Cherry trees in the Northwest are shrinking as growers plant diminutive orchards in anticipation of labor shortages, experts say.

Traditional orchards, with large trees planted at spacious distances, are often getting replaced with higher-density “pedestrian” systems in which most branches are within an arm’s length, expediting functions like pruning and harvesting.

A worker with both feet on the ground can collect up to 170 pounds of cherries per hour, compared to 100 pounds if he’s frequently moving and climbing ladders, said Lynn Long, extension horticulturist at Oregon State University.

“He’s increasing efficiency, which means you need to hire fewer pickers,” Long told farmers at a recent OSU cherry research symposium in The Dalles, Ore.

Migrant workers are moving to other industries and the cost of labor is rising, forcing growers to think about running their operations with fewer people, he said.

Apart from easing access to fruit and tree limbs, higher-density orchards offer uniformity — trees are trained to grow similarly, reducing complications and mistakes compared to traditional orchards, in which each tree is different, Long said.

“It slows down that operation,” he said.

Farmers have multiple options for establishing pedestrian-style orchards. One popular option is the “Kym Green Bush,” in which limbs are cut back to form a compact structure with multiple “leaders.” With the “upright fruiting offshoot” technique, the tree grows along a trellis with vertical branches springing from a largely horizontal trunk.

A new system that hasn’t been adopted commercially is the “super slender axe,” in which a single central leader produces lateral branches that are cut back hard each year.

The fruiting wood remains close to the trunk while large shoot leaves develop on the new limbs, resulting in high quality cherries that are simple to pick, Long said. “You don’t have to reach for them. It doesn’t get any easier than that to harvest cherries.”

Growers are able to quickly achieve a healthy per-acre yield with the system but it’s expensive to establish, he said. About 2,500 trees per acre are planted with the super slender axe system, compared with 350-700 per acre with the Kym Green Bush.

Farmers are concerned that the transition to denser, “high output” orchard systems will be correlated with higher inputs, which can be mitigated or prevented with automation, said Matt Whiting, extension specialist with Washington State University.

Mechanical pruning, for example, can greatly speed the process though it does involve some challenges, he said.

In one trial, a hedging machine was able to remove lateral branches 12.5 times faster than hand pruning but left more wood on the tree.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s not that bad,” Whiting said.

When mechanical pruning was followed by a manual “clean up” — cutting limbs between trees and closer to trunks — the process was still 25 percent faster than just hand pruning.

One possibility would be to alternate mechanical pruning one year with a combination of techniques the next, he said.

Whiting and other researchers recently completed a five-year study of mechanized harvesting, which was funded with a $4 million USDA grant.

By vibrating tree limbs to knock cherries from their stems, a mechanical harvester prototype increased harvest efficiency by 50-fold, he said.

With a “mechanically-assisted” approach, in which a modified reciprocating saw vibrated limbs, cherries were harvested four times faster than hand-picking.

A commercial solution for mechanized picking isn’t yet available and some producers worry that stemless cherries won’t find a market, Whiting said.

However, surveys indicate that consumers don’t actually prefer cherries still attached to stems, he said.

Chelan Fresh, a marketing company, is testing the waters with packaged cups of cherries that are convenient to eat, Whiting said.

PORTLAND — The loss of a major ocean carrier at the Port of Portland will effectively eliminate export opportunities for some agricultural shippers, experts say.

“This is a very devastating blow,” said Bill Wyatt, the port’s executive director during a Feb. 11 port commission meeting.

Farm products — including peas, lentils, beans, french fries, grass seed, potatoes, onions and hay — are commonly shipped from the port to Asian markets.

With the Hanjin shipping line no longer calling on Portland, those exporters will now have to spend up to $800 more per container to truck those crops to ports in Seattle and Tacoma, Wyatt said.

For some shippers, the cost of getting farm goods to port will now exceed the price of ocean freight, he said.

“Some of these commodities cannot bear the added cost because they would not be competitive,” Wyatt said. “For people who depend on the service for their business interests, this is very consequential.”

Hanjin, a carrier that shipped farm products from Portland to South Korea and China, announced it will stop calling the port on March 9.

A dispute between the longshoremen’s union and the terminal operator, ICTSI Oregon, has negatively impacted productivity at Portland’s container terminal.

The port and operator blame work slowdowns by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, while longshoremen claim inadequate equipment and safety problems are causing the problem.

Hanjin was caught in the middle of the fight and decided to discontinue service rather than endure further costly delays, said Wyatt.

“They finally just decided to pull the plug. They just couldn’t take it any longer,” he said. “It was obvious something had to give, and something did.”

Hanjin’s looming departure will affect agricultural exporters beyond the immediate vicinity of Portland and Oregon’s Willamette Valley, said Josh Thomas, marine media relations manager for the port.

