In the second part of an interview carried on the Oregon Department of Agriculture website, Director Katy Coba said food safety and consumer protection remains the department’s most important program for 2015.

“We focus very hard on food safety issues,” Coba said in the interview with department spokesman Bruce Pokarney.

“Our whole goal is to minimize the potential for food illness outbreaks. So there is a lot of up front education and outreach, and we prioritize our limited resources to focus on those licensed facilities whose activities represent the greatest risk to food safety. These are facilities that handle food products before they even get to grocery stores. Even within the many retail stores we license and inspect, we prioritize by risk, focusing on those with a history of problems.”

Coba said the department has a “very good” track record of preventing food-borne illnesses and responding quickly when outbreaks occur.

“Also in the new year, there is more work to be done on the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act,” Coba said. “It’s coming at us, and even though it’s a federal effort, we hope to have a better idea in 2015 on what role ODA will play going forward.”

The full interview is carried on the department website. http://odanews.wpengine.com/oda-poised-to-meet-the-challenges-of-2015/

Jan. 25, 1936 - Jan. 3, 2015

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s famous wandering wolf, OR-7, is now officially the leader of his own pack.

State and federal wildlife agencies said Wednesday they have designated OR-7, his mate and their pups the Rogue Pack, for their location in the Rogue River drainage in the Cascades east of Medford.

It’s the first pack in western Oregon and the ninth in the state since wolves from Idaho started swimming the Snake River in the 1990s.

As a youngster, OR-7 left his pack in northeastern Oregon in September 2011 in search of a mate. He traveled thousands of miles across Oregon and back and forth into Northern California before finding a mate last winter in the southern Cascades on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

The GPS collar that tracked his travels is still working, but biologists hope to replace it this spring.

Efforts to trap OR-7, his mate or one of the pups to put a tracking collar on them were not successful last fall, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson. They hope to have better luck this May, when the pack dens up for more pups.

Even if the GPS tracking collar fails, a separate unit on the collar that emits a radio signal that can be tracked by a directional antenna should continue working, Stephenson said.

Oregon could consider lifting state Endangered Species Act protections for wolves this year if biologists confirm that four or more packs produced pups that survived through the end of the year. The earliest a proposal could go before the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is April, said spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy. Delisting would not mean an end to protections for wolves, but would give ranchers more options for dealing with wolves that attack livestock.

OR-7 has continued to stay out of trouble as far as livestock are concerned.

Oregon’s management plan calls for protections to continue for the Rogue Pack until there are four packs in western Oregon producing pups for three years running. Federal Endangered Species Act protection also remains in force in western Oregon and California.

By MITCH LIES

For the Capital Press

Blueberry growers, marketers and packers will have a rare opportunity to learn from a consortium of industry experts at the Oregon State University Blueberry School, March 16 and 17.

The event, the first OSU Blueberry School since 2007, provides one-stop shopping for those interested in maximizing blueberry production and market opportunities, according to Oregon State University Extension Berry Crops Specialist Bernadine Strik.

It will include cutting-edge information for beginning and advanced growers, as well as those focused on conventional and organic production methods, she said.

“Further, blueberry industry consultants will address key issues of where the blueberry market is going and how you might be more successful in tight labor or volume markets,” she said.

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

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

Early registration and its accompanying reduced rates closes Feb. 5, Strik said.

Group discount rates for farms or businesses are available, she said.

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

Southwestern Oregon Community College students who have excelled during the 2014 fall term are being recognized with placement on the college’s dean’s list, honor roll and academic excellence …

SALEM — Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber will propose a legislative fix in mid-January aimed at fostering coexistence among biotech, conventional and organic crops.

Details of the proposal haven’t yet been disclosed and the legislative language will likely be amended before an actual bill is introduced, said Richard Whitman, the governor’s natural resources policy director.

“The anticipation is there will be more conversation among stakeholders before we finalize the bill,” Whitman said.

A task force on genetically modified organisms appears to have helped Kitzhaber decide on a course of action.

