral pigs also carry up to 40 separate diseases that are dangerous to humans and livestock.

Boatner said the Oregon population is relatively disease free, although one was found with swine flu, a respiratory disease in pigs that can spread to humans.

“Feral swine are a walking disease factory,” Boatner said.

About five years ago, U.S. Congress recognized the threat of feral pigs in each state and designated nearly $20 million to eradication efforts, according to David Williams, director of USDA wildlife services in Oregon.

The U.S. agriculture department was tasked with leading land managers and private landowners in each state to help eliminate feral swine.

Oregon initially received $165,000 in federal money per year, which helped rent a helicopter for aerial hunts.

About three or four times per year, Oregon wildlife officials would ride in a helicopter, flying at a low altitude to find large groups of feral pigs. As the helicopter pilot hovered above them, another person would use a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot the swine.

One flight could take down more than 100 swine.

Recovering the carcasses can be time consuming, so they are usually left behind on terrain that is often too rugged to safely land a helicopter, Williams said. And if landowners want to keep a carcass, they have to have it inspected for diseases before it can be prepared.

Overall, the use of helicopters in Central Oregon eliminated about 1,200 feral swine.

The aerial hunting was the most effective way to reduce the population, but it hasn’t been as necessary in recent years since the remaining pigs are hard to find from the sky, according to wildlife officials.

Helicopter flights were only done twice last year and once this year. Each flight only spotted about four swine.

Wildlife officials have entered the hardest part of the eradication effort — tracking and killing the few remaining pigs.

To assist the final push in Oregon, the annual federal funding was bumped up $245,000 last year, and McComas was brought in as the lead biologist.

“Now, we have our lead biologist and we have a helicopter we can use and from time to time we will also assign some of our staff to work with landowners to run a lot of corral traps and monitor trail cameras to try to get to the last hold-outs of feral swine,” Williams said.

Because of how quickly feral swine breed and how people are still bringing them in for illegal private hunts, wildlife officials worry the population could grow again.

McComas and his colleagues are working hard to eliminate the swine and monitor any new sightings.

If they start to back off now, they could find themselves back to where they were a decade ago, when thousands of swine damaged the landscape, McComas said.

“We are doing everything in our power to keep the foot on the pedal,” he said. “Eventually, we will catch up with them all.”

Eric Gallandt, a University of Maine weed ecologist, has unveiled several findings in recent years that could dramatically improve weed management in organic vegetable production.

As such, Gallandt has been a featured speaker at mechanical cultivation field days across the country.

On Aug. 16, Gallandt will be in Corvallis, speaking to participants in an Oregon State University Mechanical Cultivation Field Day at the OSU Vegetable Research Farm, 34306 N.E. Electric Road, Corvallis. The field day, which also features equipment demonstrations, will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In a phone interview, Gallandt said he and a University of Maine graduate student, Bryan Brown, have been able to show that by stacking cultivation tools, weed control is dramatically improved in organic vegetable production systems.

“One of the more promising discoveries we’ve found in the last couple of years is that by using multiple tools in a single pass, or using multiple tools in sequence, is that you often get more than additive improvements in the percentage of weeds you kill. We have evidence of synergy,” Gallandt said.

“So, for example, if you take two different tools, one of which gives you 30 percent weed control, the other of which gives you 20 percent weed control, and you use them together, you don’t just get 50 percent weed control. You might get 75 percent weed control,” he said.

“And that holds true across challenging conditions, so across increasing soil moisture, across increasing size of weeds and other conditions,” he said.

In addition, Gallandt is researching the use of longer-term weed management strategies, including use of cover crops, in combination with stacking mechanical weed control.

“By combining some strategies to reduce the weed seed bank with improved physical weed control, we should be able to help farmers experience improving weed management circumstances over time,” he said.

In general, weed control in organic vegetable production systems has shown no improvement over time, he said, and in many cases, has worsened.

The strategies take more work than is employed in most organic vegetable production systems, he said, but can bring significant dividends.

“We’ve got some pretty decent evidence that this is the case,” he said. “For example, we did a nice experiment in onions that showed that longer-term seedbank management strategies that require more work can actually pay off, even in the short term, because of improved yields and improved quality.

“So, certainly if you look at it over the longer term, it is something that has the promise to increase profitability, and, in the case of using cover crops, for example, could be used for multiple benefits,” he said.

OSU Small Farms Extension agent Clare Sullivan, who along with fellow agent Nick Andrews, is putting together the field day, said the idea for the event came about because of interest among Oregon growers in a similar event held last year at Michigan State University, and because growers have struggled to use cultivation tools.

