CORVALLIS, Ore. — If the 1,400 students attending the Oregon FFA state convention had some questions about career prospects, Alexzandra “Alex” Murphy was offering some answers.

Murphy teaches a new precision irrigated agriculture program at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, and she said ag employers are clamoring to hire people trained in new technology.

“People have been asking me for students,” she said while stationed at a college information booth. “There is a huge demand for workers. Everywhere I go, they say, ‘We want more good workers.’”

Students with FFA experience are particularly attractive to employers, she said, because they’re already tuned into multiple facets of agriculture. And it hasn’t been difficult recruiting students to study precision ag applications, Murphy added.

“I don’t know too many kids who don’t get excited about technology,” she said with a laugh. “Turning off your (irrigation) pivot with a cell phone is awesome.”

Blue Mountain Community College was among the career vendors participating in the convention, held March 18-21 at Oregon State University. Students from Future Farmers of America chapters across the state attended. Among many activities, they took part in public speaking and parliamentary procedure competitions, heard from guest speakers and had a little fun on the side, such as a session on western dancing.

State officers for 2016-17 were selected as well. They are: President Shea Booster, of Bend; Vice President Hailee Patterson, of Imbler; Secretary Liberty Greenlund, of Yamhill-Carlton; Treasurer Raymond Seal, of Joseph; Reporter Zanden Unger, of Dallas; and Sentinel Bryson Price, of Sutherlin.

While advisers such as Murphy of BMCC were available to offer career advice, other convention speakers had something to say about life in general.

Kelly Barnes, a motivational speaker from Oklahoma, used a fast-paced presentation to suggest students should examine their lives and make changes.

Barnes, who grew up on family dairy and beef operations, said he found his calling during an FFA leadership conference and now spends his time talking to corporate and educational groups.

To the Oregon FFA students, Barnes listed three areas for consideration.

He asked them to realize they have ingrained habits or daily routines, things they do without thinking that may be wasting time or even holding them back.

“When we do things a certain way, what happens when someone asks you to change?” he asked. “The answer is no.”

Barnes said students should review what he called their “inputs,” the music, movies, books or organizations such as FFA that influence their lives. While many students will say they don’t act badly because of coarse entertainment, for example, they will acknowledge that other inputs make them feel sad, happy, excited or inspired.

“You put good things in, good things come out,” Barnes said.

Last, Barnes talked about the “rule of five.” He asked students to think of their interactions with five friends. Of that group, he said, who is the smartest, has the most goals, makes the best decisions and is looked at as a leader.

“The rule of five says you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” he said. “If you’re the smartest, who’s pushing you to be smarter?

“Find people who are going to push you,” Barnes concluded. “Surround yourself with people who are better than you.”

Thursday, March 24

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Opponents of a proposed Nestlé water bottling plant in the Columbia River Gorge are now facing an organized group of project supporters.

The Oregonian reports the Coalition for a Strong Gorge Economy registered with the Oregon Secretary of State earlier this month as the group in favor of the plant while the Local Water Alliance continues pushing against the project.

Hood River County voters will decide a ballot measure in May banning water bottling operations that produce over 1,000 gallons daily. Nestlé plans on packaging 11 times that amount in an hour, on average.

Nestlé released a video on Twitter supporting the project as an economic driver.

Opponents released their own characterizing Nestlé as a bully exploiting resources.

Both sides are using airwaves and phones to spread their message.

PORTLAND — A survey of this city’s CSA operations shows they maintain a small but solid niche with consumers wanting direct connection to the farmers growing their food.

In 2015, 51 farms reported gross sales of $2.4 million within the city. The farms managed 6,000 shares, as the Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions are known.

Portland CSA sales were estimated at about $900,000 in 2008. Nationally, CSA sales in 2015 were estimated at $36 million, with an average CSA box value of $47.21.

In CSA operations, customers agree to buy a certain amount of food — most commonly vegetables but in some cases eggs, meat, fish and dairy products — which is delivered to a drop-off site on a weekly basis. The arrangement gives farmers stability in the form of a pre-determined market and gives consumers fresh, seasonal, local food with no middleman.

