Hazard-prone properties in Oregon could face development restrictions under a land use bill that critics say is overbroad.

Under House Bill 2633, the state’s Department of Land Conservation and Development would set policies to limit construction and retrofit, relocate or remove buildings in areas vulnerable to natural hazards.

Proponents of the legislation say it’s necessary to prevent costly property damage in areas susceptible to land slides, flooding and wildfires.

Conservation groups such as 1,000 Friends of Oregon argue the bill is necessary to implement Goal 7 of Oregon’s statewide land use planning system, which calls for local governments to evaluate natural hazards and reduce risks to future development.

However, critics say the current language of HB 2633 is too general.

Much of Oregon could experience an earthquake or other catastrophe, said Dave Hunnicutt, president of the Oregonians in Action property rights group.

“The bill has the potential to affect every area in the state,” he said during a Feb. 12 hearing in the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water.

Hunnicutt said he’s not opposed to the concept of HB 2633 but is alarmed by its breadth, since retrofits or relocations of structures could be “tremendously damaging” to property owners.

“The language is dangerous,” he said.

The DLCD is oriented toward land use planning and may not be the appropriate state agency to make certain decisions, he said.

For example, the Oregon Department of Forestry or Department of Geology and Mineral Industries have more experience in determining which areas are prone to landslides, Hunnicutt said.

Similarly, retrofitting structures pertains to building codes, not planning, he said.

Hunnicutt said he’d like to work with the bill’s sponsors to amend the language and make it more specific.

The legislation should include exemptions for agricultural properties, said Mary Anne Nash, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

For example, a farmer may have an old barn or another structure in a flood-prone area that would be too costly to retrofit or move, she said.

SALEM — Legislation that would examine merging natural resource agencies in Oregon is opposed by farm and timber groups as a “solution in search of a problem.”

Under Senate Bill 24, a task force appointed by legislative leaders and the governor would “study the benefits of abolishing or consolidating” 14 state agencies charged with managing natural resources.

Aside from the possibility of saving money, consolidation could improve the state government’s efficiency in analysis and permitting, said Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland.

However, the task force may decide that Oregon is better off with the current structure, Dembrow said during a Fed. 16 hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

The Oregon Farm Bureau is confident the agencies are already functioning smoothly and doesn’t think it’s necessary to spend time contemplating alternatives, said Katie Fast, the group’s vice president of public policy.

Promoting agriculture is an important part of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s mission but may get swamped by other priorities if it was merged with other agencies that are solely focused on regulation, she said.

The boards and commissions that oversee state agencies have also developed expertise that’s specific to natural resource industries, Fast said.

These governing bodies are already asked to handle many complex issues, said Heath Curtiss, director of government affairs for the Oregon Forest Industries Council.

If boards or commissions were merged to oversee a broader regulatory sphere, their members would struggle to develop expertise and would have little choice but to defer to agency officials, he said.

It would be possible to merge natural resource agencies without eliminating department directors or commissions, but at that point the added efficiency is questionable and consolidation may just amount to another layer of government, Curtiss said.

A larger bureaucracy is undesirable because it could encumber the resolution of regulatory questions or seek to overrule the decisions of state agencies, said Mike Freese, vice president of Associated Oregon Industries.

The committee also considered two other bills characterized as “agency consolidation light” by Richard Whitman, natural resources policy director for Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Senate Bill 201 would create “natural resources alignment coordinators” to work with regional teams and help agencies make regulatory decisions, while Senate Bill 203 would establish a “natural resources partnership coordinator” to find cooperation opportunities with private interests as well as other government entities.

Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, asked why new positions are necessary since state agencies are already trying to coordinate with each other.

“We are doing it on an ad hoc basis and leaving opportunities on the table that we should be taking advantage of, frankly,” said Whitman.

The Oregon chub, a 3-inch minnow that lives only in the Willamette River basin, is the first fish to be removed from the federal endangered species list.

