Researchers expect this to be a bad year for bugs in Oregon’s vineyards.

Oregon State University’s Wine Research Institute issued a warning saying wine grape growers can expect increased pressure from brown marmorated stinkbugs in particular and spotted wing drosophila to a lesser degree.

A warmer-than-average growing season last year and a mild winter set the stage for high populations of both, according to OSU.

The pair are two of agriculture’s most damaging pests; both feed on tree fruit and berries, including cherries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

For wine grape growers, the highest risk areas for stinkbug damage are the Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, and McMinnville American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs. Southern Oregon and Columbia Gorge AVAs are at somewhat reduced risk.

Brown marmorated stinkbugs eat plant tissue and the grape berries, potentially contaminating the grapes and hurting wine quality. They apparently move into vineyards late in the season after other crops have been picked. An OSU news release said they engage in “hill topping” behavior, meaning they overwinter at higher elevations. Many vineyards are planted on rolling slopes, putting them in favored stinkbug habitat. Wineries have found them in buildings and dead bugs have been found in fermenting wine, according to OSU.

Vaughn Walton, a professor and horticultural entomologist at OSU, is researching the use of tiny parasites to control the stinkbugs.

Spotted Wing Drosophila prefer other crops, particularly berries. It saws a hole in berries and lays an egg inside, which hatches and feeds on the host from the inside, causing it to collapse in a gooey mess.

The tiny flies may be drawn to grapes damaged by rain, birds or fungus, according to the Wine Research Institute.

A horse from a Marion County, Ore., stable was diagnosed with contagious Equine Herpes Virus, and veterinarians warn horse owners to watch for neurologic symptoms in their animals.

The horse was treated at Oregon State University’s veterinary hospital. Twenty other horses at the Marion County stable were quarantined.

The horse showed signs of acute illness April 28 and a diagnosis of EHV-1 was confirmed the following day. Horses from the stable were at events at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany April 16-19 and at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene April 25-26.

Owners who also had horses at the events or have questions about the virus should contact their vet, said Dr. Ryan Scholz, the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s western district veterinarian. He said there was no immediate sign of neurologic problems among the horses quarantined at the stable.

EHV-1 is one of the most common respiratory viruses among horses; by age 2 most horses have been exposed to it, Scholz said. It’s a lifelong infection, but lies dormant most of the horse’s life. But every once in a while, triggered by stress or other factors, it pops up and attacks the nervous system, he said.

The virus in this case is a common form, Scholz said. It is not the mutated form of the virus that caused an outbreak among horses at a national cutting horse competition several years ago, he said.

The virus can’t be transmitted to people but spreads among horses through animal-to-animal contact or contaminated equipment, clothing or hands.

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

The virus can cause pregnant mares to abort. Severe cases can kill horses. Vaccinations are available, but Scholz said they are short-lived and must be combined with good bio-security management practices. The department does not recommend for or against the vaccine, but encourages horse owners to discuss it with their veterinarian, he said.

BANDON — The Port of Bandon's Old Town Marketplace opens this weekend, offering 60 vendors and a new indoor restroom for its fourth season.

Livestock ranchers and farm groups approached the April 24 meeting of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission with a clear mindset: Oregon’s rapidly-growing wolf population has increased to the point that gray wolves can be removed from the state endangered species list.

Given the emotion and politics of the issue, however, they didn’t necessarily expect a decision that day. The commission, facing a crowd in which delisting opponents were the majority, asked ODFW staff to come back with information beyond the 64-page biological status review they had in front of them.

The commission wanted more information on the options of delisting wolves in the eastern half of the state, in the entire state, or taking no action. It may be September before staff reports back.

The state’s wolf plan calls for beginning the delisting process when the state has at least four breeding pairs for three consecutive years. Oregon reached that standard at the end of 2014, when eight breeding pairs were counted. Four breeding pairs were confirmed in 2013 and six in 2012.

Ranchers, who with some compensation available bear the cost of livestock attacks and non-lethal defensive measures, expected ODFW to begin drafting rules for delisting. Generally, delisting would give livestock producers more leeway to shoot wolves in order to protect cattle, sheep and guard dogs.

Follow the plan, multiple speakers told the commission during its meeting in Bend.

“We lived up to our promise,” said rancher Todd Nash, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. “We wholly expect the agency and this committee to live up to theirs.”