In 2013, the Oregon legislature pre-empted most local governments from restricting genetically modified crops at Kitzhaber’s urging.

The governor then appointed a task force to frame the controversy over genetically modified organisms and inform lawmakers’ decisions on possible statewide legislation.

The task force’s recently completed report does not make any policy recommendations but lays out the points of contention between critics and proponents of genetically engineered crops.

However, its members did agree that more clarity is needed about the state’s role in regulating GMOs and how it diverges from federal authority.

The main question now is what measures Kitzhaber or state lawmakers will put forward to prevent unwanted cross-pollination among these crops or if farmers can agree on a voluntary system to avoid such gene flow.

“All eyes are going to be on the legislature and what the governor is planning to do,” said Ivan Maluski, executive director of Friends of Family Farms, which wants stronger biotech regulation. “This task force marks the beginning of the process, not the end.”

One subject of debate will probably be the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s “control area” authority over biotech crops, said Maluski.

Currently, ODA can restrict where genetically engineered crops are planted as long as the USDA retains jurisdiction over them, but the state agency believes it loses that power once the crop is deregulated by federal officials.

State legislation could establish that ODA may still create or retain “control areas” even after USDA lifts its own restrictions on biotech crops, said Maluski.

For example, such state control areas could require biotech farmers to maintain “isolation distances” to mitigate the risk of cross-pollination with non-GMOs, he said.

“It’s going to be on a case-by-case basis, as it should be,” Maluski said.

Another concept involves compensating organic and conventional growers if their crops are contaminated by pollen from biotech plants, said Chris Schreiner, executive director of Oregon Tilth, an organic certification agency.

There should be a way to compensate non-GMO farmers for damages from cross-pollination that wouldn’t require them to buy insurance policies, he said.

Proponents of biotechnology say farmers who grow biotech, conventional and organic crops can work out their differences without interference from the government.

“Farmers have learned to coexist for years,” said Paulette Pyle, grass roots director for Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an agribusiness industry group.

Decades ago, a conflict between cherry growers and wheat farmers over drift from 2,4-D herbicides threatened to spur legislation or erupt into litigation, but neighbors were ultimately able to resolve the issue through communication, Pyle said.

The potential for biotech varieties to pollinate organic crops isn’t actually a problem under USDA organic rules, which regulate farm practices but don’t set up standards for genetic purity, she said.

“The organic folks have put themselves in that market box,” Pyle said. “They can advertise their product any way they want, but they’ve got to accept responsibility.”

Bills that would increase government oversight of biotech crops would actually impede co-existence by limiting crop choices for farmers, said Greg Loberg, manager of the West Coast Beet Seed Co.

“It sounds threatening,” he said. “There will be winners and losers in a situation where government intervention occurs through legislation.”

Voluntary coexistence measures for biotech, conventional and organic crops would be preferable to those mandated by regulators, he said.

For example, seed growers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley are already able to reduce the chances of cross-pollination among related crops through a voluntary mapping system, Loberg said.

“It’s not a broken system,” he said. “It’s quite functional.”

Schreiner of Oregon Tilth said a mapping system is one possibility for co-existence but he’s skeptical that it would be effective without regulatory oversight.

“The voluntary system we don’t see as having a high likelihood of success due to the lack of incentive for GE producers to participate,” he said.

BOARDMAN, Ore. — ß∑A proposed transmission line stretching 300 miles from Boardman, Ore., to southwest Idaho could cost local farmers millions of dollars in lost production, depending on the route ultimately selected by federal agencies.

It’s all part of the delicate balancing act as Idaho Power seeks greater flexibility to transfer electricity between the two regions, while considering impacts to agriculture, wildlife and other resources.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently unveiled its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project, known as Boardman to Hemingway, after four years of scoping and tracing numerous alternatives where the line could be located.

Officials with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Energy hosted the first of seven open houses Monday in Boardman to gather input on the proposal and environmental report. About 40 people attended within the first hour, including farmers concerned about how the 500-kilovolt transmission line might affect their ability to raise high-value crops.