Federal and state officials planned to announce the completion of a 22-year recovery process during a ceremony Feb. 17 at the Finley Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis, Ore. Oregon farmers and other landowners contributed to the effort by signing “safe harbor” arrangements in which they agreed to manage land in a way that did not further harm the fish. In particular, landowners agreed not to drain waterways, promised not to introduce non-native fish that would compete with the chub and agreed not to apply pesticides or other ag chemicals directly into waterways. In return, they were held harmless from additional regulation.

The Oregon chub lives in slow-moving sloughs, bogs and beaver ponds along the Willamette River. It lost habitat as those areas were drained or developed. The fish was listed as endangered in 1993, at which time the population was estimated at fewer than 1,000 fish in eight locations. By 2013, however, a survey estimated the chub population at approximately 160,000 fish in 83 spots.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the Endangered Species Act, announced in 2014 that it intended to remove the chub from the list, and completed that process this year.

Only a handful of animals, most notably bald eagles, have been removed from the endangered species list.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Sometimes the best lessons are learned outside the classroom.

For six students in Ty Kliewer’s Livestock Judging class at Klamath Community College, the learning took place last month when they traveled to the National Western Livestock Show in Denver to compete in livestock judging competition.

It was the first time KCC students participated in the high-level national competition, and proved an eye-opener for team members, including Jake McCarty and Veronica Turner.

“I think it was neat for us to look up to the other teams and see what we could do,” said McCarty, 21, a full-time KCC ag major. He also works full-time for Balin Ranches, is president of the collegiate FFA and an intern for the Klamath Bull and Horse Sale.

“Going into it, we really didn’t know what to expect,” McCarty said. “We hadn’t done a professional judging competition before. We were pretty confident going into it, and as a whole we did pretty good.”

“It’s crazy to see how different and how much more advanced they were,” Turner, 19, who is majoring in agricultural science, said of competitors from four-year schools like Texas A&M and Ohio State that have major ag problems. “It makes you want to work harder next time you compete.”

Turner and McCarty were part of a team that included Emily Cole, Garrett Gardner, Sarah Gerdes and Logan Dean. Kliewer, 36, an adjunct teacher who sells breeding bulls and farms hay and grain at his Klamath County ranch, accompanied the group.

“It was a pretty big jump from anything they’ve ever done before. Our kids were pretty green in comparison,” Kliewer said, noting some larger schools recruit students for competitions.

“We were definitely the underdogs,” said Keith Duren, who oversees KCC’s ag programs.

He supports the livestock judging class in part for its spinoff benefits. During competitions, student judges must be able to make decisions, explain and defend those decisions while being concise and articulate.

“You definitely build those skills we value in leaders. You also learn to work with a team and with different personalities,” Duren said.

Kliewer, who competed in livestock judging competitions as a student at Lane Community College and Oregon State University, said he wants others to share those experiences, and to better prepare themselves for a range of possible careers.

“I look back and see how that prepared me for life,” he said. “It improved my public speaking skills a lot.”

In the competition, students judged beef cattle, pigs, meat goats and sheep.

“I know from here on out I’ll look at cattle or pigs or sheep differently,” said McCarty. “Definitely down the road it opens up opportunities for some of us.”

While his long-range plans call for having his own ranch and raising beef cattle, McCarty also is considering working at a large feed lot, in ag sales or with genetics companies.

“It was really beneficial,” said Turner, who developed an interest in cattle in the fourth grade. She participated in FFA classes and livestock judging in high school but termed the national competition “a real eye-opener.”

Along with lessons learned by the six team members, Duren and Kliewer hope, on a broad level, competing in a national competition will provide exposure for KCC and, for the ag department, help attract more students.

“Everyone learned a lot,” Kliewer said. “Those skills translate literally to any job you have.”

Umatilla County lost a giant in the agricultural community on Sunday when Chester “Chet” Prior died at age 78.

Prior owned Eagle Ranch outside Echo and lobbied on a local, state and national level on agricultural issues. He held several prominent roles, including previous chair of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center Authority and sitting president of the Hermiston Development Corp. But he was also characterized by those who knew him as a humble man who preferred to work behind the scenes.