“There is a lot of interest in mechanical cultivation implements, especially from mid-sized organic growers, but we hear from a lot of them that they struggle to use the tools effectively,” Sullivan said. “We wanted to put on an educational event that shared the best practices to prepare your fields to use cultivation implements, and also have the equipment dealers show in-person how to adjust the tools to work effectively.

“The neat thing about this is it is targeted toward vegetable growers of all different sizes and, while it is primarily geared toward organic production, conventional growers can benefit from this as well,” Sullivan said.

Field Day

The OSU Small Farms Program’s Mechanical Cultivation Field Day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the OSU Vegetable Research Farm, 34306 N.E. Electric Road, Corvallis.

The program includes live demonstrations of cultivation equipment and presentations by speakers, including keynote speaker Eric Gallandt, a weed ecology professor at the University of Maine.

The OSU Small Farms Program asks that participants register online by Aug. 10 at smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/mechanical-cultivation-field-day-corvallis.

Admission is $25 and includes lunch.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the state’s two U.S. senators are asking the Trump administration to assist local farmers who lost some or all of their crops in one of several large wildfires burning in the state.

Specifically, Brown — along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley — want to carve out a portion of funds from the new $12 billion emergency relief package for farmers affected by the president’s mounting trade war with China and other countries.

In a letter sent July 27 to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, the trio of Democrats said they are concerned that crop insurance and normal disaster relief programs will not be enough to cover losses sustained by Oregon producers.

Funding for the $12 billion package comes from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a Great Depression-era program created to protect farm income and prices. It did not require congressional approval.

“We respectfully request USDA use a portion of the newly announced aid to assist Oregon farmers whose crops have been lost due to fires,” wrote Brown, Wyden and Merkley.

They criticized President Trump’s trade policies, saying the president has made a bad situation even worse by instigating a trade war “without any apparent strategy or consideration of the consequences.”

“We agree with our colleagues in the Senate that farmers want trade, not aid,” they wrote. “But regardless of the president’s trade strategy, USDA must act to assist American farmers enduring disaster now.”

Back-to-back wildfires in Wasco and Sherman counties have especially put a dent in the region’s wheat production and overwhelmed rangeland where ranchers graze their livestock. The Substation fire started July 17 near The Dalles and burned nearly 80,000 acres, including 1 million to 2 million acres of standing wheat.

One farmer, 64-year-old John Ruby, died trying to fight the blaze, digging a firebreak to protect his neighbor’s property. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though it was described by the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office as “incendiary in nature.”

A second large fire is now burning near the same area, this time south of Dufur, consuming 34,550 acres. The Long Hollow Fire was unintentionally started July 26 by farm equipment working on private property, and was 58 percent contained as of July 30.

The Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Cattlemen’s Association are working to raise money for victims of the fires. The cattlemen’s association is also collecting donated hay, equipment and supplies for ranchers who lost rangeland for their animals.

“The surviving cattle and ranching families are in desperate need of essentials like hay and fencing,” the OCA wrote in a press release. “We ask Oregon ranchers to come together and support their fellow ranching families in this time of need.”

Donations to OCA can be made online at www.orcattle.com/donate. Checks made out to the Oregon Farm Bureau Fire Relief Fund can also be mailed to the Farm Bureau offices, c/o Patty Kuester, 1320 Capitol St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301. The OFB and Wasco County Farm Bureau will decide where to best use the money received.

For those wanting to help the family of John Ruby, the farmer who died, Columbia Bank in The Dalles has set up a fund. Donations can be mailed to Columbia Bank, 316 E. Third St., The Dalles, OR 97058. Call 541-298-6647 for more information.

Small forestland owners want the Oregon Board of Forestry to endorse a proposal to allow new dwellings on forestland for relatives of aging operators.

Half the owners of Oregon’s family forests are 65 years or older, but unlike the aging population of the state’s farmers, they can’t build secondary homes on their property, said Bonnie Shumaker, a Washington County landowner.

“The upcoming issue of inter-generational change is huge,” she said during a July 24 board meeting in Salem, Ore.

Shumaker serves on the Committee for Family Forestlands that makes recommendations to the Oregon Board of Forestry, which oversees forest management policies and regulations.

The committee hopes to win the board’s support for a “legislative concept” in 2019 that would allow secondary dwellings to be built on the same parcel of forest resource land.

Oregon’s statewide land use law has successfully retained 98 percent of the state’s forests since being enacted 45 years ago but family forestland operators face difficulty maintaining their properties as they age, Shumaker said.

Allowing relatives to inhabit a secondary dwelling would provide forest operators with needed assistance, she said. Meanwhile, younger family members could learn about managing the property while still pursuing a career.

“Not having an option to live on the land remains an obstacle,” Shumaker said.

While the development of forests along the “wildland-urban interface” is a concern, the legislative proposal would address the issue by only allowing secondary dwellings on the same parcel, without subdividing the land.