In some cases, growers worried the line would take whole fields entirely out of production. Craig Reeder, vice president of Hale Farms, said that’s left a number of operations “fighting for our lives.”

“The land is not replaceable,” said Reeder, who also serves as a board member for the Northeast Oregon Water Association. “We’re frustrated, but we’re optimistic people will wake up.”

Reeder pointed specifically to one variation of the proposal that would build transmission towers along the east side of Bombing Range Road. Given the project easements, Hale Farms stands to lose up to seven irrigated circles, he said.

At 125 acres per circle and $15,000 per acre, that’s more than $13 million in lost value.

“The cumulative effects are crippling to us,” Reeder said.

As proposed, the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line would begin at Portland General Electric’s Grassland Substation, under construction as part of a new natural gas-fired power plant near the existing Boardman Coal Plant. From there, the line crosses five Eastern Oregon counties before ending at a substation southwest of Boise.

The draft environmental report splits the project into six segments, with a range of alternatives in each segment. Each alternative is meant to mitigate effects to farmland, forests, endangered species and cultural resources.

Scott Whitesides, environmental planner with the BLM, said the primary concern in northeast Oregon is farming, which makes up a significant part of the local economy.

“Primarily, it’s about loss of acreage because (Idaho Power will) have that right-of-way,” Whitesides said.

The draft EIS is not a decision-making document, Whitesides said, and residents now have 90 days to weigh in before the cooperating agencies — which include the Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation — issue their final record of decision.

Earl Aylett, a farmer in both Morrow and Umatilla counties, said the project would interrupt agriculture immensely and questioned whether the line is actually needed.

“(The line) goes through a lot of land to get where it’s going, at very little benefit to the people where it goes through,” Aylett said. “It’s not something I want.”

Boardman to Hemingway was first identified in Idaho Power’s 2006 integrated resource plan as a means to alleviate constraints on existing transmission lines. The Columbia Basin and southern Idaho share power across the grid during times of peak demand, which alternate between winter and summer months, respectively.

The project is needed to ensure reliability of customers’ growing power demands, said manager Todd Adams, as well as keeping rates affordable. At the same time, he said the company sympathizes with farmers and will continue work to mitigate the burden placed on them.

“There’s been a lot of valid concern,” Adams said. “We know nobody appreciates a power line except the power company.”

The final EIS will included a preferred alternative that is the result of compromise between all agencies and affected landowners. Adams said they will push for a route that runs along the west side of Bombing Range Road, though that will take some negotiating with the U.S. Navy. The Grassland Substation alternative would also avoid any impacts to the Boardman Tree Farm.

Idaho Power hopes to have both state and federal permitting done as early as 2018, with the project up and running by 2020. Depending on the final route, it could cost between $880-$940 million.

Company spokeswoman Stephanie McCurdy said they are trying their best to make everyone happy, but in reality that’s a tall order to fill.

“People want the lights to come on when they flip the switch,” McCurdy said. “There have to be larger compromises in order to make that happen, and building a transmission line is one way to do it.”

The public has until March 19 to comment on the draft EIS. More information, including a schedule of project meetings and virtual open house, is available online at www.boardmantohemingway.com.

LANGLOIS — Cole Kreutzer's amazing night came up one basket short for Pacific in its Skyline Leauge opener against visiting Glendale.

LANGLOIS — Pacific's girls basketball team opened the Skyline League season with a convincing 46-19 win over Glendale on Tuesday, combining fierce defense in the first half with efficient offe…

SALEM — Farm regulators in Oregon are on the verge of enacting regulations for growing hemp that some proponents of the crop claim are already outdated.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has been developing rules for industrial hemp since state lawmakers legalized its production in 2009 and the regulations are set to become effective in early February.

Supporters of hemp production testified in favor of implementing the rules during a Jan. 6 hearing in Salem but they said new legislation will be necessary to amend the industrial hemp law in light of recent changes, such as Oregon’s legalization of recreational marijuana.

