Burnt River School’s invitation to Portland students paid off, and the rural Eastern Oregon school will host up to eight urban kids when classes begin next fall, and eight more in the spring,

“It’s happening,” Superintendent Lorrie Andrews said. The district is arranging places for the students to stay while in school.

The school, which had a total of 34 students in 2015-16, offers the Burnt River Integrated Agriculture/Science Research Ranch program, or BRIARR, a dip into the ag and natural resource issues common to the area. The K-12 public charter school is in Unity, Ore., about 50 miles east of John Day.

Students will learn about animal production science, sustainable rangeland science and forest restoration studies, and do water quality monitoring with the Powder Basin Watershed Council.

The invitation to Portland students was intended to help bridge the urban-rural divide, but it could help the district financially, as well. The state provides districts about $7,100 per student, and that funding follows the student during their time in the rural district.

Portland Public Schools sent an email to its high school families last spring, telling them of the opportunity, and Andrews received about two dozen email queries within a couple days.

After clearing interviews and securing placement with host families, eight girls will attend the school fall semester, and eight boys will attend in spring.

WILSONVILLE, Ore. — Clackamas County’s bid to review the status of three land parcels now set aside for agriculture is a concern to farm groups, and the cities that would have to service new development aren’t hot for the idea either.

Charlotte Lehan, a former county commissioner, former Wilsonville mayor and now member of the city council, said it would be “very difficult and very expensive” for the city to provide water and sewer to new development south of the Willamette River.

She said development in the area Clackamas County seeks to review would increase congestion on the Boone Bridge, which carries north-south Interstate 5 traffic across the river. She said a clogged bridge would be “disastrous” for the city.

“I-5 is Wilsonville’s lifeline,” she said. “When the Boone Bridge isn’t working, nothing works. We have to protect the functionality of Interstate 5.”

The arguments back and forth are part of a long-running disconnect over Oregon’s unusual statewide land-use planning system, which was designed to protect farm and forest land from urban sprawl. Under the system, cities are held in check by urban growth boundaries that can be amended in a controlled manner. But development pressure at the edges of cities remains a continuing issue all over the state.

In the Portland area, land-use planning for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties is done by Metro, which has an elected board. Seeking to end ceaseless arguments, the counties and Metro agreed to a system of urban and rural reserves that was intended to set growth patterns for 50 years.

Clackamas County’s Board of Commissioners now wants to know whether three areas south and southeast of the Portland urban center, previously set aside as rural reserves and thus open to farming, would be more beneficial as “employment lands.”

The county commissioners cite a study by a consulting firm, Johnson Economics and Mackenzie, that said the county is short between 329 and 934 acres of industrial land and up to 246 acres of commercial land, an overall shortage of up to 1,180 acres over the next 20 years.

A majority of the commissioners want to review the status of 800 acres south of the city of Wilsonville; 400 acres adjacent to the urban growth boundary of the city of Canby; and 425 acres south of the Clackamas River along Springwater Road, outside Estacada. County officials believe the land should revert to “undesignated” rather than rural reserves.

County officials have dismissed concerns as overwrought. They point out that any land-use change would take years to accomplish and would be subject to legal review or appeal.

Nonetheless, the proposal has reopened a can of worms. Friends of French Prairie, a farming advocacy group, maintains that allowing development to jump across the Willamette River south of Wilsonville would crack open the state’s prime agricultural areas.

In a guest editorial written for the Capital Press, Friends of French Prairie President Ben Williams questioned the validity of the county’s employment lands report and some of the land is owned by people who have contributed heavily to commissioners’ election campaigns.

Board members of the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District took the unusual step of publicly warning against a land-use change. “The District believes the County’s current initiative to create employment lands may not adequately consider the long-term value of high-value farmland,” the district said in a letter to Clackamas commissioners. “A significant amount of the land proposed for reconsideration as employment land is high-value farmland, an irreplaceable natural resource.”

Lehan, the Wilsonville council member critical of the land-use review, said her fast-growing city has planned for additional industrial growth in its Coffee Creek and Basalt Creek areas, and for residential development in an area called Frog Pond. The city doesn’t need more “employment land,” she said.

“I know how development works and what it takes for a city to support it,” Lehan said. “I’m not anti-growth by any means.”

Lehan was Clackamas County board chair until defeated in 2012 by the current board chair, Commissioner John Ludlow, who is often critical of Metro and of Portland’s influence on its suburban neighbors.

Canby City Administrator Rick Robinson made a point similar to Lehan’s: the city has an existing industrial park that isn’t full. The 400 acres Clackamas County wants to revert to undesignated status is outside the city limits and outside the city’s urban growth boundary, he said. Some of it is farmed now, and much of it is Class 1 agricultural soil, he said. Robinson said the Canby City Council hasn’t taken a position on the Clackamas review proposal.

The third area considered by Clackamas County is outside the city of Estacada. The mayor and city manager were unavailable to discuss the issue.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has selected Valentine’s Day as the trial date for eight of the 26 defendants indicted in the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

In a written order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Anna Brown said the date is firm and no delays will be granted without an extraordinary showing of good cause.

Occupation leader Ammon Bundy and eight others are scheduled to go to trial in September.

The defendants granted a delay until February 2017 include Dylan Anderson, Sandra Anderson, Sean Anderson, Duane Ehmer, Jason Patrick, Jon Ritzheimer, Jake Ryan and Darryl Thorn.

The remaining nine defendants have pleaded guilty and are waiting to be sentenced.

The occupation began Jan. 2 after a rally against prison sentences handed to two Oregon ranchers. It lasted nearly six weeks.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Officials are considering a proposal for what would be the state’s second largest dairy in Eastern Oregon.

The Statesman Journal reports the proposed Willow Creek Dairy would house 30,000 animals. Wym Matthews with the state Department of Agriculture says the dairy would be near Threemile Canyon Farms, which is the state’s largest dairy with 70,000 animals.

