The Tumalo Irrigation District in Central Oregon could save 4.9 billion gallons of water per season by converting nearly 70 miles of open ditches to pipes, according to a preliminary study by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Greater efficiency means more water available in-stream for fish and wildlife in the Deschutes River and Tumalo Creek, including Chinook salmon, summer steelhead, bull trout and the Oregon spotted frog, which was the subject of an environmental lawsuit in 2016.

The TID Irrigation Modernization Project calls for updating infrastructure to boost water conservation, enhance stream flows and provide greater reliability for farmers in the 28,000-acre district northwest of Bend.

Project funding is available in part through the NRCS, which released its draft Watershed Plan and Environmental Assessment on April 16. A public meeting is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, from at the Cascades Academy on Tumalo Reservoir Road in Bend.

Tom Makowski, assistant state conservationist for Watershed Resources and Planning with NRCS Oregon, said feedback will help the agency craft a final analysis and recommendation, which then goes to NRCS National Headquarters for authorization.

The entire project is expected to cost roughly $43 million, broken up into seven phases through 2028. The first phase, which Makowski said they hope to start this fall, will be the focus of the May 8 meeting.

Phase I will replace 1.9 miles of Tumalo Feed Canal, with $4.7 million provided by the NRCS Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. The district will also foot $1.5 million.

The Tumalo Irrigation District serves 667 patrons and 7,417 acres of irrigated land. Its two primary diversion sources are Tumalo Creek below Shevlin Park and the Deschutes River near Pioneer Park, along with water in Crescent Lake.

Natural resource agencies have identified stream flows in the region as a primary concern. A lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and WaterWatch of Oregon against the Bureau of Reclamation and five irrigation districts — including Tumalo — over spotted frog habitat was settled in 2016.

According to the NRCS analysis, the district’s antiquated irrigation canals and laterals also make it difficult to deliver the correct amount of water to patrons on time, particularly early and late in the season. The modernization project would provide a more reliable source of irrigation water, while also reducing energy costs by removing the need for most patrons’ individual pumps.

TID patrons currently use individual pumps to pressurize water from their private ditch or pond. Together, these pumps use approximately 6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, costing $584,000.

The TID Irrigation Modernization Project is a collaboration between the district, NRCS, Deschutes Basin Board of Control and Farmers Conservation Alliance, based in Hood River, Ore. The NRCS is also developing draft plans for two other draft Watershed Plans for the Central Oregon and Swalley irrigation districts to take advantage of agency funding. The public scoping period is now closed for both of those proposals.

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There is an error or misunderstanding in the unapproved Langlois Water District minutes for the April 4, 2018 meeting as posted on the district website.

The Langlois Lions Club is more than pleased to announce that our recent Spaghetti Feed and Dessert Auction was a huge success, going beyond all expectations. As a result, we are able to fund our Pacific High School senior scholarship…

Scott Alan Smith, former director of the Langlois Public Library, died Wednesday, March 21, at his home in Mosier, Oregon high above the Columbia River valley. He was only 61 years old.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers — including Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley — are pushing to legalize industrial hemp in a bill introduced April 12 in Congress.

The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 would define hemp as an agricultural commodity and remove it from the federal list of controlled substances. It would also allow states to become the primary regulators of hemp, while opening the door for hemp researchers to apply for USDA grants and hemp farmers to receive crop insurance.

Wyden and Merkley, both Democrats have joined Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in support of the bill, which they described as common sense legislation to promote jobs and assist American farmers.

“By legalizing hemp and empowering states to conduct their own oversight plans, we can give the hemp industry the tools necessary to create jobs and new opportunities for farmers and manufacturers across the country,” said McConnell, of Kentucky.

Oregon already has a program to regulate industrial hemp, established by House Bill 4060 in 2016. The state Department of Agriculture licenses hemp farmers and seed producers, and oversees the testing of hemp products for human consumption. Products may not exceed 0.3 percent average concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis.

Courtney Moran, a Portland-based attorney who serves as president and lobbyist for the Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association, said ODA licensed 233 industrial hemp farmers in 2017.

“We have a very progressive yet robust program in our state,” Moran said.

Moran said she has spent the last year and a half working with Wyden’s office on developing the Hemp Farming Act of 2018. If the bill passes, she said it will help clarify things like interstate transportation and banking for Oregon hemp growers and processors.

