BANDON -- “The Ventriloquist” is a new approach for New Artists Productions, a rare dramatic presentation being staged at the Sprague Community Theater.

A calf found dead Sept. 28 in Wallowa County was killed by one or more wolves, according to Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife.

A livestock owner found the calf and alerted ODFW. The carcass was intact but had bite wounds on the left front leg, left flank and left hind leg, which investigators described as common attack points for wolves. The size, spacing and number of bite marks also were consistent with wolf attacks, and wolf tracks were found at the site, according to an ODFW depredation report. The calf probably died three days before it was found, according to the report.

The attack happened in the Harl Butte area on private land. Another calf was attacked in July about 8 miles southwest of the most recent incident.

Investigators did not attribute the attack to a specific wolf pack.

PENDLETON, Ore. — Like a lot of farmland surrounding Pendleton, Duff Ranches is dominated by dryland wheat fields that stretch over the vast, rolling countryside.

About 10 years ago, Jim Duff decided to try something different at the family farm off Highway 11. His son’s father-in-law is the founder and general manager of Eola Hills Winery near Salem, and Duff figured he could grow a few acres of wine grapes to sell to Eola Hills and, perhaps, establish a new blend.

Duff planted four different varieties of grapes, including Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. He spent two years completing viticulture classes at Walla Walla Community College to learn about different plants and how to control diseases.

Despite his preparation, the experiment didn’t end well.

“We knew it was going to be a gamble,” Duff said. “The vines grew really well, but never any fruit.”

After five years and $60,000 spent, Duff decided to give up on grapevines. The biggest problem, he said, was untimely spring frost — whenever the vines started to grow buds, a hard frost would come along and wipe out the grapes before he could harvest.

“Its very humbling,” Duff said. “You work so hard trying to get something to grow. In one night, it’s over.”

A successful vineyard requires the right combination of climate and environmental factors, collectively referred to as “terroir.” Walla Walla has it. Milton-Freewater has it. Echo has it. Pendleton, it seems, is right on the edge.

Kevin Pogue, professor of geology at Whitman College in Walla Walla and an expert on wine grape production, said he has done site evaluations for two or three groups of people around Pendleton to determine the potential for growing vineyards.

With just 12-17 inches of annual rainfall, Pogue said, anyone growing wine grapes in the area would first need access to irrigation water. He also advises farmers to plant vineyards on top of hills, as opposed to valleys where cold air can become trapped.

“On either end of the growing season, you have a frost risk,” Pogue said. “It would kill your fruit for that year.”

Every vineyard in the Columbia Basin is subject to frost and freezes, Pogue said. But the challenge of accumulating enough warm days for the grapes to ripen is even steeper in Pendleton.

“In an average year, you would always be holding your breath,” Pogue said.

One thing Pendleton does have, Pogue said, is the right soils. He is particularly excited about the rocky soil found near McKay Creek — similar to the soil that now distinguishes The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater.

“I think the soil would be fabulous for growing wine grapes,” he said.

Pogue, who owns his own vineyard consulting company called VinTerra, said he would like to see someone grow wine grapes in Pendleton, but admits it wouldn’t be easy.

“In some years, you could do it no problem. In some years, it would be a disaster, and in most years, you would be anxious all the time,” he said.

Apart from shaky weather, starting a vineyard is also a considerable investment. Pogue said it takes as much as $20,000 to $30,000 per acre just to get started, including the cost of planting and installing irrigation systems.

From there, the first grapes won’t be harvested for three years. It could take up to a decade before a farmer sees any profit, Pogue said.

“You look into the economics of it, and it’s a daunting challenge,” he said. “You aren’t going to be making money for a long time.”

Steve Robertson, who owns SJR Vineyard in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, said time and labor add another layer of challenge.

“There’s no getting away from human beings tending the rows in the middle of wine season,” Robertson said. “Most of that is handwork.”

It takes a long-range vision and dedication to make it in the wine business, Robertson said. For him, growing grapes is a lifestyle.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for creativity and variance,” he said. “That excites a lot of people.”

Robertson said he believes there are excellent spots to grow grapevines around Pendleton, but it will take those first pioneering steps to establish the region.

“If the quality is there, the market is there,” he said.

Clive Kaiser, extension horticulturist with Oregon State University in Milton-Freewater, said he can only think of two vineyards attempted in Pendleton over the last decade, including Duff’s. The other was located near Blue Mountain Community College, and ran into issues with a type of weed killer that drifted over from a neighboring wheat field.

The chemical, known as 2,4-D, can’t be used in the Walla Walla AVA between April 1 and Oct. 31. However, Kaiser said, there is no such moratorium in Pendleton.

“The wheat farmers use it extensively,” he said. “It’s those challenges that are really going to make Pendleton a barrier.”

Kaiser said he believes the lack of early success might deter other growers from giving it a try, but additional technology has increased the potential for progress.

As for Duff, his stepson Bob Rosselle now operates Duff Ranches, where the wheat fields take up most of his time. Duff did transplant some of the grapevines to his home in Pendleton, where he said they grow much better than they did on the farm.

Duff said he was able to recoup some of the money he put into his vineyard by selling equipment, but overall the venture was a loss. If he been able to keep it going, he said Eola Hills would have paid $1,500 per ton of grapes at 2-3 tons per acre. Given the recent sagging wheat prices, he said wine grapes could be a tempting alternative.

Duff said there’s no question vines will grow in Pendleton — in fact, they’ll grow on a farmer’s worst ground, he said. But whether it can be profitable is yet to be seen.

“You’re not in control as much as you think you are,” he said.