The department is accepting public comment on Willow Creek’s plans to manage the nearly 200 million gallons of manure it will produce each year.

Greg te Velde has operated the dairy with 8,000 animals for more than a decade on land leased from Threemile Canyon.

Morrow County officials are holding a public hearing Thursday to discuss water concerns with the project, which is located in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area.

ENTERPRISE, Ore. — A noxious weed never before seen in Oregon has been discovered in the northeastern corner of the state.

It is a carduus crispis, or welted thistle, which is also sometimes called a curley plumeless thistle.

“It’s never been seen in Oregon before. The nearest it’s ever been reported is North Dakota and British Columbia,” Wallowa County Vegetation Department Manager Ryan Oberhelman said. “That’s an A-List, worst of the worst, thistle.”

Rancher Todd Nash first found the weed and reported it to Oberhelman.

Genetic testing at Oregon State University confirmed its identity. Then Mark Porter, Oregon Department of Agriculture invasive weed management coordinator, and Oberhelman began searching for more of the thistle. They sprayed the edges of Mark Vanderzanden’s alfalfa field where it was discovered, arranged with him to destroy any baled hay up to 15 feet into the field, and walked the irrigation ditch south of Enterprise.

“It’s all along Lower Alder Slope Ditch,” Oberhelman said.

All sites have been sprayed, but Porter and Oberhelman reckon the weed has been in Wallowa County for about four years — and that means it may have gone out in bales of hay to other locations.

The weed warriors, with the assistance of Vanderzanden and other farmers, are tracking down any folks who bought hay from the immediate area to make sure no weed seed traveled elsewhere.

Fortunately, Vanderzanden has excellent records and the weed only appeared at the edge of his field, Oberhelman said.

He said they have no idea how it got here. It most likely started in the ditch, as ditches are common vectors for weed seed.

“Who is bringing in ditch equipment from North Dakota?” Oberhelman mused. “We will probably never know for sure how it got here. But we’ll get in touch with every single person on this ditch system and warn them to watch out for it. We’ll be monitoring this weed for a long, long time.”

The weed is not poisonous to livestock, but grazing is not a reliable control. If it is grazed early in the spring, it will have time to re-flower and spread its seed farther.

“We need to get on top of this thistle because we can,” said Oberhelman. “It hasn’t had time to spread widely and get out of control.”

CONDON, Ore. — Firefighters expect to fully contain the Scott Canyon Fire in rural Gilliam County by Monday evening, according to a spokeswoman with the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center.

The blaze, which started Thursday on private land near the John Day River, has burned 33,587 acres between Condon and Arlington. A Type 3 incident management team responded Saturday from the Deschutes and Ochoco national forests, as well as the Bureau of Land Management’s Prineville District, to assist local firefighters.

The fire was human-caused, though investigators are still working to determine exactly how it started. High winds fanned the flames up and down several canyons in the area, making for tricky firefighting conditions. Crews on the ground were supported by six single-engine air tankers and three helicopters, which dumped water and retardant around the fire perimeter over the weekend.

The fire did destroy one old homestead, which was unoccupied. No other structures were damaged. Lisa Clark, fire information officer with the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center, commended the initial response for keeping local farms and ranches safe.

Another fire in central Oregon also erupted Sunday about 13 miles east of Warm Springs. That blaze is now roughly 4,800 acres, but wasn’t immediately threatening homes.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek says she supports efforts to help Malheur County’s economy, including improving the transportation infrastructure to reduce the cost of shipping agricultural products.

The Portland Democrat visited the Eastern Oregon county last month at the invitation of Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, and agricultural industry leaders concerned about the impact the state’s new minimum wage law will have on farmers and others here.

A three-tiered plan passed this year will hike the minimum wage in rural areas to $12.50 an hour over six years. Malheur County’s farming industry competes with Idaho, which borders Oregon and has a $7.25 minimum wage.

Oregon’s rural minimum wage increased 25 cents on July 1 to $9.50 an hour. It will reach $12.50 on July 1, 2022, and then increase annually, based on the consumer price index for all urban consumers. It will be pegged $2.25 below the Portland Metro minimum wage.

In an email statement, Kotek told Capital Press she now has “a deeper understanding of the economic challenges of sharing a border with a fast-growing part of Idaho. It’s clear that a variety of factors impact the ag industry in both states, including but by no means limited to, the minimum wage.”

Kotek said she supports ideas floated by Bentz that could help improve Malheur County’s economy.

That includes creating a special economic zone and bringing a freight transportation hub to the area, which she said “would cut the time and cost for growers who are exporting onions and other agricultural products.”

Special tax credits for the area and creating a “Micro Irrigation Center” at the Oregon State University are other ideas the speaker supports, Bentz said.

The backbone of the effort to help the county’s economy is to improve transportation infrastructure and reduce freight costs, Bentz said. “We have to have a lower-cost way of getting (our) products to the market.”

Bentz and local ag leaders were hoping to convince Kotek and other legislators to reduce Malheur County’s minimum wage below the $12.50 rate in the plan passed this year.

That appears unlikely, Bentz said.

Kotek said she is “committed to upholding Oregon’s new minimum wage law ... while also respecting regional economic needs and giving local businesses time to plan.”

News that Malheur County’s minimum wage likely won’t be reduced below $12.50 an hour came as bad news to the ag industry.

“That’s a blow,” said Nyssa farmer Paul Skeen. “They can’t see that we have a problem?”

Owyhee Produce General Manager Shay Myers said he’s glad legislators are working on a larger effort to improve the county’s economy.

But onion packers and the local ag industry will still face fierce pressure from competitors on the Idaho side, who will have much lower labor costs, he said.

He said reducing freight costs would benefit businesses on both sides of the border and the disparity in the two areas’ minimum wages will likely cause some Oregon businesses to move to Idaho, automate or both.

His company has already looked at land acquisition options in Idaho.