The arrangement is especially popular in cities such as Portland, where many residents are intensely interested in knowing where their food comes from and who’s growing it.

No one is under the illusion that CSAs can feed everyone in Portland, said Steve Cohen, Food Policy and Programs manager in the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

But it has become city policy to support small, urban, alternative operations. In 2002, Portland established a Food Policy Council with the expressed desire to create a “vibrant, sustainable and equitable food system.”

In 2012, the city revised its zoning regulations to specifically allow and encourage community gardens, farmers markets, CSA distribution sites and related activities.

The zoning revisions gave official approval to what was already happening in the city and was likely to increase, Cohen said.

The benefits of such policy changes go beyond increased CSA sales figures, he said. They reconnect city residents, especially children, with how real food is grown and what it tastes like.

“We want young kids to know where food comes from,” Cohen said. “But the main thing is that they realize just how hard it is for farmers to do what they do.”

Six defendants in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation are headed to Nevada.

District Judge Anna Brown ruled Tuesday that U.S. marshals must transfer occupation leaders Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne, Blaine Cooper, Brian Cavalier and Pete Santilli to Nevada on April 13.

They’ll face arraignment on charges related to an April 2014 armed standoff near Cliven Bundy’s ranch.

The judge said she wanted federal agents to return the six to Oregon a week later.

However, one of the occupiers’ Nevada-based defense attorneys said she will fight to keep the men in Nevada. The lawyer said the occupiers face far more serious charges in the Nevada standoff. She also said attorneys there can’t prepare an adequate defense if the men remain in Oregon.

ONTARIO, Ore. — The Owyhee Irrigation District board of directors has set the 2016 allotment for OID patrons at 3 acre-feet.

That’s significantly more than irrigators have received the past three years and the allotment is expected to increase as more water flows into the Owyhee Reservoir.

Board members opted to be conservative and set the allotment based only on what is currently in the reservoir, OID Manager Jay Chamberlin said March 22 during the group’s annual meeting.

“We know there is 3 acre-feet in the reservoir today and we can deliver that to you,” he said.

The reservoir provides irrigation water for 1,800 farms and 118,000 acres in Malheur County in Eastern Oregon and around Homedale and Marsing in southwestern Idaho.

Significantly more water is forecast to flow into the reservoir and “as that water becomes available, that allotment will be increased,” Chamberlin said. “I feel very comfortable saying the allotment is going to go up from that 3 acre-feet. How far, we can’t say.”

OID patrons are entitled to up to 4 acre-feet in a normal water year but only received 1.7 acre-feet in 2015 and 1.6 acre-feet in 2014 because of lingering drought conditions.

Based on the past 30 years, total reservoir in-flows average 534,000 acre-feet a year, but only 96,000 acre-feet reached the reservoir in 2015 and 106,000 in 2014, said Brian Sauer, a water operations manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

But the bureau is forecasting that total Owyhee Reservoir in-flows will reach 862,000 acre-feet this year,

“Things look a lot better than where they were last year,” Sauer said. “There’s a fair amount of snow still up in the basin (to) come into the reservoir.”

Snowpack levels were up significantly this year, said Chamberlin, who flew over the basin on Feb. 26.

“It was refreshing to see how much snow we had over the whole basin,” he said. “We’ve got a good start here.”

Based on the snowpack levels and the Bureau of Reclamation total reservoir in-flow forecast for 2016, a lot more water is headed for the reservoir, Chamberlin said.

He said he is confident OID patrons will end up with their full 4 acre-foot allotment this year.

“But until we get that, we’re going to be very cautious,” he said.

The target date to start the OID system is April 11 but the board will meet again next week and that could change depending on weather conditions, Chamberlin said.

There was no storage water left in the reservoir at the end of the 2015 season, the fourth straight year that happened. That was the longest such stretch since at least 1966, Sauer said.

“This has been an unprecedented string of bad water years,” he said.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The last named defendant in the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge was still at large Tuesday, drawing calls for supporters to flock to his Montana hometown and a local sheriff to urge outsiders to stay out of it.

