TUESDAY, OCT. 3

A highly anticipated study on the impacts of canola production in Oregon’s Willamette Valley will soon be released after three years of research.

The report from Oregon State University is expected to frame negotiations over canola’s future in the valley, where most cultivation of the crop is banned until 2019.

Controversy over canola in the region erupted in 2013, when the Oregon Department of Agriculture broke with longstanding precedent and decided to allow 2,500 acres of the crop to be grown along the valley’s edges.

Specialty seed producers opposed the rule change, fearing that canola will disrupt production of related brassica crops grown for seed.

Farmers who want to grow canola, on the other hand, see it as a valuable rotation crop that can be sold on the commodity market — offering flexibility compared to most seed crops, which are grown under contract.

Oregon lawmakers passed a bill that year prohibiting most canola production but allowing 500 acres a year to be grown as part of the OSU study.

With OSU’s report due Nov. 1, both canola growers and seed companies hope the issue will now be less divisive as ODA begins developing recommendations for the crop based on the study’s conclusions.

“We know coexistence is possible, it’s just a matter of convincing people,” said Anna Scharf, whose family farms near Perrydale, Ore.

Scharf said her family has successfully been growing canola near fields dedicated to radish seed, a related crop.

Hopefully, OSU’s study will show there’s a capacity in the Willamette Valley to grow multiple types of brassica, she said.

“I don’t want this turning into a fight again,” Scharf said.

The Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association, which filed a lawsuit against ODA’s canola regulation in 2013 and supported the production moratorium, appears to be taking a more conciliatory approach to the crop.

“We expect the need to coexist in the future with some level of canola,” said Greg Loberg, the group’s public relations chair and manager of the West Coast Beet Seed Co.

Specialty seed growers are anticipating the report will result in concessions to canola growers, such as reduced limits on the crop’s production, Loberg said.

The association will be talking with canola growers and ODA to retain some protections for specialty seeds, such as production area sanitation requirements to prevent canola volunteers from becoming widespread, he said.

In return, canola producers will likely want to participate in WVSSA’s system for maintaining isolation distances among brassica crops to avoid cross-pollination and other issues, Loberg said.

The goal is to arrive at a solution without reliving the previous conflict, he said.

“We don’t want to continue to have legislation directing the production of any crop,” Loberg said. “It’s really not the best solution, it’s just the solution that happened.”

As part of the OSU study, roughly 500 acres of canola a year were compared with 500 acres of radish and 500 acres of turnip and forage rapeseed.

By the end of the three-year period, OSU was monitoring about 1,500 acres of each crop type for disease, insect and volunteer weeds, said Carol Mallory-Smith, the weed science professor leading the research.

The study examined residue breakdown of the different crops — which has implications for disease management — under various tillage methods, she said.

The report will include a map identifying acreage available for brassica seed production, which will help guide where canola can be planted in relation to other crops, Mallory-Smith said.

Based on the report’s findings, ODA is expected to deliver its recommendations for canola cultivation to the legislature by mid-November 2018.

Kathy Hadley, who grows canola and other crops near Rickreall, Ore., said she’s hopeful the OSU study will lead to cooperation among canola and specialty seed producers, both of whom contributed data to Mallory-Smith.

“They’ve had as much opportunity as anybody to influence what she presents,” Hadley said.

LANGLOIS - The Langlois Public Library offers events throughout the month, some ongoing:

Oregon’s vineyard and winery operators are a famously optimistic bunch — even a terrible year for grapes would be described as “challenging” instead of bad. But with harvest in various stages determined by variety and geography, people in the industry acknowledge 2017 threw weather curves all season.

“That’s agriculture,” said Melissa Burr, director of winemaking at Stoller Family Estate in Dayton, Ore. “That’s what we farm all year for. We’ll be OK.”

The winter and spring brought heavy rain, snow and even freezing temperatures to much of the state. Then came an usually hot and dry summer; even Portland went 57 consecutive days without rain. September brought a week of cold rain, followed by a glow of warm days, followed by clouds and drizzle or downpour again as the month faded. October? A little sun, a little rain...

Despite weather fluctuations, the season was marked by healthy vines, a good fruit set and moderate sugar levels in the grapes, said Burr, who is in her 14th harvest year at Stoller.

“There’s a lot of balance out there,” she said.

Pinot noir vines produced heavier clusters this year, she said. Pinot vines usually average about 150 berries per cluster, but this year range up to 250 berries per cluster, Burr said.

Some vineyards had a bit of sunburn during the long hot spell this past summer. At Forest Edge Vineyard south of Oregon City, on the east side of the Willamette Valley in the Cascade foothills, grower and winemaker Ron Webb said he had to cut and drop some Pinot clusters due to sun damage. He and his wife, Jan Wallinder, also reported a heavier than usual fruit set this year,

In the Columbia River Gorge, grower and producer Brian McCormick noted another potential twist of 2017: Heavy, lingering smoke from wildfires, especially the Eagle Creek Fire in the Gorge.

McCormick, whose wines include the Memaloose and Idiot’s Grace labels, said he hasn’t noticed an acute flavor impact in early fermentations, but grapes have their own minds about such things.

The heavy smoke was like having cloudy skies during the last two weeks of ripening, he said, and judging ripeness can get tricky in such conditions.

“We’re not going to know for awhile,” McCormick said.