He was so modest, in fact, that when he was presented with Hermiston Man of the Year for 2010 he stood up as soon as he realized presenter Phil Hamm was talking about him and told him that he didn’t need to list any more accomplishments.

Craig Reeder, vice president of Hale Farms, was sitting at Prior’s table and remembers Prior’s embarrassment at being honored.

He said Prior was a “true gentleman” who earned the respect of everyone who associated with him and it is hard to imagine the agricultural community without Prior at the table.

“He mentored a lot of us younger guys. ... He’s one of those guys that for the next generation, we’ve never known the business without him,” Reeder said.

He said Prior often called to persuade Reeder to join him in donating to scholarships and other worthy causes.

“He’s how communities are built,” Reeder said.

Kim B. Puzey said he first got to know Prior in 1994, when Prior was a Port of Umatilla commissioner and Puzey was hired as the port’s new manager.

“Chet was passionate and generous and brilliant,” Puzey said.

He said any time it was imperative something was done right, Prior was the man to call, which is why he was a clear choice for chair of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center Authority and to fill the Hermiston Development Corp. president’s role after founder Joe Burns retired.

“If you drive around to the major projects in Hermiston in the last two decades there is hardly anything you would find that doesn’t have the Prior name on it as a sponsor or a contributor or a benefactor,” Puzey said.

Lloyd Piercy, owner of Sno Road Winery in Echo, said Prior was a staple at Echo events, providing the equipment for community cleanups and founding the local food bank. Prior was scheduled to serve as trail boss of this year’s Red 2 Red ride next week.

“He was the heart of Echo,” Piercy said. “There was not a charity he wasn’t involved in.”

Piercy said Prior was “irreplaceable” to Echo. He said from an agricultural community perspective Prior’s skill and passion for lobbying to improve the water situation in Umatilla County will also be missed.

“There are no words to describe the sadness around here,” Piercy said.

He said he also respected Prior’s hard work in building a legacy for his sons, Art and David, through the family farm and Prior’s habit of making time for family, most recently to share his grandsons’ passion for duck hunting.

Other accomplishments of Prior’s included helping found the Oregon Water Coalition and Farmers Ending Hunger, and serving on the boards of the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce, Oregon State University Extension Center, Umatilla County Budget Committee, Potato Growers Bargaining Committee, Hermiston Airport Advisory Board and Good Shepherd Medical Center.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ­— The supply of bulls was down, but prices were sharply up at the 55th Annual Klamath Bull and Horse Sale.

“We didn’t have as many bulls as we would like but the prices were up,” said sale chairman Jason Chapman, noting the top selling bull sold for $10,000, nearly double the highest price, $5,200, for a bull at the 2014 sale.

In all, 55 bulls were sold at an average price of $5,397 and total gross of $296,850 at the sale, which was held earlier this month at the Klamath County Fairgrounds in Klamath Falls by the Klamath Cattlemen’s Association.

In addition, six lots of five heifers were sold with the average price $2,480 and gross of $74,375. The top selling set of heifers sold for $14,625. Five horses were sold for a total of $30,450, with the top selling horse going for $11,500.

“Prices were up on pretty much everything,” Chapman said of bulls and heifers.

He said bull numbers were down from previous years, when the norm was about 100. Only 60 bulls were submitted this year but five were sifted and graded out. Chapman said the decline was expected because in recent years, when calf prices were high, breeders sold many of the calves. He said the higher prices at this year’s sale reflects the short supply.

Buyers for bulls and heifers came from a four state area — Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington along with consignors from around the West. While the bull sale was the highlight, the four-day event included cattle dog trials, a big rope competition and western trade show.

“We had a great turnout for the dog trials and for everything else,” Chapman said, noting total attendance was higher than in 2014.

“Everything went pretty smooth,” he said, noting and about a dozen bull sale committee members were assisted during the event by about 50 people. Planning for next year’s sale began this week.

A highly pathogenic type of avian flu has been found in a backyard flock of birds in Central Oregon, the state Department of Agriculture says.