“If and when the federal bill does take effect, we have established a very solid framework for our program,” she said.

Hemp is used in a variety of products. As a food, both the seeds and leaves can be eaten raw and are a rich source of protein and B vitamins. Hemp was one of the first plants to be spun into fiber 10,000 years ago, and can be made into clothing, textiles, paper, biodegradable plastics and insulation.

In an interview with the Capital Press, Wyden said he was first struck by hemp years ago while visiting a Costco store in Southeast Portland. There, He saw a package of hemp hearts for sale, and a thought crossed his mind.

“It seems to me that if you can buy (hemp) at a big supermarket in Oregon, you ought to be able to grow it here in Oregon,” Wyden said.

Wyden has introduced bills to legalize hemp in 2012, 2013 and most recently in 2015, and despite previous defeats, he is more optimistic about the fate of the 2018 hemp bill with support from influential GOP allies such as McConnell.

As Wyden repeatedly emphasized, people cannot get high on hemp with its low concentrations of THC.

“This is not a criminal justice issue. This is an agricultural issue,” he said. “Farmers tell me this is a big opportunity for them.”

Moran is similarly optimistic about including the legislation in this year’s farm bill.

“I think we definitely have our best chance that we’ve ever had,” Moran said. “(McConnell) has a lot of political power, and having his support definitely changes the conversation.”

In a statement, Merkley said it is past time to move beyond “outdated and frustrating” restrictions on hemp farming in the U.S.

Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, plans to introduce a companion version of the bill in the House of Representatives.

The Langlois Lions Club is more than pleased to announce that our recent Spaghetti Feed and Dessert Auction was a huge success — going beyond all expectations.

Tuesdays

COOS BAY — Southwestern Oregon Community College students who have excelled during the winter term of 2017-18 were honored by placement on the college’s dean’s, honor roll and academic excellence lists. Students must have had at least 12 credit hours.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Republican Congress members from the Pacific Northwest are upset with a federal judge’s order to spill water from four Snake River dams to help speed migrating salmon to the Pacific Ocean.

They say the water could be saved for other uses and are denouncing the spill, which began April 3, and a push by environmentalists to remove the four dams to increase wild salmon runs.

“Dams and fish can co-exist,” Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse, whose Washington districts include the dams, said in a joint statement.

The four dams, built in the 1960s and 1970s, provide hydropower, flood control, navigation, irrigation and recreation benefits, supporters say. But the giant dams are also blamed for killing wild salmon, an iconic species in the Northwest.

McMorris Rodgers and Newhouse have introduced a bill that would prevent any changes in dam operations until 2022. The measure was co-sponsored by Republican House members from Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, along with Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon.

It passed the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday and heads to the floor in coming weeks.

“Without Snake and Columbia river dams and the many benefits they provide, life in central Washington as we know it would be unrecognizable,” Newhouse said.

Hydropower is the Northwest’s lifeblood, said Republican Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho.

“For a liberal judge to ignore the broad scientific consensus of the federal government and the states of Idaho, Washington and Montana is unconscionable and must be stopped,” he said.

The increased spill will cost some $40 million in lost power sales, and could hurt transportation and barging on the rivers, flood control and irrigation systems, Republicans contend.

But Democrats argue studies of the dams, including whether they should be removed, must go forward.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington recently sent a letter to House and Senate leadership saying the river’s management must include salmon recovery.

The letter criticized the bill to prevent changes in dam operations. It was signed by Murray and Democratic Reps. Adam Smith and Pramila Jayapal of Washington.

“The Columbia and Snake River system is essential to the Pacific Northwest’s culture, environment and economy,” the letter said.

The four dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite — span the Snake River between the Washington cities of Pasco and Pullman. Together they produce about 4 percent of the region’s electricity.

Replacing that power would require the equivalent of two nuclear power plants, Labrador said.

Environmental groups disagree.

A new study contends other renewable sources could replace the dams’ power for a little more than $1 a month for the average Northwest household.

The study “explodes the myth that we can’t have both wild salmon and clean energy,” said Joseph Bogaard, director of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. “We can remove these four deadly dams, restore one of our nation’s great salmon rivers and improve the Northwest’s energy system.”