A roundup of vineyard and winery reports provided by the Oregon Wine Board indicates color and flavor are good, accompanied by generally lower sugar levels. Hot and dry weather meant that some regions, including the Willamette Valley, “needed some more time for the vines and fruit to recover and regain balance,” OWB spokeswoman Sally Murdoch said by email. Southern Oregon vineyards began picking early because of heat spikes.

Murdoch based her report on vineyard websites and blogs, conversations and other communications.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska marijuana grower Mike Emers has been losing sleep with a vote fast approaching that he says could shutter his family’s business and financially ruin them.

The statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 allows local governments to ban pot businesses within their borders. And on Tuesday, voters in two of Alaska’s major marijuana-growing areas - including the Fairbanks area, where Emers operates Rosie Creek Farm - will decide whether to do so.

If the proposed bans on marijuana growing, manufacturing, selling and testing are successful, several dozen businesses would be forced to close. And, some in the industry worry, besides creating a bottleneck in the cannabis supply chain, it could embolden other communities to pursue bans or cause state lawmakers to look at whether to roll back legalization.

“I think this is a pivotal moment for the course we’re setting here,” said Cary Carrigan, executive director of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association. Carrigan said he felt good about the work the industry has put in to fight the bans but wouldn’t hazard a guess as to how the votes might go.

Emers, who turned to growing cannabis after financially struggling as an organic fruit and vegetable farmer, understood the risks when he poured his life savings into the business. While the vote is legally allowed, “on a moral basis, it’s disingenuous,” he said.

“To have the rug pulled out from under us once the ball is rolling seems incredibly unfair,” he said.

The opt-out provision for local governments isn’t unique to Alaska, but it’s unusual to see it exercised so long after a legalization vote, said Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel with the national, pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project.

Following Oregon’s 2014 legalization vote, there was a rush by rural communities in the eastern part of that state to enact bans, he said.

In Colorado, at least 69 communities have embraced marijuana businesses, most along the heavily populated Front Range, in Rocky Mountain resort areas or near borders with neighboring states. More than twice as many have opted out, according to the Colorado Municipal League.

However, some communities that banned the drug in legal pot states have revisited the decision in light of tax revenues from sales. For example, the City Council in Yakima, Washington, last year lifted a ban on recreational pot businesses.

Supporters of the proposed bans in and around Fairbanks, the largest city in Alaska’s Interior with about 32,000 people, and in rural parts of the Kenai Peninsula Borough initially hoped to bring the issue to voters last fall but failed to meet deadlines to do so.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is about 65 air miles southwest of Anchorage.

Ban supporters contend it is one thing to support legalization statewide but another to support it in your community.

“The voters have a right to decide important questions like this, and when they get ignored and the neighborhoods aren’t being protected by their local government, whose job it is to do that, someone needs to step up and say, ‘Listen, this is wrong, and we need to fix it,”’ said James Ostlind, chairman of the initiative group supporting bans in Fairbanks and surrounding unincorporated communities.

Ostlind and others cite frustration with local zoning rules they see as too lax and allowing marijuana businesses near homes.

Christine Nelson, director of community planning for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, which encompasses the city and nearby communities, said much of the borough is zoned as general use, allowing for nearly any type of use. Many subdivisions and neighborhoods have gone up in these zones, creating a rub when other types of property owners want to come in, she said.

Local officials have encouraged homeowners in general use areas who don’t want legal pot farms or retail shops nearby to petition to have their areas rezoned as residential, a designation that restricts cannabis businesses. The trick, though, is getting enough homeowners to sign on, since some may have bought their property because they could use it for a range of purposes and don’t want to lose that, Nelson said.

Lance Roberts, a member of the Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly who supports the Fairbanks-area bans, expects a large voter turnout and a tight vote.

Many of the communities that have barred or limited pot businesses in Alaska so far are smaller or fairly conservative, such as North Pole, just outside Fairbanks, and Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla.

Blaine Gilman, a leading voice in the effort to bar marijuana businesses in parts of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, does not believe the commercialization of pot has been good for the community. He cites health concerns and fears it could lead to use of harder drugs, issues the industry has challenged.

Gilman, a former borough assembly member, said that during the debate over legalization, marijuana advocates, as part of their pitch, made clear that communities would have the right to opt out. But, “when people try to opt out, there is a huge reaction,” he said.

Leif Abel, whose Greatland Ganja growing operation based in the peninsula town of Kasilof would be affected, said if the measures succeed, they could have a chilling effect on the industry and “embolden the prohibitionist stance.”

He feels confident in the industry’s efforts to defeat the measure on the peninsula and said he’s as calm as he can be about it.

“This is the last dying throes of prohibition,” he said, adding later: “Even if some of these folks don’t admit it to themselves ... the real reason that they still want to prohibit marijuana is they don’t want to accept a certain segment of society in the mainstream.”

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Cool, damp weather has brought relief from wildfires in the northwestern U.S., northern Idaho and western Montana, but the fall fire season is getting underway in Southern California, forecasters said Sunday.

The risk of big wildfires will be above average for Southern California through December, the National Interagency Fire Center said in its monthly forecast .

The risk is also elevated in central and northeastern Montana through the end of October because of a severe and prolonged drought.

The forecast calls for average risk of big wildfires over much of the nation through the end of the year, although parts of the Midwest and South could face elevated danger.

Wildfires have burned more than 13,200 square miles nationwide this year, putting 2017 on pace to be one of the worst in a decade.

