The Bandon Lions Cranberry Run will be held on Sunday, Sept. 11. The event, which helps fund charitable causes of the Bandon Lions Club, begins at 2 p.m. at the South Jetty parking lot (a change from previous years). Registration…

The Bandon Cranberry Festival Court Coronation is a time-honored tradition that began in 1947 with the crowning of the first queen, Lois Blakely. There was court the first year of the festival, in 1946. In 1947, Queen Lois and her…

Marshfield stunned defending state champion Cascade in the football season-opener Friday night, rallying from two scores down in the fourth quarter to win 35-29 on the final play at Turner.

Bandon's 70th Annual Cranberry Festival (smaller type)

ST. PAUL, Ore. — Though it’s certainly no metropolis, downtown St. Paul, Ore., isn’t always a convenient place to operate a fertilizer storage and blending facility.

Occasionally, the Marion Ag Service operation receives several night deliveries of fertilizer, waking nearby residents with trucks backing up and other loud noises.

“It would turn into a little mini-truck stop,” said John Hockett, the company’s vice president of sales.

The citizens of St. Paul will soon be able to sleep easy.

Marion Ag Service is building a massive 150,000-square-foot fertilizer facility on a rural highway more than five miles west of town. It is scheduled to open in December.

The facility marks a major expansion for the 40-year-old business.

Currently, the company stores 1,000 tons of fertilizer in St. Paul and 3,000 tons at its plant north of Salem, Ore.

The new operation will be able to store 29,000 tons, more than seven times its current total capacity.

With Interstate 5 nearby and a rail line passing right next to the facility, Marion Ag’s new plant will become a fertilizer hub for its operations as well as other farm suppliers in the region.

“When the season hits, the Willamette Valley doesn’t have enough storage. This will help take the pressure off the distribution system,” said Tom Wimmer, its chief operating officer.

Severe fertilizer price volatility in recent years has often discouraged farm suppliers from building up inventories — they’re afraid of being stuck with large stocks of expensive product when prices fall.

On the other hand, getting fertilizer delivered just in time to meet farmer demand is challenging, since they’re competing for railcars and trucks, Hockett said.

“If there’s that interruption in supply, then you’re not selling fertilizer,” he said.

Since the new facility will provide warehousing services for other fertilizer companies, including J.R. Simplot, Potash Corp. and International Raw Materials, Marion Ag Service won’t actually have to buy all the fertilizer needed to fill the plant’s capacity.

Marion Ag Service’s leaders aren’t disclosing the amount of money invested in the new facility, but they acknowledge the firm is making a multimillion-dollar bet on the health of the Willamette Valley’s farming industry.

The company expects that as the costs of running a farm continue to increase, local growers will switch to more crops that generate higher returns, said Jeff Freeman, its director of marketing.

Hazelnut orchards and vineyards are expanding, while blueberry production has already seen substantial growth in the area, he said. “It continues to migrate to higher-value cropping systems.”

In addition to increasing capacity, the new facility marks a leap forward in technology.

Instead of employees mixing batches of different fertilizers, the exact ratios will be determined and blended using an automated system.

The facility will be able to blend 50 tons of fertilizer in 9 minutes, compared to 6 tons in 15 minutes currently.

“It’s all computer-generated,” said Pat Hockett, the company’s vice president of production.

Despite the increased mechanization, Marion Ag Service doesn’t expect to reduce its workforce. In fact, the firm plans to grow from 90 to 110 employees.

“One thing we are proud of is we’re creating a lot of jobs here,” said Wimmer.

BANDON — Bandon’s football team faces an uphill challenge with limited numbers, but the Tigers are trying to stay positive.

NORTH BEND — Are you ready to find come great new treasures for your home? Come to the Coastal Vintage Market during Labor Day weekend at Pony Village Mall.

The sixth annual Washington Cider Week happens Sept. 8-18 and kicks off dozens of tastings and other events across the state as the booming industry celebrates its growth and looks to the future.

Cider Week — actually 11 days, but who’s counting — includes the Seattle Cider Summit Sept. 9-10 at South Lake Union Discovery Center.