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — The fact that many were expecting twins didn’t keep nearly 100 top meat goats from congregating at the American Boer Goat Association’s Fall Show and Sale Oct. 1-2 at the Yamhill County Fairgrounds.

South African Boer goats, with their white bodies and red heads, are docile, fertile animals with rapid growth and density of frame.

“About 60 to 70 percent of the world eats goat meat,” Ruth Kilgore, president of the Oregon Meat Goat Producers, said. “With our growing ethnic population, the demand for goat meat in the U.S. exceeds our ability to keep up.” In 2014 the U.S. imported more than 43 million pounds of goat meat, primarily from Australia, for a total value of $94.7 million, according to North Carolina State University.

Before the Boers arrived in the U.S. in 1993 people ate milk goats.

“When people think of goats they think of skinny, bony dairy goats; not the breeds being grown just for the meat and that within five months can provide a 100-pound goat that’s ready to butcher,” Dana Childers of Medford, Ore., said. Her 2-year-old doe ‘Made you Look’ weighs 225 pounds; her males reach about 300 pounds.

With a 4-H beginning, 15-year-old Megan Walton and her older sister Riley started Little Star Farm at their home in Aurora, Ore.

“Goats are popular around the world because they can go in groups; they’re easy to eat because the bone-to-meat ratio is better than cows and they’re easier to keep cool in the heat because of their ears,” Megan Walton said. The care they put into their animals can yield some healthy returns, to which Childers can attest.

“The more that you show and the more that you promote your herd, the more money there is,” said Childers who, with husband Bruce, owns Childers Show Goats. “Artificial insemination can be pretty expensive; you’re looking at about $100 for a single straw, but with the right buck the babies will sell like mad.”

Bruce Childers would like to see goat meat take its rightful place in American refrigerators.

“I think if people tried it and it was prepared properly, it would become a highly consumed meat,” he said. “Goat meat is so much better for you than other red meats and really tastes good if prepared properly. Goat meat would really appeal to people who are health conscious and want meat, if they really knew what it was.”

The word’s getting out, thanks to word-of-mouth Facebook-style.

“Facebook is amazing,” Dana Childers said. “I’ve put goats on there and had them sell within 10 minutes. Websites are great, but the volume of people you can reach in a minute on Facebook is amazing.”

The family goat may also be coming back into vogue.

“A lot of people are getting 5-acre plots now and goats could work very well there because you put five goats where you can put one cow,” Kilgore said. “A family can handle them easily and still have other jobs.”

CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Clackamas High School southeast of Portland has an ag program other schools envy, with a 10-acre farm, livestock, apple trees, greenhouses, a wonderful old barn and other outbuildings.

Teacher Kathy Mayfield has had to fight for it, and savors the prospect of voters approving Measure 98, which would provide at least $800 annually per student for high school career and technical education (CTE) programs, college-level courses and dropout prevention programs.

The measure, on the statewide November ballot, would establish the High School Graduation and College and Career Readiness Fund as part of the state’s general fund budget. Money for the program would come from anticipated increases in state revenue.

Ag teachers and many others involved in vocational training strongly support the measure, citing workforce needs in the technical trades and a segment of students who reach a dead end in high school.

Mayfield said she has conversations with parents who tell her the Clackamas ag program “saved my child.”

“I think that goes across the board with CTE,” Mayfield said. “It provides a relevancy to education that they just aren’t getting. All of sudden, math makes sense and science makes sense.”

At Sutherlin High School in Southern Oregon, ag teacher Wes Crawford said the real-world application of technical ed “flips the tables” for students who struggle with traditional academic courses or tune out at school.

“Everyone is a lot more equal,” Crawford said. “Sometimes this is what gets them through their day.”

His program in Sutherlin has four paths: Animal science, which includes veterinary science; plant science, which includes forestry; agri-business; and a sector dealing with power structures and technology, which includes welding classes. In a school of 410 students, about 135 are enrolled in Crawford’s classes.

At Clackamas, Mayfield and her husband, Wynn, the school’s other ag teacher, offer three years of animal science classes and advanced ag in the final year. Mayfield said animals draw students in, but they’re also exposed to a well-rounded program that includes soil science, marketing, tractor driving and other aspects of ag. Students raise and market beef, while beginners press the farm’s apples into cider, which is sold as well.

But Mayfield said she and her husband handle classes of 35 students. Passage of the measure might provide money to repair rotting greenhouse walls and add more staff; an instructor-to-student ratio of 1-to-20 or so would be desirable, she said.

The measure has broad support, including endorsements from construction trade unions, newspaper editorial boards, the Latino Network, Coalition of Communities of Color and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, among others.

An analysis from the League of Women Voters said Oregon’s 72 percent graduation rate in 2014 was the fourth worse in the U.S., and Oregon’s per-student spending has dropped 5 percent since 2010. The League said auto shop, wood and metal shop, culinary arts and robotics classes have been “significantly reduced” over the past 20 years.

Data from the Oregon Department of Education showed that students who earned at least one CTE credit in high school have a graduation rate more than 15 percent higher than the state average, according to the League’s analysis. The difference “tends to be more dramatic for low income and minority students who have taken CTE,” the League said.

Opposition has been low key. A committee studying Measure 98 for the influential Portland City Club split 5-5 on an endorsement vote, with some members saying the measure was too narrowly focused but all agreeing the current state of education in Oregon “threatens the state’s future and economy.”

The City Club’s full membership, however, overrode the committee’s concern and voted to endorse the measure. Elsewhere, the Crook County School Board in Central Oregon declined to endorse the measure. Both candidates for governor, incumbent Kate Brown and Bud Pierce, support it.