“It’s not going to change the competitive environment that we as packers of onions are operating in,” Myers said of the economic improvement efforts. “That doesn’t help me in any way compete with my competitors in the state of Idaho.”

Stripe rust pressure this year is “severe to extremely severe” in Pacific Northwest wheat, but most farmers have been able to control it by growing resistant varieties or by applying fungicides.

USDA Agricultural Research Service plant geneticist Xianming Chen blames the mild winter, which allowed the rust to survive and develop in winter wheat.

“Stripe rust developed very early and very quick,” Chen said.

The fungus can cause more than a 60 percent yield loss in highly susceptible wheat varieties.

Applying fungicide has paid off for growers. Rust is generally under control in most commercial fields, Chen said.

“That is big spending for growers, but this year, it was worth it to do that,” he said.

The fungus is occurring almost everywhere in the Pacific Northwest, even in dryland areas.

He hopes to see more farmers plant resistant varieties in the future. That would eliminate the need to spray fungicide, even in severe rust years.

Most wheat fields are now past the point where a fungicide application would help. Rust typically dies by harvest, Chen said, as it cannot live long in dead leaf tissue.

Chen said later-planted spring wheat in higher elevations may still have active rust due to recent rain.

Some of the major fungicides cannot be used after the flowering stage, while others can be used up to 30 days before harvest. Growers should be sure to read the fungicide labels, Chen said.

Temperatures are not quite optimum for the wheat’s high temperature, adult plant resistance to stripe rust to kick in.

It’s too early to tell the outlook for next season, he said.

“It depends on what the weather conditions are from now to the fall,” Chen said. “If the coming winter is cold, then the rust will die more. If the coming winter is very mild like last winter, this rust will survive more.”

Chen said roughly 36 percent of winter wheat varieties are resistant to stripe rust and 16 percent are moderately resistant. Eight percent are moderately resistant to moderately susceptible and 24 percent are moderately susceptible. None are highly susceptible.

For spring wheat, roughly 12 percent of the varieties are resistant, 40 percent are moderately resistant, 11 percent are moderately resistant to moderately susceptible, 11 percent are moderately susceptible and 11 percent are susceptible.

ONTARIO, Ore. — The Obama administration is well aware of the strong local opposition to a proposed national monument in Malheur County, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden told Eastern Oregon residents on July 21.

Malheur County residents who asked Wyden during an annual town hall meeting whether he supports the proposed national monument said they didn’t receive a definite answer.

But Wyden did say several times that the president is well aware of the local opposition to a proposed national monument on 2.5 million acres in a part of the county known as the Owyhee Canyonlands.

“I have told the Obama administration repeatedly ... that there is very vigorous opposition at the local level to the monument,” the Oregon Democrat said. “They would have had no confusion about what I’m telling them.”

Supporters want Obama to use the Antiquities Act to declare a national monument in Malheur County.

Ranchers and others who asked Wyden whether he supports the national monument proposal being pushed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association told Capital Press later they didn’t receive a clear answer.

Malheur County Farm Bureau President Jeana Hall asked Wyden for a commitment to “stand up for the people of Oregon, not just here in Malheur, and say that there should not be a monument designation.”

Julie Mackenzie, a Jordan Valley rancher, asked Wyden, “Are you for the monument?”

Wyden said it’s his duty to respect how Oregon residents vote on issues. Malheur County residents voted 9-1 against the monument in a special election in March. He also said that while Malheur County residents have voted on the issue, the rest of Oregon has not.

“I didn’t hear an answer,” Hall told Capital Press later. “I think I heard a ‘maybe’ somewhere in there.”

Mackenzie said she asked the senator “a yes or no question and he didn’t answer it. It was just kind of a going around in circles type of thing.”

Wyden Press Secretary Hank Stern said he would let the senator’s words during the meeting speak for themselves but added, “I thought he expressed himself pretty clearly.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an Interior Department funding bill July 14 that includes a provision preventing funds from being used to create a national monument in Malheur County.

Jordan Valley rancher Elias Eiguren asked Wyden whether he would support a similar proposal in the Senate.

Eiguren said he and other ranchers came to the meeting hoping to get Wyden to commit to opposing a monument designation and supporting a proposal in the Senate similar to the one passed by the House.

Eiguren told Capital Press that didn’t happen.

“We would really hope Sen. Wyden will do what is good for the land and help us stop this monument,” he said.

LEBANON, Ore. — Coy Cowart and three friends joked about how many hamburgers his giant steer Buford would make.

They decided the steer would produce 3,600 quarter-pounder hamburgers.

Buford is not your average steer. Weighing in at 2,175 pounds, he brought 83 cents per pound at Cowart’s Lebanon Auction Yard on July 21. When Cowart stood next to Buford in the auction ring, the steer towered over him.

Buford was nearly twice as heavy as the average steer, which typically weighs approximately 1,200 pounds.

Cowart called Buford his pet steer, having raised him for four years.

“He was always the most gentle guy,” Cowart said. “When I would call him in he would lead all of the other cattle in with him.

Cowart said he would have liked to keep Buford longer to see how much bigger he would get but that he became too big to manage with the other cattle.

Cowart is co-owner of Lebanon Auction Yard with his wife, Helen, son Terry and daughter-in-law Lezlie. He started the auction yard in 1987 after he retired from a career in construction.

“I never thought I would own a business before I retired,” Cowart said. “At 54 years old I spent a lifetime making money for other people and thought, Why not do it for myself?”

When Cowart started the auction yard there were 18 other auction yards in Oregon — now there are eight. Three are left in the Willamette Valley.

Diversification has been a big contributor to Cowart’s success. He said he realized early on that auctioning dairy cows wouldn’t be enough to sustain his family so he began investing in other areas.

The auction yard now sells farm equipment and animals and provides trucking services, contracts cattle and transports hay and feed.