Nash said later he favors statewide delisting of wolves. A partial delisting in only the eastern portion invites complication and lawsuits, he said.

“I think it will delay the process, and I’m not in favor of that,” Nash said.

Meanwhile, conservation groups say the breeding pair count is not an automatic trigger for delisting, and showed up in force to make that point.

Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity, arrived from Petaluma, Calif. Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative with Defenders of Wildlife, traveled over from Boise. Quinn Read, Oregon Wild’s wildlife coordinator, was there from Portland, as was Danielle Moser with the Endangered Species Coalition. Rob Klavins, Oregon Wild’s Northeast Oregon field coordinator, attended from Enterprise.

They said Oregon’s 77 confirmed wolves — ODFW believes there may be 90 to 100 — is far too small a population to loosen protection.

Weiss, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said an outbreak of disease could wipe out packs.

“Science tells us we need vastly more numbers” to assure longterm population viability, she said afterward. By that standard, Oregon needs “on the magnitude of thousands” of wolves, she said.

A 2006 study by Tad Larsen and William Ripple of Oregon State University’s Department of Forest Resources estimated the state could support 1,450 wolves.

Weiss said ODFW has done a good job of making its actions “transparent” to the public in the past couple years.

“It’s brought the hysteria level down,” Weiss said. “There have been no wolves killed. In that time the wolf population doubled. (Confirmed) Depredations have gone down and the hysteria has gone down.”

In a move to catch up with the state’s fast-moving hazelnut industry, Oregon State University is in the process of hiring an orchard management specialist.

A committee will review applicants for the job on Friday and choose finalists for interviews in May.

Michael Bondi, director of OSU’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, said the person hired will devote about 80 percent of his or her time to hazelnuts, a $120 million annual crop. Oregon produces nearly all of U.S. hazelnuts, and growers have been adding 3,000 to 5,000 acres a year. The state went from 29,000 acres of hazelnuts in 2009 to an estimated 47,000 acres by the end of 2014.

“It’s definitely in a significant growth mode,” Bondi said. “There’s a huge number of new acres. We see steady growth for the next several years.”

But Oregon hasn’t had a statewide hazelnut specialist since Yamhill County Extension’s Jeff Olsen died unexpectedly in January 2014.

Michael Klein, executive director of the Hazelnut Marketing Board, said the industry needs someone who can carry the work of OSU researchers to growers in the field. “It’s something our industry feels is critically needed,” Klein said. “We could really use the help.”

Turkey is by far the world’s largest hazelnut growing region, but has been hit hard by weather problems in recent years. Oregon growers received record prices this past year due to a freeze that wrecked much of the Turkish production.

Bondi, the North Willamette director, said the Extension position will focus on production, including the establishment of new orchards and pest management and nutrition problems. Hazelnut genetics work is covered by OSU breeder Shawn Mehlenbacher on campus is Corvallis, Bondi said, but the North Willamette specialist will carry out basic field research and demonstrations in collaboration with growers.

The job pays $70,000 to $80,000 annually, Bondi said.

The new person will work out of the North Willamette center just east of Interstate 5 near Aurora.

SALEM — Advertising raw milk is one step closer to becoming legal in Oregon while hunting and fishing with drones is a step closer to being outlawed.

The Oregon Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted unanimously to approve House Bill 2446, which repeals the state’s longstanding prohibition against raw milk ads.

The bill was referred to the Senate floor with a “do-pass” recommendation by the committee on April 27 after previously being passed by the House, 56-1.

The Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, which generally opposed looser restrictions on raw milk due to safety concerns, did not take a position on HB 2446.

While the ban is still law in Oregon, it hasn’t been enforced since state farm regulators settled a lawsuit filed by a raw milk producer in 2014.

Christine Anderson of Cast Iron Farm in McMinnville was instructed by an Oregon Department of Agriculture inspector that raw milk prices, pathogen test results and information posted on her website were unlawful, prompting her to file a lawsuit claiming free speech violations.

Producers who violate the raw milk advertising ban face up to a year in jail and a $6,250 fine.

Attorneys from the state advised ODA the advertising prohibition was likely unconstitutional, leading the state to stop enforcing the statute and seek a legislative fix this year.