But supporters of the dams say wind and solar power are too unreliable to replace the lost hydropower.

The Columbia-Snake river system holds more than a dozen imperiled salmon runs, and the federal government has spent more than $15 billion since 1978 on efforts to save the fish.

But those efforts have pushed wild salmon, orca and other fish and wildlife populations closer to extinction, Bogaard said.

Removing the dams is the only way to save the salmon runs, conservation groups say.

“Salmon are in desperate need of help now,” Earthjustice attorney Todd True said.

Advocates for fishermen also hailed the decision to increase spill, saying it will produce larger adult salmon returns.

Proposals to remove the four dams have percolated in the Northwest for decades, and have devolved into a largely partisan issue with Democrats generally on the side of the fish and Republicans for keeping the dams.

The latest skirmish began in March 2017, when U.S. District Judge Michael Simon of Portland, Oregon, ordered the dams to increase spill beginning this spring. Federal agencies have estimated increasing spill until mid-June will cost electric ratepayers $40 million in lost power revenues in 2018 alone.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in early February rejected an appeal of Simon’s order.

The dams operate under a plan created by a collaboration of federal agencies, states and tribes during the Obama administration to protect salmon.

But Simon found it does not do enough. He ruled a new environmental study is needed, and it must consider the option of removing the dams. Simon also wrote that wild salmon were in a “precarious” state.

That was disputed by Terry Flores, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, a group that includes farmers, utilities, ports and businesses.

Flores contended spilling so much water from the dams injects high levels of gas into the water, which can kill fish. The churning water at the dams also can prevent the next generation of returning salmon from accessing fish ladders and keep them from reaching spawning streams, she said.

“It’s a bad plan that will cost families and businesses, do little to help, and may even harm protected salmon, and add tons of carbon to our air,” Flores said of the spill. “We shouldn’t throw good money at a bad plan.”

A second organic potato farm in Oregon’s Klamath Basin has filed for bankruptcy, potentially pointing to tougher conditions in this niche market.

Carleton Farms of Merrill, Ore., is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which allows companies to stay operational while restructuring debt.

The outfit grows potatoes and other crops on about 4,000 acres, with about half that acreage under organic production.

Carleton Farms owes between $10 million and $50 million to fewer than 100 creditors, with assets of $1 million to $10 million, according to its bankruptcy petition.

Umpqua Bank of Roseburg, Ore., is the company’s largest unsecured creditor, with more than 70 percent of its $17.5 million loan to the farm unsecured by collateral.

In late 2017, Wong Potatoes of Klamath Falls, which grows organic and conventional potatoes on 5,000 acres, also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company has liabilities of $2.9 million and assets of $2.5 million.

Carleton Farms and Wong Potatoes have been involved in litigation against each other since 2016 over the operations of a joint venture and other disputes, according to court documents.

Regardless of these farms’ particular financial troubles, experts say the organic potato industry has grown more competitive in recent years.

“I wonder if we just got too many acres too quickly,” said Brian Charlton, cropping systems specialist at Oregon State University’s Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center.

The Klamath Basin’s high elevation and low winter temperatures help suppress fungus and insect problems in potatoes, which makes the region well-suited to organic production, he said.

“I think we’re one of the best locations in the Northwest to grow organic potatoes,” Charlton said.

Organic potato acreage recently grew to about 2,000 acres in the basin, up from about 800 acres seven years ago, he said. Due to lower pricing and water availability, though, organic potato acreage will likely drop by 30 percent in 2018.

“It can be just as volatile as the conventional,” said Scott Cheyne, assistant manager of the Klamath Irrigation District, who has experience in potato farming.

With more organic potatoes to choose from, buyers can expect farmers to beat each other on price, Cheyne said.

Growers also have to cull many organic potatoes that don’t meet quality standards, he said. “For whatever reason, the organic buyers are more picky.”

Culling a higher proportion of their organic potato crop can quickly cut into profits, Cheyne said.

Organic potatoes yield about 35,000 pounds to the acre, compared to about 55,000 pounds for conventional potatoes, said Ed Staunton, whose family owns Staunton Farms of Tulelake, Calif.

Farmers also don’t have as many products to control sprouting and discoloration in organic potatoes, compared to the conventionally grown crop, said Staunton.