Vocational education can be a “real life-changer” for young people, said Bridget Quinn, workforce development coordinator for a Portland training center jointly operated by the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Quinn became a licensed journeyman electrician in 2008 after completing an apprenticeship program. “I had never heard anything in high school about this as a possible career,” she said. “I’m trying to deliver the information that, quite frankly, I missed out on.”

The contractor-union coalition operating the training center supports Measure 98, she said.

Many high school graduates haven’t held a tool in their hands and aren’t prepared to enter the trades, which in some cases have been stigmatized as “only for losers couldn’t make into college,” Quinn said. The stereotype of the “cat-calling construction worker” hasn’t helped, she said.

But the construction trades need workers, because up to a third of the workforce will be retiring in he coming years as Baby Boomers reach the end of their careers, she said.

She welcomes the swing back to career and technical education in high school.

“For a very long time it received cuts,” Quinn said. “The first thing cut from the budget was auto shop, wood shop and metal shop.”

SPOKANE — The USDA Risk Management Agency has denied Northwest wheat farmers’ request for an easing of procedures related to falling number.

Grain elevators use the Hagberg-Perten falling number test to measure starch damage due to sprouting. A low falling number indicates a high level of alpha amylase, an enzyme that degrades starch and diminishes the quality of wheat.

Wheat with a falling number below 300 typically receives a discount. Rain and temperature fluctuations are the primary cause of the damage.

A low falling number will lower a farmer’s actual production history when signing up for crop insurance, even if no insurance claim has been filed for falling number, according to the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. A farmer’s production history is averaged over 10 years and used to determine future crop insurance guarantees.

If actual production is discounted to reflect a low falling number, the 10-year average will drop and the amount of a crop eligible for insurance coverage will decline.

The industry sent a letter seeking relief from the procedure to RMA Administrator Brandon Willis, signed by 36 organizations throughout the PNW, with follow-up letters from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Idaho State Department of Agriculture and a Congressional support letter signed by six senators and six House representatives, both Republicans and Democrats.

Roughly 25 to 30 percent of the wheat crop in Washington and Idaho is impacted, said Stacey Satterlee, executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association. As of Sept. 13, 42 percent of soft white wheat samples of 300 or lower, as did 43 percent of club wheat, 20 percent of hard red winter wheat and 10 percent of hard red wheat, according to WAWG.

In Idaho, the impact is primarily felt in Idaho, Nez Perce and Lewis counties, Satterlee said. A few Oregon farmers have been affected, but not to the extent of the other two states, said Oregon Wheat CEO Blake Rowe.

“It’s very disappointing, obviously, that we couldn’t help our farmers in this situation that they’re in with record low prices,” said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. “There’s a part of this procedure that’s inconsistent throughout the states.”

RMA told the farmers that the falling number problems is similar to quality problems in commodities such as cotton and corn.

“One of the reasonings was, ‘If I do this for you, I’ll have to do it for everyone else,’” Hennings said.

“I’m not very optimistic that we’re going to get any short-term relief,” said Fairfield, Wash., farmer Marci Green, secretary-treasurer of WAWG.

Green said a portion of her wheat will be discounted at the time of sale. Her farm hasn’t had falling numbers as low as some, she said, but she still doesn’t know the extent of the cost to her operation.

“We don’t know how much wheat we have that has falling number issue, because it’s in home storage,” Green said.

Hennings said WAWG will review the policy with RMA regional director Ben Thiel and consider what is and isn’t working.

It would take a year and a half to two years to change the policy, Hennings said.

“This is the time (farmers) need the assistance,” she said.

The break-even price for farmers is $6.80 per bushel, Hennings said. If prices are around $4 per bushel now, she said, some farmers with falling numbers could have $2 per bushel wheat. Some new or beginning farmers are poised to go out of business as a result, Hennings said.

Green said the industry needs to look at how crop insurance handles falling number quality issues in the long-term.

“What would maybe be more accurate would be having the adjustment to price, because when we’re having crop insurance, we’re guaranteeing a yield of this many bushels at this much of a price,” she said. “When we deliver our crop to the elevator ... they don’t say, ‘We’re going to take half of your bushels away.’ They say, ‘You still have the same number of bushels and we’re going to lower the price we’re going to pay you.’”

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon enjoyed one of the least damaging forest fire seasons of the past decade, despite dry and warm conditions.

The Statesman Journal reports wildfires torched 186,317 acres in Oregon this year, the lowest total since 2010 and well below the 10-year average, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center.

Forest fires are down nationwide as well, with 4.9 million acres burned, compared to last year’s record-setting 10 million acres blackened.

People caused 910 fires and burned 126,409 acres this season, down from 1,397 fires and 139,483 acres burned in 2015.

Officials said a major reason for the overall improvement was the lack of dry lightning strikes this summer, officials said.

The Rev. Franklin Graham offered powerful testimony in federal court Thursday morning about the intense final moments of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year.

Testifying for the defense, the North Carolina evangelist described the final days of the 41-day takeover, including his conversations with the FBI and the last four occupiers to leave the refuge.

Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, was brought in by the FBI as a third-party negotiator near the end of the occupation. He described the first phone conversation he had with the final four occupiers — David Fry, Jeff Banta and Sean and Sandy Anderson — which occurred on Feb. 2.

 “I wanted to help calm the situation,” he testified. “But I also wanted the FBI to take a deep breath.”

After that, Graham said he spoke to the occupiers every day until the takeover ended except for one day when he was traveling because he wanted to “save lives.” His powerful testimony offered a glimpse into the mindset of the four occupiers in the final days.

He said the occupiers were afraid to give themselves up to the FBI, especially after the shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.

Graham described the nature of his calls and how it worked: He would always call the FBI before he would call the occupiers directly. Then he would check back in with the FBI after each call.