The event comes as hard cider, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, follows on the heels of regional wine and beer to find favor with people who are willing to pay more for distinctive, high-quality, locally made adult beverages.

The same consumers who support local wineries and breweries seek out and support small cideries, said Emily Ritchie, executive director of the Northwest Cider Association. The number of association cider makers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia has jumped ten-fold in six years, she said. The region now has 70 to 80 cider makers, with about 20 more in the planning stage, she said.

“To my knowledge, none of them have quit,” Ritchie said. “They’re all selling all the cider they can make.”

Cider drinkers tend to be younger — 25 to 40 — and “more adventurous” drinkers, she said.

Seattle is the nation’s largest cider market, Ritchie said, and Portlanders drink the most cider per capita. A retired Cornell University cider expert, Ian Merwin, once estimated that people in Oregon, Washington and California drink 80 percent of the hard cider consumed in the U.S. Speakers at the U.S. Cider Association’s annual convention, held in Portland last February, said cider makes up 1.7 percent of alcohol sales nationally, but about 4 percent in Portland and Seattle.

Most Northwest cider is made from repurposed dessert apples, but the push is on to establish orchards of old, bittersweet French and English varieties that were used to make hard cider in colonial days.

“The supply of that is so low compared to demand,” Ritchie said. The association is using a specialty crop grant to get the word out, and held workshops on the topic last March.

At one, “We were expecting 20 farmers to show up and we had 150,” she said.

A calendar of Washington Cider Week events is on-line: http://www.nwcider.com/cider-events/

The first picture I am sharing this week is the Bandon waterfront, taken more than 50 years ago ... in 1958. I can still remember how it looked back then, which is so different than the area looks today. This…

Pick-your-own pumpkin patches, secret fall escapes and a tour through four states along the Connecticut River are a few of the ideas for enjoying autumn in New England in the September-October issue of Yankee magazine.

SALEM — For sheep breeder Monte Forster, the ribbons his Horned Dorsets won at this year’s Oregon State Fair provide more than just gratification.

The awards verify that Forster is maintaining champion-quality animals and progressing with his breeding efforts, which is important to buyers.

“By having the bloodlines we have, we sell them throughout North America,” said Forster.

In 2016, Forster received the award for premier exhibitor and his sheep racked up a champion ribbon and two reserve champion ribbons.

This year also marked the 55th season that he’s shown sheep at the Oregon State Fair, where the livestock pavilion is named after his late father, Lloyd “Bud” Forster, a longtime livestock supervisor at the event.

“We are the ambassadors of agriculture here in Oregon. This is our showcase,” Forster said of livestock producers who show at the fair.

Horned Dorsets are judged for how well they stack up against the standard appearance of the breed, as well as for their frame size and correct position of feet and legs.

The breed is prized by chefs for its tender meat and by farmers for the gentle disposition of the animals, Forster said.

“They’re docile. They’re actually emotional,” said Jed Forster, Monte’s son, adding that getting accidentally hit with a stray horn is the main danger. “Other than that, they don’t have a mean bone in their body.”

Apart from temperament, the breed is know for giving birth outside the regular lambing season, providing growers with more forage flexibility.

The Forster family has been farming near Tangent, Ore., for 131 years and breeding Horned Dorsets for 75 years. The 400 sheep they run on 100 acres are primarily for breeding stock, though the family also sells their meat directly to consumers.

By bringing animals to the state fair, the family also provides visitors with a connection agriculture they might not otherwise experience, said Forster. “There’s never a bad question.”

Overall participation in livestock competitions at the Oregon State Fair has been flat to up in 2016, depending on the type of animal, said Ellen Hannan, livestock office manager at the event.

The fair has seen a big uptick in swine and dairy goats this year, while beef cattle and sheep have stayed about the same, said Hannan.

“It really just fluctuates,” said Caleb Forcier, animal competition coordinator at the fair.

Cycling animals through the livestock facilities has been complicated due to the large number of FFA kids who want to compete in open class livestock shows, where they’re matched against professional breeders, she said.

“It’s a good problem to have,” said Forcier.