The U.S. Forest Service, the nation’s primary wildfire-fighting agency, has spent more than $2 billion on fire suppression this year, a record.

The West has been vulnerable because a wet winter produced a dense crop of grass and small trees and a hot spring dried them out, fire managers said. Summer storms brought fire-starting lightning but little rain or even humidity.

By Sunday, 13 large fires were burning on 980 square miles. Oregon had seven large fires, California four, and Idaho and Montana had one each.

Southern California was unusually cool and humid in mid-September, which reduced the fire danger at a time when it’s usually high, the National Interagency Fire Center said. But seasonal offshore winds could dry out the vegetation and raise the fire threat again.

The center said two wet weather systems in mid-September dampened forests and grasslands in Idaho and western Montana.

“The recent precipitation coupled with prolonged cooling over the past 10 days has essentially ended the fire season over north Idaho and western Montana,” the center said.

But 40 percent of Montana, mostly in the northeastern corner, remains under extreme or exceptional drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Big wildfires could erupt there under warm, dry and windy weather, the fire center said.

MONDAY, OCT. 2

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — While fights over water have come to define the region over the years, at least one idea unites growers and others throughout the Klamath Basin: a desire to pass on local agriculture to future generations.

That desire is front and center at Klamath Community College, whose agricultural sciences program offers classes that can go toward a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University. The 21-year-old campus also offers support for students who are finishing their degrees at OSU online.

“Studies have shown there’s a probability of kids staying in the community if they graduate (from college) in that community,” said Keith Duren, who leads KCC’s ag program. “We’re going to die if we don’t have that next generation.”

To entice high school graduates to stay in town, Duren has amassed high-tech equipment one might find in a university’s master’s degree program. His chemistry and biology labs have such equipment as a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) device for identifying different substances within a test sample.

He has an atomic absorption monitor and obtained a DNA synthesizer two years before Washington State University did, he said.

“This is how we make the next generation of agriculturalists,” Duren said. “It’s pretty amazing to have this stuff at a two-year school. I’ve got sophomores doing gene transformation in chemistry lab.”

A tour of KCC’s facilities kicked off an all-day field trip on Sept. 28 highlighting Klamath Basin agriculture. Hosted by the Klamath Water Users Association, the Fall Harvest Tour of area farms and processing facilities is aimed at teaching local businesspeople and political leaders about the industry that contributes nearly $300 million to the region’s economy.

Stops on the tour included Holland’s Dairy in Klamath Falls, a potato farm, the Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Farms potato shed in Malin, Ore., and a farming and wetlands restoration project on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in far Northern California.

This year’s theme centered around making ag attractive to the area’s young people, and keeping the industry viable and sustainable for future farmers.

“There’s been a concern for years about kids who go off to college not coming home,” said Scott White, the KWUA’s executive director. “But there’s been a change. Some of the kids are wanting to stay ... It’s a pretty exciting thing.”

Among the attendees this year were FFA students from Henley High School in Klamath Falls, who said they found the tour valuable.

“I think these stops are helping us see the opportunities in the basin and see new things that we haven’t seen in the basin,” said Wyatt Quinowski, a senior. “If I had the opportunity to just go in and farm ... I’d like to stay in the basin.”

Bob Hamlin earned a degree from OSU and returned to the area to help his uncle at Holland’s Dairy, where he manages about 700 cows.

“Hopefully we can continue this lifestyle in the basin,” he said, noting the frequent water shortages that have been the source of controversy and settlement talks for decades.

Growing potatoes — a key crop in the basin — has its challenges, farmer Luke Robison warned. One has to put lots of capital into potato farming, which most young people can’t afford to do, he said. And proper water management in the height of summer is critical, as water stress can alter a potato’s sugar levels, he said.

But the industry is in need of workers, Robison said.

“On the production side, there’s lots of opportunities out here on the farm,” he told the FFA students. “It’s the experience (that’s important) ... It’d be very difficult to get into this business, but there’s a lot of opportunity to get your feet wet. And this isn’t something you can learn from a book.”

The Hoop Group program returns this weekend and will run on Sundays throughout October and the first two Sundays in November.

SALEM — Oregon grown specialty crops will share the spotlight as part of Oregon’s Bounty: A Celebration of the Harvest, held at the State Capitol Saturday, Oct. 7.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University will once again team up to offer a taste of locally grown food and an opportunity to purchase from local vendors.

The “Crop Up Luncheon and Market Showcase,” held at Salem’s State Capitol State Park, climaxes a series of similar events held around the state this summer. In addition to the luncheon and market showcase, ODA will present a Farm to School Producer Award to Rickreall Dairy for its dedication to providing nutritious food to schools and educating kids in the process.

The event is designed to increase awareness of the bountiful diversity of Oregon specialty crops including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and nursery crops.

The buffet-style luncheon will be available between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. for attendees to enjoy at the event or package up and enjoy as they go, and includes a variety of local ingredients offered in unique recipes developed by OSU.

The market showcase provides an opportunity to learn more about specialty crops through a visit to our vendor tables with educational materials available.

Tickets to the luncheon and market showcase cost $10 per person and includes a coupon that can be used like cash at the Salem Saturday Market located two blocks from the event. Tickets must be purchased by October 6 at http://bit.do/CropUp .

For more information about the Oregon’s Bounty event, please contact Visitor Services at the Oregon State Capitol, 503-986-1388 or visit www.oregoncapitol.com.