Supporters of the 41-day standoff this winter over U.S. land restrictions used social media to rally behind Jake Ryan, urging the sheriff to resist federal efforts to apprehend him and for people to head to the small northwestern town of Plains to pray with Ryan’s family.

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel, trying to head off any new armed conflicts, warned standoff supporters to stay away during negotiations for Ryan’s arrest.

“There is no standoff, and I want to keep it that way,” Rummel told The Associated Press. “I don’t need anybody showing up in my county that’s only going to add tension to the situation.”

A federal judge released Ryan’s name Monday as the 26th defendant charged in connection with the occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ryan and another man are accused of using heavy equipment to dig a trench through a Native American archaeological site at the refuge.

He and Travis Cox were the only people facing charges who had not been arrested by Tuesday morning.

The sheriff, like the occupation supporters, is wary of federal officials. Rummel once gave his support to failed legislation in Montana that would have required any federal agent to get written permission from a sheriff before making an arrest or conducting a search in that sheriff’s jurisdiction.

However, he has sought to be a facilitator in this case. In response to Ryan’s supporters, Rummel released a statement Monday saying he intends to provide for Ryan’s safety and rights. He said an attorney hired by Ryan’s family is working with the FBI on the charges.

Ryan’s mother, Roxsanna Ryan, said she does not know where her son is. A few of Ryan’s friends have shown up at their home to wait with the family, but she declined to give details during a brief interview with the AP.

“We’re just waiting and waiting on something to happen,” she said. “Until that happens, we’re not going to reveal a lot.”

Ryan participated in the armed standoff that launched Jan. 2 to demand the government to turn over public lands to local control and oppose prison terms for two ranchers convicted of setting fires. The occupation ended Feb. 11 with the surrender of four holdouts.

Ryan faces charges of depredation of government property, conspiracy to impede officers and possession of weapons in a federal facility.

EUGENE, Ore. — A federal judge has rejected a request by environmentalists to drastically modify how water in several Central Oregon reservoirs is managed.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken said the environmental groups failed to show that such a preliminary injunction was justified to protect the threatened Oregon spotted frog.

“It was a very difficult burden for you and I don’t believe you’ve met it,” she said at the end of an oral argument hearing here March 22.

At the outset of the hearing, Aiken warned an overflow crowd “right off the bat” that she planned to deny the request.

While holding oral arguments is appropriate in a case of this magnitude, Aiken told environmentalists not to expect a “big surprise” at the conclusion of the hearing.

“You have a long way to go to persuade me,” she said.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Waterwatch of Oregon claim that water management at the Crane Prairie, Wickiup and Crescent Lake dams must be drastically altered to protect the threatened Oregon spotted frogs from further population declines.

“You have a long way to go to persuade me,” she said.

During oral arguments the two groups asked Aiken for a preliminary injunction that would restore flows in the streams and rivers on which the dams are located to more natural levels.

However, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and several irrigation districts countered that the frogs have adapted to water conditions in the 70 years since the dams were built, so a sudden disruption in how they’re operated will likely injure the species.

Environmentalists risk harming the spotted frogs they want to protect by demanding major operational changes at three Central Oregon water reservoirs, according to the federal government.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the federal agency and three irrigation districts — Central Oregon, North Unit and Tumalo — earlier this year for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act.

Their complaint alleges that reservoir operations have reversed the natural hydrology in associated rivers and creeks, which experience low flows during winter while water is stored and higher flows during the summer irrigation season.

Extreme seasonal fluctuations cause the frog’s eggs to dry up during low flows and exposes them to predators during high flows, the plaintiffs claim.

Water levels differ from year to year, creating unpredictability for female frogs that would otherwise return to the same breeding sites, according to the environmentalists.

Insufficient water flows in winter also reduce habitat for the frogs, forcing them to congregate in marginal areas where they’re vulnerable to predation, the plaintiffs argue.