Container barges deliver farm goods to Portland from Lewiston, Idaho, providing a more cost-efficient alternative to trucks for shippers in Northeast Oregon, Southeast Washington and Western Idaho, he said.

“Those connections have always been a selling point,” Thomas said.

Exports from these areas had grown strongly in recent years, which would have kept Portland’s container terminal competitive for Hanjin if not for the slowed productivity, he said.

“We know what the decision was not about, and that was the availability of cargo,” he said.

For Bossco Trading, a hay exporter from Tangent, Ore., the departure of Hanjin will complicate logistics in addition to driving up transportation expenses, said Shelly Boshart Davis, its vice president of international sales.

Whereas a driver could deliver three containers a day between Tangent and Portland, it will require a full day to get a single container to the Seattle area, she said.

Truckers may also run out of legally allowable driving hours during that trip, potentially forcing them to stay overnight, Boshart said.

“It’s costly all around,” she said.

Other ocean carriers that ship to Japan and Northern Europe will continue to use Portland’s container terminal, but Hanjin represented roughly two-thirds of container cargo volume, Wyatt said.

The Port of Portland plans to seek other trans-Pacific ocean carriers to service the port, but that process may take two years, he said.

Any prospective partner would need assurances of full productivity from ILWU, said Thomas.

“That’s going to be a heavy lift in the coming years here,” he said.

If a replacement is not timely found, the absence will affect river pilots, tugboat operators and other service providers that other ports on the Columbia River — such as Astoria — depend on, Thomas said.

Meanwhile, the Port of Portland and ICTSI are seeking financial damages from the longshoremen’s union in federal court, Wyatt said.

That litigation will likely become “more significant” now that Hanjin has pulled out, he said.

“We intend to pursue those very aggressively.”

Capital Press was unable to reach a representative of ILWU as of press time.

Hanjin announced it’s leaving Portland at a time of broader tensions between the longshoremen’s union and container terminal operators along the West Coast.

A previous labor contract between ILWU and terminals represented by the Pacific Maritime Association ran out in July 2014 and ports have become congested in recent months as the parties have strived to work out a new deal.

“It’s a very intense period right now on the waterfont on the West Coast,” Wyatt said.

A breakthrough about the maintenance and repair of truck chassis — used to move containers — was recently reached, but an overall agreement has remained elusive.

Most recently, the PMA accused the longshoremen’s union of insisting on an unreasonable provision in the new labor contract: the ability to unilaterally fire arbitrators who rule against ILWU.

Work stoppages related to alleged safety violations are referred to such arbitrators, who are meant to quickly resolve such disputes and keep cargo moving.

If the union is able to fire arbitrators who stop slowdowns, that will jeopardize the reliability of West Coast ports, PMA said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A South Korean shipping company that is the Port of Portland’s largest container carrier will be terminating its service with the city, but it will continue to use rail and truck transportation, port officials said.

Hanjin Shipping notified the port and customers it will withdraw services on March 9, port spokesman Josh Thomas said Tuesday. Hanjin handles nearly 80 percent of the container volume at the port’s Terminal 6.

“It’s something the port had worked very hard to avert,” Thomas said.

Hanjin has had a presence in Portland since 1993. But its pullout isn’t a surprise. In recent years, the company has been unhappy about the pace of work among longshore workers and announced its intention to withdraw two years ago.

Since 2012, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union clashed with the Philippines-based company known as ICTSI that operates it for the port. Those labor troubles didn’t help make the port more competitive, Thomas said.

Last year, Hanjin decided to stay, but the company said it would review productivity and costs.

Because hundreds of exporters and importers use the terminal to transport goods to and from international markets, Hanjin’s pullout will affect many jobs and businesses. Many of the area’s largest shippers as well as exporters such as farmers depend on Hanjin’s services.

Hanjin did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

Port officials said they’re now working on the transition. The two remaining small container carriers — Hapag-Lloyd, a German company, and Westwood Shipping — will continue to serve the terminal and may be able to absorb some of the cargo, but in many cases they don’t serve the same ports, Thomas said.

The port will try to attract another trans-Pacific carrier, he said, but in the meantime the costs for those sending cargo by rail or truck to or from Seattle will likely increase.

All other lines — including autos, grain, mineral, steel, liquids — won’t be affected by Hanjin’s announcement, the port said.

Capital Press

The snowpack in Oregon’s mountain ranges is at or near record-low levels in 40 percent of monitoring sites, which could mean trouble for irrigators, wildlife and water quality this summer.

While total precipitation measured since the start of the Oct. 1 water year is near normal, most of it has fallen as rain instead of snow and won’t be available later in the year. Streams and rivers that depend on snowmelt probably will be running thin this summer, according to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Some monitoring sites in Oregon’s mountains are snow-free for the first time since measurements began. As of Feb. 1, snow levels at 44 of 110 NRCS monitoring sites were at or near record lows.