ODA and the USDA Animal Health Inspection Service are setting up a quarantine zone around the property near Tumalo, Ore., to restrict movement of domestic birds in and out of the area. The property is secured and there have been no additional detections of bird flu in the area.

The flock of about 90 mixed poultry and other domestic birds includes chickens, ducks and turkeys that have had access to a couple of ponds on the property that are also frequented by migratory waterfowl. Avian influenza naturally resides in wild birds and it is fairly common for waterfowl to carry various strains of the virus.

Highly pathogenic bird flu has also been reported in backyard birds in Washington and Idaho, and in wild birds in all three Pacific Northwest states, according to ODA.

The Deschutes County detection is the second in Oregon. Bird flu was previously detected in a flock of backyard birds in Douglas County in December.

The virus has not been detected in commercial poultry operations in Oregon, Washington or Idaho. Avian influenza does not affect poultry meat or egg products, which remain safe to eat. Wild and domestic poultry should be properly cooked.

Backyard bird owners are encouraged to practice good biosecurity and to take steps that prevent contact between their birds and wild birds. They also should monitor their flock closely and report sick or dead birds to ODA at 1-800-347-7028. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking people to report wild bird deaths by calling 1-866-968-2600. People should avoid contact with sick or dead wild and domestic birds.

For more information on avian influenza and biosecurity measures, go to http://bit.do/ORbirdflu.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) Long-time Democratic Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has announced his resignation amid allegations his fiancee used her relationship with him to enrich herself.

Kitzhaber said his resignation would be effective on Wednesday. In a statement on Friday, he apologized to the people who helped him get re-elected in November and supported him for the past three decades.

He said it was not in his nature to “walk away from a job I have undertaken.”

The announcement is a stunning fall from grace for the state’s longest-serving chief executive.

Kitzhaber has consistently maintained that he and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, worked hard to avoid conflicts between her public and private roles.

Secretary of State Kate Brown, a Democrat like Kitzhaber, was expected to assume the office and become the first openly bisexual governor in the country. Unlike most states, Oregon doesn’t have a lieutenant governor, and the state Constitution puts the secretary of state next in line.

Kitzhaber called Brown back to Oregon from a conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. People close to Kitzhaber say he asked her to come back after deciding to resign in the wake of the influence-peddling allegations involving his fiancee, a green-energy consultant. But he then changed his mind, saying he wouldn’t step down, which led to a Wednesday meeting between Kitzhaber and Brown that she described as “strange.”

By Thursday, the leaders of the state House and Senate said he had to go. Other top officials in the overwhelmingly Democratic state also said Kitzhaber should resign.

“I finally said, ‘This has got to stop,’” Senate President Peter Courtney said after he met with Kitzhaber. “I don’t know what else to do right now. It seems to be escalating. It seems to be getting worse and worse.”

Kitzhaber handily won re-election in November to a fourth term after surviving the botched rollout of Oregon’s online health care exchange, which turned into a national embarrassment.

But the allegations surrounding his fiancée Cylvia Hayes’ work were more harmful, dominating headlines in the state following his victory.

A series of newspaper reports since October have chronicled Hayes’ work for organizations with an interest in Oregon public policy. At the same time, she was paid by advocacy groups, she played an active role in Kitzhaber’s administration, a potential conflict of interest.

The spotlight on Hayes led to her revealing that she accepted about $5,000 to illegally marry a man seeking immigration benefits in the 1990s. Later, she admitted she bought a remote property with the intent to grow marijuana.

Though questions about Hayes have swirled for months, the pressure on Kitzhaber intensified in recent weeks after newspapers raised questions about whether Hayes reported all her income on her tax returns. She has not publicly addressed the allegation and Kitzhaber has declined to. Earlier this week, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said she was launching a criminal investigation.

Kitzhaber has consistently maintained that he and Hayes worked hard to avoid conflicts between her public and private roles.

A fiercely private person, Kitzhaber has been forced to answer embarrassing and personal questions about his relationship. In response to questions at a news conference last month, Kitzhaber told reporters that he’s in love with Hayes, but he’s not blinded by it.