The secondary dwelling would have to pass “fire safe” regulations and would only be allowed on property that already qualifies for a dwelling.

There’s also discussion of establishing a minimum lot size that would be eligible for secondary dwellings, most likely 80 to 160 acres, Shumaker said.

“I’m a proponent of land use. We need land use but we need it to be common sense,” she said.

Farmers have long been allowed to have secondary dwellings under Oregon land use law, likely due to their day-to-day involvement in agriculture, she said.

It’s possible family foresters didn’t push hard enough to overcome the perception that forest work is more sporadic, Shumaker said.

Having help with harvest, planting and fire suppression would actually ensure a smoother succession in areas that are prone to development, said Evan Barnes, the committee’s acting chair and a Douglas County landowner.

“It’s not meant as a development tool,” he said.

Peter Daugherty, the Oregon State Forester, encouraged the committee to approach the board for an endorsement again after refining the proposal.

“It is consistent with the goals of the Board of Forestry,” he said.

For a crop that’s been grown in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for over a century, there’s still a lot to be learned about hazelnuts.

As hazelnut growers were preoccupied with defeating their mortal enemy — a fungal pathogen known as Eastern Filbert Blight — there wasn’t as much energy devoted to studying basic production.

“Everybody’s been chasing the Eastern Filbert Blight. We knew very little about the disease when it first came in,” said Nik Wiman, Oregon State University’s orchard specialist in Western Oregon.

Now that growers have developed ways to combat the pathogen and OSU has introduced several hazelnut cultivars resistant to the disease, Wiman can focus on the fundamentals: How to protect trees from insect invaders? What is the best mulch to use? How much water to apply?

“We’re trying to maximize growth,” he said.

While opinions on production methods are often based on anecdotes, Wiman is trying to develop recommendations grounded in data and science.

Much of OSU’s research on nutrients has grown outdated as farmers have replaced traditional varieties, such as Barcelona, with new ones that spring from other parts of the globe.

As it turns out, nutrient demands can vary significantly among cultivars. Growers also have more flexibility these days with fertilizers that are applied to leaves or through irrigation lines.

Traditionally, growers only fertilized during spring because it was thought hazelnuts didn’t take up nutrients in the summer. However, that’s only the case if they’re not irrigated.

Wiman is wrapping up a three-year study that aims to refine the timing of fertilizer applications and better understand their effects on tree and nut development.

The issue is complicated because the tree’s response to nutrients depends on the accumulation of heat over the season, so timing will vary from year to year.

“There is so much change, even in a small time frame like a month,” Wiman said.

Hazelnuts were historically grown as a dryland crop but the industry is increasingly turning to irrigation, especially to get young trees established.

Wiman has found that trees respond better to sprinklers than drip irrigation, since there’s better water penetration of the entire soil surface.

With drip irrigation, on the other hand, dry soil can pull water away from the tree’s root mass.

Even so, drip lines are likely to remain the standard in hazelnut orchards, simply because many farms don’t have access to ample irrigation water, Wiman said.

Over time, the industry will probably adopt automated irrigation controls that begin watering orchards as soon as soil moisture or tree sap sensors indicate it’s necessary, he said.

“We want to promote responsible water use,” he said.

Rows of hazelnut trees growing at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora receive varying amounts of irrigation, with Wiman and his researchers carefully measuring the effects on each tree.

It’s likely that releasing smaller amounts of water over time is more beneficial than irrigating all at once, since the water stays closer to the surface rather than seeping too deep for roots to absorb, he said.

As an entomologist, Wiman also spends time on the pests that afflict hazelnut orchards.

Flathead borers, for example, are especially drawn to young trees, which is a problem for Oregon’s burgeoning industry — more than half the acreage is non-bearing, he said.

Farmers who found the borers in their orchards brought branches to Wiman, who sealed them in wax to preserve moisture and observed their development.

Such observation yielded biological information about the insect that wasn’t previously available. It also turns out the borers have a natural enemy: a wasp that lays eggs into their larvae, killing them.

Encouraging such beneficial predators is a matter of judicious pesticide use to avoid killing off these “biological controls,” Wiman said.

That’s a tough task with brown marmorated stink bugs, a recently introduced pest from Asia that difficult to treat without broad-spectrum chemicals that also kill helpful insects.

“They can actually feed right through the shell and damage the kernel inside,” Wiman said.

Fortunately, another wasp species preys on stink bugs, which is how their population is limited in Asia. The insects are being bred at OSU’s research center in Aurora and released at infested sites.

“It showed up on its own. It followed its host,” Wiman said. “We think it’s going to have a huge effect long term.”