All other restrictions on raw milk — such as a limit on herd size and an on-farm sales requirement — will remain in place if HB 2446 goes into effect, said Michael Bindas, an attorney for the Institute for Justice nonprofit law firm, who represented Anderson.

“The bill is not intended to expand access to raw milk,” he said.

During the same hearing, committee members also voted unanimously to approve House Bill 2534, which bans the use of drones for tracking or locating wildlife while hunting or angling. The legislation has already passed the House.

The bill is intended to preserve “fair chase” in the sports, said Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, who introduced HB 2534. “There simply is no room for this technology in hunting and fishing.”

Lobbyists representing hunter and angler groups supported the bill, which creates exemptions for using drones to manage wildlife.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would need to endorse such use of drones, such as scaring birds away from airports or landfills, said Witt.

Landowners in three fire-prone Central Oregon counties can apply for grants that will help pay for forest thinning projects.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service allocated up to $100,000 to pay for pre-commercial thinning in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The program pays up to $400 acre. Owners of private, non-industrial woodlands are eligible to apply. The deadline is May 22.

The intent is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in the region by removing smaller, unhealthy trees from thick stands. Priority treatment areas include sites around the cities of Bend, Sisters and LaPine in Deschutes County, and residential developments in Jefferson and Crook counties.

The NRCS and Oregon Department of Forestry estimate about 2,500 acres of woodlands within the priority areas should be thinned.

Information

Application and eligibility information is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/or/programs/?cid=stelprdb1193512

For more information, call the USDA’s Redmond Service Center at 541-923-4358 or email Tom.Bennett@or.usda.gov.

SALEM — For the 28th straight year, hundreds of volunteers joined sponsoring businesses and 4-H and FFA members to help Oregon Ag Fest educate thousands of children — and their parents — about agriculture.

In addition to the usual hands-on agricultural experiences such as digging potatoes, planting marigolds to take home and watching chicks hatch, this year’s weekend event included an expanded petting zoo in the animal barn, an accredited llama show and sale and several new sponsors.

Sherry Kudna, past Ag Fest chair and executive assistant to Oregon Department of Agriculture director Katy Coba, spoke about the event April 25 at her station in the Information Booth in Cascade Hall at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. Between fielding questions from volunteers and the public and responding to other requests, she had praise for everyone involved.

“We are so grateful to our sponsors and were thrilled to add Franz Bread and Home Depot this year,” Kudna said. “One of the most popular activities was Home Depot’s kids’ workshop program that first taught the kids about tools and led them through the process of building a miniature tool box.”

But volunteers remain the foundation of a successful Ag Fest, she said.

“Among the more than 800 volunteers, we had an increase in Willamette Valley 4-H and FFA volunteers this year. They were a big help, and so professional,” she said.

Between the good weather and coverage from three Portland television stations, she said Ag Fest reached a lot of families.

First-time Ag Fest visitor Jessica Morgan and her husband brought their daughters and made a day of it.

“We are amazed at this event,” she said. “Our girls are 2 and 5. We started with the breakfast and then moved out to the hands-on activities and then out to see the animals. I can see that we are going to be here all day. It is definitely the best family value event around.”

Many of the nearly 18,000 people who attended Ag Fest got their first introduction to agriculture, Kudna said. The event is aimed at educating children but many of the parents learn, too.

Online

More information: www.oragfest.com

BEND, Ore. (AP) — A new lone wolf has been tracked into Central Oregon.

The Bend Bulletin reports the wolf’s GPS tracking collar indicates the wolf left the Imnaha Pack in Northeast Oregon weeks ago. The wolf program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the young male gray wolf wandered into Washington before returning to Oregon and going into the Mount Hood National Forest.

John Stephenson says the wolf just started taking off in the past few weeks.

State scientists captured and collared the wolf they call OR-25 last year. It is now about 2 years old, which scientists say is about the right time for them to start wandering.

Two other solitary young males from the Imnaha Pack have trekked into Central Oregon in previous years. One became the first wolf seen in California in nearly 90 years.

Myrtle Point graduate Chris Platano anchored the Portland Running Company team to a new course record in the annual Roseburg to Coos Bay Relay last weekend.

BEND, Ore. — Encouraged by a sharp jump in wolf population counts and breeding pairs, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission Friday voted to begin the process that could remove gray wolves from the state endangered species list.