Cowart expanded the auction yard last year with the addition of a 100-by-240-foot barn and expects to put in another, bigger barn later this year.

Cowart said family is a huge part of Lebanon Auction Yard and his life. He has 12 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren that help out at the auction yard and in his garden at home.

“I believe in God, family and the nation,” Cowart said, quoting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Cowart said he encourages all of his children and grandchildren to own their own businesses.

He spoke proudly of his grandson, Matt Cowart, who in 2015 opened a brewery in Lebanon, Ore. Cowart said he takes out-of-town business associates and friends to Conversion Brewing whenever they are visiting.

He said everyone at Lebanon Auction Yard is like family, whether they are related or not.

In selling Buford, Cowart said most people don’t want to eat pets once they’ve named them but that he won’t have that problem.

“I’ll have no problem eating Buford,” Cowart said. “He’s going to make some good steaks.”

Rain and temperature fluctuations are worrying some in the Pacific Northwest wheat industry about sprout damage that could reduce the price farmers receive for their crop.

If the weather clears up without additional storms, “then maybe it’s not going to be that big a disaster,” said Camille Steber, USDA ARS research plant molecular geneticist in Pullman, Wash.

The concern is greater for winter wheat than the spring crop.

Grain elevators use the Hagberg-Perten falling number test to measure starch damage due to sprouting, according to Washington State University. A low falling number indicates a high level of alpha amylase, an enzyme that degrades starch and diminishes the quality of wheat products. Grain with a falling number below 300 typically receives a discount in the Pacific Northwest.

“If the wheat is green, the rain won’t cause a low falling number problem,” Steber said. “If it’s turned completely yellow, then you have to start worrying about it. The longer it’s been since it turned from green to yellow, the more likely it is that you’re going to have a problem.”

Susceptible wheat varieties include Bruehl, Jasper, AP Legacy and Xerpha. Resistant varieties include Puma, Skiles, Coda and Bobtail.

Rain when temperatures are in the 80s won’t likely cause sprouting. But rain during cooler periods are concerning to Steber.

Other areas have had a wide temperature fluctuations that can induce late-maturity alpha amylase.

“There may be some farmers whose wheat didn’t even get rained on who will be coming to us and telling us they had falling numbers below 300,” Steber said.

Blaine Jacobson, executive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, said low falling numbers are a concern in the Lewiston, Idaho, region. Stripe rust is also impacting lower elevations of Nezperce County, according to the commission.

As harvest moved into higher elevations, falling number scores improved, Jacobson said.

“We’re optimistic that as the harvest progresses and the footprint expands, that problem will take care of itself,” he said. “But it is something we’re watching carefully.”

Steber isn’t certain how widespread the problem could be.

“I’m hoping it’s a limited problem this year,” she said.

Steber recommends farmers harvest as quickly as they can, the better to avoid any rains coming through.

Growers are likely to make more money if they avoid mixing wheat likely to have a falling number problem with wheat that probably won’t, she said.

“If you had separate fields where one was totally yellow and one was kind of green when most of the rain came through, keep them separate when you harvest them and take them to the elevator separate,” she said. “The enzyme that causes the falling number problem is actually pretty powerful. If you mixed equal amounts of wheat with falling number 400 with falling number 200, you’re not going to land at 300, you’re going to land lower than that.”

Grain that’s mildly sprouted, in the 200 to 300 range, could be stored for several months to see if the falling number goes up, Steber said. Wheat that’s badly sprouted won’t change because it’s already damaged.

Jacobson recommends farmers who receive a low falling number ask for another test at the elevator.

“There’s a lot of variability,” he said.

Online

http://smallgrains.wsu.edu/recent-weather-could-affect-wheat-quality/

PENDLETON, Ore. — It’s been a hectic homecoming for Tony Flagg.

After nearly two decades as CEO of the Pendleton Flour Mills, Flagg finds himself back in the Round-Up City — this time as vice president of business development for United Grain Corporation, which recently bought all grain assets from the now-dissolved Pendleton Grain Growers.

The deal became official June 10, which gave Flagg one month to hire staff and open a new office on Main Street before the start of wheat harvest. The sale included PGG’s upcountry grain elevators and Columbia River terminal, but not its other businesses or main office building on Dorion Avenue.

The timing was tricky, having to jump directly into harvest. But Flagg said they’ve hit the ground running and made a good first impression on producers.

“I think we’ve been received very well,” he said. “They appreciate that we’re here.”

United Grain now has the task of picking up where PGG dropped off, while updating infrastructure that has become obsolete. When UGC agreed to buy the facilities, it promised to invest $9 million toward making them more modern and efficient. Flagg said the contract gives them five years to get the job done, but added they want to move forward as soon as possible.

“Many of the elevators are so antiquated they’re no longer competitive and, quite frankly, no longer safe,” he said.

That level of commitment from United Grain comes at the backing of its owner, the Mitsui Group, a multi-billion dollar international trading company with offices in Tokyo and New York City. Mitsui became interested in food production after building its portfolio in mining, energy and manufacturing.

United Grain is at the forefront of that strategy, Flagg said. The company formed in 1969 and now operates the largest grain export terminal on the West Coast in Vancouver, Washington. For years, UGC operated purely as a wheat exporter, but with the rise of genetically modified crops, an emerging middle class in China and deepening of the Columbia River channel to accommodate larger ships, Flagg said the market has become significantly larger and more complex.

That, in turn, has led United Grain to branch out and work directly with farmers, which Flagg said gives them a greater command of the whole supply chain. In other words, they can supply more grain at a faster rate, amounting to more reliable service for customers.

“It’s all about speed, space and service,” Flagg said. “That’s why we’re here.”

The PGG Board of Directors voted to dissolve in May, ending 86 years of service in Eastern Oregon. Flagg said everyone, including himself, regrets that the co-op failed. But UGC is excited for the chance to develop relationships directly with farmers. UGC did retain nine former PGG employees, including Jason Middleton, who was hired as region manager.