Wiman said it’s an exciting time to work as a hazelnut researcher, since the industry is experiencing “incredible growth.” He also appreciates the “culture of sharing” among hazelnut farmers.

“These growers feel like family almost,” Wiman said. “There’s a lot of innovation by the growers themselves.”

Nik Wiman

Occupation: Orchard specialist at Oregon State University

Hometown: Corvallis, Ore.

Age: 42

Family: Wife, Michel, and two daughters

Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology from Montana State University, Master’s degree in entomology from Montana State University, Doctorate in entomology from Washington State University.

Tuesdays

Wednesdays

PORTLAND — The owner of a controversial Oregon dairy claims the state government wants to shut down the facility just as it’s about to comply with wastewater regulations.

Oregon farm regulators are seeking a court order to stop Lost Valley Farm of Boardman from producing wastewater — which would effectively halt operations — because it’s disregarding a previous legal settlement.

Greg te Velde, the owner, said there have been “some spills and splashes” at the facility but maintains they’ve been “nothing catastrophic.”

Though he acknowledged defaulting on the legal agreement, te Velde said he’d always intended to honor the deal despite facing “a steep learning curve.”

Upgrades to the dairy will soon mitigate wastewater problems, te Velde said during a July 27 court hearing in Portland.

“I think we’re on the cusp of having it all done,” he said.

In March, Lost Valley Farm of Boardman, Ore., settled a lawsuit with the Oregon Department of Agriculture by agreeing to limit its wastewater output to 65,000 gallons a day.

Since then, however, the dairy has violated the deal by exceeding that threshold almost daily and failing to maintain adequate capacity in manure lagoons, for which te Velde should be held in contempt of court, according to ODA.

“On most of these days, it’s a pretty significant excess use,” testified Wym Matthews, manager of ODA’s confined animal feeding operation program.

According to ODA’s estimates, the excess ranged from 19,000 to 375,000 gallons per day, he said.

The agency also estimates the amount of manure applied to six of seven nearby fields surpassed the agronomic requirements of crops, which is prohibited due to the possibility of nitrogen pollution.

“It consumes those nutrients so they don’t become pollutants, so that balance is critical,” Matthews said.

Although ODA is in the process of revoking the dairy’s “confined animal feeding operation” permit, it will take two months for that action to become final, or even longer if the order is contested by te Velde.

Because wastewater violations at the dairy haven’t ceased, there’s a “serious risk” of groundwater contamination unless the situation is brought under control this summer, the agency claims.

It’s “particularly important” for Lost Valley Farm to comply with CAFO permit conditions because it’s in the “environmentally sensitive” Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management Area, which already has elevated levels of nitrate contaminants, the agency said.

ODA is worried that pollutants from the dairy will eventually reach groundwater, even if they haven’t yet, said Matthews.

“Our concern is the operator is loading the soil,” he said.

If the soil continues to be loaded with nitrogen, pollutants would be expected to reach the groundwater within two years under water-saturated conditions, said Kirk Cook, a geologist and program manager of ODA’s pesticide stewardship program.

However, the nitrogen remains immobile when the soil isn’t saturated and the dairy is in an arid part of the state, he said.

The ODA has requested that Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kelly Skye issue remedial sanctions requiring Lost Valley Farm to cease wastewater production within 60 days and remove waste from lagoons to free up 75 acre-feet of storage capacity.

Of the all dairies inspected by ODA this year, the facility was the only one to have a lagoon overflow and the only one that didn’t turn over agronomic data, said Matthews.

The dairy began construction of a fourth manure lagoon to alleviate the storage problems, but it didn’t first notify ODA to ensure the construction complied with waste management plans, as required, he said.

“That is a general theme — showing up to find things we should have known about,” said Matthews.

An attorney for te Velde argued the government’s contempt case should be dismissed because it’s duplicative of the permit revocation process.

The judge denied that motion because the dairy cannot violate the earlier judgment regardless of those proceedings.

To reduce water usage, the dairy has installed water-saving nozzles and cut down on “flush times,” te Velde said.

A neighboring farmer has agreed to have wastewater applied to his fields and the dairy is installing piping that will deliver wastewater directly to crops, he said.

Improvements have been delayed by the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, since investments must be cleared by a judge and creditor committee, te Velde said.

Shutting down the dairy would be “a really extreme remedy” since te Velde has spent roughly $700,000 trying to comply with the legal settlement, said Elizabeth Howard, his attorney.

The state hasn’t shown “clear and convincing” evidence that he violated the deal “willfully,” which is necessary to prove contempt, Howard said.

Since starting operations last year, the dairy has repeatedly been cited by ODA for breaching the terms of its CAFO permit with unauthorized waste discharges and other problems.