It’s the second consecutive year Oregon has reached the peak of winter with a meager snowpack. Major February snowstorms eased the situation last year and snow can drape the mountain ranges in March or April, but relief isn’t in the immediate forecast, said Melissa Webb, an NRCS hydrologist based in Portland.

“We have a month or two for recovery, there’s time for improvement,” Webb said. “That said, across the mountains of the Oregon – the Cascades, Siskiyous, Ochocos – we are seeing record low snowpack levels.”

Webb said heavy rains that drenched much of the Pacific Northwest this month are a benefit. The rain helps fill reservoirs, stream flows are in good shape and soil moisture has improved. Snow is what the region really needs, she said, but a cold, wet spring would help.

“The later the spring, the better,” Webb said. “If we’re not going to have a normal snowpack, delaying summer heat and snowmelt would be a good thing.”

The NRCS snowpack report said Idaho and Washington also have water supply problems.

In Idaho, a dry January clouded what had been an optimistic outlook for the central, southern and eastern parts of the state. Northern Idaho’s snowpack dropped further below normal and is the state’s “area of most concern for a very low runoff season,” the NRCS report concluded.

In Washington, rain and warm temperatures in the mountains melted some of the snowpack and reduced streamflow forecasts for the coming months. Washington would have to get more than 200 percent of normal snowfall between now and April 1 to “even have a chance of catching up” to typical snowpack levels, according to the NRCS.

In California, where the snowpack’s water content stood at 20 percent of normal in January, Gov. Jerry Brown has already declared a statewide water emergency. The directive orders state officials to help farmers and communities that are economically damaged by drought and to make sure the state can respond to drinking water shortages.

A proposed ban on using aerial drones for hunting and sport fishing in Oregon has won support from groups representing hunters as well as animal rights advocates.

The legislation, House Bill 2534, directs the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to write regulations that prohibit drones from tracking or otherwise assisting people with angling or hunting game.

“Drones have no place in sports fishing or hunting,” said Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, who introduced the legislation.

Using such devices to scout prey doesn’t square with the concepts of “fair chase” or “fair catch,” he said during a Feb. 10 hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The bill would also prohibit using drones to interfere with hunting and fishing.

Eight other states have banned or are in the process of banning drones for such uses, Witt said.

Representatives of the Oregon Hunters Association, Oregon Outdoors Council, Traditional Archers of Oregon, Seafood Oregon and the Humane Society of the United States testified in favor of the proposal.

“Our sport will actually disappear without fair chase. At some point, chase becomes just killing,” said Stan Steele, president of the Oregon Outdoor Council.

While the bill received a positive reception, several clarifications were suggested during the hearing to prevent unintended consequences.

There may be legitimate uses for drones, like scaring away geese from crops, that should not be disallowed by the bill, said Brett Brownscombe, acting director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The legislation also relies on a legal definition of “drones” that excludes model aircraft, Brownscombe said.

Realistically, new model aircraft can be used to assist hunting and fishing in ways the bill intends to prohibit, he said.

The bill should also make it clearer that locating fish or game with drones is banned, said Al Elkins, lobbyist for the Oregon Hunters Association.

Elkins said he has already heard of anglers scouting suitable fishing spots along a river with a drone.

Witt said he plans to consult with these organizations in redrafting the bill to ensure it’s not misinterpreted.

“I am very open to additional language to tighten than up,” he said.

A bill related to trespassing also received a favorable reaction during the hearing.

House Bill 2051 would reduce second-degree trespassing from a criminal Class C misdemeanor to a non-criminal Class A violation.

The Oregon Forest Industries Council strongly supports the bill because many rural counties in Oregon don’t have the resources to criminally prosecute trespassers, said Heath Curtiss, the group’s director of government affairs.

By shifting second-degree trespassing to a Class A violation in certain circumstances, the county would not have to pay for the full criminal prosecution, he said.

While a person could still plead not guilty rather than pay a fine of up to $2,000, the case would be decided by a judge rather than a jury, similar to a traffic violation.

“It’s a relatively efficient process,” Curtiss said.

Representatives of hunters, defense attorneys and timberland owners supported the bill, which Witt said will soon be back before the committee after a quick series of amendments “to make a good bill great.”

A helicopter spraying company and a pilot who were each fined $10,000 for spraying pesticides on rural homes in Southern Oregon have asked for an administrative hearing at which they will contest the penalty.

Pacific Air Research Inc. of White City and applicator Steven Owen were assessed the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s biggest fines during 2014, and their pesticide licenses were revoked for a year. However, because they have contested the department’s findings, they have not yet paid the fine and are free to operate, said Dale Mitchell, manager of the department’s pesticide program. A hearing will be held in April.

The original incident happened in October 2013, when residents of the Cedar Valley area near Gold Beach in Curry County complained they’d been sickened in a spraying operation intended for commercial timber. An ag department investigation showed the company and pilot sprayed the wrong property, applied more than the label recommends of one product and filed multiple false records about pesticides used.