It won’t be a fast process. The commission unanimously asked ODFW staff to return, perhaps in August or September, with information on delisting wolves in the eastern part of the state, the entire state, or not at all.

Commission members heard nearly four hours of testimony Friday, much of it from people who believe wolves still need full protection under the state Endangered Species Act.

Commission members said the Oregon Wolf Plan continues to guide management of wolves in the meantime.

Oregon’s wolf population grew from 14 in 2009 to a minimum of 77 at the end of 2014. The report estimates Oregon could have 100 to 150 wolves in one to three years. Program coordinator Russ Morgan said the state probably has 90 to 100 wolves now; 77 is the number that have been documented.

“The numbers look really strong,” Commissioner Holly Akenson said.

There is room for wolves to disperse; they occupy only about 12 percent of their potential range in Oregon.

“This is a success story,” Morgan said.

Many of those who testified oppose delisting. Several called for an independent scientific review of ODFW’s study.

Rob Klavins, Northeast field coordinator with the conservation group Oregon Wild, said delisting is premature.

“The idea that 77 animals of any kind represents recovery doesn’t pass the laugh test,” Klavins said.

Klavins said wolf recovery is a core value among many Oregonians, but anecdotes from “people wearing cowboy hats” are taken seriously while the concerns of “Prius drivers” are dismissed.

Investigators confirm wolves killed 76 sheep, 36 cattle and two goats from 2009 through 2014. Ranchers believe wolves are responsible for many more livestock deaths. They say grazing cattle often simply disappear.

No wolves have been killed while attacking or chasing livestock in Oregon. ODFW killed four for chronic depredation on livestock. Five were illegally shot since 2000; one died when hit by a vehicle.

Amaroq Weiss, West Coast representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, said there is “simply no science anywhere on earth” that would support delisting such a small population.

A disease outbreak could “bring the state’s population to its knees,” Weiss said.

Wally Sykes, who serves on Wallowa County’s wolf compensation panel, said 77 wolves is far too few to provide genetic diversity.

Suzanne Stone of Boise, Northwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said ODFW’s field staff has earned the public’s trust, but said delisting is not warranted.

Others disagreed. Dave Wiley, representing the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, urged commission members to follow the plan adopted in 2005, which calls for delisting when four breeding pairs survive for three years running. The latest count said the state has more. Jenny Dresler, with the Oregon Farm Bureau, made the same point.

“We lived up to our promise,” said rancher Todd Nash, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. “We wholly expect the agency and this committee to live up to theirs.”

“Life has been hell for us,” Northeast Oregon rancher Eric Porter said. He said someone has to be with his cattle at all times in the last two weeks before they are shipped. Weight loss caused by wolf stress can cost him thousands of dollars, he said.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Oregon State University researcher Bill Buhrig wants to help local farmers find alternative crops to plug into their rotations and establish a blueprint for growing organic crops in Eastern Oregon.

Buhrig was born and raised on a farm in the area, so he has an intimate understanding of the local agricultural production system and its challenges.

Buhrig, 39, says he “never really left home” when he accepted the job as a crop agent with OSU’s Malheur County Extension office 18 months ago.

Even while working for six years as a scientific aide at University of Idaho’s Parma research center 18 miles away, he commuted to work from his farm in Vale, Ore.

Fellow OSU researcher Stuart Reitz said Buhrig’s knowledge of the local agricultural industry, as well as his familiarity with the world-leading research on onions and potatoes being conducted at the Parma station, make him a valuable addition to the Malheur County Extension office.

“He knows a lot of farmers in this area, they know him and he has a very good relationship with growers around the community,” Reitz said. “He’s a tremendous asset to the office.”

One of Buhrig’s main goals is to help local farmers find alternative crops they can plug in to their traditional four- or five-year rotations.

In 2014, he began exploring whether pumpkin seed for snacks could be grown profitably in the valley.

After a local economic development agency informed researchers that some buyers wanted to know whether it was plausible to grow pumpkin seeds in the valley, Buhrig and other researchers planted 200 row feet of the crop.

“We learned just enough to want to learn more,” he said. “It’s piqued my curiosity.”

Buhrig will replicate the trial this year, and if the results are successful, researchers will start working with a handful of growers to continue exploring the idea.

“From an agronomic perspective, it seems plausible,” he said. “From a logistics perspective, we still have some work to do.”