“I wanted to know them,” he said of why he kept speaking with the occupiers. “I wanted to know their state of mind.

“I always prayed with them,” said Graham.

He testified that memories of what happened at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, were part of why he wanted to be involved in helping bring the occupation to a peaceful end.

The intensity of his conversations with the occupiers kicked into high gear on Feb. 10 when he said the FBI gave him a call that night explaining that they were ready to go in and get the final occupiers. FBI agents asked him if he would come out to Oregon, and he said he would, but that it would take him until the next morning.

When his plane arrived in Burns from North Carolina the morning of Feb. 11, the FBI met him at the plane and escorted him to the edge of the refuge before transferring him into an FBI BearCat to get closer to the occupiers. Perched up about 100 feet from the group, Graham spoke to them from a loudspeaker provided to him by FBI agents.

Graham said Jeff Banta was the first person to come out, but Banta later testified that he was the third person to emerge, following Sean and Sandy Anderson. Graham said the Andersons came out with their hands up holding an American flag. After those three came out, the FBI drove the BearCat back a bit, where he said he was able to meet those three, embrace them and tell them, “You did the right thing.”

Then he described the dramatic final moments where David Fry refused to come out. Speaking with Graham, Fry described violent thoughts he was having and was contemplating suicide. Graham said he offered the phone up to Sandy Anderson to try to calm Fry down. She told him that the agents were treating them all with respect and that they were safe.

It was still another hour before Fry eventually came out. But he did, peacefully, and Graham said when he did, two FBI negotiators walked over and joined them.

“They were just weeping uncontrollably, just thanking God that no one was hurt,” Graham said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ammon Bundy’s federal conspiracy trial resumed Thursday despite a motion from his lawyers seeking a postponement until a court rules on their appeals.

Among other things, attorneys Marcus Mumford and J. Morgan Philpot have taken issue with U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown’s order that the ownership of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is not on trial, and her notice to jurors that the federal government owns the refuge that Bundy and his followers occupied for 41 days last winter.

Philpot, in a separate court document, reiterated a longstanding argument that Bundy’s pretrial detention has hindered his defense.

He also lodged complaints about the government’s treatment of his client during the trial, saying U.S. marshals have not allowed Bundy to confer with attorneys during breaks and that Bundy has been denied the use of “normal” pens, paper and amounts of paper.

Philpot said his client is also not getting enough food.

“Since the beginning of trial Mr. Bundy has regularly been deprived of meals and adequate sustenance, resulting in physical and mental fatigue beyond what is normal or allowable under basic principles of fairness and decency,” he wrote.

Bundy and six co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to impede federal employees from doing their jobs at the refuge during the standoff. The occupation followed a rally protesting the imprisonment of Dwight and Steven Hammond, two Oregon ranchers convicted of arson. It grew into a wider call for the government to relinquish control of the refuge and other Western lands.

As the appeals await rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the trial continued with testimony from The Rev. Franklin Graham, who helped negotiate the surrender of the final four occupiers on Feb. 11, two of whom are on trial.

The FBI initially called Graham at the suggestion of Jeff Banta, who is on trial. Graham had daily phone calls with the holdouts before flying his own plane to Oregon from North Carolina.

Graham testified he relied upon God as he tried to encourage a peaceful resolution. He said memories of what happened at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, were a reason he wanted to help.

When the occupation was finally over, two FBI negotiators cried uncontrollably, “just so thankful to God no one was hurt,” Graham testified.

Banta, 47, followed Graham to the witness stand, testifying for two hours. Banta said his initial reason for traveling from Nevada to Oregon was to help out at Hammond’s ranch because it was short-staffed.

He testified that he did nothing wrong, and it didn’t appear law enforcement was overly concerned with an occupation that had been underway for three weeks when he arrived.

“I figured if it was illegal, they would have nipped it in the bud,” Banta said.

Banta said he asked that Graham serve as a negotiator because he had seen him on Facebook, traveling to different states and praying. “I thought that’s what our country needs,” Banta testified.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The lone woman on trial in Oregon’s refuge-standoff case could have a weapons charge dismissed unless more evidence emerges.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports U.S. District Judge Anna Brown gave prosecutors until 5 p.m. Monday to provide more evidence to support the charge of firearm possession in a federal facility against defendant Shawna Cox of Kanab, Utah.

She’s one of seven defendants on trial in the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

All are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from carrying out their work at the refuge. Five of them, including Cox, face the gun charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight told the judge after the jury left Thursday he regards Cox as someone who aided and abetted the possession of firearms.

The judge said the government must point to specific proof.

The trial that began Sept. 13 continues Monday.

BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — Reaching the shore of Phillips Reservoir requires a long and dusty downhill walk these days.

Almost as long as it’s ever been, in fact.

But nothing like as long as it will take to refill this largest reservoir that’s wholly within Baker County, said Jeff Colton, manager of the Baker Valley Irrigation District.

After four years of drought, it probably will take two winters with deeper than average mountain snowpacks to replenish Phillips, which collects the waters of the Powder River and several minor tributaries.

Water from the reservoir irrigates more than 30,000 acres of crops, mainly in Baker Valley.

“I’m hoping we’ll start pulling out of this cycle,” Colton said. “I’m ready for it.”

That cycle has depleted the reservoir, which is about 17 miles southwest of Baker City, to its lowest level since 2001, and to its third-lowest volume since Mason Dam was built in the late 1960s.

As of Wednesday morning the reservoir was holding about 2,780 acre-feet of water.

That’s about 4 percent of its capacity of 73,500 acre-feet.