The department “absolutely” stands by its findings, Mitchell said.

The Pacific Air case was among 505 alleged pesticide violations investigated during the year. Another $10,000 fine was levied against Glass Tree Care and Spray Service Inc., a Eugene company, for a 2014 incident in which an estimated 1,000 bees were killed when blooming linden trees at a Eugene apartment complex were sprayed with a neonicotinoid pesticide. Applicator James Mischkot Jr. was fined $6,000.

The department issued 34 civil penalties totaling $62,423 during the year, choosing “education and outreach” in the vast majority of cases, Mitchell said. The most common violations involve incomplete record-keeping, failing to have all employees properly licensed and applying pesticides in a manner inconsistent with label instructions or in a negligent manner, Mitchell said.

The following penalties were issued to companies using unlicensed pesticide applicators: TJW Croach LLC (PestFree) of Beaverton, $2,775; Dobyns-Hart Pest Control, Pendleton, $814 and applicator Chad Griffin, $407; Northwest Landscape, Tualatin, $814; All Natural Pest Botanical Solutions Inc., Redmond, $407.

Penalties issued for applying a pesticide product inconsistent with its labeling: A&J Landscape Maintenance, Inc., Beaverton, $555; Farmers Supply Cooperative, Ontario, and applicator Tyler Taylor, $407 each.

Penalties for applying pesticides in a faulty, careless or negligent manner: Samuel Pollock, Hermiston, $2,035; David Goracke, Shedd, $555; Cascade Tree Farms, Estacada, and applicator Alfonzo Mendoza, $407 each; Applebee Aviation Inc., Banks, and applicator Patrick Hall, $407 each; Willamette Valley Helicopters, Newport, $407.

Other violations during the year included: Crop Production Services, Cornelius, $3,678 for selling a restricted use pesticide product to an unlicensed individual; Winco Winfield LLC, Mt. Angel, $1,628 for selling restricted use pesticides to a number of unlicensed individuals; Coastal Home and Farm Supply LLC, Woodburn, $2,700 for selling an unregistered pesticide; J.R. Simplot Co., Independence, $320 for distributing an unregistered pesticide to Oregon Vineyard Supply of McMinnville; Central Oregon Ranch Supply, Redmond, $300 for selling a pesticide that was not in the manufacturer’s original package; EcoCare LLC of Ridgefield, Wash., $1,628 for using multiple unlicensed applicators; Michael Dell, David Murphy, Johseph Pipher and Daryl Pipher, $407 for being unlicensed.

EcoCare also was penalized $555 for applying a pesticide inconsistent with its labeling, and three individuals with the company were fined $555 each. The Brickman Group LLC, Tualatin, was penalized $555 for using an applicator whose license had expired; the applicator, Jose Aldaco, was issued a $555 penalty for applying a pesticide inconsistent with its labeling.

Many new organic consumers have little experience with the organic label and some shoppers think they’re buying organic when they’re actually not, experts say.

“The brand has outsized our actual influence in the marketplace,” said Laura Batcha, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, during the recent Organicology conference in Portland, Ore.

Market research shows that more than one-third of organic consumers have only been buying organic products in the past two years, she said.

This influx of new consumers raises questions about how to best market organic products, Batcha said.

Contrary to the stereotype of organic consumers being whiter, older and higher income than average, they actually tend to be younger and more racially diverse, she said.

“We are on trend with the future demographic of the United States,” Batcha said.

Younger organic buyers have characteristics that don’t reflect the habits of “seasoned” organic consumers, she said.

For example, older buyers are more committed to traditional organic retail channels, like food cooperatives, while younger people are “non-denominational” when it comes to shopping for organic products and will frequent mainstream grocery stores, Batcha said.

“They don’t attribute a lot of values to it in the same way,” she said.

Market data indicates that roughly 80 percent of families buy some organic food, just not very frequently, Batcha said.

It’s also likely that some consumers think other labels — like “natural” — connote organic methods, she said.

“Natural has a better frame of reference in our vocabulary,” Batcha said.

Nearly 60 percent of consumers say they look for the “natural” label when shopping for groceries, while less than 50 percent look for the “organic label,” according to a survey by the Consumers Union.

The “natural” label means a product contains no artificial ingredients but doesn’t have to be produced according to any farm practices regulated by the USDA.

Even so, many consumers assume the “natural” label encompasses organic standards enforced by USDA: roughly two-thirds believe “natural” food was produced without pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones or genetically modified organisms, the survey said.

“Consumers are sometimes choosing natural because they think it means the same thing,” said Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability for the Consumers Union.

This confusion can create a marketing conundrum.

Marketers prefer to present consumers with simple, uncomplicated messages, but if they “overdistill” the meaning of “organic” then it becomes prone to distortion, Rangan said. “The downside of that is you leave it open to misinterpretation,” she said.