Despite the ODA’s “exhaustive efforts” to bring Lost Valley Farm into regulatory compliance — including a fine of more than $10,000 — the violations have continued, the agency said.

“We’ve done everything a regulatory agency can do,” said Nicole DeFever, attorney for the state government.

Skye, the judge, said she will deliberate on the meaning of “willful” in this context.

The idea that unsuccessfully trying to comply with the deal shields te Velde from being held in contempt “doesn’t sit right with me,” she said.

“I don’t think merely making efforts for lengthy periods of time will keep you out of willful conduct,” Skye said.

While te Velde has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which shields his dairies from creditors foreclosing on property, that “automatic stay” doesn’t apply to regulatory actions aimed at remediating environmental hazards, according to ODA.

The bankruptcy petition was filed in April to stop Rabobank, the dairy’s major lender, from holding an auction to sell Lost Valley Farm’s cattle to recoup some of the roughly $60 million it loaned te Velde.

As part of bankruptcy proceedings, a subsidiary of the Tillamook County Creamery Association has filed a lawsuit to terminate its milk-buying contract with Lost Valley Farm, citing high bacteria levels in milk, reputational damage and unpaid debts.

More recently, the federal government filed a motion for a “Chapter 11 trustee” to take over management of te Velde’s company, which includes two other dairies in California, because he’s allegedly admitted to regularly gambling and using methamphetamine since filing for bankruptcy.

Appointing a trustee is also warranted because te Velde has withdrawn more money than allowed from his company and obtained a loan without authorization, according to the motion.

Western Oregon and southwest Washington have deteriorated from moderate to “severe drought” in the past week, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday.

A severe drought that already had covered much of Eastern Oregon crossed over the Cascades into the Willamette Valley and as far south as Douglas County. The percentage of the state in severe drought more than doubled to 55 percent from 25 percent. The southwest corner of Washington, making up 6 percent of the state, moved from moderate to severe drought. It’s the first time any part of Washington has been in a severe drought since late 2015.

“What we really need is to see some recovery in soil moisture and streams flows, and the long-term forecast is hot and dry,” said Kathie Dello, associate director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute.

The weekly drought report, a snapshot of current conditions, continues a summer-long trend toward drought developing in the Northwest. The USDA reported this week that while some crops were thriving in the heat, others were showing signs of stress.

The USDA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of Nebraska collaborate on the Drought Monitor. The four stages of drought range from moderate to exceptional.

Some 83 percent of Oregon and 29 percent of Washington are at least in moderate drought. Most areas not in drought are “abnormally dry,” according to the monitor.

Two months ago, Washington was on the wet side, as was Western Oregon. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says the odds favor above-average temperatures and below-normal precipitation to continue for the rest of the summer.

Washington State Assistant Climatologist Karin Bumbaco said periodic summer rains have been absent, while temperatures have been high.

“It’s looking like it’ll get worse before it gets better,” she said.

In Idaho and California, conditions have been steady. Some 6 percent of Idaho is in a moderate drought, while drought conditions range from moderate to extreme over 44 percent of California.

Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond said he expects August to be warmer than average, but for temperatures to be more moderate than in July.

“I don’t think there will be the sustained heat as it has been in July,” he said.

Sea-surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean have been warming up. There is a 70 percent an El Nino will form next winter, according to the Climate Prediction Center. Northwest winters are generally warm during an El Nino.

La Nina conditions, a cooling of the ocean associated with robust snowpacks, have prevailed the past two winters. A third straight La Nina can probably be ruled out, Bond said.

“My feeling is that it’s more likely than not to get into the weak to moderate El Nino category,” he said.

In a weekly crop report, the USDA said that irrigated crops in Oregon were doing fine, but unirrigated pastures were drying up. In Washington, unusually high temperatures around Puget Sound were stressing crops. “All producers with access to irrigation were irrigating,” according to the USDA.

DUFUR, Ore. (AP) — Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation notices to residents southeast of The Dalles because of a wildfire.

The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook Thursday evening that residents along the Deschutes River from Sherars Falls to Mack’s Canyon should leave their homes immediately.

The Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center says the fire was reported at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday between Dufur and the Deschutes River. The center says as of Thursday night the blaze had burned nearly 10 square miles and had approached but not crossed the river.

In the same area last week a man died in the Substation fire which burned about 123 square miles and was nearly contained as of Thursday.

An Oregon cattlemen’s group is asking members of the ag community to ride to the aid of ranchers and others who were impacted by the wildfires that have swept across parts of the state.

“It is with heavy hearts that we continue to witness the mass destruction and devastation caused by wildfires that continue to rage across Oregon, affecting ranching families,” the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said in a press release. “Not only have these ranchers lost horses, feed and beef cattle, one farmer lost his life trying to prevent fire from spreading.