Potatoes and onions, two of the region’s main cash crops, are grown on 4- or 5-year rotations. A pumpkin seed crop also requires that same type of rotation, Buhrig said.

“This is something that could be dropped right into a crop rotation in this valley,” he said.

Buhrig also wants to develop a blueprint for organic production in the valley. A lot of farmers in the area want to explore the organic market but there is no real agronomic game plan for growing organic crops in the area, he said.

Buhrig is applying for grants that would enable him to set up a 30-acre trial on a full-circle pivot. Multiple crops would be grown on half the acres under conventional methods used in the valley and those same crops would be grown on the other side using no-till organic methods.

“I would like to blueprint out reduced or no-till organic production in this area,” Buhrig said. “That’s a big goal of mine.”

Bill Buhrig

Title: Crop agent, Oregon State University’s Malheur County Extension office

Age: 39

Degrees: Master’s degree in plant science, University of Idaho; bachelor’s degree in business administration, Eastern Oregon University

Family: Wife, Tracey; three children.

Shelly Boshart Davis, whose family operates a farm and trucking business in Albany, Ore., has been named the 2015 Northwest Farm Mom of the Year by Monsanto and American Agri-Women.

Davis, 35, began working on her family’s farm when she was 14 and is actively involved in the operation’s management. The third-generation operation grows grass seed, wheat and hazelnuts on 1,100 acres in the Willamette Valley. It also operates a grass straw baling, trucking and export business.

The contest recognizes the contributions of women in agriculture. She will now compete with four other regional winners for the national title.

Davis is involved with a variety of farm organizations, is active in lobbying for industry interests in Salem, and was in the forefront in drawing attention to the impacts of the West Coast port slowdowns on Oregon farmers.

She hopes to use the platform afforded by the award to further her work in bridging the gap between rural communities and urban markets.

“We need to do a better job in telling our story,” she said. “I don’t want to lose that battle.”

A lawsuit over grazing and water rights filed by Eastern Oregon ranchers against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has been thrown out by a federal judge.

Last year, Jesse and Pamela White and the Eason Land Co. filed a complaint accusing the agency of violating a previous deal that provided them with increased grazing access in Malheur County in return for curtailed use of their water rights.

Reservoirs built by BLM in the 1960s impaired the plaintiffs’ water rights, so the agency allowed them to release additional cattle onto grazing allotments in exchange.

The ranchers exercised their water rights in 2006, which BLM interpreted as ending the deal.

The agency then reduced the plaintiffs’ grazing levels and dismantled or retrofit the BLM reservoirs to restore their water rights, but the lawsuit argued the changes were insufficient.

The complaint demanded that BLM either return grazing to previous levels or finish the reservoir alterations, but a federal judge has found that the agency was capable of satisfying the plaintiffs’ water rights and dismissed the case.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown in Pendleton dismissed the lawsuit, affirming the earlier findings of U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan.

A bill intended to promote artificial beaver dams in Oregon’s Malheur Lake drainage basin has crossed a key legislative hurdle despite misgivings from some environmentalists.

Artificial beaver dams are meant to slow quick-running streams, improving riparian habitats for wildlife and forage conditions for ranchers.

House Bill 3217 would ease the permitting process for landowners who want to build such structures in the region as part of a pilot program.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association urged lawmakers to pass the bill but other environmental groups — WaterWatch of Oregon and the Oregon Council of Trout Unlimited — feared the consequences of exempting artificial beaver dams from fish passage requirements.

Proponents argued that the pilot program would only apply to streams that currently dry up in summer and don’t contain any fish.

Recent amendments to HB 3217 provide more details on the fish passage exemption, providing for the possibility of retrofitting structures once habitats are restored.

Rep. Brian Clem said the changes have tempered environmental groups’ objections to the bill, which was recently approved 5-2 by the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water.

Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, and David Gomberg, D-Otis, said they did not support HB 3217 due to concerns about the permanence of artificial beaver dams and their effects on fish passage.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is not against the bill but would like to weigh in on the height, size and other features of the structures, said Brett Brownscombe, the agency’s interim deputy director.

Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said the bill was a good idea that should be further discussed in the Senate rather than die in committee due to worries about possible unforeseen effects.

“Let’s not let perfection be the enemy of the good,” he said.

