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.

Sept. 4: Today's Birthdays: Actress Mitzi Gaynor is 85. Actor Kenneth Kimmins ("Coach") is 75. Singer Merald "Bubba" Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips is 74. TV personality Dr. Jan Pol ("The Incredible Dr. Pol") is 74. Actress Jennifer…

A planned roundup of wild horses from the Three Fingers herd in Malheur County, Ore., has been canceled due to a rangeland fire in the area.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management decided to withdraw its decision to gather 100 of the herd’s 200 horses near Jordan Valley, Ore., in late August, forestalling at least temporarily an animal rights group’s lawsuit seeking to block the action.

Of the gathered horses, the BLM planned to remove half for eventual adoption and release the remainder after treating females with a contraceptive to slow the herd’s growth.

Friends of Animals, a New York-based nonprofit, filed a lawsuit against the agency, arguing the roundup was ordered without an environmental review, as mandated by federal law.

According to the complaint, BLM relied on an outdated environmental analysis from 2011 that didn’t take into consideration new information about the negative impacts of the fertility control drug Porcine Zona Penucide, or PZP.

The planned August roundup was also aimed at protecting sage grouse habitat and fire restoration projects, neither of which were studied under the 2011 analysis, the complaint said.

Since then, a study has found that PZP can remain effective longer than expected, causing foals to be born outside the normal birthing season, and is associated with ovulation failure, according to Friends of Animals.

The nonprofit group asked U.S. District Judge Michael Simon to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the roundup, which BLM opposed in court documents.

The BLM argued that it was permitted to rely on the 2011 analysis in forming its most recent decision to gather horses and that Friends of Animals hadn’t followed the proper administrative process to stop the roundup.

If the horses continue to multiply, they will spread out and damage areas that are only now beginning to recover from fires last year, the BLM said.

“That will lead to further degradation of the range, ultimately destroying the habitat on which they and numerous other wildlife rely,” the agency said in a court document.

Before oral arguments in the dispute could be held, however, BLM issued a notice that the roundup won’t take place because a wildfire had burned much of the area where it was to occur.

The BLM apparently referred to the Cherry Road Fire near Jordan Valley, which ignited on Aug. 21 and burned more than 35,000 acres before firefighters contained it on Aug. 28.

Friends of Animals has withdrawn its motion for a temporary restraining order, though it’s not dismissing the lawsuit while it weighs its options, the group said in a court filing.

A ewe was killed and eaten in northeastern Oregon’s Umatilla County in what Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has labeled a probable wolf attack.

The attack happened about 4 p.m. Aug. 16 on public land in ODFW’s Mount Emily wildlife management unit. A sheep herder heard a noise near his camp and found one of his guard dogs fighting with a black wolf. The herder fired his rifle into the air three times, scaring off the wolf. He found the ewe dead near where the dog and wolf were fighting.

The herder told a U.S. Wildlife Services agent about the attack two days later, and ODFW joined in a followup investigation. By then, the sheep carcass had been nearly consumed with only the skeletal system, small amounts of connective tissue, hide, rumen, and wool remaining, according to an ODFW report.

No evidence of a wolf attack could be found at the site, but trail camera video and tracks show a single wolf had used the area, according to ODFW. Coupled with the herder’s statement, it was enough for ODFW to declare the incident a “probable” wolf attack.

PORTLAND — Discovery of a Japanese beetle outbreak in Northwest Portland has state ag officials scrambling to determine the size of the infestation.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture said 265 beetles were caught in traps this summer in the vicinity of Northwest Saltzman Road and Northwest Thompson Road. Others were found feeding on homeowners’ roses, and the agency believes a localized breeding population has established itself in the area. They’ve probably been present for a year, the department said.

Japanese beetles are not native to the Pacific Northwest. In the past, they’ve been found near Portland International Airport, suggesting they hitched a ride on air cargo containers. The beetles feed on a variety of plants and pose a particular threat to crops such as cannabis, hops, nursery plants and wine grapes, according to the department.

The ag department does not plan an eradication campaign this year because it’s too late in the season, spokesman Bruce Pokarney said. The department will monitor the situation with the likely intent to do localized spraying next year, he said. The department probably would spray in two phases: Once to spray turf to get the beetles in their grub stage, and a second time to spray bushes once the beetles have emerged as adults.

In the meantime, the manager of ODA’s Insect Pest Prevention and Management program said homeowners can best help by cooperating with field technicians who are maintaining traps. Homeowners also should avoid moving plants, roots or soil from the infestation area because that could spread the beetles elsewhere, program manager Clint Burfitt said in a news release.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon police and two FBI agents could face a lawsuit from the widow of an Arizona rancher who took part in the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation and was killed in a confrontation with authorities.

California-based attorney Brian Claypool told the Oregonian/OregonLive that the lawsuit on behalf of Jeanette Finicum and the family has not been filed but that they are pursuing it “with 100 percent certainty.”

Prosecutors determined the shots fired at 54-year-old Robert “LaVoy” Finicum were “in fact, necessary.”

“All six shots fired by the Oregon State Police, the three into the truck and the three that struck Mr. Finicum, are justified,” Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said.

Claypool says evidence shows shots were fired contrary to statements made during the investigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether an agent lied about firing two shots that did not hit Finicum and if four others worked to hide it later.

Claypool said more details about the lawsuit would be announced at a news conference planned for September.

Jeanette Finicum has said in a statement that her “husband was murdered.”

A family statement said Finicum was “executed in cold blood.”

Claypool also represents Ryan Bundy in his case related to the occupation.

2016 Schedule

Back-to-school prep

Back-to-school prep

LANGLOIS — A month-long Silent Auction fundraiser is in progress at the Langlois Public Library. The Auction continues through Saturday, Sept. 10 when the annual Blueberry Bash ends the Silent Auction. You are cordially invited to the Blueberry Bash, a…