“People want organic produce but they want it to look better or as good as conventional produce,” he said. “But we don’t have the tools to have them look as good.”

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro Saturday to demand answers in the death of city councilwoman and human rights activist Marielle Franco, whose slaying one month ago is seen by…

Phillip Walker, a Salem tree fruit and nut grower who held leadership positions in the agricultural industry for many years, died of cancer April 6. He was 64.

Walker served on the Oregon Hazelnut Commission from 1991 to 1997 and from 2003 to 2009, including serving as chairman for three years and treasurer for three years. From 1987 to 1991, Walker was a member of the Nut Grower Society Board, serving as president of the society in 1991. He received the Nut Grower of the Year award in 1997.

Walker served as a Polk County Commissioner in 1998 and from 2003 to 2005. He served a stint on the Polk County Budget Committee, on the Polk County Citizens Advisory Committee for Corrections Facilities and on the West Salem Little League Board of Directors.

For nearly 30 years, Walker served on the board of Oregon State University’s Agricultural Research Foundation, from 1991 until his death, including serving as president of the foundation from 2009 until his death.

“Phil was a great leader,” said Ralph Fisher, who is taking over as president of the foundation and who worked with Walker throughout Walker’s tenure as foundation president. “He was one of those guys that when he spoke, you listened, just because of his depth of knowledge on topics and his organizational understanding.

“His passing is a great loss for agriculture and the community of Salem and the state of Oregon,” Fisher said.

“Phil was frank and fair and an inspiration to his peers, and certainly to me,” said Polly Owen, director of the Hazelnut Industry Office, who worked with Walker for more than two decades. “He was a master at ensuring that all points of view were clear before decisions were made regarding the industry.

“I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had through the years to work side-by-side and for Phil,” Owen said. “The hazelnut community has lost an important voice and a very special friend.”

Walker grew up working the family’s orchards west of Salem and returned to the farm after graduating from the University of Oregon in 1975. He took over management of Walkdale Farms from his father, Gordon, in the mid-1980s.

Orchardist Doug Olsen pointed out that Walker also was “very involved in the cherry industry, being one of the valley’s largest growers.”

“Most of all,” Olsen said, “he was a great friend and will greatly be missed.”

Walker’s family’s legacy in Oregon agriculture dates back six generations to when his ancestor Michael Henry Walker traveled the Oregon Trail from Iowa in a covered wagon and started farming near Independence in the mid-1800s.

Walker is survived by his wife of 38 years, Rebecca; his sons Marcus, William and Joseph; his stepmother Nancy Walker; his sisters Rachel Walker, Karen Walker and Susan Glaze; and his grandchildren Payten Walker and Rocco Walker.

A memorial service for Walker will be held at Zenith Vineyard, 5657 Zena Road N.W., Salem, on May 4 at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow.

The family is asking that donations in Phil’s memory be made to the Agricultural Research Foundation at OSU, 1600 S.W. Western Blvd., Suite 320, Corvallis, Ore. 97333, or to the Boys and Girls Club of Salem, 1395 Summer St. N.E., Salem 97301.

The specter of drought is continuing to spread across snow-starved areas of southern and Eastern Oregon.

Gov. Kate Brown on Friday declared a drought emergency for Grant County, where the John Day Basin has experienced just half its normal snowpack for the year. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is also calling for “well below normal” stream flows heading into summer, which could have a significant impact on local farms and ranches.

Grant County becomes the second county in Oregon to officially declare drought. The governor already signed a drought declaration for Klamath County on March 13.

“For portions of Oregon, including Grant County, drought forecasts are already predicting a troubling year ahead,” Brown said. “To minimize the impacts drought, severe weather and wildfire conditions could have on the local economy, I’m directing state agencies to work with local and federal partners to provide assistance to the Grant County community.”

County commissioners passed a resolution March 14 declaring drought, and asking the state to follow suit. In a letter to the Oregon Water Resources Department and Office of Emergency Management, the commissioners said seasonal drought within the region could dramatically increase wildfire danger, and result in significant agricultural losses.

In 2015, Grant County was ravaged by the destructive Canyon Creek Complex, which torched more than 110,000 acres and destroyed more than 40 homes south of John Day and Canyon City.