ADRIAN, Ore. — A castoff wolf from a Northeast Oregon pack has taken up temporary residence in Malheur County in Eastern Oregon and has been seen by several farmers and irrigation ditch workers.

Two of those farmers told the Capital Press they were stunned to see a full-grown wolf laying in a wheat field west of Adrian on April 21.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed that they weren’t imagining things.

“Everybody is correct in what they saw,” said Philip Milburn, a district wildlife biologist in ODFW’s Ontario office.

The male wolf, which has a tracking collar, entered Malheur County around April 10 and has been hanging out west of Adrian in sagebrush country for more than a week, he said.

“On (April 21), for some reason he decided to come down and visit ... farm country,” Milburn said.

On that day, two farmers in a pickup truck saw the wolf laying in a wheat field, apparently napping.

“We were just sitting there in shock,” said Casey Kuenzli, one of those producers. “He stood up and cut in front of us across the road about 20 feet away.”

Kuenzli, who is also a professional guide, said he was certain the animal was a wolf even before the ODFW confirmed the animal’s presence in the area to the Capital Press.

“There’s no mistaking what it was,” he said, adding that the wolf was black on top and “brown going down the sides.”

Marvin Seuell, another farmer who was in the truck with Kuenzli, said the wolf appeared to weigh about 150 pounds.

“He came within 20 or 30 feet of us,” he said. “I was shocked.”

During the wolf’s visit to farm country on April 21, it also swam across a canal in front of some ditch workers, Milburn said.

He said the wolf, known as OR 22, separated from the Umatilla River Pack in Northeast Oregon about Feb. 13 and has “been wandering around in a dispersing pattern” since then.

There have been a few reported wolf sightings in Malheur County in the past, as well as some confirmed wolf tracks, and a collared wolf crossed briefly from Baker County into Malheur County last May, Milburn said.

But OR 22 is believed to be the first wolf that has spent more than a short amount of time in the county, he said.

“We’re just letting him be; he hasn’t done anything to indicate he’s going to be a problem,” Milburn said. “We keep expecting he’s not going to stay here ... but he’s been proving us wrong.”

SALEM — Legislation providing tax relief for urban farmers has progressed in the Oregon House but concerns about unintended land use effects continue to shadow the proposal.

House Bill 2723, which allows local governments to impose lower property taxes on urban farms, was recently referred for a vote on the House floor by a key legislative committee.

Despite voting 6-1 for a “do pass” recommendation, members of the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water said questions must still be resolved about the impact of “agriculture incentive zones” on urban growth boundaries.

Under HB 2723, urban farmers in these zones would be subject to lower property tax rates as long as they use their properties for agriculture for five years.

The Oregon Home Builders Association is concerned that landowners who make such commitments will effectively exclude their properties from residential construction within cities.

The group wants local governments to consider the effect of agriculture incentive zones when deciding whether to expand their urban growth boundaries, but the Oregon Farm Bureau fears this will put development pressure on farmland in rural areas.

The bureau also wants lawmakers to impose a sunset on the program so that it can eventually be re-evaluated, said Katie Fast, OFB’s vice president of public policy. “We feel the need to have a check-back with the legislature.”

Lawmakers have attempted to resolve the conflict with an amendment that specifies agriculture incentive zones are a factor in evaluating a city’s potential for future development.

However, state regulators think the provision may clash with other language in the bill that says these zones have no effect on a city’s inventory of buildable lands, said Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem.

Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said he gave HB 2723 a “courtesy no” so that the bill would not appear to have unanimous support, thereby signaling to the Senate that revisions are still necessary.

SALEM — Proponents of a bill limiting the legal exposure of agritourism operations in Oregon have overcome the objections of trial lawyers who initially fought the proposal.

Under Senate Bill 341, farmers aren’t liable for the death or injury of agritourism participants as long as they post warnings of possible dangers, with some exceptions.

The legal protection wouldn’t cover growers who have “wanton and willful disregard” for safety, purposely hurt visitors or fail to properly inspect the property or equipment.

Friends of Family Farmers and the Oregon Farm Bureau claim the bill would provide more certainty for agritourism operations and their insurers, but the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association had opposed the legislation for allegedly immunizing negligent farmers from lawsuits.

During an April 21 work session, however, the group dropped its objections to an amended version of SB 341 and the Senate Judiciary Committee referred the bill to the Senate floor with a “do pass” recommendation.