“We ask Oregon ranchers to come together and support their fellow ranching families in this time of need,” the group said.

To donate to the wildfire relief, go to the OCA Stewardship Fund at https://orcattle.com/donate/ and click on “Donation-Stewardship Fund.” Under purpose, click “Fire Assistance Fund.” Funds raised will be given to a wildfire relief fund effort.

“The surviving cattle and ranching families are in desperate need of essentials like hay and fencing,” the OCA said. To make a donation of fencing, material, hay, trucking or time, email OCA Communications Director Robyn Smith at robyn.smith@orcattle.com .

“We are working hard to build a relief effort team and would appreciate any assistance we can get,” the organization said.

“The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association takes serious efforts in helping not only their own members, but also our fellow ranchers across the country in times of crisis. Please consider donating to the Oregon Cattlemen’s Stewardship Fund for the Wildfire Assistance fundraising efforts,” said Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Oregon wildlife officials have confirmed wolves killed another calf July 22 in the Harl Butte area of Wallowa County, where repeated attacks on cattle in 2016 and 2017 to several “lethal take” permits for the offending pack.

The latest incident happened on a public grazing allotment within the area of known wolf activity for the Harl Butte pack. A rancher reportedly saw two wolves in the vicinity before finding a dead, partially eaten calf.

Ranchers’ struggles with the Harl Butte pack date back several years. Wolves preyed on cattle six times between July 15, 2016 and July 22, 2017, prompting the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife to kill two wolves in August 2017 to prevent future attacks.

Just one week later, the pack notched another depredation, leading to a second kill order by ODFW for another two wolves. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association had argued for killing the entire pack, while environmental groups decried killing any wolves, favoring stronger requirements for non-lethal deterrents.

By the end of 2017, the Harl Butte pack had four animals left and was not counted as a breeding pair, according to the state’s population estimate. There are a minimum of 124 wolves across the state, and the species remains federally endangered in western Oregon.

Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist for ODFW, said it is not clear whether those wolves disbanded and joined with other neighboring packs, such as the Pine Creek, which also had three wolves culled by ODFW earlier this year after a string of livestock attacks.

Broman said the department has not received any new requests for lethal control.

Shooting wolves remains a contentious point in the state’s wolf conservation and management plan, which is now undergoing an update. ODFW recently hired a professional mediator, Debra Nudelman of Portland, to try to help resolve lingering disagreements.

Broman said those meetings are still being scheduled.

Klamath Project irrigators are breathing a sigh of relief after a federal judge in San Francisco denied a preliminary injunction to hold more water in Upper Klamath Lake for endangered sucker fish.

The injunction was requested by the Klamath Tribes as part of a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to protect declining populations of Lost River and shortnose suckers in the lake.

Judge William Orrick also granted a motion to transfer the case to the U.S. District Court in Oregon. Though he presided over a separate lawsuit filed by the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes of northern California seeking to protect salmon in the lower Klamath River, Orrick noted that Upper Klamath Lake, the endangered suckers and the Klamath Tribes are all in Oregon.

“Whether venue is proper in the Northern District of California is not obvious, but the District of Oregon is clearly more appropriate to hear this case,” Orrick wrote in the order, filed Wednesday.

As for the preliminary injunction, Orrick described it as an “extraordinary remedy” given the situation, while adding the scientific evidence is “very much in dispute.”

“I cannot conclude that the Klamath Tribes are likely to prevail on the merits nor that the sucker fish are suffering irreparable injury as a result of the lake elevation levels,” Orrick wrote.

Both the Lost River and shortnose suckers were listed as endangered in 1988. The fish are a culturally significant food for the tribes, though harvest diminished from more than 10,000 suckers in 1968 to just 687 in 1985.

According to the tribes’ lawsuit, the cause stems from increased agricultural activity since the inception of the Klamath Project, which provides surface water irrigation for 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California.

Today, the tribes harvest just two suckers every year for ceremonial purposes.

Don Gentry, chairman of the Klamath Tribes, said they were disappointed in Orrick’s decision, but they will be ready to present their arguments before a new judge and do what is necessary to protect the fish.

“We’re really concerned about the fish this year and into the future,” Gentry said. “Hopefully we won’t have a significant die-off this season, but we’ll see.”

The Klamath Water Users Association, which advocates for farmers and ranchers in the basin, have also intervened in the tribes’ lawsuit, along with the Sunnyside Irrigation District and California farmer Ben DuVal.

Scott White, KWUA executive director, said the injunction — which would have kept more water in Upper Klamath Lake, and less water in the Klamath Project’s irrigation canals — would have been catastrophic to the region’s agriculture.