Flagg knew even before the sale it would take time and money to get the elevators where they need to be. Some just simply aren’t equipped to handle the needs of today’s farmers and, when it comes to harvest, time equals money.

“I’m dealing with truck lineup issues at McNary, and it’s only the front end of harvest,” Flagg said. “If the trucks don’t get back to the field, harvest stops ... We need to make these facilities faster, and hold more grain.”

The first step, Flagg said, is to look at which elevators are worth updating and which UGC will have to close. Flagg, 66, said he will facilitate that process and, once the operation is running smoothly, he plans to retire.

Umatilla County is one of, if not the best, grain producing counties in the U.S., Flagg said. He said it’s up to them now to improve their level of service and win PGG’s customers back.

CANBY, Ore. — Nurseryman Rich Birkemeier can’t keep up with the demand for hazelnut trees.

The owner of Birkemeier Nursery supplies farmers with young hazelnut trees, but the demand has been so great that his 300-acre hazelnut farm and nursery is sold out for 2016 and has already sold out of some varieties for 2017. Birkemeier has been forced to start a waiting list for new growers who want to plant the popular nut tree.

Birkemeier called the last four years a “renaissance in the hazelnut industry” and sees a bright future for Oregon hazelnuts.

“A lot of things have come together at the same time that have really pushed the hazelnut industry forward,” Birkemeier said. “There’s a gaining realization in the agricultural community that hazelnuts are the things to grow in Oregon.”

Willamette Valley growers have planted between 3,000 and 4,000 acres of hazelnuts a year since 2014, according to Pacific Agricultural Survey. Owner Mike McDaniel said he expects even more new acreage to be added this year.

New growers with no agricultural experience, farmers looking to diversify their crops and long-time hazelnut producers are among those planting trees, with this year’s statewide acreage blossoming to about 46,000 acres.

Hazelnuts have been grown in the Willamette Valley since the first tree was planted in 1858 because of the region’s unique rich soil and mild climate. Today Oregon produces 99 percent of U.S. hazelnuts and 4 percent of the world’s supply.

Oregon State University hazelnut breeder Shawn Mehlenbacher said he could have never anticipated the growth in hazelnut acreage he has seen during the last few years.

“This industry is growing faster than I ever imagined,” Mehlenbacher said, adding that “we don’t have any problem selling what we can grow.”

The picture wasn’t always so rosy. In a 2012 survey, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that hazelnut acreage and production were flat, a disease was devastating hazelnut trees, and prices were stagnant.

However, a series of “God moments” turned the industry around, Birkemeier said.

The biggest breakthrough came in 2009, when OSU’s Mehlenbacher released several cultivars resistant to eastern filbert blight, bringing new hope to growers. The fungal disease had showed up in Oregon in 1973 and eventually infected a large portion of the state’s hazelnut orchards, sending the industry into gradual decline.

As the resistant trees began to replace those that were susceptible to EFB, other events further boosted the industry.

Ferrero U.S.A. expanded its production of Nutella, a hazelnut-and-chocolate spread especially popular among young consumers. Ferrero already operated a plant in Ontario, Canada, and in 2012 built another in Mexico to meet the growing demand, with Oregon the closest hazelnut provider.

Two years later, a major freeze wiped out one-third of Turkey’s hazelnut crop. The nation provides 70 percent of the world’s hazelnuts. With that production decline, several countries — particularly China — turned to Oregon to meet their demand.

The result: 15,000 acres of hazelnut trees have been planted since 2009.

The cost of a new hazelnut orchard depends on the density of the planting, whether outside contractors do the work and the price of the drip irrigation system.

OSU Orchard Crops Extension Specialist Nik Wiman said hazelnut trees cost an average of $7 to $8 each. Some growers plant orchards in a single-density configuration — 108 trees per acre. Contracting someone to plant the orchard adds about $1 per tree to the cost, he said.

Some growers plant double-density orchards — 216 trees per acre, which costs an average of $1,620. Wiman said planting those orchards is more costly upfront but yields significantly higher returns sooner.

A single-density orchard begins producing hazelnuts — about 75 pounds per acre — in the third year. Production will typically increase each year until an orchard reaches full production — about 2,800 pounds per acre — by the 12th year, according to OSU.

A double-density orchard’s production is twice that of the single-density orchard until the 10th year, when every other tree is removed to provide adequate spacing for the mature trees.

Oregon Hazelnut Commission Administrator Meredith Nagley said the nuts are popular with the state’s 650 growers because they produce long-term yields, are sustainable and don’t require many inputs once they are planted and start yielding nuts.

Leroy and Barney Kropf first planted 35 acres of hazelnuts on their Linn County, Ore., grass seed farm in 2009. As of this year, their hazelnut orchard has grown to 300 acres, and Barney Kropf said they plan to add 30 acres a year.

“We were expecting to expand but not this fast at all,” Kropf said.

He said the grass seed business is unpredictable and hazelnuts are the opposite, which makes them a good complementary crop.

OSU Extension’s Wiman said he expects a lot of growers in the southern Willamette Valley to also start growing hazelnuts, following the lead of growers in the northern valley, where they are most popular.

Kropf said one of the most attractive things about growing hazelnuts is the high demand from processors.

At Willamette Hazelnut Growers in Newberg, Ore., CFO and Sales Manager Michael Severeid said the rapidly growing industry has put pressure on processors to obtain supply and has created competition for the nuts.

According to the USDA noncitrus fruits and nuts summary published this month, Oregon hazelnuts sold for an average of $1.34 per pound in 2013, and prices peaked in 2014 at $1.80 per pound after the frost in Turkey. In 2015, the average price per pound was $1.40.

“There’s a lot of competition with the processors to get supply and meet demands,” Severeid said. “The opposite is true for growers. Everyone wants your business.”