Oregon’s farm regulators aim to increase the impact of their agricultural water quality program by shifting how grant money is allocated, among other changes.

Ensuring that farmers comply with water quality standards is within the purview of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which traditionally focused its attention on waterways subject to complaints.

In recent years, ODA has moved beyond the complaint-driven process to determine for itself which streams and rivers should be scrutinized for water quality problems.

Based on aerial photos and other data, the agency each year selects several “strategic implementation areas,” or SIAs, where waterways are examined more closely.

During the 2015-2017 biennium, roughly $1 million from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board was spent on compliance projects in the SIAs, such as planting vegetation near denuded streams or moving manure piles away from waterways.

Under the agency’s new “coordinated streamside management partnership,” this funding will be dedicated to planning rather than on-the-ground work.

In the 2017-2019 biennium, another $1.2 million in OWEB money will be available, but now the funds will be directed toward technical assistance for local soil and water conservation districts and watershed councils.

The change is expected to help smaller districts and councils — some of which only have a single employee — with tasks such as grant-writing and paying for engineering plans, said John Byers, manager of ODA’s agricultural water quality program.

Aside from rectifying specific problems so landowners comply with water quality standards, the program will also identify additional measures to “uplift” water quality, Byers said.

Paying for the projects themselves will require separate OWEB grants, he said. “We feel they’re going to be as competitive or more competitive because of that uplift.”

Once it annually chooses six “strategic implementation areas,” ODA will consult with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife about the best methods for improving water quality.

“Let’s make sure we’re looking at this from a coordinated perspective,” said Byers.

Historically, efforts to improve agricultural water quality were akin to “random acts of conservation,” said Lisa Hanson, ODA’s deputy director.

Now, ODA will provide local groups with information from DEQ and ODFW up front, helping them to understand where projects will be most effective for fish and environmental health, Hanson said.

“If we work with these 10 landowners, we can have a big impact,” said Meta Loftsgaarden, OWEB’s executive director.

The agency will also be monitoring aspects of water quality, such as sedimentation and temperature, to see whether its efforts are proving effective.

Monitoring has already occurred in some Oregon waterways, but systematically analyzing SIAs will provide state agencies will a more expansive perspective, said Loftsgaarden.

“We’re able to get a very different story for agriculture than we’ve had in the past,” she said. “It tells a broader, more statewide story.”

Rather than focus on individual landowners, the monitoring component will encompass the larger waterway.

“The monitoring is going to be at the watershed scale and it’s going to be in-stream,” she said.

While ODA ultimately has the authority to issue civil penalties to landowners, so far it hasn’t been necessary under the SIA approach, Byers said.

Landowners have been responsive to warning letters informing them that water quality problems need to be fixed, he said.

TILLAMOOK, Ore. — An Oregon judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges state environmental regulators allow pollution from dairies to harm oyster harvests in Tillamook Bay.

Attorneys for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality argued the agency cannot be held liable for the adverse effects suffered by oysterman Jesse Hayes, president of the Hayes Oyster Co.

According to Hayes’ lawsuit, the DEQ incorrectly assumes that local dairies aren’t discharging fecal coliform bacteria into rivers that flow into Tillamook Bay.

Nonetheless, bacteria levels in the bay are so high that Hayes is entirely prohibited from harvesting oysters from 250 acres of his plats and faces frequent shutdowns on 350 acres, according to his complaint.

Hayes argues that insufficient regulation by DEQ constitutes a public nuisance and an unjust taking of his property due to lost profits and reduced plat values.

The complaint seeks $100,000 in damages and an order requiring DEQ to strengthen its pollution regulations in the area.

Without deciding the merits of the case, Tillamook County Circuit Judge Mari Garric Trevino denied DEQ’s motion to throw out the lawsuit and ordered the agency to answer Hayes’ allegations.

The ruling means that Hayes has cleared an important first hurdle and may proceed with the litigation.

“We get to prove what’s in our complaint,” said Thomas Benke, his attorney.

During oral arguments on Sept. 29, DEQ claimed that Hayes incorrectly targeted the agency rather than the dairy farmers who are alleged to be the underlying source of the problem.

Hayes makes the “erroneous assumption” that Oregon unjustly deprived him of property by failing to regulate his neighbors strictly enough, but inadequate regulation isn’t recognized as a government “taking” under legal precedents, according to DEQ.

“The government is not responsible for inaction,” said Christina Beatty-Walters, DEQ’s attorney. “That’s not a situation the government is responsible for.”

The lawsuit also attempts an impermissible “collateral attack” against state regulations, which can only be challenged through an administrative process, said Beatty-Walters.

The state’s “total maximum daily load” order for fecal coliform bacteria in the region was enacted in 2001, so Hayes missed a deadline to challenge the action by 16 years, Beatty-Walters said.

“They’re way too late,” she said.

According to Hayes, the complaint against DEQ is valid because it’s challenging the adverse impacts that insufficient TMDL rules have imposed on his oyster operation, rather than attacking the validity of the regulations themselves.

“The agency made the decision to take away the use of 250 acres of tideland from the Hayes Oyster Company perpetually,” said Benke.

Hayes argues that DEQ has unlawfully sanctioned pollution, which is a form of government taking.

The agency could restrict pollution from dairies with confined animal feeding operations or from municipal wastewater, but it’s the act of allowing excessive pollution that Hayes is challenging in court, Benke said.

While polluters received notice of the agency’s TMDL regulation 16 years ago, Hayes did not and should still be allowed to seek a legal remedy, he said.