Rangan said she doesn’t blame “label overload” for consumer uncertainty, since some certifications — such as “animal welfare approved” — can add value to the organic label by providing additional information.

The real problem is some claims and labels are meaningless or not credible, yet federal regulators don’t stop companies from using them even though it’s within their authority, she said.

No Lazy Kates will be spinning at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at The Wool Company, 990 U.S. Highway 101 in Bandon. Those working on yarn projects are also welcome.

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater in Eastern Oregon will be the newest American Viticulture Area, or AVA, a designation that provides a marketing edge to vineyards in the area and wine makers who use grapes from there.

The designation covers the alluvial fan of the Walla Walla River and refers to dark basalt cobblestones that pocket the area and to the Oregon town of Milton-Freewater, part of which lies within the AVA. The stony soil is well-drained, which forces vines to root deep for water. Rocks exposed on the surface absorb heat, which promotes early season growth and late-season ripening. Despite being part of the Walla Walla Valley, the AVA is entirely within Oregon and will be the state’s 18th. The area is known for producing high-quality Syrah wine but has seen recent plantings of Cabernet, another red wine grape.

Nineteen producers have vineyards within the Rocks District boundaries, which covers about 3,770 acres, only 250 acres of which is in commercial vineyard production.

The distinction will allow wineries, including those in Washington state that use a high percentage grapes from there, to put the AVA information on their labels, said Duane Wollmuh, executive director of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance.

Washington’s wine industry and the Oregon Wine Board backed the AVA designation. The Pacific Northwest has become internationally known for producing fine wines, most notably the signature Pinot noir of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and AVA information is significant to discerning consumers.

The combination of high-quality and consumer demand has paid off for both states. A January report said Oregon’s wine industry produces an estimated $3.35 billion economic impact, counting crop values and direct and related sales, jobs, services and products. A 2012 report estimated the Washington wine industry has an $8.6 billion annual economic impact.

The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, proposed the AVA at the request of eight growers in the region, headed by Steve Robertson of Delmas/SJR Vineyard. A 60-day comment period is required before the AVA can be approved. Kevin R. Pogue, a geology professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, submitted the petition to the ATTB.

A man who was issued the first state permit to grow industrial hemp said he and a nonprofit group of growers and activists hope to plant a 25-acre field in Southwest Oregon this spring.

Edgar Winters, of Eagle Point, Ore., who describes himself as director of the Oregon Agriculture Food & Rural Consortium, acknowledged there are problems obtaining seeds for planting and other complications, but said he is optimistic. Winters also said warehousing and processing facilities will be ready to go when a crop is harvested in late summer.

“We are in position to do 40 tons a day at our processing mill,” Winters said. “We’ve got our ducks in a row.”

Getting seed to plant is one of the major hurdles. Importing it requires the approval of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University are working with the DEA on that process. In addition, Winters said a major Canadian hemp company, Hemp Textiles International, has breeders’ rights to its seed and will not allow Oregon growers to retain seed for planting. Meanwhile, the existing state statute requires hemp seed produced in Oregon to be replanted.

“We’re at a standstill,” Winters said.

He said hemp seeds might be available from Russia, Hungary, Australia or New Zealand.

“We have to import to get started,” Winters said. “We don’t want our farmers to sit around another year.”

Winters’ LinkedIn profile lists him as self-employed and the chief operations officer for Natural Good Medicines. It also lists him as a master gardener and involved in research and development services for industrial hemp. He said people often hear his name and mistake him for Texas rock and blues musician Edgar Winter.

Ron Pence, who oversees the industrial hemp growing program for the state agriculture department, said the seed issue is one of three tweaks the Legislature may want to make it the 2015 session.

As written, a 2009 state statute says hemp seed collected in an Oregon harvest can only be used to produce a new crop — not crushed for oil or other high-value products, for example, or used as livestock feed. Pence said the restriction appears to be an oversight.

Another issue is the requirement for a three-year growing and handling license and a three-year seed handling permit, each of which cost $500 a year, or $1,500 for the required three years.

“A person could easily invest $3,000 in a license and permit before spinning a wheel to produce hemp,” Pence said. The fees may be restructured to an annual basis, at $500 each, so a person could try his or her hand at it for a year at less expense.

A provision that requires a minimum production area of 2.5 acres also may be reconsidered, Pence said.

The Oregon Legislature legalized hemp cultivation in 2009, but the law was never implemented because the U.S. Department of Justice classified hemp the same as marijuana. The federal classification remains, but the justice department has said it won’t interfere in states that have legalized hemp production if they adopt a robust regulatory system. Industrial hemp was included in the November 2014 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana use, possession and cultivation.