Kitzhaber, 67, met the 47-year-old Hayes before the 2002 election, when he was governor and she was a candidate for the state Legislature. She lost her race, but they later reconnected after Kitzhaber’s term ended.

After eight years out of office, Kitzhaber was elected governor again in 2011. Hayes used the title “first lady,” though the couple never married, and she took an active role in his administration. They were engaged last summer.

The scandal over alleged influence-peddling was not the only one to hammer Kitzhaber since his return as governor. Kitzhaber, a former emergency room physician and passionate advocate for health care reform, was embarrassed last year when Oregon was the only state that was unable to launch an online health insurance exchange in the first year of the federal health care law.

Oregon spent millions of dollars in federal grant money but has abandoned the technology for Cover Oregon. The state and its main technology contractor, Oracle Inc., are blaming each other for the failure in multiple lawsuits.

Before the Cover Oregon debacle, Kitzhaber had racked up a series of successes. He convinced lawmakers to overhaul the state Medicaid system, then convinced the Obama administration to give Oregon $2 billion to implement it. He spearheaded cuts to retirement benefits for public employees despite being elected with considerable help from the unions whose members lost out.

After the successes, top Republicans declined to challenge Kitzhaber in last year’s election. He easily defeated state Rep. Dennis Richardson, who relentlessly pounded Kitzhaber over the Hayes scandal but was unable to overcome Oregon voters’ aversion to his social conservative views.

Kitzhaber has an acute understanding of the Legislature and how to use the power of the governor’s office to achieve his objectives. He proved adept at isolating the people he disagreed with, but he also angered his supporters and was left with few friends. When he got into trouble, his fellow Democrats did not speak up.

SALEM — Beekeeper groups in Oregon are nervous about legislation to establish statewide standards for managing honeybee hives in residential zones.

Supporters of House Bill 2653 say they want the Oregon Department of Agriculture to set baseline expectations for safety because cities have divergent rules for beekeepers in urban areas.

However, representatives of beekeeper groups told lawmakers they’re worried that regulations will be onerous for hobbyists and result in new fees to pay for enforcement.

“We know nothing the government does is for free,” said Fred Van Natta, a beekeeper from Salem, Ore., who spoke on behalf of the Oregon State Beekeepers Association during a recent hearing on HB 2653.

Beekeepers in residential areas often keep only a handful of hives, said Joe Maresh, president of the Portland Metro Beekeepers Association.

Even larger operations that sell honey and offer pollination services often don’t generate enough income to cover the cost of maintaining bees, Maresh said.

“Our concern is some of our members would be regulated out of a place to keep bees,” he said. “We’re really terrified of this.”

Rep. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, said he introduced the bill to provide a “streamlined process” for municipalities that want to set beekeeping rules.

“Some places have them, some places don’t. Some are more stringent, some are less stringent,” he said during a Feb. 12 meeting of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The standards established by ODA would not require beekeepers to pay any fees or subject them to penalties, Gorsek said.

Raine Ritalto, a beekeeper who supports the legislation, said she encountered the problem of disparate rules for beekeepers upon moving from Portland to Gresham.

Portland allows up to 15 hives per residence, while Gresham does not permit any, she said. In other areas, no rules exist for urban beekeeping at all.

Ritalto said she hopes the bill will convince communities to open their doors to beekeeping, which poses little risk to residents.

Few people are actually allergic to bee stings, but complete bans limit small business opportunities and reduce pollination in backyard gardens, she said.

“We’ve created sterile almost-deserts in many of our cities,” said Gorsek.

When asked by lawmakers about the pro-beekeeping intent of the legislation, Maresh of the Portland Metro Beekeepers Association said he would nonetheless prefer no new regulations.

Beekeeping organizations would rather work with municipalities to resolve questions over beekeeping and convince them to allow the practice in residential areas, he said.

If statewide standards are developed, beekeeper groups want to participate in crafting them, Maresh said.

Committee Chair Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said a work group headed by Gorsek should try to “iron out” the issue.

Gorsek said it may be better for the bill to instruct ODA to work with beekeeper groups to set “best practices” for managing urban hives.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A bill to renew federal subsidies to timber counties has been filed in the Senate.