“It flies in the face of fundamental due process,” he said.

The Oregon Dairy Farmers Association is watching the case closely because it involves TMDL regulations affecting farmers, said Tami Kerr, the group’s executive director.

The lawsuit also implies that dairies are polluters, she said. “I’m frankly tired of that.”

Oregon is a national leader in manure management, with dairy farmers being regularly inspected by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Kerr said.

Faulty septic tanks, municipal wastewater and wildlife feces all contribute to fecal coliform bacteria in water, which has been confirmed by DEQ, she said.

“Dairy is always the first thought when people talk about pollution but DNA testing has shown it’s broader than that,” Kerr said. “There’s a large human influence in that.”

PENDLETON, Ore. — Inside the livestock lab at Blue Mountain Community College’s new Facility for Agricultural Resource Management, or FARM, instructor Nick Nelson beamed as he showcased the high-tech Silencer hydraulic cattle chute.

Not only is the latest piece of equipment better for animal welfare and handling, but it is more likely what students can expect to find working on a large ranch operation, Nelson said during the FARM grand opening ceremony Sept. 29.

“It means easier employment when they know how to operate these things safely,” Nelson explained.

FARM is the third and final construction project to be completed after voters in Umatilla and Morrow counties passed a $23 million capital bond for BMCC in 2015. Earlier this year, the college also debuted its new Workforce Training Center in Boardman and Precision Irrigated Agriculture Center in Hermiston.

The two-story FARM building in Pendleton combines classroom and lab space under one roof for the agriculture department, replacing an older, smaller shop building. It is surrounded by a 100-acre working farm where BMCC students learn hands-on how to manage cattle and grow prominent local crops — such as alfalfa to feed those hungry cows.

“We essentially buy very little feed for the livestock here,” Nelson said.

Though classes officially began Monday, guests gathered Thursday afternoon for a ribbon cutting and dedication by school leaders. BMCC President Cam Preus said it was a long road building the facility, and thanked voters for their support on the bond.

“This is a wonderful way to celebrate BMCC’s nationally recognized agriculture program,” Preus said.

Chris Brown, chairman of the BMCC Board of Education, said the school has fulfilled its promise to voters after completing all three bond projects.

“This is certainly a special day,” Brown said. “Today, we really unveil a facility that matches the caliber of our program.”

Preston Winn, chairman of the BMCC agriculture department, choked up as he talked about how the building will help instructors better educate the next generation of farmers, ranchers and agriculture professionals.

“I’m overwhelmed because of thanksgiving,” Winn said. “Community college means just that: community.”

FARM cost $6.3 million to build, including $2.1 million of state match and lottery funds. State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) was unable to attend Thursday’s event, but sent a letter praising BMCC as a leader in innovative programs.

While FARM is less than a week old, BMCC is already thinking expansion. The school has partnered with the Pendleton Round-Up Association and city of Pendleton on FARM Phase II, which would expand animal science and veterinary classes and provide a new arena for the BMCC rodeo team. Together, they are working to raise money for the $10 million proposal.

In addition, BMCC timed the grand opening of FARM to coincide with the opening reception for the annual “Art About Agriculture” exhibit, organized by the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences and hosted this year by the Betty Feves Memorial Gallery.

Nine Northwest artists are featured in the exhibit, with pieces inspired by this year’s theme, “Places to Thrive.” Lori Sams, gallery director, said the timing between the two events was intentional.

“I definitely wanted the gallery to have a show related to agriculture,” Sams said. “I think it is interesting to draw that connection between art and agriculture.”

The exhibit runs through Oct. 26. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., or by appointment.

KEIZER, Ore. — Dawn and Larry Monagon planted the first olive trees in Oregon in 2002, defying the conventional wisdom that the trees couldn’t survive north of California.

“We have a nice piece of property that can grow anything big or small, and it’s suited for experimental stuff,” Dawn Monagon said. “Someone mentioned olives, and my husband loves olives. So, we thought, Why not check it out?”

Despite being told by Californian olive growers that the crop would never survive in Oregon, the Monagons thought they’d give it a try.

“(We were told) they’ll never survive a winter. Well, surely they’ve done that. Some of our trees have been here for 20 years,” she said.

The Monagons established Victory Estates on their five acres, and began to produce and mill olive oil. Although Monagon said it’s been “impossible” since her husband died last year, she still plans on harvesting.

“Our (operation) is small and different than industrial ones. We wanted it to grow and be an industry that took off,” Monagon said. “We took pride in watching and seeing what worked and what didn’t.”

There are now 50 acres of olives for oil production in Oregon, and that number could soon multiply, with a project in the works to plant 200 acres, Bogdan Caceu, executive director of the Olive Growers of Oregon, said. He said he could not identify the growers planning the expansion.

“All I can say is it’s a larger player that has its fingers in a number of crops and also in the tourism industry,” Caceu said of the people planning the expansion. “They’ve done a very thorough and disciplined due diligence.”

The planting will be in either the Medford or Roseburg area, and data is being collected to see where the olives would grow best. Caceu said the final decision on the location will be made next spring.

Although a project of this size would barely make it on the radar in California or Spain, where olives are a major crop, Caceu said there is potential to take olive acreage to “much higher than 250 pretty quickly.”

“People come over and talk to me and say, ‘I’ve been thinking about olives and I have this many acres,’” he said. “I’ve had at least five to 40 (people) approach and show interest.”