A drought declaration gives the Water Resources Department a few additional tools at its disposal to assist communities and water right holders, such as issuing temporary emergency water use permits, water exchanges, substitutions and in-stream leases.

The U.S. Drought Monitor currently lists most of Grant County in “moderate drought.” According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, Oregon can largely expect above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation for the next three months.

No other counties have applied for drought relief, according to a spokeswoman with the Water Resources Department. All major basins statewide are reporting less-than-average snowpack, with the lowest levels in the Owyhee, Malheur and Klamath basins of southern Oregon.

A judge has ordered a controversial Oregon dairy not to interfere with the liquidation sale of its cattle herd to satisfy the demands of a creditor.

Morrow County Circuit Judge Jon Lieuallen has entered a preliminary injunction requiring Greg Te Velde, owner of Lost Valley Farm in Boardman, to cooperate with the preparation of an auction scheduled for April 27.

The injunction was requested by Rabobank, a major farm lender that filed a lawsuit seeking to foreclose on the dairy’s assets, which serve as collateral for $60 million in defaulted loans.

However, it’s possible the preliminary injunction won’t be the last word on the proposed auction of 10,500 cows and 4,000 replacement heifers, which is to be conducted by the Toppenish Livestock Commission.

Lieuallen said the order doesn’t prohibit the dairy from filing a petition for bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

The dairy’s obligations to cooperate with the auction would be suspended if the company files for bankruptcy protection, unless Rabobank obtains relief from the automatic stay on debt collection, the judge said.

Lost Valley Farm was controversial even before it began operating a year ago, with environmental groups and others arguing the facility will cause air and water pollution.

Citing unauthorized manure discharge and other violations, the Oregon Department of Agriculture fined the dairy more than $10,000 earlier this year and then filed a lawsuit to stop the facility from generating waste — which would effectively shut down its operations.

That lawsuit was settled when the dairy agreed to generate less than 65,000 gallons of waste a day and maintain open capacity in its manure lagoons.

Lost Valley Farm’s troubles convinced the Tillamook County Creamery Association to terminate a milk-buying contract with the facility.

Even so, Tillamook has continued to buy milk from the dairy to avoid the “environmental and animal health risk” of suddenly halting its operations, though the creamery is requiring additional safety testing.

Ranches in Nebraska and Idaho are seeking $376,000 in a lawsuit that accuses an Oregon cattle company of negligence that resulted in deformed calves.

The complaint claims that Riverside Ranch Cattle and affiliated bovine reproduction companies in Prairie City, Ore., sold cows that had consumed toxic lupine plants while pregnant.

Those “recipient cows” had been implanted with embryos from Hoffman Ranch in Nebraska and Colyer Herefords in Idaho, which later bought the pregnant animals from the Oregon company.

The arrangement was part of an “embryo transfer,” which allows cows with elite genetics to more quickly produce multiple offspring.

Under this process, hormone treatments cause a cow’s ovaries to generate several eggs at the same time, which are then fertilized with sperm. The resulting embryos are then “flushed” from its uterus and implanted into other cows that serve as surrogate mothers.

In this case, the plaintiffs allege that recipient cows were exposed to lupine during a critical point of their pregnancy while under the care of Riverside Ranch Cattle in the spring or summer of 2015 and 2016.

Alkaloids in lupine plants caused 23 of the 40 recipient cows bought by Hoffman Ranch to give birth to calves with defects such as crooked legs and malformed spines in 2015, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges that lupine consumption similarly caused “crooked calf syndrome” in 45 of the 64 recipient cows bought by Colyer Herefords in 2016.

The plaintiffs claim that 22 calves died or had to be euthanized due to the syndrome.

Riverside Ranch Cattle was negligent in failing to prevent the recipient cows from eating the lupines, resulting in a breach of contract, the complaint said.

Hoffman Ranch seeks $133,800 and Colyer Herefords seeks $242,600 in damages for the lost value of deformed cows as well as reimbursement of fees for embryo transfer, pasture access and transportation. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Oregon’s Pendleton division.

Capital Press was unable to reach the defendants for comment.

After finishing as national runner-up in the Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet at the 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville, Jenny Freeborn arrived Thursday at Ag West Supply in Rickreall, Ore., to claim her prize.