Hemp is the same species as marijuana but contains much less of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. However, both remain illegal under federal law.

The main problem identified by hemp proponents is that Oregon law does not allow its seed to be used for anything but planting new crops, whereas seed oil for cosmetic and health food products is a highly lucrative component of hemp.

“You can’t leave the seed out of the mix,” said Jerry Norton of Salem, who plans to grow hemp and recruit other farmers to cultivate it.

Using hemp purely for its fiber — a raw material for textiles and other products — would generate much less profit, said Tim Pate, a hemp supporter from Portland.

“We are shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said. “We need to solve the seed problem.”

Limiting the use of hemp seeds for planting also doesn’t make sense due to advances in asexual reproduction methods, such as tissue culture propagation, said David Seber, who owns the Hemp Shield wood sealant company.

“There’s no reason to even deal with seed if one doesn’t want to anymore,” he said.

Provisions in the hemp rules that require the crop to contain less than 0.3 percent THC also lack purpose now that marijuana containing higher levels of the chemical will become legal in 2015, said Doug Fine, a hemp researcher from Mimbres, N.M.

“We’re in a different era now than when the regs were conceived,” he said. “There’s no reason for the belligerent, fearful tone.”

Farmers in Canada and Kentucky are eager to bolster their agricultural economies with hemp, so Oregon should not fall behind with inflexible rules, Fine said.

“Every state is going to take its own path,” he said. “We can’t wait one second to let Oregon farmers grow seed.”

Apart from geographic competition, biotech companies may take beneficial genetic traits from hemp and insert them into plants that aren’t as strictly regulated, said David Seber of Hemp Shield.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture initially approached the hemp rules with a “fat, dumb and happy” approach, planning to allow seeds to be used for multiple purposes other than planting, said Ron Pence, operations manager of the agency’s commodity inspection program.

However, attorneys with the Oregon Department of Justice interpreted the state law as prohibiting seed for any other uses, he said. “That’s the way the statute is written.”

Similarly, the 0.3 percent THC limit and other provisions were enacted by the state legislature and cannot be overruled by ODA, Pence said.

Even so, it’s likely that hemp supporter state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, will push to revise the law in the upcoming legislative session, Pence said. “I would expect changes to be made to the statute.”

ODA does not have an official agreement with the federal government to develop rules for hemp, but its goal has been to create rules that will be tolerated by federal officials, Pence said.

The agency is discussing the possibility of obtaining a permit from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to import hemp seeds from abroad, he said.

While it’s likely aspiring hemp growers already have available seed supplies, ODA’s regulations require them to disclose their source, Pence said.

Jerry Norton said he’s working with Oregon State University to get permission from DEA to bring in a low-THC variety of hemp seeds from Canada in time to plant this spring.

He also hopes the Oregon Legislature will clarify the law to allow the sale of hemp seeds for multiple uses.

“We’ve got to know what we can do with it after we grow it,” Norton said.

Federal agencies are seeking input on the plan for a new 305-mile electric transmission line from the Boardman area, to a substation southwest of Boise.

The Bureau of Land Management and other agencies are in the midst of an environmental review of the Idaho Power Company project, because roughly one-third of the transmission line would pass through federally managed public lands. In addition to the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation also manage land along the proposed route.

A draft environmental impact statement that the BLM released Dec. 19 includes suggestions for Idaho Power Company to alter the proposed route in three locations to minimize environmental impacts, in particular to avoid destruction of sage grouse habitat.

Officials in Oregon and other states have been expecting a decision in 2015 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act, although recent a recent bill passed by Congress could delay that decision. Federal lawmakers attached a provision to a recent $1.1 trillion spending bill, in an attempt to prevent the Interior Department from spending any money on rules to protect the greater sage grouse and three related birds, The Associated Press reported.

The BLM also examined the potential impacts of the transmission line on agriculture, historical resources in the area such as the National Historic Oregon Trail and ongoing use of public lands by American Indian tribes.