To attract new growers, Severeid said Willamette Hazelnut helps them be more successful. One effort is a giant metal bin that can carry up to 20 times more hazelnuts than typical harvest bins.

Severeid said Willamette Hazelnut built the bin for growers to make it easier and more cost-effective for them to handle their crops.

Severeid sees even more room for expansion in the North American market.

“Our problem has always been an inadequate supply for export,” Severeid said. “We never have a problem selling what we can produce.”

New and veteran growers don’t only get support from processors. The hazelnut commission’s Nagley said the industry is one of the most collaborative and supportive she has ever seen.

Mehlenbacher said that’s because the annual hazelnut production is easily sold, which in turn encourages growers to work together.

OSU also plays a big role. Beyond creating the filbert blight-resistant cultivars, OSU Extension Service researches new hazelnut cultivars and provides resources to growers.

OSU Extension is split into four areas: breeding and genetics, insect and pest management, plant pathology and cultural practices.

OSU Extension’s Wiman works in cultural practices, researching the physiological needs of the trees and serving as a resource for growers.

“My job is to empower growers and investigate the needs of the trees,” Wiman said.

Birkemeier also stressed the importance of the strong relationship between OSU and growers.

In 2010, OSU and Oregon hazelnut growers established the Hazelnut Variety Committee and agreed to pay royalties for cultivars created by OSU in return for exclusive rights to new cultivars. When OSU releases a new cultivar, no overseas growers can buy it for three years.

“Hazelnut people are the example of how to behave, support new people and support research,” Mehlenbacher said. “We’re the little guys in the world. We have to work together to be successful.”

With more acres going into production every year, growers and processors see a bright future for the hazelnut industry.

Having been in the hazelnut industry his whole life as a grower and a nurseryman, Birkemeier said he is excited.

“It’s so rewarding to see an industry go through all of that struggling for 30 years and to all of a sudden see this huge resurgence in hazelnuts,” Birkemeier said.

ECHO, Ore. — A train collided with a semi-truck Wednesday near Rieth Road, about nine miles east of Echo.

The train was heading east toward Pendleton pulling roughly 15 railroad cars at about 30 mph, according to Umatilla County Undersheriff Jim Littlefield.

The semi-truck, belonging to Platinum Transportation of Hermiston, was carrying two trailers of wheat and headed north when it apparently failed to yield at the railroad crossing.

The driver, Budd Richards, 54, of Hermiston, was conscious, but complaining of head, neck and leg pain when rescue crews arrived. He was transported via ambulance to St. Anthony Hospital and was expected to be released Wednesday.

According to Union Pacific Railroad employees at the scene the train had sounded its horn, but could not stop in time before hitting the truck.

Cell phone service is scarce in the area, and the call for help came via radio.

Mariano Hawk, the terminal manager for Union Pacific, said the train struck the truck where the two trailers were hitched together, knocking the truck cab and one trailer on its side north of the railroad tracks and leaving the rear trailer upright to the southeast of the tracks.

Straw-compressing facilities can be built on Oregon farmland without a county conditional use permit, according to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

The appellate court has rejected arguments that compressing bales of straw for easier shipment to overseas markets is a form of “processing” that’s disallowed within farm zones without a permit.

The ruling upholds a finding by Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA, that straw-compressing is crop “preparation” that’s allowed outright on farmland.

“The record reflects that the straw is unchanged in substance from when it is first baled in the field to when it is packaged for resale,” the appellate court said in the July 20 ruling.

The case is seen as significant for Oregon land use law because it could have changed allowable farm activities on a county-by-county basis.

Farmer John Gilmour of Albany, Ore., said that time restrictions imposed on his straw-compressing facility by Linn County were hurting its competitiveness, while some neighbors complained of traffic hazards and noise.

The ruling ensures uniformity across Oregon in the definition of “farm use,” said Alan Sorem, attorney for Gilmour.

If each county were to have its own interpretation of farm use, with different restrictions on operations, it would be destabilizing for agriculture, he said.

“It’s a great decision in that it provides stability for farmers,” Sorem said.

Suzi Maresh, a neighbor opposed to the facility, said that straw-compressing is a great business but should be situated in an area where trucks don’t cause road hazards.

“This is an entirely inappropriate development for this location in Linn County,” Maresh said.

The Oregon Court of Appeals decision is disappointing because it doesn’t resolve the traffic problem and could allow it to grow worse if Gilmour expands, she said.

Critics of the facility argued for a reversal of the LUBA opinion, claiming the board’s analysis of “processing” was incomplete and should have followed Linn County’s interpretation, which held that straw compressing was a “commercial activity in conjunction with farm use” and required a permit.

The Oregon Court of Appeals has disagreed with this view, ruling that LUBA is not required to defer to the county’s legal reasoning.

Critics claimed facility compresses up to 25,000 tons of straw collected from other farms, compared to 5,000 tons grown by Gilmour, and it operates year-round, which disqualifies it as a “farm use.”

Gilmour countered that the facility may accept outside straw because it’s also grown on property zoned exclusively for farm use.

Compressing is simply a “preparation” of the crop for shipping, as it doesn’t fundamentally change the character of the straw — unlike turning berries into jam, he said.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Oregon State University field trials have shown that applying the herbicide Outlook through drip irrigation works much better than surface application in controlling the yellow nutsedge weed.

Now grower experience is confirming that research.

Farmers who produce yellow bulb onions in Idaho and Oregon received special permission for the first time this year from their state agriculture departments to apply Outlook through drip irrigation. Previously, they were limited to surface application of the herbicide.

“We were very successful with” applying it through a drip system, Nyssa farmer Bruce Corn said. “It worked very, very good.”

About 95 percent of the 20,000 acres of bulb onions grown in Southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon are yellows and about 60 percent of them are on drip irrigation systems.

According to OSU researchers, Outlook is one of the most effective tools in controlling yellow nutsedge, which is the main weed challenge for growers in this region.