While there is interest in growing olives, Caceu said one obstacle gets in the way — and it’s a big one.

“That obstacle is the cold-hardiness of olives and the cold temperatures in Oregon,” he said.

Oregon west of the Cascade Range is famous for its mild winters, Caceu said. However, there are regularly two to four nights of below-freezing temperatures each year. When that happens, young olive trees under 10 years old can suffer damage that kills them to the ground.

“It doesn’t damage the roots,” Caceu said, “but effectively you’re back down to zero, starting from scratch.”

Oregon State University researchers are trying to overcome this challenge by studying which olive tree cultivars are the most cold-hardy, and attempting to improve propagation techniques.

Javier Fernandez-Salvador, OSU Marion and Polk County Extension agent, leads the project with his team: Neil Bell, OSU Marion and Polk County Extension agent; Heather Stoven, OSU Yamhill County Extension agent; and Victoria Binning, OSU Marion County Extension agent.

Fernandez-Salvador describes the project as his “baby,” and said that they are looking at potting the cultivars  and keeping the trees in a greenhouse for the winter.

“We want to make an affordable, small structure for plants before moving them outside,” he said. “We think by potting we’ll get better results. We are trying to transform that into hard data.”

The project will also evaluate systems that haven’t been successful in the past, and will be planting small trees in fields as well.

“We expect a lot of cultivars not to survive,” Fernandez-Salvador said.

Beyond cold hardiness, the team will research other factors, such as dry farming versus irrigation and flat versus sloped land.

He said that because people have lost investments in the past the team wants to avoid recommending anything, but rather provide hard science to help growers decide if they want to plant the crop.

After this project, Fernandez-Salvador will apply for funding to evaluate the agronomics of growing olive trees. He said it’s hard to sell the crop fresh, and milling olives for oil provides added value.

Paul Durant of Red Ridge Farms in Dayton, ore., operates the state’s only commercial olive oil mill. He said olive oil is a niche product that works best sold directly to the consumer market.

“That drives more awareness and that’s where the growth will be,” he said. “The food industry here in the Northwest elevates the food experience and connects to growers. It is really limitless in a lot of ways.”

Monagon said she thinks the industry will continue to grow, and hopes she and her husband helped inspire people to start planting olive trees.

“I’d like to see a reason for farming to stay in Oregon, and if the olive industry can do that, that would be great,” she said.

Dawn Monagon

Experience: Grew up on a small farm and has been growing olives in her orchard for 15 years.

Hometown: Monmouth, Ore.

Education: She took classes and worked at Western Oregon University for several years. Her late husband, Larry, graduated from there.

Family: She and Larry Monagon had one son, Michael. Her extended family helps her run the olive orchard.

OREGON CITY — They’re using fitted sheets this year to cover their “punch down” vats and keep fruit flies off the “really young” Leon Millot wine beginning its fermentation process. The advantage over plastic coverings, co-owner Jan Wallinder said, is that the bedsheets can be washed and used again, of course.

That may sum up an overlooked facet of Oregon’s high-flying wine industry as the 2017 grape harvest is under way. For all the praise and prestige accompanying the Pinot noir producers of Yamhill County and elsewhere in the Willamette Valley, smaller and lesser-known vineyards are chugging along just fine.

Wallinder and her husband, Rob Webb, own and operate Forest Edge Vineyard south of Oregon City and about a half-hour drive out of Southeast Portland. They’re among 15 relatively small, independent operations that make up the Cascade Foothills Winegrowers on the east side of the Willamette Valley.

Forest Edge produces an average of about 500 cases a year and sells at an on-site tasting room, at farmers’ markets and on-line. You won’t find their wines at grocery stores, but as Webb said, “It keeps the two of us more than busy.”

For perspective, the Oregon Wine Board says the state’s wineries are primarily small to mid-sized family operations, and about 70 percent produce less than 5,000 cases a year.

The Cascade Mountain foothills is a slightly cooler growing region than the opposite side of the Willamette Valley, but producers such as Webb and Wallinder — like vintners in the Columbia Basin and Southern Oregon — tweak their operations to take advantage of what they have.

Forest Edge grows Pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes, but also the unusual Leon Millot variety, which produces a lighter red wine. They have some Gamay Noir grapes as well. They don’t make $45-bottle Pinot noir. Most of their wines sell for $11 to $14, with a port-style dessert wine going for $25. An $11 chilled wine that sold well over the summer was Forest Mist, a blush-like blend of Pinot noir and Chardonnay that they don’t make every year.

Wallinder and Webb bought the property in 1984 and do most of the vineyard and wine-making work themselves, including bottling and labeling. They use a “minimal prune” canopy management system that probably costs them some yield, but eases the work load. “It works for us,” Webb said. For many years they’ve employed members of an extended family — most of whom have regular full-time jobs or are students — to help pick the grapes.

Webb is the winemaker. He relies on sugar levels, called brix, plus acid and pH tests and his own taste buds, to know when its time to pick.

“My approach is, science on a need-to-know basis,” he joked.

The couple have 45 acres, most of it forested. Their house is a geodesic dome, they irrigate the grapes with captured rainwater and generate enough electricity with their solar system to sell it back to the grid, and produce more than they use.

Like all Oregon vineyards, Wallinder and Webb had to deal with a growing season that was marked by wild weather swings. An extraordinarily wet winter and spring was followed by a summer that was hotter and dryer than usual. Webb said they had to cut and drop some Pinot clusters due to sunburn. Then, to complete the cycle, came several days of cold rain in mid-September.