Hemp is related to marijuana but has a much lower concentration of THC, the chemical compound that makes pot users high. Industrial hemp was widely grown and milled in the Midwest especially through the 1940s, but faded. Supporters of hemp’s revival note that it has multiple uses, including for fiber, fabric, food, oils, cosmetics, plastics and many more.

Russ Karrow, former head of the Crop and Soil Science Department at Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has said hemp grown for fiber would do well in the Willamette Valley. But hemp grown for seed, probably a more valuable crop, would require summer irrigation, Karrow said. Hermiston and Treasure Valley, in Eastern Oregon, have warmer growing days than the Willamette Valley and would be the best places to grow hemp, Karrow said in interviews with the Capital Press.

TODAY

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Ag Fest is seeking applications for its annual agricultural education recognition award.

The purpose of the award is to recognize student organizations, nonprofit organizations or classrooms that promote and educate Oregonians about agriculture and extend the Oregon Ag Fest mission beyond its annual, two-day event.

Applications are due March 7 and can be downloaded from the Oregon Ag Fest website. Cash prizes totaling up to $2,000 may be awarded to as many as three winners annually. Awards will be presented on stage during Oregon Ag Fest on April 26, according to an Ag Fest press release.

Prizes will depend on quality of applications submitted. 

“We were blown away by the applications we received last year and are proud to continue to support the agricultural education outreach efforts of nonprofit and student organizations this year,” said Sherry Kudna, Oregon Ag Fest chair. “Oregon Ag Fest is dedicated to educating the public about the importance of agriculture, and we see this award as a way to encourage and support student groups that have programs and activities aimed to accomplish the same thing.”

Ag Fest is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) volunteer organization dedicated to educating the public about the importance of agriculture. For more information, go to www.oragfest.com. 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The high winds hitting the coast of Oregon and southwest Washington on Thursday morning are leading a series of storms in what forecasters call an atmospheric river.

The National Weather Service says the rain storms will arrive in surges through the weekend with breaks in between. Rainfall totals through Monday could reach 5 to 7 inches on the Oregon coast and Cascades and 2 or 3 inches in the valleys.

The Weather Service says it also will be windy through the weekend.

Forecasters say the storms should end and let the region dry out by the middle of next week.

Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an agribusiness industry group, has hired a lobbyist from the Oregon Farm Bureau as its new executive director.

Katie Fast, vice president of public policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau, will split her time between the bureau and OFS until the end of the 2015 legislative session.

Scott Dahlman, former executive director of OFS, will continue to serve the organization as its policy director.

The change was triggered by the announced retirement of Paulette Pyle, director of grass roots at OFS, who will leave at the end of the session, said Doug Hoffman, the group’s chairman and CEO of the Wilco farm cooperative.

OFS is reorganizing due to Pyle’s departure, with Fast serving as the group’s public face while Dahlman works behind the scenes setting policy, said Hoffman.

“We’re aligning skills where they need to go,” he said.

Rural residents in Oregon’s Curry County have revived a lawsuit over pesticide spraying without directly challenging the state’s “right to farm” law.

Their case originally sought to overturn Oregon’s “right to farm” statute — which shields growers from nuisance and trespass lawsuits over common farm practices — for allegedly infringing on the constitutional right to seek legal remedies for an injury.

The initial complaint was dismissed by Curry County Circuit Court Judge Jesse Margolis, who ruled that the 17 plaintiffs must first claim actual damages before seeking to invalidate the “right to farm” law.

In 2013 the Curry County residents told state regulators that Pacific Air Research sprayed their properties with pesticides, causing serious medical problems.

An investigation by the Oregon Department of Agriculture determined the aerial applicator used 2,4-D and triclopyr on off-target sites and falsified information.

Last year, the residents filed a complaint trying to get the “right to farm” law pre-emptively declared unconstitutional without formally accusing Pacific Air Research of committing nuisance or trespass violations.

The plaintiffs attempted to void the “right to farm” statute before making such claims because they didn’t want to be held liable for the defendants’ legal fees, as permitted by the law.

Margolis threw out their original complaint, finding it was merely hypothetical that Pacific Air Research would use the “right to farm” law as a defense and thus he lacked jurisdiction to deem it unconstitutional.

Even so, Margolis allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint.

The revised lawsuit includes charges of nuisance, trespass and negligence against Pacific Air Research as well as other logging, forestry and timberland companies allegedly involved in the pesticide operation.

However, the latest version removes any mention of the “right to farm” law, which presumably means the defendants would have to raise that statute as a defense to throw its constitutionality into question.

The plaintiffs are ready to “tackle” that debate if it comes up, though it’s unclear whether the subject will be raised, said William Sherlock, their attorney.

Such a defense could be risky, since an unlawful and improper pesticide application would not be protected under the law and invoking the statute would open the defendants to liability for their opponents’ litigation expenses.

Bradley Piscadlo, attorney for the defendants, said he has not decided whether to employ the statute.