That’s because it’s heartening to see that children are excited enough about showing livestock to see how they stack up against the adults, Hannan said. “It shows enthusiasm.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge agreed Tuesday to let Oregon standoff defendants Ryan Bundy and Kenneth Medenbach represent themselves at their upcoming trial, despite concerns they won’t follow court rulings in the presence of the jury.

The men, along with co-defendant Shawna Cox, have been acting as their own lawyers in the run-up to the trial, with varying degrees of help from appointed standby attorneys.

U.S. District Judge Court Anna Brown threatened to take away their right to self-representation because they have repeatedly challenged the court’s jurisdiction. At a hearing Tuesday, she said the right to serve as your own lawyer is not a license to do whatever you want in a courtroom.

She wanted them to promise to follow her rulings and not raise issues in front of the jury that have already been resolved.

“I will follow all the rules,” Medenbach said.

Bundy was much more hesitant. The judge wanted a yes or no answer, but Bundy wouldn’t supply one, despite the urging of a female supporter in the gallery: “Say yes, Ryan.”

“I still have questions on some of those rulings,” Bundy said. He eventually agreed to only raise concerns when the jury is out of the room.

The men are among eight defendants preparing to stand trial on a charge of conspiring to impede federal employees from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The armed takeover of the refuge started Jan. 2 as a protest against the imprisonment of two local ranchers. It lasted 41 days.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 7 and opening statements are tentatively slated for Sept. 13.

Tuesday’s hearing got off to tough start for Bundy when the judge wouldn’t let a new volunteer paralegal sit at the defense table. The paralegal, identified as Jeremy Baker, arrived from Texas on Monday night.

Courtroom security ejected the paralegal when he left his seat, moved to the front bench of the gallery and tried to loudly whisper legal advice to Bundy while the judge was speaking.

Brown scheduled the hearing because she doesn’t want the trial to become a circus, and Bundy has repeatedly challenged the court’s jurisdiction while filing motions the judge considers frivolous. Medenbach, meanwhile, has questioned whether the government owns the refuge and if the judge took the proper oath of office after her 1999 appointment.

The judge said those matters are resolved and can’t be mentioned in front of a jury.

Matthew Schindler, Medenbach’s standby counsel, said his client only made those arguments to preserve the record for a potential appeal. Schindler is expected to take more active role during trial than Bundy’s standby counsel, but said Medenbach is still the one calling the shots. One of those orders apparently is to not pin the blame on the leaders.

“He doesn’t want me to denigrate Ryan Bundy; he doesn’t want me to go after Ammon Bundy,” Schindler said.

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Elected officials in an Oregon county rejected a proposed plan on Tuesday from a group of residents that sought greater local control over the management of federal lands.

The development came as local officials in the West are wrestling with ways to have greater say in how the vast swaths of federal land are managed.

The issue came to a head in adjacent Harney County, where an armed group from out of state seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and held it for 41 days.

About half of Crook County in Central Oregon is public land, most of it managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.

Passing the proposed Crook County Natural Resources Plan would create an “adversarial relationship” with federal agencies, BLM District Manager Carol Benkosky warned the three-member Crook County Court. About 100 spectators packed the meeting room in Prineville, the county seat.

The plan, drafted by a political action committee, would have ostensibly required the county court to be involved in “coordination” with federal agencies in managing hundreds of thousands of acres of forests and watersheds, prohibited retirement of grazing allotments and called for “the forest industry and the forest products commerce within the county” to be strengthened. Opponents of the plan said it had no legal basis.

Tyson Bertone-Riggs, federal forest health coordinator of the Oregon Department of Forestry, also said it would result in more litigation and “blocking actions” instead of moving things forward. He and other officials instead trumpeted consultations early and often between agencies and local stakeholders.

Resident Darlene Harpster got up and spoke on behalf of the plan, and denounced what she said was over-regulation by the U.S. government.

“The only thing I want to say is I want my freedom,” she said. “Government agencies want more regulation ... I don’t.”

At stake is the economic well-being of Crook County, which is 2½ times the size of Rhode Island, and other parts of the West that have been hit by restrictions on timber harvesting on federal lands and other regulations.

One woman who went to the microphones to speak about the plan indicated emotions have been running high.