The Secure Rural Schools program made up for federal timber revenues that declined as environmental protections reduced national forest logging, but it expired last year. Efforts to renew it failed in the lame-duck session of Congress.

The latest version was filed Thursday by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and Idaho Republican Mike Crapo.

It calls for sharing $360 million with more than 700 counties across the country. The program has been particularly important in Oregon timber counties, which shared nearly a third of the total.

The bill would restore funding for three years at 2011 levels. And it would provide full funding of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes program, which expired in 2013.

In 2003, after participating in a day-long blueberry conference where presenters reported on research results, Oregon State University Extension Berry Crops Specialist Bernadine Strik and other small fruits researchers couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

“Considering that blueberry acreage doubled from 1990 to 2004, we felt there was a big need for a school that would address everything from site selection to markets, cultivars and how to develop and maintain good plantings,” Strik said.

Behind Strik’s leadership, a year later, the researchers launched the first OSU Blueberry School.

“It was a great success,” Strik said. Three years later, after Oregon acreage increased another 43 percent, the researchers put on a second blueberry school.

It, too, went over well, Strik said, and now, with harvested acreage up 83 percent since 2007, the researchers are back with a third school, scheduled for March 16 and 17 on the OSU campus.

Strik described the school’s main emphasis as an attempt “to help growers produce high-quality fruit with high yields while minimizing input costs as much as possible, and to help ensure that those who are getting in the business make the correct decisions.”

The school has morphed over the years to keep up with changes in the industry. This year, for example, instead of one presentation on organic blueberry production, information on organic production methods will be interspersed throughout the presentations.

Strik made the change both because acres in organic blueberry production have increased substantially since 2007, and because conventional growers often utilize organic production methods.

The school also will provide new information on use of organic amendments, Strik said, and new information on nutrient management in organic and conventional production systems, a presentation that will include information on leaf-tissue standards for various cultivars.

Also, she said, blueberry industry consultants will provide market information. And new this year, the school will include a section on blueberry plant physiology.

“This has gone over well in test runs,” Strik said. “It helps growers understand the why and not just the how.”

Strik described the workload involved in putting on the school as “tremendous. Not just from me,” she said, “but from all the speakers involved.”

Presenters, for example, are asked to provide articles on their presentations in advance of the school so the organizers can publish the articles in a proceedings book.

“The book is very useful during the meeting, and also serves as a great reference after the meeting,” Strik said. Presentations also will be available to attendees on a computer “thumb drive.”

“All of us are working extra hard to get these articles and presentations done in advance,” she said.

Asked why she and the other presenters take on the extra workload of putting on the school, she said: “Because we feel we have great information that will help all growers be successful. Growers will get more from this meeting than any other. These are extension talks, not research talks. We are pulling the latest information together on the best practices.”

Also, Strik said, when the school is done, she feels “a great satisfaction.

“This is why I love doing what I’m doing.

“I’m trying to focus on that right now during this stressful time,” she said, half joking.

OSU Blueberry School

Researchers from Oregon State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Washington State University will provide information on blueberry plant physiology, water requirements of plants to help irrigation scheduling, pruning, nutrient management, site preparation and other topics at the OSU Blueberry School.

The school will be held March 16-17 at the LaSells Stewart Center and CH2M Hill Alumni Center on the OSU campus.

An agenda and registration information can be accessed on line at http://osublueberryschool.org/.

Stripe rust isn’t the only issue Willamette Valley wheat farmers have to worry about, Oregon State University Extension cereals specialist Mike Flowers said. “Actually, it looks like a pretty bad septoria year,” he said.

Septoria is a fungal disease that is resistant to the strobilurin class of fungicides, which are good on rusts, Flowers said.

“We’re also whittling away our efficacy of the triazole class of chemistry on septoria,” he said. “What we would really like to see is guys who don’t need to treat (their crops) not treating. Those guys that are, need to make sure they’re using an appropriate product.”