“Millions of dollars are already invested in the dirt, and all that could have been lost,” White said. “I’m just so thrilled for my guys knowing they’re going to be able to finish this season out.”

Irrigators were already off to a late start this season in the Klamath Project, after a ruling last year by Orrick in the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribal lawsuit that required more water to be sent down the Klamath River to flush away a deadly parasite infecting coho salmon.

White said he knows fish are important to the tribes, just as irrigation is important to the agricultural community, but he believes the problem needs to be addressed locally, not in the courts.

“We may not see eye-to-eye on how to solve these issues relative to the fish, but until we sit down to talk about that, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.

Gentry said the tribes are working toward revising a five-year-old federal plan for sustaining healthy sucker populations — known as the biological opinion — but the fish are in an increasingly dire position.

“We want to protect all of the fish for as long as we can until we can make some significant progress,” Gentry said.

PRESCOTT, Wash. — Soft white wheat prices are stagnant around the $6 per bushel range, farmer Jim Kent said.

Six dollars per bushel “sounds good, but you take everything out of it and your expenses haven’t gone down,” Kent said. “Everything’s still fairly high.”

A Washington Association of Wheat Growers board member, Kent estimated he’s halfway through his wheat harvest. on 4,500 acres south of Prescott, Wash.

Test weights are up and yields are easily about 10 bushels per acre above Kent’s average, typically about 80 bushels per acre.

Soft white wheat ranges on the Portland market from $5.80 per bushel to $5.90 per bushel. Hard red winter wheat ranges from $6.21 per bushel to $7.01 per bushel, depending on protein. Dark northern spring ranges from $6.42 per bushel to $7.30 per bushel.

Farm marketings are behind normal, which implies a lot of selling in the future, said Dan Steiner, grain merchandiser for Morrow County Grain Growers.

But President Donald Trump’s announcement of $12 billion in farmer aid throws marketing “out the window,” he said. Normally, Steiner would expect catch-up sales at harvest time when marketing is behind normal, causing temporary dips in price as the market softens.

Typically, about 40 percent of the Pacific Northwest wheat crop is sold by the end of September, depending on the crop size and price.

Trump’s announcement appears to be helping the market, Steiner said.

“We don’t even know the details of it yet,” he said of Trump’s farmer aid. “In that process of aiding the farmers, it will probably keep grain off the market ... However that works out per farmer, that may heal them up and give them enough money that they can be patient and wait for the cash market to develop more.”

World production is getting smaller, with estimates from the European Union reduced to 130 million metric tons, down 8.5 percent from 142 million metric tons last year. Central and Northern Russia had too much rain, affecting quality, Steiner said, Other problems include dry conditions in Australia and lower dark northern spring wheat yields in the U.S. so far on the Wheat Quality Council tour, he said.

Steiner said prices appear stronger overall, and advised U.S. farmers to take advantage when possible.

“The reality is, as wheat prices go up, we are not seeing any increased sales,” he said. “We are not seeing stronger demand. That may happen, and if it does happen, it will most likely be mid- to late winter or early spring. It’s not going to happen right away.”

Russia and the Black Sea region will still get the majority of demand, Steiner said. Until they have generated the cash they need, the U.S. won’t earn any additional export sales, he said.

If U.S. wheat sales don’t improve by next February to April, Steiner said, that could mean a lot of pressure on the cash market.

Farmers can take advantage of rallies and sell at prices they think they can live with, Steiner said.

“Soon as we can get through harvest and bin doors get shut, I’m certainly thinking we’re going to see higher prices throughout the course of the winter.”

Kent, the Prescott area farmer, would like to see soft white wheat prices closer to $6.50 per bushel.

“I see that happening, I just don’t know if it’s going to happen in August or if we’re going to have to wait until after the first of the year,” he said.

The Steam Weeder looks like an old-time vacuum cleaner and sounds like an espresso machine, with a long hose and nozzle attached to a tractor-mounted boiler heating steam to 250 degrees.

Erik Augerson, a graduate research assistant for Oregon State University, demonstrated how the technology works July 18 during Blueberry Field Day at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center, steaming along rows of blueberries to control field bindweed.

As a weed management tool, Augerson said the Steam Weeder shows promise, especially for organic growers. Superheated steam kills weeds by bursting plant cells, without damaging mulch or other farm infrastructure, as flame weeding does.

Augerson, who is earning his master’s degree from OSU in horticulture, is part of a research project trying to develop a season-long organic weed management program for small berry growers, combining steam with other mechanical treatments and certified organic sprays.

“The organic berry industry in Oregon is having a lot of trouble determining what the best and most cost-effective form of weed management is for their systems,” Augerson told the Capital Press. “We’re just trying to increase the growers’ toolbox.”