Under the preliminary injunction proposed by plaintiffs, the Bureau of Reclamation and irrigation districts would operate the reservoirs under a “regulated option” — with higher winter flows and lower summer flows set a fixed levels — or a “run-of-the-river option,” under which dam controls would be left open to mimic natural fluctuations.

The Bureau of Reclamation asked the judge to reject the preliminary injunction request because there’s no evidence the frog’s population will suddenly deteriorate without these measures.

Such “aggressive and immediate” actions aren’t justified by science and wouldn’t work in the best interest of the species, which is more likely to respond positively to gradual changes, the federal agency said.

The “regulated option” and the “run-of-the-river” option are inconsistent with each other, since unmanaged flows of the river could result in lower water levels than environmentalists claim are necessary under the “regulated option,” according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Reducing flows in summer would eliminate some frog habitat while greater winter volumes could overwhelm the species with cold water to which it’s now unaccustomed, the agency said.

The plaintiffs have also failed to give the irrigation districts credit for conservation measures aimed at improving the frog’s chances of survival, the Bureau of Reclamation said.

These steps are being implemented while federal agencies consult on the impact of dam operations on Oregon spotted frogs and develop a broader “habitat conservation plan” that preserves several protected species in the region, as required by the ESA, the agency said.

PORTLAND — Columbia Gorge winemakers believe their wines deserve more attention than they get from Portland consumers.

They’ve taken to describing themselves as residents of Portland’s less expensive backyard, easier to visit and with less traffic than vineyards and wineries in the better-known Willamette Valley.

That description is courtesy of Kate Hart, co-executive director of the Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Association, who might cheerfully acknowledge some bias.

Consumers have an opportunity to decide for themselves on Friday, April 1, when 22 gorge wineries will be pouring during a Portland tasting. It will be held at Castaway Portland, 1800 N.W. 19th Ave. in Portland’s Pearl District.

General admission is $25 and gets you in from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. A VIP ticket costs $40 and grants admission an hour earlier and into a private room.

The Columbia Gorge AVA, or American Viticultural Area, dates only to 2004, but is marked by elevation changes, soil types and micro-climates that result in production of a wide variety of wines, Hart said. Although the AVA is new, grapes have been grown in the area since the late 1880s, Hart said. The oldest is presumed to be a Zinfandel vineyard near The Dalles.

The AVA runs 40 miles west to east on both sides of the Columbia River, roughly from Hood River, Ore., to Maryhill, Wash. The winegrowers association describes the AVA as “a world of wine in 40 miles,” with precipitation decreasing approximately an inch per mile west to east and with much more sun toward the eastern end.

For ticket information go to: http://www.columbiagorgewine.com/portland-grand-tasting.html

Oregon State University has hired a new invertebrate pest scientist to help farmers fight the slug menace threatening their crops.

In 2015, farmers complained that damage from the slimy mollusks has grown worse in recent years during a “slug summit” organized by OSU, prompting the university to seek additional resources to battle the problem.

While slugs have long been a pest for Oregon growers, some believe their populations have grown more numerous in recent years due to the popularity of no-till farming and diminished field burning.

The slug researcher job was among several new positions created at OSU thanks to an additional $14 million in funding allocated for agricultural research and extension during the 2015 legislative session.

The search for OSU’s slug expert was recently completed with the hiring of Rory McDonnell, who’s currently a research specialist at the University of California—Riverside and will start his new position in Oregon in mid-July.

A native of Ireland, McDonnell obtained a doctorate in environmental science from the National University of Ireland in 2004 and has since studied biological control of slugs, including a nematode that parasitizes them.

OSU was initially concerned that few people with sufficient expertise in slugs would apply for the job, but was ultimately able to choose from a good pool of candidates, said Sujaya Rao, an entomology professor at the university who headed the hiring committee.

It was important for OSU to find a researcher who’s familiar with applied science — managing slug pests — rather than simply studying slug biology, she said.

McDonnell’s experience with using biological control agents and essential oils to combat the mollusks was impressive, as was his ability to win grant funding and train graduate and post-doctoral students, Rao said.

Novel methods of controlling slugs are increasingly important because the baits that are commonly used to attract and kill them aren’t always economical, she said.