The reservoir has been lower in the last week of September just twice — in 2001, when the volume was 2,665 acre-feet on this date, and in 1988, when it was 1,318 acre-feet.

Mark Ward, who with his brother, Craig, raises potatoes, wheat, alfalfa and peppermint on their family’s farm in Baker Valley, said the current drought is the worst he’s seen since he graduated from college in 1979.

“Maybe a single year was worse, but this is prolonged,” Ward said.

With the reservoir failing to reach even half full this spring, the irrigation district was able to dole out much less water than is available during a year when Phillips refills — 1.25 acre-feet of water per acre, as compared with 3.5 acre-feet.

Ward said the water shortage forced his family to leave about 15 percent of its acreage fallow.

Nor was the scarcity of water from Phillips Reservoir the only challenge this year.

Rainfall, too, was scanty during the growing season.

Rain totals have been below average every month this year except July.

Even if precipitation during October, November and December is average, 2016 will be the second-driest year on record at the airport, where statistics date to 1943.

Only 2002, when precipitation totaled 5.63 inches, would be drier.

The annual average at the airport is 10.15 inches.

Barring an abnormally soggy autumn, 2016 will be the fourth year in the past five that’s drier than usual.

And although the amount of water in Phillips Reservoir is influenced more by the snowpack in the Elkhorn Mountains than by rainfall in Baker Valley, there is a correlation.

In a move that highlights the growing influence of organic agriculture in the state, the Oregon non-profit that issues USDA certification will help fund an organic Extension program at Oregon State University.

In academic circles, at least, the decision is significant. Oregon Tilth will provide $100,000 over four years to a new organic program within OSU’s Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems. The contribution matches OSU’s support for the program. A Dutch company, Vitalis Organic Seeds, also plans to provide financial support. Details of the company’s involvement were not immediately available.

Oregon State professors say multiple campus researchers are involved in organic crop trials or other projects, but the work is largely the result of individual professors pursuing their own interests. Conferring program status on organic work will bring all that research under the same umbrella, said Garry Stephenson, director of OSU’s small farms center.

“It also a recognition that some kinds of research need to be more specialized,” Stephenson said. “We have a lot of disciplines that are production-system neutral, but when it comes to other areas we need people who are more specialized in what are called biological approaches.”

Oregon Tilth Executive Director Chris Schreiner said the non-profit’s investment in the OSU program is a statement about the rising impact of organic agriculture.

“I think it absolutely is,” Schreiner said. “We wanted to send a message to the OSU administration that the organic sector wants and values an organic Extension program.”

The investment means Oregon Tilth “puts some skin in the game,” he said, and it may encourage involvement by for-profit businesses such as Vitalis.

The investment is recognition by organic producers that “land-grant universities, and Extension programs and Extension agents are really seen as a credible, valued source of expertise,” Schreiner said.

With demand for organic products outstripping supply, Oregon Tilth and other organizations are focused on helping more farmers transition to organic production and recognize the importance of a partnership with a land-grant university, he said.

Oregon Tilth, which has been around since 1979 and like OSU is based on Corvallis, has been informally involved and has provided funding to the university since 2009. The group certifies organic producers for the USDA.

The money primarily will support the salary of Nick Andrews, a small farms Extension agent based out of OSU’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center.

Andrews said an advisory committee will guide the program’s development. He envisions four or five more faculty members eventually working on organic annual and perennial crop production, organic livestock, organic food systems and other specialties.

The joint venture comes as a new survey by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) showed farmers and ranchers sold $6.2 billion in organic products in 2015, a 13 percent increase over 2014.

California’s organic producers had sales of $2.4 billion in 2015, nearly 40 percent of the national total. Washington and Oregon were second and fourth in organic production, with sales of $626 million and $269 million, respectively. Pennsylvania was third.

Oregon State joins other land-grant universities that are putting increased emphasis on organic agriculture. North Carolina State has a Center for Environmental Farming Systems; the University of Minnesota established an Institute for Sustainable Agriculture; and U.C. Davis uses an Organic Farming Research Workgroup to coordinate its research and Extension work, according to the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Private universities also embrace organic agriculture. The Evergreen State College, an offbeat institution in Olympia, Wash., has had an organic farm since 1972 and produces food for the campus cafeteria. Evergreen students can enroll in a Practice of Organic Farming program.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Pacific Northwest hop growers are wrapping up nearly two months of harvest of a good crop with minimal mildew and pre-harvest stocks at just 2 percent ahead of last year.

That shows supply is closer to equilibrium with demand after years of lagging behind, says Pete Mahony, director of supply chain management and purchasing for John I. Haas, Yakima, a leader in hop production, processing, research and development.

Growers, dealers and brewers held 85 million pounds of hops on Sept. 1 from prior seasons, 2 percent more than 83 million pounds a year earlier, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Sept. 22.

The amount held by brewers, 36 million pounds, was down 3 percent from last year while the 49 million pounds held by dealers and growers was up 7 percent, NASS said.

In March, hop stocks were up 10 percent from a year earlier. At that time, Mahony said production was doing better toward meeting demand but desired breathing room in supply was still lacking.

Now Mahony says he’s encouraged that inventory is only 2 percent ahead of last year, at this time, and that he thought it would be more.

U.S. growers produced 71 million pounds in 2014 and 79 million pounds in 2015, an increase of 11 million pounds.

“So to see inventory up only 2 percent tells me we’re still close to being in balance, but I do feel we are getting breathing room in several varieties,” he said.

At one point it looked like this year’s crop would be 97 million or 98 million pounds but now it looks closer to the forecast of 92 million, up 13 million or 17 percent from 2015, Mahony said.

“That’s still a sizable increase so going forward we will have some breathing room in some aroma varieties,” he said.