The transmission line would add capacity for times of peak demand, and it is one of the transmission projects prioritized by the Obama administration to improve the power grid and allow for integration of more renewable energy sources, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

Although the White House wants to speed up permitting of transmission projects, the project still faces a lengthy approval process.

The Bureau of Land Management is accepting comments on the draft environmental report. The agency plans to analyze comments and prepare a final environmental document by early 2016. If the power company begins construction in 2018, it could complete the project by 2020.

Stephanie McCurdy, a communications specialist with Idaho Power Company, said the utility is simultaneously going through a process with the Oregon Department of Energy to gain approval for the project. The public will have an opportunity to comment in Oregon’s process once the utility has completed its application.

J.R. Cook, director of a group called the Northeast Oregon Water Association that represents water users in the area, said the route initially proposed by Idaho Power Company would not have much of an impact on irrigated agriculture in the area. But an alternative route proposed by federal agencies in the draft environmental document would cut through valuable agricultural land.

“It’s irreplaceable,” Cook said of irrigated farmland that would be affected. “We’ve stressed the fact you can relocate a line, and you can route around this ground.”

It could be difficult for farmers to convince federal agencies that the transmission line should follow a different route, because the transmission line cannot interfere with activities at the nearby Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman. However, Cook said he believes it is still possible to design a better option.

The public can comment on the draft environmental document until March 19, 2015.

For more information or to submit comments online, visit www.boardmantohemingway.com.

MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — A Central Oregon farmer has been killed by falling hay bales.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins says the 76-year-old farmer was apparently moving the hay when several bales fell and pinned him against his tractor, likely suffocating him.

Adkins says the bales of alfalfa hay weighed 80 to 90 pounds.

KTVZ-TV says he was Harvey Ludwig Stickler, who farmed south of Madras.

Adkins says Stickler’s wife told deputies he was missing for about an hour when she went to look for him.

It was Central Oregon’s second hay-related farming fatality in about seven months.

In June, the Crook County sheriff’s office reported that 77-year-old Gordon Evan Stroebel of Prineville was killed when three bales of hay fell from the truck he was loading.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon agriculture officials are drafting rules that would allow industrial hemp farmers to plant crops this spring.

The Oregonian reports the state Department of Agriculture is holding a public hearing Tuesday in Salem on the draft rules.

Prospective producers said they’re happy the state is finally moving ahead with a hemp program, but they’re concerned about high licensing fees and restrictions.

They say industrial hemp can be used to make biofuel, food and paper products.

NYSSA, Ore. — U.S. onion prices have plummeted significantly from last year’s levels.

“The open market prices right now are below the cost of production. It’s making it pretty tough for growers right now,” said Oregon farmer Reid Saito.

Jumbo yellows are going for about $5 per 50-pound bag now, compared with $12 last year, said Kay Riley, manager of Snake River Produce in Nyssa. Medium yellows are fetching between $3.50-$4 per bag, compared with $10 last year.

“Demand has been a little on the lackluster side for about eight or nine months now,” Riley said.

Owyhee Produce General Manager Shay Myers said prices, on a per bag unit, are 20 to 30 percent below normal.

“These prices we’re seeing are definitely below the cost of production,” he said. “There’s just no money to be made off of onions right now.”

The price decline is the result of several negative factors, Myers said, including limited exports to Pacific Rim and Central American countries, where a lot of U.S. onions traditionally end up.

“They’re still being shipped to those countries but at a much, much slower pace,” he said.

Asian countries have an ample supply of onions this year and are importing less from the United States. When there are opportunities to export onions to those nations, it’s difficult to get them shipped because of the West Coast port slowdown, Myers said.

The Russian embargo on certain agricultural commodities is also a major factor, he added. Onions from the U.S. are not on the list of banned items, but onions from Europe are and a lot of those onions are ending up in nations that typically import a lot of U.S. onions.

Central American countries that are usually major customers of U.S. onions “are flooded with Dutch and Spanish onions right now,” Myers said.

The Treasure Valley area of Idaho and Eastern Oregon typically produces 1 billion pounds of yellow, red and white bulb onions a year, about 25 percent of the nation’s supply.