“People are looking outside the box for slug management,” Rao said.

While recruiting for the position, OSU consulted farmers as well as representatives of the USDA, Oregon Department of Agriculture and local soil and water conservation districts, she said.

“We got input from everyone,” Rao said.

Several Boardman, Ore., corn growers placed highly at the state level in the National Corn Growers Association’s annual yield contest.

Vern Frederickson placed first in Oregon in the no-till/strip till irrigated class with a yield of 309.28 bushels per acre, using DeKalb DKC62-06.

Jonathon Lewis Springstead placed first in Oregon in the irrigated class with a yield of 273.9 bushels per acre using Pioneer 35K02. Springstead did not respond to requests for comment.

Nolan Mills placed second in the no-till/strip-till irriagated class with a yield of 255.29 bushels per acre using Pioneer P1266.

Rod Taylor placed second in the irrigated class with a yield of 267.13 bushels per acre using DeKalb DKC62-08RIB. Taylor could not be reached through the corn organization.

The contest announced 407 state winners and 18 national winners. David Hula of Charles City, Va., won with a yield of 532.03 bushels per acre.

According to the organization, the average yield among national winners was 386.4 bushels per acre, with six national winners recording yields of 400 bushels or more per acre. The U.S. average corn yield in 2015 was 169.3 bushels per acre.

Frederickson said his yields are usually 280 to 290 bushels per acre. Last year he yielded 314 bushels per acre and won the organization’s contest in Oregon, too.

“We farm about 5,000 acres, about 1,200 acres devoted to corn, so we have several people involved in this process,” he said. “It’s a good team effort.”

Frederickson participates in the contest to compare his performance against other farmers in the industry.

“It gives us an incentive to continually improve our process,” he said. “We do hope we do well, but it’s not our primary focus.”

Mills said his winning field averaged five bushels more than his other, non-contest corn fields averaged.

“It’s a good measure to see how we’re doing,” he said. “We try to pick the best field and the best spot.”

The contest helps growers compare varieties and farming practices, Mills said.

Frederickson has several ideas to further boost his yield. He is looking for a 15- to 20-bushel increase, he said.

“The most important thing is, focus on the planting and getting a good stand (and) even emergence,” he said.

Mills also plans to enter again this year. He expects a similar approach to last year.

“Mostly try to stay up on the fertilizer and water and be timely with our inputs,” he said. “More of the same thing we’ve already done, just trying to be timely on all our inputs from planting to harvest.”

SALEM — Opposing sides in Oregon’s continuing wolf argument both believe some aspects of the state’s management plan should be reviewed by independent parties.

Speaking March 18 to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Commission, conservationists repeated their view that an external scientific review should have been done before the commission took wolves off the state endangered species list last November.

Livestock, hunting and farming interests, meanwhile, suggested a third-party should make the call on whether livestock attacks are listed as confirmed wolf depredation or only “probable,” which don’t count toward lethal control decisions.

On just about every other aspect of wolves in Oregon, however, the two sides disagree. Panelists representing both sides were invited to meet with the ODFW Commission and stake out their positions as the state begins what is expected to be a nine-month review of the wolf management plan.

The review begins as cattle and sheep producers, hunters and the Oregon Farm Bureau have scored a couple of key victories. First was the commission’s de-listing decision in November, and the Oregon Legislature followed that up by passing a bill that protects the decision from legal challenge. Since then, the state’s annual wolf survey showed the state population grew 36 percent in 2015. Wildlife biologist Russ Morgan, ODFW’s wolf recovery manager, said the numbers represent a continuing success story as wolves expand in number and range.

Panelists from Oregon Wild, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Cascadia Wildlands repeated their view that de-listing was premature and not supported by independent scientific review. Representatives said they oppose a state population cap or range limits on wolves. They also oppose sport hunting of wolves, which some think could be an eventual result of de-listing and plan revision.

Amaroq Weiss, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said some Oregon actions undermine wolf protection. The Legislature passed a bill increasing the fines for poaching, she said, but excused “unintentional take.”