The project is supported by a $500,000 grant from the Organic Transitions Program through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Additional funding comes from the OSU Agriculture Research Foundation and Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research.

The Steam Weeder is manufactured by Weedtechnics, a company based near Sydney, Australia. Jeremy Winer, managing director of Weedtechnics, was also on hand at the field day to meet with growers and answer questions about the product, which sprays at a rate of 2.5 gallons per minute and penetrates 1 inch deep into the ground.

“It’s not actually boiling, but it’s superheated,” Winer explained. “It explodes the (weed) cells.”

Augerson said OSU purchased the Steam Weeder over the winter and began field trials about a month and a half ago. While they are still collecting data, he said the technology could be a solid option for organic growers — depending on the cost analysis.

“We know that it can kill weeds, and that it works from a management standpoint,” Augerson said. “I think it has a lot of promise.

Depending on the size and model, Steam Weeders can cost between $16,000 and $30,000, a steep price tag for small growers. But Augerson said the value lies in decreased need for manual labor controlling weeds, allowing farms to put their workers to better use.

“There is a lack of farm labor, and it is decreasing,” Augerson said. “We want to make it so farmers can utilize their labor in different ways.”

Augerson said they will need at least two years of data before they can start writing a comprehensive, full-season weed management program for organic berries.

Most of the mint oil in the U.S. is produced in the West, and some parts of the region are still increasing production.

“I think Idaho is going to increase its production in the next three to 5 years,” Roger Batt, executive director of the Idaho Mint Commission, said.

From 2007 to 2012, Idaho increased mint harvest by a little over 4,000 acres. In the same time, Oregon saw a nearly 6,000-acre increase in mint harvests for oil.

Washington state, however, has seen a decrease in acreage, and Ken Christensen, a mint grower and chairman of the Far West Mint Marketing Order, said he doesn’t see it increasing.

Christensen said production will most likely begin moving to other states because of the aging demographic of farmers and less demand for spearmint, a popular crop in Washington, versus peppermint.

In 2012, the USDA Census of Agriculture reported that 96,129 acres of mint were harvested for oil. Of that total, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California produced approximately 77.5 percent.

Producing mint oil takes special know-how, Christensen said.

“It’s not like everyone knows how to grow it,” Christensen said. “You have either been in it for generations or you have a neighbor that helps you.”

Idaho ranks number three in the nation for peppermint production, with 16,000 acres. The state also grows a much smaller percentage of spearmint, only about 1,000 acres, according to Batt.

“Ninety percent of all mint oil goes into gum, toothpaste and candy,” Batt said. The other 10 percent is used for medicinal purposes.

Mint can also be used for tea leaves.

The demand for oil depends on the type of mint.

Peppermint oil is in higher demand than spearmint, Batt said, because peppermint has menthol in it. Also, spearmint has a marketing order attached to it, he said. Basically, there is a limit to how much spearmint can be produced to prevent flooding the market. The system works based on a lottery to decide who is able to grow spearmint, he said.

“Mint is a product that can be stored for a for a long time,” Christensen said, but that can be a problem as well. If there isn’t enough demand the stocks get really high and drive the price down, which is part of the reason spearmint oil production is regulated.

Mint oil, no matter the kind, requires expensive equipment to produce.

Farmers cut the mint and leave it in windrows for several days to dry, Batt explained. Then, the mint is chopped into small pieces with a silage chopper before it is placed into large sealable mint tubs.

The tubs are then hauled to a mint still, where they are hooked to a steam hose, Batt said. Steam is pumped into the bottom of the bin to release the oil in the mint and turn it into vapor. The vapor is then taken and allowed to cool and turn into liquid. The oil separates to the top of the water and is separated.

Mint stills alone cost around $1 million, according Christensen, who mentioned that propane costs to run the still can also be high.

“It is kind of like beer. You have a three-tiered system,” Batt said, explaining how the sales system for mint oil works.

He said producers often contract with a mint dealer, usually for 2-3 years. The dealer then sells the oil to companies such as Colgate or Wrigley’s.

Prices are currently in the upper teens for a pound of mint oil, according to Batt and Christensen. However, Christensen said that the Scotch variety of spearmint in slightly lower, about $14 per pound.

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) — Oregon police say they shot a cougar that was seen inside a fenced backyard stalking children while they were playing in a swimming pool.

Springfield police Lt. Scott McKee says they used a dog to track the cougar.

The dog chased the cougar up two trees where it was shot and killed.

Police say they decided to put down the 2-year-old, 70-pound cougar after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that it was the only safe option.

Springfield police believe it was the same cat that was sighted on Sunday.

The animal’s body was taken to the fish and wildlife department for a necropsy, or autopsy for animals, to determine if it was in the area because it was sick or in search of prey.