People involved in Oregon’s wine industry are eternally optimistic — even a bad year for grapes is likely to be described as providing a showcase for winemakers’ talents — but they appear pleased with the early take this year. “Looks like we’ll have another bumper crop,” said spokeswoman Michelle Kaufmann of Stoller Family Estate.

In 2016, Oregon’s winemakers increased sales 12 percent to $529 million, planted 2,400 more acres of grapes and opened 23 new wineries in 2016, according to an annual census commissioned by the Oregon Wine Board.

PORTLAND — Oregon’s push to use mass timbers in high-rise construction takes a political turn Oct. 3 when the Oregon Forest Resources Institute hosts a tour of wood building projects in the Portland area.

A dozen state legislators or staff, some county commissioners, building officials and others, including a U.S. Forest Service representative, have committed to a day-long look at what advocates say potentially could revive Oregon’s timber industry.

Products such as cross-laminated timbers and mass plywood panels have the size and strength to replace concrete and steel in modest high-rise construction. At least two Oregon mills are making the products, although the market is not fully established.

Timm Locke, forest products director for Oregon Forest Resources Institute, or OFRI, said the organization hosts an annual tour and usually focuses on harvest technology and timber management. This year, OFRI wanted to highlight the end use of timber products, he said.

Locke said policymakers generally appear to be aware of mass timber products, but may not understand their full potential use or the issues, including building codes and diminished timber harvest on federally-managed land, that slow implementation.

OFRI established by the Oregon Legislature to encourage collaboration between the timber industry, forest scientists, government agencies, conservation groups and forest landowners.

“Wood products in general is an industry that’s been around this state for a long time, and it’s still important to rural Oregon,” Locke said. Mass timber products are the only building materials that store carbon – unlike concrete and steel – and can safely be used to support multi-story buildings, he said. Buildings six- to 12-stories high can be supported by timber panels and beams, according to advocates.

Locke said legislators and others who influence policy and development also should know about the state’s TallWood Design Institute, housed at Oregon State University.

The institute is a collaboration between OSU’s colleges of forestry and engineering, and architectural faculty and students at the University of Oregon’s College of Design.

“It’s a huge benefit to the state,” Locke said. “I don’t think people understand what a big deal that is. We’re leading the way nationally in this movement.”

One of tour stops is the construction site of the First Tech Federal Credit Union in Hillsboro. Locke said it’s possible cross-laminated timbers will be lifted into place at that time, “Replacing what would have been poured concrete.”

An Oregon farmer faces a $6,000 penalty for planting willows into materials he placed next to a stream, which state regulators allege violated fill-removal laws.

Kelly Sampson, who grows hay and nursery stock on 80 acres near Canby, Ore., said he put hay bales onto rocks next to the creek to retain moisture for the young trees.

“My goal here is to do good things for fish,” he said.

Ordinarily, landowners don’t need a fill-removal permit from the Oregon Department of State Lands if they’re adding or removing less than 50 cubic yards of material in a waterway or wetland.

In this case, however, Milk Creek — a tributary of the Molalla River — is designated as “essential salmonid habitat,” so any amount of disturbance requires a permit, according to the agency.

“Planting vegetation into a bank doesn’t require a permit, but when you add substrate, you may need a permit,” said Lori Warner-Dickason, field operations manager for DSL.

A complaint received by DSL indicates that Sampson placed hay bales as well as “horse manure and barn cleanout” below the creek’s ordinary high water market, she said.

“I think his intent was probably to plant some willow cuttings, but he needed a permit to do that,” said Warner-Dickason.

Sampson said he’s disappointed by the potential enforcement action because the DSL’s website states that habitat restoration projects are exempt from fill-removal laws.

The agency doesn’t make it sufficiently clear that a permit may still be required under certain circumstances, he said.

“I feel like I’m getting hustled here,” Sampson said. “I’m planting willows and it’s like you’re talking to a drug dealer here.”

Vegetation along streambanks is often seen as having a positive impact on streams, since it cools the water to the benefit of sensitive fish.

However, whenever you’re working in or near a stream, it’s worthwhile to seek guidance from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the local soil and water conservation district, or an Oregon State University Extension agent, said John Byers, manager of ODA’s agricultural water quality program.

“Natural resource agencies want to help citizens do the right thing,” Byers said.

For example, if the ODA requires a landowner to rectify a water quality problem with vegetation, the agency will develop a planting plan, he said.

“What should you grow here, and what should that look like,” Byers said of the plans.

Using hay bales or other materials may or may not be appropriate in certain situations, but such decisions should be made with the help of a professional, he said.

“There are standard practices, standard protocols for everything,” said Byers.

The Department of State Lands receives roughly 100 complaints a year about potential fill-removal law problems, with about half of those ultimately determined to be violations, said Warner-Dickason.

“There’s very few violations that are intentional,” she said.

Most violations pertain to filling of wetlands that landowners didn’t realize were classified as such, she said. About 10 percent of the violations relate to placing rocks or other materials along a stream bank.

Most fines are waived by the agency if the landowners are willing to remove the offending materials from the wetland or waterway, Warner-Dickason said.

If they’re able to remove some but not all of the material, then DSL will typically reduce the fine, she said. Otherwise, landowners can challenge the violation before an administrative judge.