“The law provides an absolute defense for someone who shoots a wolf and claims he thought it was a coyote,” she said, noting the case of an Oregon hunter who was prosecuted for a 2015 incident. “The state is saying, claim it was an accident and we’ll turn our back.”

Rob Clavins, Northeast Oregon field coordinator for Oregon Wild, said wolf poaching has increased, the de-listing and legislative action was “unfair and unethical” and discussions are marked by “renewed conflict and controversy” even as a majority of Oregonians favor wolf protections.

“We’re skeptical, but we are here again,” he told the commission.

The other side had points to make as well.

Mary Ann Nash, an attorney with the Oregon Farm Bureau, said conservationists’ complaints about transparency and scientific review are “in the eye of the beholder.”

“They mean their preferred outcomes, and their science,” she said.

Dave Wiley, with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, said ODFW must protect Oregon’s deer and elk herds as wolf packs expand.

Jim Akenson, conservation director for the Oregon Hunters Association, said it’s “wonderful” to restore wolves to the ecosystem, “But at some point there needs to be management. We’ve reached that point,” he said.

Wallowa County rancher Todd Nash, head of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association wolf task force, said ODFW has too high a bar for confirming wolf attacks and an outside party ought to do it instead. He and others also favor establishing geographic management zones in which wolves could be controlled on a more local basis.

Morgan, the ODFW biologist, said Oregon’s minimum wolf population at the close of 2015 was 110, with 12 packs and 11 breeding pairs. A recently updated count showed 35 pups survived through the year.

Seven wolves are known to have died during 2015: A pup died of natural causes, the Sled Springs male and female pair were found dead of an unknown cause, one wolf ingested poison in some fashion, and three were illegally shot. Two of the shooting deaths remain under investigation.

Oregon State University is studying the interaction of wolves and cougars, Morgan said, and biologists have seen some cases where wolves attack coyotes.

In one case, biologists noted that tracking collars showed wolves at one spot for several days. When they investigated, biologists discovered wolves had dug out a coyote den to get at pups.

Morgan said the state spent $318,322 on wolf management in 2015, a figure that doesn’t include reimbursements to livestock owners for damage or defensive measures.

Of the expenditure, about $225,000 came from the federal government and the state provided about $92,000. The state’s share came from hunting license sales and Oregon Lottery funds.

Expenses include helicopter flights, drugs to knock out wolves and the tracking collars placed on them, Morgan said. “Wolf management is expensive,” he told the commission.

HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Christmas trees are being planted on the Big Island in an effort to add a boost to the local economy while giving more residents the chance to take part in the holiday tradition of choosing your own tree.

The Hawaii Forest Industry Association is leading the project with help from volunteers, foresters and horticulturists who have been planting Douglas fir seedlings on the slopes of Mauna Kea, The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported. The hundreds of trees are being grown on Department of Hawaiian Homelands trust land.

A 2012 survey funded by state and federal forest agencies found that 96 percent of the state’s Christmas trees are imported from the mainland, with most being sold at chain stores. The Big Island does have some farms where people can pick their own trees, but not enough to meet the holiday demand.

Those supporting the efforts behind the Aina Mauna Christmas Tree Demonstration Project are looking for a change to benefit the local economy and give more residents the option to pick their own trees.

“It’s a big market if you can get it going,” said Heather Simmons, executive director of the Hawaii Forest Industry Association.

Trial plantings to determine which trees would grow best and could be readily germinated in a nursery took place in 2002. Researchers ended up settling on the Douglas fir, which has a rich green color and relatively low purchase point. The tree is also named after David Douglas, a Scottish botanist who died after falling into a cattle pit near the seedling planting site.

Growing Christmas trees on the Big Island will also help reduce the risk of bringing in invasive species from trees imported from the mainland. In 2014, a shipment of 1,200 trees had to be returned to the Pacific Northwest because they did not pass an invasive species screening in Honolulu.

“If Christmas trees could take off up here, it could offset gorse,” said Spring Kaye, the manager of the Big Island Invasive Species Council.

But those involved in the project also recognize the challenges that come with getting an entire tree farm up and running.