Growth in the craft brewing industry has created demand for aroma hops in recent years.

Some aroma varieties still will be behind demand and growers will adjust accordingly, said Jaki Brophy, spokeswoman for the Washington Hop Commission and Hop Growers of America in Moxee.

Northwest harvest began in August and will finish the first week of October, she said.

Some new plantings are outperforming established yards in rare cases and late rain caused mildew on some alpha variety cones in the Yakima Valley, Brophy said.

“There was some cone damage, but the lupulin (inner part of the cone containing the oil) was fine so it didn’t affect quality a lot,” she said.

The mildew damage occurred with some CTZ-group alpha varieties in the Yakima Valley, Mahony said.

“It’s been a really good harvest from the weather standpoint,” he said. “No real extremes. Few hot days, cool nights and little rain. Good weather allows hop cones to finish off and size up.”

More than 70 percent of U.S. hop acreage is in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Oregon and Idaho account for most of the rest of production with minor amounts from Michigan and other states.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Prosecutors have rested their case against Ammon Bundy and six co-defendants who occupied a national wildlife refuge in southeast Oregon.

The prosecution closed by showing jurors a display of firearms seized at the refuge following the 41-day standoff.

Defense lawyers are expected to begin their case Wednesday by recalling several law enforcement officers who testified for the government. Bundy plans to take the witness stand at some point during the trial, but the date remains unknown.

The Emmett, Idaho, resident and his co-defendants are charged with conspiring to prevent Interior Department employees from doing their jobs at the refuge. Five of the seven are also accused of possessing firearms in a federal facility.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Supporters of a prohibition against genetically engineered crops in Oregon’s Josephine County won’t have to pay the attorney fees of farmers who defeated the ordinance.

Josephine County Circuit Court Judge Pat Wolke has held that such an award isn’t warranted in this case.

Voters approved Josephine County’s ban in 2014, but earlier this year, Wolke struck it down at the urging of Robert and Shelley Ann White, who wanted to grow biotech sugar beets.

The couple then sought to recover $29,200 from an organic company, Siskiyou Seeds, and a non-profit, Oregonians for Safe Farms and Families, that had intervened to defend the ordinance.

The intervenors had relied on several arguments that lacked an “objectively reasonable basis” and thus should compensate the Whites for dragging out the legal proceedings, said John DiLorenzo, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

“All we want is compensation for time that we had to waste,” he said during oral arguments in August.

For example, the intervenor’s attorneys claimed that a state law pre-empting local governments from regulating genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, was unconstitutional, DiLorenzo said.

However, they cited no legal precedent from Oregon to support this theory, and instead pointed to case law from Ohio, he said.

Attorneys for the intervenors said the issue of local GMO bans is a novel legal issue in Oregon and they should not be punished for presenting good faith defenses of the ordinance.

Wolke ultimately sided with the intervenors, noting that attorneys routinely counter lawsuits with multiple defense theories that may not end up proving plausible.

Because at least one defense presented by the intervenors was objectively reasonable, the plaintiffs aren’t entitled to attorney fees, he said.

Mary Middleton, executive director of OSFF, said the plaintiffs were attempting to chill other groups from vigorously defending local GMO bans in the future.

“I’m happy the judge saw it for what it was,” said Middleton.

The additional attorney fees would have been a great hardship for Siskiyou Seeds and OSFF, she said.

“We operate on a small budget and a $29,000 bill on top of other expenses would have been very difficult for us,” Middleton said.

DiLorenzo, the farmers’ attorney, said the judge took a practical approach and seemed to be damning the intervenors’ legal arguments with faint praise.

“The judge noted the case law in the area is not clear,” he said.

DiLorenzo said he wasn’t sure if the plaintiffs would appeal this decision.

In principle, lawyers should be required to present reasonable defenses — but, on the other hand, the attorney fee issue is tangential to the overall dispute, he said.

OSFF and Siskiyou Seeds have challenged Wolke’s ruling that struck down the ordinance before the Oregon Court of Appeals, with the parties soon expected to begin submitting legal briefs in the appellate case.

A new report estimates 64 percent of Oregon’s farmland, nearly 10.5 million acres, could change hands in the next 20 years.

Farmers 55 and older, the ubiquitous Baby Boomers, control that much of Oregon ag land, according to the report. As they leave the profession over the next two decades, they are likely to sell or transfer land to family members, neighbors or other current farmers and ranchers, or to business entities that are “primarily focused on investment, finance, property management, and development.”

“How that land changes hands, who acquires it, and what they do with the land will impact Oregon for generations,” the report concludes.

The report, “The Future of Oregon’s Agricultural Land,” said the average age of Oregon farmers and ranchers is now 60, up from 55 in 2002.

The report was produced by Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems in conjunction with Portland State University’s Planning Oregon/Institute for Metropolitan Studies, and with Rogue Farm Corps, a non-profit striving to train the next generation of farmers, particularly those who weren’t born to the farm or ranch.

Nellie McAdams, director of Rogue Farm Corps’ farm preservation program and one of the report’s co-authors, said bigger farms under fewer owners is a likely outcome of the coming ownership turnover. While farm size is not a problem by itself, she said, consolidation could result in fewer operators and less diversity in crop decisions and farming methods. With larger parcels, ownership becomes an even greater cost leap for beginning farmers, she said.

In addition to rising land costs, other hurdles for new farmers include the high cost of getting started, low income during a farm’s “formative years,” a lack of training opportunities for those without a farming background and “systemic barriers” that exclude “the growing pool of women and people of color who are eager to farm.”

The potential impact of older farmers letting go of land isn’t a new topic — the question of “Who are the next farmers?” is closely related — but the researchers took deeper dives than most into farmland transition.