OSU Weed Scientist Joel Felix said growers who have used Outlook in drip systems this year are reporting good results.

“The growers that I’ve spoken to so far that are using it in a drip system are quite happy,” he said. “If you have a drip system, I think you’ll be wasting your money applying it over the top ... because we’re seeing much better nutsedge control from applying it through a drip system.”

The field trials Felix has led at OSU’s Malheur County Research Station the past three seasons are occurring in silt loam soil, and he said farmers with lighter soils would likely be better off applying Outlook at lower rates than those being applied at the station.

Growers in the area are limited to applying a total of 21 ounces of Outlook through a drip system per season.

The OSU trials are experimenting with different application rates.

For example, 7 ounces of the herbicide is being applied three different times over three weeks or 11 ounces is being applied and then 10 ounces two weeks later.

The herbicide will be more available in lighter soils than it is in loamy soils because of the reduction in organic matter and farmers with lighter soils should probably apply the herbicide at smaller rates, Felix said.

Applications are being studied at the plant’s two-leaf stage and having more of the herbicide available to the young plants could cause injury to them, Felix said.

“On the lighter soils, it might be better to go 5-5-5-6 or 7-7-7 or you may end up getting more injury to onions than a grower can stomach,” he said.

He said it’s also important that the herbicide be diluted with water and applied over an extended period. For example, OSU researchers are mixing 7 onces in 35 gallons of water and injecting that solution into the drip line for eight hours.

The Port of Morrow is expanding its capacity to recycle industrial wastewater for local farmers to irrigate their crops.

General Manager Gary Neal said as the port has grown there has been a sharp increase in the amount of wastewater generated by food processors and data centers at the East Beach Industrial Park. The nutrient-rich water is already used to water nearby farmland under a permit with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, but in order to keep up with the pace of growth, the port plans to build a 15-mile pipeline to pump additional effluent to Madison Ranches near Echo.

Neal said the project will benefit both sides, providing water to the farm and creating flexibility for the port to handle its wastewater.

“It’s a good fit,” Neal said. “You can grow basically any crop with that process water.”

Neal said they expect to start construction in September and finish by March 2017. The pipeline will run underneath both Highway 730 and Interstate 84 between the port and Madison Ranches. The entire project is expected to cost between $12 million and $13 million, and has been backed by the state Infrastructure Finance Authority.

Neal said the number of acres the port can use to apply wastewater will nearly double following the build-out.

“We obviously have had a lot of growth the past couple of years,” he said. “We’re trying to play catch-up and add some capacity.”

The port pumps wastewater to three different farms around Boardman, totaling roughly 6,000 acres. Ron McKinnis, engineer at the port, said they would have to build a wastewater treatment facility if they didn’t use land application. Not only would that be more expensive, but he said the farms would also lose out on water rich in nitrogen and phosphorous.

“It really is a good recycling project,” McKinnis said. “There’s a good crop benefit at the end of the day.”

Three ballot initiatives that would have restricted clear-cutting and aerial spraying in Oregon have failed to qualify for the November general election.

One of the petitions, which would have imposed new limits on aerial pesticide applications, was able to obtain the Oregon Supreme Court’s approval for its ballot title language.

However, that didn’t leave enough time for supporters to collect about 88,000 valid signatures by the July 8 deadline.

The state’s highest court has yet to rule on the ballot title for another petition that would restrict aerial spraying and logging in landslide-prone areas.

A third petition to prohibit clear-cut timber harvests was withdrawn by supporters due to legal complications involving forestland property value laws.

Steve Pedery, a chief petitioner for all three proposals, said the application process was started late and further hindered by legal challenges from the timber industry.

“Once we ended up in the court process, the clock was probably going to run out on us,” said Pedery, who is also conservation director for the Oregon Wild environmental non-profit.

However, Pedery said he’s pleased the Oregon Supreme Court has approved the ballot title for one of the initiative petitions, since such language is now likely to stand in future elections.

Oregon Wild is a taking a long-term interest in enacting timber reforms, possibly with initiatives on the 2018 or 2020 ballots, said Pedery.

Oregonians for Food & Shelter, an agribusiness group, is glad the “extreme and damaging measures” won’t be on the November ballot, but it’s likely the issues will be revived, said Scott Dahlman, its policy director.

Similar ideas will also probably surface in the Oregon legislature again next year, Dahlman said.

Lawmkers rejected such proposals during the 2015 legislative session in favor of a “more reasoned approach” once they learned about their negative consequences, he said.

“We think the people of Oregon would do the same if they were educated on the issue,” Dahlman said.

Supporters of proposed bans on aerial spraying in Lincoln and Lane counties are currently gathering signatures for ballot initiatives, he said.

However, time is running short for the Lincoln County effort while the deadline has passed for the Lane County petition to qualify for the November ballot, Dahlman said. Either petition could also qualify for the May 2017 election.

Sara Duncan, public affairs director for the Oregon Forest & Industries Council, said the timber industry has made great technological improvements to prevent off-site spray drift.

Aside from a few high-profile incidents, pesticide spraying in forestry has proven to be safe, she said.

“We already have stringent rules and regulations,” Duncan said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal prosecutor says Oregon standoff figure Ryan Bundy was working on a plan to escape from a Portland jail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoff Barrow dropped the bombshell at a hearing Monday in which Bundy and his brother Ammon sought to be released as they await trial on charges stemming from the January takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

In trying to show Ryan Bundy is a flight risk, Barrow said deputies searching Bundy’s cell in April found torn sheets braided together in a 12- to 15-foot rope, as well as extra towels, pillow cases and food.

Bundy denied he was attempting an escape, telling U.S. District Judge Robert Jones it is “self-serving speculation” and “simply not true.”

Barrow said Bundy’s excuse to jailers was that he’s a rancher and was practicing braiding. In court, Bundy told the judge he used the rope and towels for additional comfort.