The court voted 2-1 to reject the plan, with those opposed saying it could conflict at times with an existing county plan. The court suggested supporters refine it and submit it to the planning commission as a possible addition to the existing plan.

“This is an opportunity for the citizens of Crook County to have their voices heard,” county commissioner Seth Crawford, who voted for the plan, told The Associated Press. “So what I think we need to do as a county is listen, and try to use our natural resources more effectively.”

Tom Case, a backer of the plan, said the issue is not over.

“This has been an ongoing battle,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to end today.”

MOXEE, Wash. (AP) — Hop harvest in the Yakima Valley is underway and growers are expecting a record 91.8 million pounds in the Northwest this year.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that the expected figure is a 16 percent increase over 2015 and can be attributed to the growth of craft breweries and America’s budding taste for very hoppy beers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, production of hops has grown 50 percent since 2012.

However, the growth is being greeted cautiously as such a large supply may outpace demand.

Hop Growers of America Executive Director Ann George says unlike a few years ago, some hops are now sitting in warehouses, which signals that demand and supply are close to meeting.

The Yakima Valley grows about 75 percent of the country’s hops.

Bandon Football

Bandon’s sports teams move into full swing in the coming week.

Congrats to the Nemitz family for bringing Aronia berries to Wisconsin, well at least to cranberry country. And congrats too to Chris Krueger for his work as well. Read about it Here.

Local rivers: Jim Carey from the Rogue Outdoor Store told me that fall Chinook fishing on the lower Rogue River has been good. Lots of salmon in the 20-pound range are being caught along with plenty of jack salmon. Bank…

The Oregon State University Extension Service has issued a pest alert regarding the presence of true (common) armyworms in Willamette Valley grass seed crops.

The service wrote that large numbers of the pest have been spotted in tall fescue and orchardgrass seed fields in the past two weeks in both the south and north Willamette Valley.

The pest, Mythimna unipuncta, also has been seen on sudan grass planted as a cover crop between nursery stock rows.

“Extensive damage may result if the population is not treated,” the alert states. “Large numbers of larvae feed so voraciously that mass migrations of larvae can occur within a field and to adjacent fields very quickly.”

Armyworm outbreaks occur suddenly, the alert states, and in large numbers. In the alert, extension personnel Amy Dreves, Nicole Anderson and Clare Sullivan compared the pest to the new winter cutworm, which erupted in grass seed fields last summer.

According to an extension publication issued in February, cutworm damage is less uniform than armyworm damage, but both pests move en masse, potentially inflicting widespread damage to new growth in late summer and early fall.

The armyworm, like the cutworm, also inflicts damage sporadically. The last time an armyworm outbreak occurred in the Willamette Valley was 2004-2006, according to the alert. In that outbreak, the pest also was found in Southwest Oregon near Myrtle Point, and damaged grass pasture and corn in that area, according to Dreves.

In grass seed crops, the pest damages new growth by feeding on leaves and stems, leaving notched leaves and jagged leaf edges, according to the alert. Armyworms, like cutworms, can cause extension defoliation of plants over broad areas.

The alert advises growers to scout for the pest in and around crowns where birds are feeding and to dig around in the thatch of a plant and at its base. The pest feeds at night and curls into a C shape in the day in areas where it can avoid daylight.

The pest is not well adapted to light and needs moisture, according to the alert.

“We expect larval activity may slow down for a short period of time,” the Aug. 29 alert states. “However, activity will likely pick back up.”

The pest looks similar to winter cutworm, but the true armyworm is more smooth-bodied, tan-to-brown in color, about 0.5 to 1.5 inches long, with several alternating dark and light stripes and yellow-orange bands.

The alert states that several pesticide products are labeled for armyworm control, and that insecticides are most effective when applied while larvae are small.

“There is little benefit to spraying when the (larval) pest is full grown,” the alert states. “We recommend spraying at night, and rotating chemistries if more than one application is needed.”

I don’t remember the CMC releasing the crop forecast in this manner before, but the report is accurate and Here it is.  What do you think the crop looks like in your neck of the woods?  Wisconsin looks to be every berry of the 5.8mm bbl projection…but we will know for sure when that last truck drives off the scale.