Plantings in the region were up 8 percent this year, Myers said. “Eight percent of 1 billion pounds ends up being a whole lot of extra onions.”

Freight rates are up 27 percent over last year on a cost-per-unit basis, Myers said, and just finding enough trucks has been a problem as well, Saito said.

Myers said all those factors have added up to a perfect storm when it comes to onion prices.

“It’s a multitude of factors that have come together at the same time,” he said. “Considering all those negative things that are happening right now, I’m glad to be where we’re at.”

Saito said growers are hoping things turn around in 2015.

“2015 is a new year and growers around here are pretty resilient,’ he said. “I think the majority of them will find a way to make it through this.”

COQUILLE — Downtown features a new gifts and accessories shop.

Meetings

Jan. 24, 1919 - Sept. 22, 2014

Federal agencies are seeking input on the plan for a new 305-mile electric transmission line from the Boardman area, to a substation southwest of Boise.

The Bureau of Land Management and other agencies are in the midst of an environmental review of the Idaho Power Company project, because roughly one-third of the transmission line would pass through federally managed public lands. In addition to the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation also manage land along the proposed route.

A draft environmental impact statement that the BLM released Dec. 19 includes suggestions for Idaho Power Company to alter the proposed route in three locations to minimize environmental impacts, in particular to avoid destruction of sage grouse habitat.

Officials in Oregon and other states have been expecting a decision in 2015 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act, although recent a recent bill passed by Congress could delay that decision. Federal lawmakers attached a provision to a recent $1.1 trillion spending bill, in an attempt to prevent the Interior Department from spending any money on rules to protect the greater sage grouse and three related birds, The Associated Press reported.

The BLM also examined the potential impacts of the transmission line on agriculture, historical resources in the area such as the National Historic Oregon Trail and ongoing use of public lands by American Indian tribes.

The transmission line would add capacity for times of peak demand, and it is one of the transmission projects prioritized by the Obama administration to improve the power grid and allow for integration of more renewable energy sources, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

Although the White House wants to speed up permitting of transmission projects, the project still faces a lengthy approval process.

The Bureau of Land Management is accepting comments on the draft environmental report. The agency plans to analyze comments and prepare a final environmental document by early 2016. If the power company begins construction in 2018, it could complete the project by 2020.

Stephanie McCurdy, a communications specialist with Idaho Power Company, said the utility is simultaneously going through a process with the Oregon Department of Energy to gain approval for the project. The public will have an opportunity to comment in Oregon’s process once the utility has completed its application.

J.R. Cook, director of a group called the Northeast Oregon Water Association that represents water users in the area, said the route initially proposed by Idaho Power Company would not have much of an impact on irrigated agriculture in the area. But an alternative route proposed by federal agencies in the draft environmental document would cut through valuable agricultural land.

“It’s irreplaceable,” Cook said of irrigated farmland that would be affected. “We’ve stressed the fact you can relocate a line, and you can route around this ground.”

It could be difficult for farmers to convince federal agencies that the transmission line should follow a different route, because the transmission line cannot interfere with activities at the nearby Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman. However, Cook said he believes it is still possible to design a better option.

The public can comment on the draft environmental document until March 19, 2015.

For more information or to submit comments online, visit www.boardmantohemingway.com.

If you go

Boardman to Hemingway transmission line open houses

When: Jan. 5, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Port of Morrow Riverfront Center, 2 Marine Drive, Boardman

When: Jan. 6, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Convention Center, 1601 Westgate, Pendleton

When: Jan. 7, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Blue Mountains Conference Center, 404 12th Street, La Grande

When: Jan. 8, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Best Western Sunridge Inn, 1 Sunridge Lane, Baker City

When: Jan. 9, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Durkee Community Hall, 28716 Old Highway 30, Durkee

When: Jan. 12, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Four Rivers Cultural Center, 676 SW 5th Avenue, Ontario

We at Billy Smoothboar's Restaurant had another awesome evening giving to the less fortunate families here in Bandon.