Arthur Tower, political director for OTLA, said his group is wary of legislation that seeks to erode consumer protections and the ability of citizens to have their day in court.

The latest revisions to SB 341 have “struck the right balance” by providing more information about safeguards for landowners and consumers while ensuring “bad actors” would still be held responsible, he said.

Ivan Maluski, policy director of Friends of Family Farms, said the changes have made the legislation more specific than the original about growers’ responsibilities.

“I’m pretty excited,” Maluski said. “This is a neat step forward if we can get it through the entire legislative process.”

The goal of SB 341 isn’t just to give more peace of mind to agritourism providers, but to clarify the legal landscape for insurers, he said.

The legislation will hopefully convince more insurers to cover agritourism operations, spurring competition and ultimately reducing rates, Maluski said.

As more states adopt such bills, it will also help create legal uniformity that reassures insurers, he said. “Almost no insurance company wants to touch agritourism right now.”

SALEM — A bill to create “control areas” for increased regulation of genetically modified crops in Oregon has died in committee, but the basic idea may be revived.

House Bill 2674 would require the Oregon Department of Agriculture to designate control areas where biotech crops would come under new restrictions, such as isolation distances to prevent cross-pollination with other crops. Genetically modified organisms growing outside control areas would be “subject to eradication.”

Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, said the bill was too narrow in scope to keep alive, since Oregon agriculture faces other conflicts between crops that don’t involve genetic engineering.

For example, growers have similar cross-pollination concerns about canola and related brassica species and between the newly legalized crops of hemp and marijuana, he said.

While Clem allowed the bill to die during an April 21 work session of the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water, he said there will be an ongoing effort to create a tool for ODA to resolve such disputes.

It’s possible such a proposal will be considered by the House Rules Committee, where bills can stay alive until the end of the legislative session.

Friends of Family Farmers, which supports GMO regulation, favored a more specific mechanism for dealing with biotechnology conflicts, said Ivan Maluski, the group’s policy director.

Biotech crops are unique because herbicide-tolerant varieties can cross with wild relatives, potentially turning them into the equivalent of invasive species, he said.

Foreign markets are also sensitive to GMO presence in crops, Maluski said. “Our preference would have been that we focused very narrowly on the issues surrounding genetic engineering.”

Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an agribusiness group that supports biotechnology, is heartened that HB 2674 has died in committee and plans to oppose similar concepts, said Scott Dahlman, its policy director.

“Coexistence is not enhanced by directing a state department to tell farmers what they can grow and how they can grow it,” he said.

Farmers who own land that’s often been in their family for generations can’t simply move their operations to grow a genetically engineered crop within a designated control area, Dahlman said.

He said such growers would be effectively be cut off from using the newest technology if they aren’t located within a control area.

Oregonians for Food and Shelter is instead supportive of ODA conducting mediation to resolve such conflicts, as proposed in House Bill 2509, which is headed for a vote on the House floor.

“We think that is the way to move forward,” he said.

SALEM — Farm regulators would receive an additional $2 million for regulating pesticides in Oregon under legislation passed by a key legislative committee.

The House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources approved House Bill 3434, which funds increased pesticide rule enforcement, despite concerns by some lawmakers over how the money will be spent.

Numerous pesticide bills were considered by the committee this year, including bans on neonicotinoids and aerial spraying, before a work group narrowed down several concepts, including:

• Initiating a review of no-spray buffers by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

• Establishing standard operating procedures for investigating pesticide complaints by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

• Increasing the maximum civil penalties for pesticide violations by two-fold.

During an April 21 work session, Committee Chair Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said these concepts would by taken up in a new bill before the House Rules Committee.

However, the funding component — House Bill 3434 — remained before the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, said he was uncomfortable with approving $2 million in funding for pesticide programs that may be changed by the House Rules Committee.

“They can take your ideas and chose to do whatever they want to do,” he said.

Rep. Gail Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, said she also planned to vote against HB 3434 for the same reason.

“I don’t know what might happen down there,” she said.

Witt said he was assured the upcoming bill before the Rules Committee would reflect the one agreed upon by committee members and the pesticide work group.

Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, and Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, said they would give HB 3434 “courtesy votes” but may change their positions depending on what happens with the remaining pesticide legislation.

The committee voted 6-2 to refer the bill to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means with a “do pass” recommendation.