Regardless of what happens in the case, questions about the law’s constitutionality are unlikely to end, experts say.

The farm industry would face such a challenge if a plaintiff crossed the appropriate procedural hurdles, said Tim Bernasek, an agricultural attorney.

“It is an issue for the ag and forestry community to prepare for,” he said.

Two previous challenges to the “right to farm” law were dismissed on procedural grounds in 2008 and 2013 by the Oregon Court of Appeals, which left the underlying constitutional question unanswered.

In 1993, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the statute’s constitutionality without explaining its legal rationale but the Curry County plaintiffs claim this ruling was superseded by a 2001 Oregon Supreme Court opinion.

An attack on the “right to farm” statute based on the remedy clause of Oregon’s constitution “sounds like at least a good theoretical argument,” said Paul Diller, a law professor at Willamette University.

The Oregon Supreme Court has been “vigilant” in protecting tort rights that existed when Oregon attained statehood in 1859, he said.

The argument that the “right to farm” law unconstitutionally violates these rights would be a “colorable claim” — meaning the challenge would be allowed to proceed under the right circumstances without being immediately thrown out of court — even if it’s not ultimately found valid, Diller said.

Defenders of the “right to farm” statute could claim that the ability to sue over common agricultural practices was not recognized under the original Oregon constitution, he said.

They could also argue the state’s land use planning law has already created a system to reduce nuisance and trespass conflicts, Diller said.

“It’s designed to minimize them,” Diller said. “I think that’s a relevant component.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Agriculture Department has begun accepting applications to grow industrial hemp, in time for spring planting.

Industrial hemp is the cousin of marijuana that doesn’t cause a high.

Historically, the crop was used for rope, but these days it goes into clothing, food and cosmetics as well.

The Hemp Industries Association tells The Oregonian that 18 states have removed barriers to production, but only three reported crops last year: Colorado, Kentucky and Vermont.

Under federal law, hemp is still illegal.

Oregon approved it in 2009, but held off drafting rules until this year. Legal hemp was also in last year’s initiative legalizing recreational pot.

The rules require growers to get three-year licenses that cost $1,500. They limit how much of marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient the hemp can have.

Potato farmers in Eastern Oregon have lost an important contract with Heinz, the company that owns the Ore-Ida brand.

Many potato growers in Malheur and Baker counties have had contracts with Heinz for 20 to 30 years, but Heinz recently announced that it’s dropping contracts with farmers in eastern Oregon and southwest Idaho.

That means that some potato farmers must now find a new buyer, or plant a different crop.

Mark Ward leads the Malheur Potato Bargaining Association and is a second-generation farmer.

“We grow some very nice potatoes up here,” he said. “We would like to continue to do this. It’s a big change. It’s uncharted territory. This has never happened before. We are unsure if this is long-term.”

Heinz will now contract with the Ontario Potato Company for its potato supply.

“This will allow both Heinz and OPC to take advantage of economies of scale to improve efficiency and productivity and further strengthen the Ore-Ida brand, while continuing to deliver the best quality and value to consumers,” wrote Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen in an email to OPB.

“This was a difficult decision for Heinz because it will affect many long-term relationships with growers in Oregon, Idaho and Washington,” he added.

Ward says his group has started talking with that company. In Baker County, potatoes are the second most valuable agricultural product.

Southern Oregon communities along a proposed natural gas pipeline route are looking for creative ways to stop the project. Douglas and Coos County residents hope a Community Bill of Rights will give them a legal avenue to assert local control.  

The pipeline for the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas export terminal in Coos Bay would run through the property of Stacey McLaughlin. She doesn’t want it there. And speaking out before government officials has been less than satisfying.  

“It feels like a waste of my time,” she said.  

So McLaughlin is organizing her Douglas County neighbors to enact a community bill of rights. It would give cities and counties the legal grounds to say no to projects that violate local values.  

The group met Friday with Kai Huschke of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund to discuss their options going forward. Huschke said many communities have little to no recourse against state and federally approved projects.  

“So folks are actually moving law to assert that right. That right of government to say no to things like pipelines, and yes to sustainable energy futures,” Huschke said.  

McLaughlin said the Douglas County group is early in the process. Community members are working on language for their community bill of rights, which may eventually include fossil fuel and community health provisions.    

“I think it will create an opportunity for reason and rational thinking to start being the approach we take as citizens in this community,” McLaughlin said, “instead of just settling for somebody just walks in the door and says, ‘hey here’s what you have to do.’”  

In neighboring Coos County, residents are collecting signatures to put a similar measure on the May ballot.   It is uncertain if these types of local ordinances will be legally effective.  

“We’re just now beginning to see where the courts for instance stand in regards to either recognizing corporate rights or that of community rights in rejecting harmful corporate projects,” Huschke said.  

He said about 200 communities in nine states have already passed community bills of rights.  