To verify findings, the authors used USDA data, interviewed farmers, Realtors and others, and went through sales and property tax records.

From 2010 through 2015, 25 to 40 percent of farmland sales in Washington, Benton, Clackamas, and Polk counties were to business entities. Ten to 15 percent of farm sales in those counties involved out-of-state buyers.

Meanwhile, land prices are increasing. The average estimated market value of an acre of farmland with buildings in 2012 was $1,882, compared to $1,534 in 2002, according to the Census of Agriculture. “Realtors and land seekers are seeing much higher land prices, especially for irrigated land near urban areas and along transportation corridors,” the researchers concluded.

McAdams, of Rogue Farm Corps, said there’s evidence to suggest farmers themselves aren’t prepared for the turnover. Instead of being incorporated or formed as LLCs, 84 percent of Oregon farms are listed as sole proprietorships, the simplest and cheapest form of business organization. But it means the farm is tied to an individual, which can complicate succession, McAdams said.

The statistic “suggests that the vast majority of Oregon farmers may not have created thorough plans to smoothly transfer their businesses and assets to the next generation,” the report said.

The authors concluded that land-sharing models, farm conservation easements, working lands easements, and other creative leasing arrangements may lead to better outcomes both for retiring farmers and those looking for a foothold in the profession. Other programs could connect beginning farmers with experienced ones, allowing them to explore innovative land access arrangements, the researchers said. Nonprofit farm incubators also offer low-cost access to land, and enable beginning farmers to gain experience, they said.

PENDLETON, Ore. — Now that wheat harvest is winding down across northeast Oregon, United Grain Corporation is beginning to focus on how it will upgrade facilities purchased from Pendleton Grain Growers earlier this year.

United Grain has pledged to invest $9 million in the buildings, which include all of PGG’s upcountry elevators, the McNary river terminal and Alicel rail terminal. Regional Manager Jason Middleton said they have not made any decisions yet, but hope to have a plan take shape by November.

Middleton, who was hired from PGG after the co-op voted to dissolve in May, said the goal is to add capacity at elevators where farmers are most likely to store their grain, and increase efficiency at the two terminals to keep trucks moving in and out quickly. Other elevators will likely be shut down for good, though Middleton said the crystal ball is still a little foggy.

“We’ve had a couple meetings about it, but haven’t by any stretch of the imagination come away with a plan of what we’re going to do,” he said.

This year’s winter wheat harvest was a baptism by fire for United Grain, which finalized its deal with PGG on June 10. Fifteen days later, Middleton said, they were already taking wheat from the west end of the county, giving them only enough time for an initial cursory glance at infrastructure needs.

Several elevators were closed right off the bat, including the ones at Mission, Holdman, Elgin and McComas in downtown Pendleton.

“Some of them were safety issues, didn’t meet our standards and hadn’t handled a lot of bushels for a long time,” Middleton said.

Others, such as Rew, Stanton and Brogiotti, were closed by Middleton in 2012 when he took over as director of grain operations for PGG. Since then, Middleton said, the majority of money has been spent at McNary and Alicel, which can hold up to 6.6 million bushels and 1.2 million bushels, respectively.

That has a lot to do with how the grain farming industry has changed, Middleton said. Combines are able to cut wheat far more efficiently than they used to, and farms are sending larger trucks farther distances to get their product out to market.

What used to be smaller farm trucks heading to the closest country elevator are now large semis lining up outside McNary along the Columbia River. Ideally, Middleton said they should be able to weight and unload trucks within 5-10 minutes.

“The terminals are farther along than our upcountry elevators,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at now.”

This year’s harvest wasn’t without its struggles, Middleton said, as they were forced to hit the ground running. But overall, growers in Umatilla County had much better spring and winter conditions and should be closer to their average yields, he said.

“We got some saving rains, and we didn’t have a brutal winter either,” Middleton said.

Already, the Pendleton area has received some good rains that will help farmers plant into better moisture for next year. According to the National Weather Service, Pendleton has received .68 inches of precipitation during September, more than the usual .45 inches.

Middleton said he is encouraged, but growers need more to continue reversing the damage from previous years of intense drought.

“We have some guys seeding now into better moisture this year,” Middleton said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As prosecutors prepare to rest their case in the federal conspiracy trial of Ammon Bundy and his followers, jurors viewed a video Monday of occupiers using assault rifles to fire at a boat launch located on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Assistant U.S Attorney Ethan Knight said the video — pulled from the Facebook account of a Bundy co-defendant who pleaded guilty — refutes defense claims that the armed occupation was a peaceful protest.

“It’s direct evidence of force,” Knight told U.S. District Judge Anna Brown when getting permission to show it to jurors.

Bundy attorney Marcus Mumford argued the mere firing of weapons was not an act of force.

Also Monday, several FBI agents testified about evidence recovered after the 41-day occupation.

FBI Special Agent Christopher Chew said he managed the evidence-collection effort that occurred between Feb. 12 and Feb. 23. Sixty-three people searched 23 buildings, 14 privately owned vehicles and nine outdoor areas on the federal property.

When Chew testified about more than 1,000 spent shell casings found at the boat launch, Mumford questioned if there were any targets found.

“Just birds and wildlife,” the agent said.

Mumford asked if any people got shot at the refuge. Chew said no.

Bundy and six co-defendants are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from the refuge through intimidation or threats. Five of the seven are also charged with possessing a firearm in a federal facility.

Prosecutors plan to wrap up their case by Tuesday afternoon. The defense is expected to start presenting its side of the story Wednesday and continue through October.