“It takes time to get going,” said Mike Robinson, a forester with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. He also said it will pay off in the end by providing future generations with a source of revenue.

The project has received funding from the state and federal Departments of Agriculture as well as Hawaii County and DHHL.

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — It’s too early to tell what will come from this week’s visit by President Barack Obama and his family to Cuba — both politically and economically — but one outcome could be increased agricultural sales of Oregon products to the island.

Politically, the United States slapped a trade embargo on the Caribbean island of 11 million residents after Fidel Castro’s guerrilla army took control in 1959 and allied with communist China and Russia.

But in reality, more than $300 million in U.S. agricultural products were exported to Cuba in 2014 under the Trade Sanctions and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.

In fact, the United States was the leading exporter of agricultural products to Cuba for nine of 11 years since 2000, topping out at $658 million in 2008.

Leading exports have been chicken, corn and soybean meal.

An estimated 70 to 80 percent of all food consumed by Cubans is imported.

President Obama spent two years in secret talks with Cuban officials and in December 2014 announced that diplomatic relationships would be restored. A symbol of that effort was the recent reopening of the U.S. embassy in Cuba.

Bruce Pokarney of the Oregon Department of Agriculture said that although other states in the Southeast or along the Eastern Seaboard would have an easier trade path to Cuba, just 90 miles away from Florida, the expanded Panama Canal has made the trip from the Pacific Northwest to Cuba more economically feasible.

“Obviously, our top market is Asia,” Pokarney said. “But we are always open to looking at new markets. It’s a situation where we want to maintain existing markets and to find new ones.”

Pokarney said Oregon could play a role in providing specialty products such as hazelnuts, which are on a marked upswing among products grown in Oregon. New hazelnut orchards are popping up throughout the mid-valley.

Oregon wines could also be welcomed in Cuba, if not necessarily for its own residents but for the flood of tourists, expected to jump from last year’s 3.5 million.

The number of tourists from the United States jumped 77 percent last year alone.

Those tourists generated almost $2 billion in revenue, or more than 10 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product.

Oregon products that could likely see increased exports include wine, craft beer, blueberries, apples, pears, cherries and beef.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the European Union and Brazil are Cuba’s leading agricultural partners, with the United States third.

The European Union and Canada are Cuba’s largest supplier of wheat with more than $170 million and $67 million in sales, respectively. The United States has not shipped wheat to Cuba since 2011.

Argentina and Brazil were the largest corn exporters and the U.S. was third with $28 million in sales. The United States had been the country’s largest exporter of corn from 2002 to 2012, reaching 64 percent of the country’s corn supply in 2012. That figure dropped to 14 percent in 2014.

Other major exporters to Cuba are Vietnam and Brazil, which supply the majority of the country’s rice. The United States once supplied up to 40 percent of Cuba’s rice needs, but has not exported rice to Cuba since 2009.

Although more than 20 percent of all adults work in agriculture in Cuba, farm products account for less than 10 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product.

Key crops are cassava (yucca), citrus including grapefruit and oranges, coffee, potatoes, rice, sugar, tobacco and plantains.

In 2015, U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., traveled to Cuba with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Schrader noted that his grandmother had emigrated from Cuba and he was interested in learning how the Cuban government has treated Cuban-Americans.

He reported being “welcomed by a warm people who didn’t seem to harp on the embargo and the apparent effect it’s had on the Cuban economy.”

Schrader said there has been little new construction in Havana since the 1950s, people subsist on about $24 income each month and that unemployment is high, especially among young people.

He said Cubans appeared interested in Oregon fruits such as pears and apples and other Northwest produce.

Schrader said there is great opportunity to help Cuban farmers modernize their operations with modern irrigation systems and newer farm equipment.

Schrader said the U.S. can also learn a lot from Cuban farmers, who are well-versed on organic farming since agricultural chemicals were on the embargoed list.

Importing organic goods from Cuba could help meet domestic organic food needs, Schrader said.