Court records show Bundy hasn’t been charged with any crime related to the episode.

The leading figures in January’s takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have been behind bars for nearly six months. They contend the 41-day occupation was a peaceful protest, and getting out of jail will help them prepare for their September trial on conspiracy and weapons charges.

To win release, the brothers must convince Jones they are not a danger to the community and will return to Oregon in September. Jones said he’ll decide Tuesday whether to release them.

The brothers also face the possibility of being sent to a Nevada jail, where they are accused of taking part in a standoff with federal agents at the ranch of their father, Cliven Bundy.

Judge Jones noted that Ammon Bundy seems unlikely to flee the country. The Emmett, Idaho, resident has a wife, six children, owns a fleet-maintenance business and resides on a property that includes an orchard with 240 apple trees. But the judge worried about him returning for trial.

“He might want to hole up like his father did for two years,” he said. “I’m still concerned about that.”

Ammon Bundy took the stand late in the hearing, explaining that he and the other occupiers took action to protest the imprisonment of two Harney County ranchers and publicize their belief that the federal government has taken unconstitutional control of too much Western land.

He said prosecutors and the media mischaracterized the occupation as a “standoff,” when in reality they were open to communication and never specifically ordered to leave.

He said at most the occupiers were trespassing, and the charges that carry a combined maximum of more than 10 years in prison are wrong: “We should not be tucked away in a dark cell as we try to answer these (constitutional) questions.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight confirmed that the FBI never ordered the occupiers to leave, largely because they wanted a peaceful resolution. He said the Bundy clearly knew he wasn’t supposed to be on the property and Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward informed him that citizens wanted him to go.

“They can say what they want,” Knight said of the Bundys. “The reality is they do what they want.”

As to the question of danger, Knight conceded that prosecutors have no evidence that Ammon Bundy carried a firearm at the refuge. He said one of the 50 or so firearms seized at the end of the occupation was registered to Bundy and it was legally obtained.

Ryan Bundy read a lengthy statement in which he described himself as a peaceful man who’s devoted to his wife Angela and their eight children. He said the refuge was vacant when the group arrived Jan. 2 and that was intentional because they didn’t want a confrontation.

“I did not use violence when the government was shooting at me during the ambush and arrest,” he said, referencing the Jan. 26 traffic stop that concluded with the fatal shooting by police of Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.

Earlier Monday, Jones allowed occupier Shawna Cox to serve as her attorney, a step previously taken by Ryan Bundy and another two defendants. He wasn’t in favor the decision.

“It’s like a doctor trying to take out his own appendix; it’s stupid,” he said. The judge also warned her not to question the authority of the court or take other “screwball positions.”

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown, the primary judge overseeing the case, denied a motion seeking a change of venue. Brown agreed with defendants that media coverage has been extensive, but said it has been factual in nature and not so overwhelming that a sufficient number of potential jurors could not be impartial.

Moreover, Brown said the news coverage with the greatest potential for prejudice occurred during the standoff that began Jan. 2 and lasted nearly six weeks. With the trial scheduled to start in September, the events are not as fresh in the minds of potential jurors.

Environmental and fishing groups will be shut out from high-stakes litigation over Oregon’s forest management policies, according to a judge’s order.

Linn County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Murphy has denied a request by several non-profit organizations to intervene in the lawsuit, which seeks $1.4 billion from Oregon on behalf of multiple counties.

“Passionate concern about something does not qualify an applicant for intervenor status,” Murphy said in the ruling.

The proposed intervenors included the Wild Salmon Center and its policy director for Oregon and California, Robert Van Dyk, as well as the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Association of Northwest Guides and Anglers and Pacific Rivers Council.

Linn County filed a complaint against the State of Oregon earlier this year, arguing that 15 counties turned over 650,000 acres of their forestlands in the early 20th Century to the state in exchange for promises of future revenues.

In addition to Linn County, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, and Washington counties turned timberland over to the state.

Oregon has since breached that contract by enacting a “greatest permanent value” forest policy rule that prioritizes wildlife, water and recreation over logging, costing the counties $1.4 billion in past and future timber revenues, the complaint said.

The non-profit groups argued they should be allowed to intervene in the case because they have an interest in forest health and Linn County was effectively trying to increase logging in state forests.

However, the judge has held their participation is unnecessary in the litigation, which is focused on whether Oregon has violated contractual obligations to maximize timber revenues for the counties.

“Therefore the applicants have no unique ability to offer evidence to the court concerning the breach of contract issues,” Murphy said.

Intervenor status would have given the non-profits the full rights of defendants in the litigation. The judge also said they wouldn’t be allowed to submit friend-of-the-court briefs on legal issues in the case.

These arguments would focus on “consequences to third parties” of any potential ruling that shouldn’t be considered in a breach of contract dispute, he said.

Linn County opposed the proposed intervention of the non-profit groups because they could stand in the way of a possible settlement deal or challenge a ruling favorable to the counties.

“All they were seeking to do is be obstructionists,” said John DiLorenzo, an attorney for Linn County.

The role of the court in this case is to resolve a contractual dispute, not to “micromanage” the state’s forest management policy, DiLorenzo said.

To that extent, the non-profit groups have no more interest in the lawsuit than any other member of the public, he said.

Oregon can’t re-write its regulations without approval from legislators or state agencies, so the non-profits would have the opportunity to influence that process regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome, DiLorenzo said.

Ralph Bloemers, attorney for the non-profits, said he’s disappointed they’ve been excluded from the case because a possible remedy for Oregon would be to increase logging to the detriment of his clients.

The groups offered a different perspective than the State of Oregon because they don’t believe its forestlands are being managed in compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act or Clean Water Act even under current logging levels, Bloemers said.

Several timber groups are currently footing the legal costs for Linn County, which makes them represented in the litigation, he said.

The non-profit groups haven’t yet decided whether to appeal the denial of their intervention request, Bloemers said.