Bundy’s group seized the refuge Jan. 2 after a protest in support of two ranchers who were returning to federal prison on arson convictions. The protest grew into a call for the federal government to relinquish control of Western lands.

PENDLETON, Ore. — Now that wheat harvest is winding down across northeast Oregon, United Grain Corp. is beginning to focus on how it will upgrade facilities purchased from Pendleton Grain Growers earlier this year.

United Grain has pledged to invest $9 million in the buildings, which include all of PGG’s upcountry elevators, the McNary River terminal and Alicel rail terminal. Regional Manager Jason Middleton said they have not made any decisions yet, but hope to have a plan take shape by November.

Middleton, who was hired from PGG after the co-op voted to dissolve in May, said the goal is to add capacity at elevators where farmers are most likely to store their grain, and increase efficiency at the two terminals to keep trucks moving in and out quickly. Other elevators will likely be shut down for good, though Middleton said the crystal ball is still a little foggy.

“We’ve had a couple meetings about it, but haven’t by any stretch of the imagination come away with a plan of what we’re going to do,” he said.

This year’s winter wheat harvest was a baptism by fire for United Grain, which finalized its deal with PGG on June 10. Fifteen days later, Middleton said they were already taking bushels from the west end of the county, giving them only enough time for an initial cursory glance at infrastructure needs.

Several elevators were closed right off the bat, including the ones at Mission, Holdman, Elgin and McComas in downtown Pendleton.

“Some of them were safety issues, didn’t meet our standards and hadn’t handled a lot of bushels for a long time,” Middleton said.

Others, such as Rew, Stanton and Brogiotti, were closed by Middleton back in 2012 when he took over as director of grain operations for PGG. Since then, Middleton said the majority of money has been spent at McNary and Alicel, which can hold up to 6.6 million bushels and 1.2 million bushels, respectively.

That has a lot to do with how the grain farming industry has changed, Middleton said. Combines are able to cut wheat far more efficiently than they used to, and farms are sending larger trucks longer distances to get their product to market.

What used to be smaller farm trucks heading to the closest country elevator are now large semis lining up outside McNary along the Columbia River. Ideally, Middleton said they should be able to weigh and unload trucks within 5-10 minutes.

“The terminals are farther along than our upcountry elevators,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at now.”

This year’s harvest wasn’t without its struggles, Middleton said, as they were forced to hit the ground running. But overall, growers in Umatilla County had much better spring and winter conditions and should be closer to their average yields, he said.

“We got some saving rains, and we didn’t have a brutal winter either,” Middleton said.

Already, the Pendleton area has received some good rains that will help farmers plant into better moisture for next year. According to the National Weather Service, Pendleton has received .68 inches of rain during September, more than the usual .45 inches.

Middleton said he is encouraged, but growers need more to continue reversing the damage from previous years of intense drought.

“We have some guys seeding now into better moisture this year,” Middleton said.

The prosecution is starting to wrap up its case as the trial of seven occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge enters its third week.

They estimate they will rest their case at the end of the day Tuesday.

The first two weeks have been eventful, as it’s been revealed that an informant tipped off law enforcement on the day several occupation leaders were taken into custody and another was killed. The jury also heard testimony that detailed threats against Harney County Sheriff David Ward in the lead up to the occupation. As the trial enters its third week, here’s what we can expect:

The prosecution has moved swiftly through its case as it has presented evidence that the occupiers conspired to prevent federal employees from doing their work through the use of intimidation, threats or force.

Testimony from Harney County Sheriff David Ward shed light on the lead-up to the occupation. Malheur refuge manager Chad Karges and several other refuge employees testified as to how the occupation prevented them from doing their jobs.

FBI agents have testified about the actions of occupiers during the 41-day takeover, as well as tense negotiations in the final days.

Testimony from Harney County Rancher Andy Dunbar, whose land borders the refuge, offered key testimony about what was heard and seen on the refuge during the occupation.

During the final days of the prosecution’s presentation, the jury will start seeing a lot of the evidence collected by the FBI after the occupation ended in February. The FBI seized dozens of guns from the refuge, and the prosecution is expected to present some of them in court. Though it is unclear just how many of weapons will actually be presented.

During testimony last week from refuge employee Linda Beck, the jury also saw photos of hundreds of spent ammunition casings near the boat launch at Malheur Lake. This week, the prosecution is expected to present the jury with video taken from fellow occupier Jason Blomgren’s Facebook page of several occupiers firing guns near the boat launch. In this video, the occupiers appear to be lined up in an organized manner engaging in a form of target practice. We’re expected to learn more about the evidence the video provides as the prosecution concludes its case this week.

Blomgren was originally scheduled to testify for the prosecution during this trial, but it now seems as though those plans have changed.

The defense is expected to begin making its cases as early as Wednesday morning. This is the part of the trial with the most variables as there are seven different defendants, each with different approaches to their case. Three occupiers are representing themselves, some have court-appointed public defenders, and then in the case of Ammon Bundy, a pair of experienced private defense attorneys.

We do not know what each defense team has planned, but based on opening statements it very much appears the attorneys will try to convince the jury that their clients’ actions were protected under First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Many on the defense have framed the occupation as peaceful political protest of government overreach.

It will be also interesting to see which defendants, if any, take the stand to testify in their own defense. Occupation leader Ammon Bundy testified in pre-trial hearings in July, Ammon Bundy took the stand and acknowledged taking over the refuge. In that testimony, Bundy tried to downplay his role in the takeover. “It was more of a combined effort,” he said when prosecutors described him as the occupation’s leader.

Prosecutors had intended to introduce that testimony as evidence in this trial, but later decided not to. They now say they will only enter it as evidence upon cross examination if Ammon Bundy takes the stand during the trial.