Several in the Northwest are embracing the idea. Voters in Benton County, Oregon, will vote this May on a Community Bill of Rights targeting food security. An organizing group in Spokane could also have a community rights measure on the ballot in 2015.

Legislation that would expand the use of fireworks to repel birds in Oregon will be voted on by the state House after key lawmakers recommended passing the bill.

House Bill 2432, which would broaden the use of fireworks beyond protecting crops and forest products, moved to the House floor with a unanimous “do pass” recommendation from the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources on Feb. 3.

The bill would allow the state fire marshal to issue permits for using fireworks at golf courses, landfills, airports, seafood facilities and other properties, in addition to farms and forests.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal stopped issuing fireworks permits for golf courses and landfills to scare off geese and other birds in 2010, after it was brought to the agency’s attention that such uses were limited by law to farms and forests, said Anita Phillips, license and permits manager for the agency.

The bill would clarify the law and allow the state agency to again issue such permits, she said.

The agency doesn’t expect more than 50 additional applications as a result of the change, Phillips said.

Representatives of the Oregon Farm Bureau, the Humane Society of the United States and the Oregon Humane Society all urged committee members to support the legislation, though they mentioned some concerns.

Animal advocates said that fireworks must be used responsibly because they can frighten pets, while the Oregon Farm Bureau noted there are only two wholesale fireworks dealers who can sell to farmers and other property owners in the state.

During the Feb. 3 hearing, the committee also moved House Bill 2475, which would authorize penalties of up to $100 for veterinarians who commit minor infractions, to the floor with a “do pass” recommendation.

The fines would be the equivalent of a “traffic ticket” for minor violations, such as failing to notify regulators of an address change, that would not reflect negatively on a veterinarian’s disciplinary record, said Lori Makinen, director of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board.

The committee held a hearing on another bill — House Bill 2474 — that would require the registration and regulation of veterinary facilities to ensure they meet state standards.

Currently, state regulators only have authority over veterinarians, not facilities, which could create problems if substandard conditions were found at a clinic owned by a corporation or non-veterinarian, said Makinen.

However, the committee held off on referring the bill to the House floor pending further discussion and possible amendments.

PORTLAND – Oregon State University’s commitment to improve life in rural Oregon will includes major expansion of its forestry and marine sciences programs and strengthening the statewide system of agricultural and forest research and extension stations, President Ed Ray said.

Ray, in Portland Jan. 30 to deliver his “state of the university” address, met afterward with the Pamplin Media Group’s editorial board and the Capital Press.

He said Oregon State’s forestry, marine science and other initiatives are in line with Gov. John Kitzhaber’s goal of bringing economic prosperity to a wider slice of the population. Rural Oregon has not fully shared in the economic recovery enjoyed by urban areas such as Portland, Ray said.

In 2017, OSU will open a $60 million forest science complex that will focus on research and development of advanced wood products that can be used in high-rise buildings, Ray said. The center will increase the value of Oregon’s wood products and restore jobs to rural areas where natural resources are located and can be milled.

Money for the forestry center will be split between $30 million in state bonding and $30 million in private fund raising. Ray said OSU’s wood products expertise could be paired with the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts

An anonymous donor has pledged $20 million toward construction of a new building at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ray said. Up to 500 students will be studying at the center by 2025, and coastal communities will benefit from the development, research and education associated with it, he said. The governor has asked the Legislature to match the gift with $25 million in bonding authority.

In another development significant to rural Oregon, the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend will expand next fall to accomodate four-year students, Ray said.

On another front, OSU is part of an 11-university alliance working to increase admission, retention and graduation rates for low-income, minority and first-generation students.

Ray said inequality in the U.S. higher education system is such that a student from a family with an annual household income of $90,000 or more has a 1-in-2 chance of graduating from college, while a student from a family making $30,000 or less has only a 1-in-17 chance.

“We are in the process of creating a country of haves and have nots,” Ray said, “which tears at the fabric of our society and undermines our democracy.”

Regarding the 2015-17 state budget, the OSU Board of Trustees has recommended $123 million for statewide programs that include ag research stations, extension programs and forest research. The figure includes $16 million for new or expanded programs dealing with sustainable landscapes, water quality and quantity, public health and food safety, technology for “value-added” manufacturing and workforce training.

Ray said he’s been disappointed at an apparent lack of understanding about the value of OSU’s statewide programs and how they bridge the urban-rural divide.

“Why it is that programs that are 100 years old have to fight so damn hard to get a dime?” he asked.

On other topics, Ray said the OSU’s enrollment now tops 30,000, counting the main campus in Corvallis, the Cascades campus and on-line students. In December, the university completed a seven-year capital campaign that raised $1.14 billion for construction, scholarships and faculty endowments. The donors included 190 who gave $1 million or more. The campaign is paying for 28 new buildings or renovation projects, 79 new faculty positions and more than 600 new scholarship and fellowship funds.