Before conducting work in wetlands or waterways, landowners should consult with DSL and study agency maps that show where “essential salmonid habitat” is located, Warner-Dickason said.

“Give us call and we can advise them,” she said. “If they proceed without confirmation from us, they do so at their own risk.”

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is accepting applications to serve on the newly formed Oregon Agricultural Heritage Commission, established by the Legislature to provide incentives for farmers to voluntarily adopt practices that preserve both natural resources and agriculture.

The 12-member board will oversee the program and make funding and policy recommendations to OWEB. Applications are due Oct. 25.

Members are needed to represent a range of interests, including:

• Four members recommended by the state Board of Agriculture who are actively engaged in farming or ranching.

• One member recommended by the director of the Oregon State University Extension Service.

• Two members recommended by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission with expertise on fish and wildlife habitat.

• One member recommended by the Board of Agriculture with expertise in agricultural water quality.

• One member recommended by the Land Conservation and Development Commission with expertise in conservation easements and land transfers.

• One member selected by OWEB representing natural resource interests.

• One member selected by OWEB representing tribal interests.

• One non-voting member, who is also a member of OWEB.

Terms will initially vary in length in order to stagger membership, after which commissioners will serve four-year terms. Commissioners cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

For more information or to obtain an application, contact Nellie McAdams at 503-986-0061 or email nellie.mcadams@oregon.gov.

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PORTLAND — The Pacific Northwest pear crop may pick out near the estimates for this year, says Kevin Moffitt, president of The Pear Bureau Northwest in Portland.

The crop appears to be slightly under the Aug. 22 estimate of 18.3 million, 44-pound boxes but still ahead of the June 1 estimate of 17.6 million boxes.

Harvest began Aug. 2 in Medford, with Comice and Seckel, and is about 60 percent complete. It will end in late October with d’Anjou in the upper reaches of the Hood River and Wenatchee valleys.

“I think Bartlett may come in a little shorter than estimated and winter pears (mainly d’Anjou) maybe slightly above estimate in Hood River and slightly below in Wenatchee. So we come out a little less overall,” Moffitt said.

This year’s crop being more normal in development timing made it a more difficult to get an accurate June forecast, he said. It was early the past two seasons.

Early prices are strong, overall quality is good and labor is tight with some growers needing more pickers.

California wrapped up harvest of slightly over 3 million, 36-pound boxes of pears, up 29 percent from last year due to better fruit set from better winter chill.

Early fruit from the Sacramento Delta was pretty small, more had to sell fresh because of fewer canneries and prices were low, said Kyle Persky, sales manager at Rivermaid Trading Co. in Lodi, California’s largest pear grower and packer. It handles more than half the fresh-pack volume.

But later fruit from the Mendocino District was larger and good quality bringing good prices, he said.

“Washington didn’t have as much large fruit, which gave us a window,” Persky said. “We lose more customers to the Northwest every year.”

The California crop is close to 80 percent shipped with several weeks of shipping over 200,000 boxes per week, “which is good for us,” Persky said.

“Overall, it’s a fairly decent season given expected supply and where we’re at now. We’re pretty happy. Movement was good and we have limited time to sell,” he said.

California is too warm to grow d’Anjou and doesn’t store fruit for winter sales.

In 2016, the value of utilized pear production was $233 million in Washington, $148 million in Oregon and $93 million in California.

At 18.3 million, this fall’s PNW crop is 2 percent above last year’s and 7 percent below the five-year average. It’s the fourth year in a row the crop has been lighter than average. Hot summers are suspected of causing greater spring fruit drop resulting in smaller crops.

The Bosc crop is estimated at 2.5 million boxes, down 19 percent from last year and down 16 percent from the five-year average, Moffitt said. He blamed it on being a bit more cyclical in bearing, heat stress and the overall lighter crop.

Overall fruit size may be slightly smaller, peaking at size 90 (90 pears per box) instead of 80, he said. There is probably a little more fancy grade versus U.S. No. 1, he said. Export markets prefer fancy and smaller fruit, he said.

Domestically, smaller fruit has been selling well in pouch bags, which is a bright spot, he said.

Cork — decay-causing dimples under the skin — is an issue in Wenatchee and Hood River, Moffitt said. Randy Arnold, a Wenatchee Valley grower, said he probably has a 2 to 3 percent cork loss and some growers have up to 6 percent. It’s a calcium deficiency in the soil and fruit, he said.

It’s more difficult to control pear psylla and mites without certain pesticides used in the past, Arnold said. That results in more unhealthy trees, which increases susceptibility to cork, he said.

Six of his annual 24 domestic pickers didn’t come this year because they knew his crop was down, he said. He’s OK on labor but his neighbor needs 14 more pickers than he has and others are operating with less-than-full crews, he said.

Arnold said prices are starting off about the same as last year, which is “really good.”

The Sept. 22 average of industry asking prices was $28 to $32 per box for size 70s, 80s and 90s of U.S. No. 1 Bartlett, according to USDA.

Those prices are good and steady, as are prices in the mid to upper teens on smaller fruit, size 110 and 120, said Scott Marboe, marketing director of Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers in Wenatchee. Oneonta sells about 2 million boxes of pears annually for Diamond Fruit in Odell, Ore., near Hood River.

Cork is not a big issue and California’s larger crop this year was slightly ahead of normal, which resulted in some California buyers switching to Northwest pears a couple weeks earlier, Marboe said.