A bird flu outbreak that has barred U.S. poultry from some overseas markets has apparently been contained to one southern Oregon backyard flock, Oregon Department of Agriculture spokesman Bruce Pokarney said Dec. 30.

“We feel very good. Nothing has spread from that site,” he said. “We’re pretty confident any danger of spreading from the original premises is over.”

A contagious and lethal avian influenza strain was confirmed Dec. 19 in a 100-bird flock in Winston in Douglas County. The highly pathogenic H5N8 virus killed 20 guinea fowl and two chickens.

It was the first outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu in U.S. poultry in a decade and came three days after the virus was confirmed in a wild duck and captive falcon in Washington.

Although the virus has not appeared in commercial flocks, several countries have restricted U.S. poultry imports.

“It’s been a catastrophe — that one backyard flock,” USA Poultry & Egg Export Council President Jim Sumner said Dec. 31. “It’s cost us a few hundred million dollars.”

Pokarney said the other birds in the Winston flock were euthanized, and the premises have been disinfected.

The owner had not been moving birds off his property, Pokarney said. “He wasn’t introducing the birds to anywhere else.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will continue checking other backyard flocks in the area for several more weeks, according to USDA spokeswoman Joelle Hayden.

South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Russia have banned U.S. poultry and poultry products from their countries. Canada, Japan and Singapore have imposed restrictions on Oregon poultry. Hong Kong banned poultry and poultry products specifically from Douglas County.

Sumner said other countries have halted issuing import permits, effectively banning U.S. poultry.

South Korea alone imported U.S. raw poultry products worth $78 million between January and September of this year, according to the export council.

The USDA issued a statement Dec. 30 accusing countries of overreacting and ignoring “sound science.”

“Unfortunately, some countries have decided to place far more restrictive measures than necessary on U.S. poultry, including, in a few instances, bans on imports of all U.S. poultry and poultry products,” the USDA stated. “We disagree with these actions and are taking a number of steps to address them and help support the U.S. poultry industry.”

Avian influenza has not caused human health problems in the U.S. Health officials say infected birds are safe to consume if properly cooked.

Even if the outbreak is contained, there may be more trade restrictions coming, and bans could be in place for several months, Sumner said. “Some countries look for an excuse to stick it to us,” he said.

To guard against further outbreaks, agriculture officials have been urging backyard flock owners to keep wild birds away from their poultry.

The Winston guinea fowl and chickens ranged free outdoors on property with a pond and marsh. Officials suspect the domestic birds contracted the virus from migratory waterfowl.

A northern pintail duck found dead in December at Wiser Lake in Whatcom County in northwest Washington tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N2. A captive gyrfalcon fed wild duck shot at the same lake died and tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N8.

Washington Fish and Wildlife waterfowl section manager Don Kraege said more than 200 wild birds have been tested since then, but none had bird flu.

Officials plan to continue testing migrating waterfowl in northwest and southwest Washington for a few more weeks. The birds have largely stopped for the winter and won’t range far unless pushed south by harsh weather, Kraege said.

“We just have to wait and see the results from this to see where we go next,” he said.

Wild birds commonly carry avian influenza, but it’s rarely fatal to them. Even the wild duck that had the highly pathogenic virus, died of another disease.

Low pathogenic bird flu, less contagious and less deadly to poultry, is more common but still inspires trade restrictions.

New highly pathogenic bird flu cases continue to break out in Asia and Europe.

On Dec. 29, a Japanese broiler breeder farm reported a high mortality rate. Authorities quickly identified highly pathogenic H5N8 as the cause. Some 37,000 chickens were destroyed, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.

Other countries reporting highly pathogenic bird flu outbreaks this month are Italy, Vietnam, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Canada.

Highly pathogenic H5N2, which shares gene segments with H5N8, has claimed 245,600 birds at 11 British Columbia commercial poultry farms in December. In addition, an 85-bird noncommercial flock of ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys was infected. The last outbreak was reported Dec. 19.