Freeborn, who chairs the Oregon Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, received a Farmall 50A tractor donated by Case IH for her impressive showing at the event. Matt Mollard, territory sales manager for Case IH, was also on hand Thursday to give Freeborn the key.

“This is literally something I’ve been working on since I was 15 years old,” Freeborn said of competing in the national Discussion Meet. “It really is a dream come true for me. The fact that this actually happened is incredible.”

The Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet is a competitive event that simulates a committee meeting, with members swapping information and ideas on a predetermined topic. The list of topics for Freeborn included:

• Round 1 — With a growing demand for U.S. farm products abroad, how can agriculture overcome public skepticism of foreign trade to negotiate new trade agreements and open new world markets?

• Round 2 — How can Farm Bureau help members with increasing legal and regulatory obstacles so they can focus on farming and ranching?

• Sweet 16 — How can farmers and ranchers maintain their buying power with the continued trend of input supplier and provider consolidations?

• Final Four — Farmers are a shrinking percentage of the population. How can Farm Bureau help first-generation farmers and ranchers get started in agriculture?

The night before the Final Four, Freeborn said she couldn’t eat or sleep. Her sister, Kathy Hadley, who also made the Sweet 16 in 2016, stayed with her to provide support.

Above all else, Freeborn said she was thrilled to shine a spotlight on the good work being done by the Oregon Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee.

“That was the best part of it for me, knowing that I am bringing attention and notoriety to our state,” she said.

Freeborn, who lives on the family farm in Rickreall, was appointed chairwoman of the committee in December 2017. The group is specifically for Farm Bureau members between the ages of 16 and 35.

Martha Smith of Colorado won the discussion meet. Jared Knock of South Dakota placed third, and fourth place went to Matt Jakubik of Michigan.

A merged, automated and otherwise fine-tuned Baker & Murakami Produce heads into the home stretch of the Northwest onion marketing season bullish on its position in the industry.

Baker Packing Co. and Murakami Produce, both of Ontario, Ore., on July 1 took equal ownership in the new Baker & Murakami Produce Co. LLP. The company grows, packs and ships onions supplied to a full range of customers including foodservice, retail and food-processing segments.

“We have built a lot of momentum this year and we are in a very good position moving forward,” Baker & Murakami Chief Operating Officer Cameron Skeen said.

Combining two longtime Ontario businesses into one included substantial automation that streamlined operations and positioned the post-merger company to more effectively deal with the tight labor market, he said. Automation also led to better quality control.

Innovation in agriculture is positive at county, state and national levels, said Malheur County Economic Development Corp. Director Greg Smith, who is based in Ontario.

“While there may be short-term reductions in employment, it does lead to greater stability and profitability for the industry,” Smith said.

The former Baker Packing location at 153 S.E. First St. houses packing operations and the sales office. The former Murakami Produce facility includes the business office, and field and storage operations.

Following the merger and integration of the two large companies, Baker & Murakami has the same broad customer base but is more efficient and competitive, Skeen said. The company has better technology and more in-depth quality control that helps put a better onion in the hands of customers, he said.

“Our grading capabilities are much more extensive and sophisticated,” Skeen said. The new grading equipment evaluates characteristics of the inside and outside of an onion, and sorts by characteristics including color. The automated system also weighs, sizes and bags onions, and places them on pallets.

Automation and other internal changes helped Baker & Murakami streamline its workforce and in turn help the company deal with a persistent labor shortage.

Skeen did not release pre-merger or current employee totals. He said the merged company runs a single shift as the two independent predecessors each did. Employees added skills as Baker & Murakami moved ahead with new systems and processes.

Automation is the wave of the future, he said, and “we are trying to push ourselves for long-term success.”

It hasn’t been easy.

“This year has been a real learning curve with a lot of moving parts putting two companies together,” Skeen said.

The united company found the right operating structure, and the right equipment, to change and improve upon what the predecessor enterprises did for years, he said.

“It has been challenging in that regard, but at the same time we feel like we are ahead of where we thought we would be,” Skeen said. “I feel like we are definitely ahead of the curve for our area.”

Southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho field nearly 30 onion packing and shipping companies, he said. The Northwest marketing season, during which onions go from growers and packer-shippers to customers, typically ends in May.