Another class of chemicals, called SDHIs, is effective on septoria, but Flowers cautions that the disease could build up a resistance to it as well.

Farmers going after rust early can use strobilurins or triazoles, but should avoid products with SDHIs except at the time of flagleaf application, the best timing for septoria control, he said.

“We don’t want to see them put that class of chemistry on early or late,” he said. “The more we use it, the quicker we’re going to lose that chemistry.”

Stripe rust found in Oregon’s Willamette Valley last month may mean more is on the way, a researcher says.

“It is early to be finding stripe rust, so that may indicate we’re setting up for a bad stripe rust year,” said Mike Flowers, extension cereals specialist at Oregon State University. “In 2011, when we had the really bad stripe rust year, it was February before we found it. We’re basically finding it about a month earlier now.”

Last year, stripe rust appeared late, increasing the likelihood of the plant disease overwintering on volunteer plants or early-planted wheat, Flowers said.

He recommends growers check their fields and consider an early fungicide application with their herbicide spray, particularly if they’re growing a wheat variety that’s susceptible to stripe rust.

“I would say a lot of the varieties that people are growing are more resistant, but we do have a couple common varieties,” Flowers said. Stripe rust has been found on Goetze, Kaseberg and SY Ovation, he said.

Flowers isn’t particularly concerned about new strains of the disease.

“You never know you have one until you see it, so we definitely encourage people if they have a resistant variety, if they start seeing stripe rust on that variety, it’s important we as a group know about that so we can make sure everybody knows about it,” he said.

Rust in Western Oregon and Western Washington isn’t a surprise, said Xianming Chen, research plant geneticist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Pullman, Wash. Farmers in the western part of the region who see rust in their fields should spray to reduce the potential for its spreading, he said.

Chen is so far forecasting a moderate level of stripe rust across the Northwest, when susceptible wheat varieties experience roughly 38 percent yield loss. Chen bases his forecast on November and December weather conditions.

The most susceptible wheat varieties include Eltan, Xerpha, Tubbs 06 and ORCF-102, Chen said.

If the spring and early summer are dry and hot, stripe rust is not likely. But if weather conditions are cool and wet, yield loss can increase, Chen said.

Farmers in Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington need to begin checking their fields in March, Chen said.

Stripe rust has also been reported in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. When stripe rust is reported in Texas and Louisiana before March, it is likely to be significant in the Great Plains, he said. Warmer weather means the south-central states could likely see a severe stripe rust outbreak that could move north and east.

Chen plans to release a new stripe rust forecast in early March.

Let’s raise a toast to Oregon’s wine grapes and hops growers, who have no doubt contributed to one of the state’s economic success stories.

A new report from the state Office of Economic Analysis says Oregon’s “alcohol cluster” jobs out-performed the rest of the state’s employment sectors in recovering from the recession.

In a report released Feb. 11, Senior Economist Josh Lehner said the number of jobs in wineries, breweries, distilleries and their distributors and retail outlets increased 46 percent since the start of 2008. The sector now has an estimated 5,200 jobs. The growth rate and total number are probably larger because some breweries, or brew pubs, are classified as restaurants and it’s difficult to separate their job counts, Lehner said in his report.

Lehner said Oregon generally accounts for 1.2 to 1.4 percent of the U.S. total when measuring various economic standards such as population, jobs and exports. But in alcohol cluster employment, Oregon makes up 2 percent of the U.S. total, “which is quite large relative to all of our other rankings,” Lehner said in the report.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Environmentalists are warning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency they will sue to force the agency to protect endangered salmon from toxic chemicals that regularly wash into Oregon rivers.

Northwest Environmental Advocates filed a 60-day lawsuit notice Wednesday.

The group wants the agency to make sure Oregon has limits on four chemicals: copper, cadmium, aluminum and ammonia.

Copper, for example, is in automobile brake pads and agricultural chemicals. In the water, it harms a salmon’s sense of smell, which is key to finding its way home to spawn.

Executive director Nina Bell says state and federal agencies “move at a glacial pace” and have to be sued to enforce clean water standards.

The EPA said it wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.