PORT ORFORD — Looking for somewhere to read your poems or short story? Sing a song? If so, you are invited to participate in Port Orford's 10th Annual Poet's Roundup. This event will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday March…

COOS BAY — The World offers an interesting list of opportunities to keep your mind and body active. Everything from yoga to geology lectures, dancing to trivia, and hiking to book sales is shared through Go! Calendar of Events, Classes…

PORT ORFORD — Looking for somewhere to read your poems or short story? Sing a song? If so, you are invited to participate in Port Orford's 10th Annual Poets' Roundup. This event will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday March…

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson will introduce Curry County to Self-Sufficiency Programs: OHP, energy assistance applications, vaccination information, food stamps, food bank, help for the homeless, rental information, weatherization programs and more. The first meeting will be 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, March…

SACRAMENTO — Proponents say an updated plan to remove four dams from the Klamath River doesn’t skirt the U.S. Constitution or leave out opportunities for public debate.

In their first announced public meeting since announcing their plan last month, officials from Oregon, California and the federal government said it’s perfectly appropriate to seek dam removal approval through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“In my opinion, we’re not trying anything new here,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham said during the March 16 hearing at the state Environmental Protection Agency headquarters. He added the FERC process for removing dams has existed since the 1920s.

Richard Whitman, natural resources adviser to Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown, said no interstate compact is being made to set up the “non-federal” entity that would take control of the dams from owner PacifiCorp and handle their removal.

“It’s easy to get confused about this entity,” Whitman said. “That corporation is an independent corporation that is not an instrument of the states of Oregon or California.”

He also said the state is willing to help farming and ranching communities in Klamath County, where Commissioner Tom Mallams contends the dams’ removal would cost the county as much as $500,000 in annual revenue and take away local jobs.

Mallams, who attended the meeting, said he would like to see a settlement that resolves water issues in the Klamath Basin but wants the county “left whole.”

The exchanges came amid a sometimes contentious afternoon of haggling over language in the 133-page “agreement in principle” announced Feb. 2 by PacifiCorp, the states of Oregon and California and the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce. The new agreement was reached after Congress failed to authorize the original Klamath Basin water-sharing agreements by the end of 2015.

The March 16 meeting was attended by representatives from most of the 42 original signatories to the 2010 agreements as well as critics, who in recent weeks have accused dam-removal proponents of meeting in secret and claimed the private entity created under the new plan would still need congressional approval.

The latter argument is based on a legal opinion issued in late January by Oregon Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnston, who opined the private entity amounted to an interstate compact that must be authorized by Congress under the Constitution. But Whitman said Johnston’s opinion was based on language from the original agreements and not the new pact, which the Oregon Department of Justice has assured him is legally sound.

“The amendments we’re discussing today are an agreement to a private party to handle removal of its dams,” he said.

The meeting began as a veritable rehashing of a more than decade-long debate over dam removal, as public officials given a chance to make opening statements argued in favor of or against the idea. Grace Bennett, chairwoman of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, argued removing the dams is unnecessary to help fish and would expose area residents to risks from the built-up sediment and loss of flood control and water supply.

“This is our livelihood, this is our watershed, this is our home,” Bennett said. “For two decades, the county government has worked with landowners and water users to improve fish habitat and water quality in a successful effort to reverse the last century’s trend of declining salmon runs.”

But Humboldt County Supervisor Mark Lovelace said his county supports dam removal “in this instance” because it will lead to benefits to downstream farms, recreation, the fishing fleet and other on-shore industries.

“Every boat is a small business — an independently owned, family-owned small business,” Lovelace said.

Proponents hope to craft a final version of their agreement and have all the original signatories on board with it by the end of this month, although Klamath Tribes chairman Don Gentry said the final pact would have to be put to tribal members for a vote.

The proponents are also beginning work on a separate pact that would continue the water-sharing arrangements and fisheries improvements in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, they said.

PORTLAND — About 40 food vendors are taking part March 19 in a CSA Share Fair, at which customers will be able to hook up with Community Supported Agriculture operations that deliver in Portland neighborhoods.

Portland-area farmers, ranchers and fish suppliers will be on hand to discuss CSA options, which include deliveries of vegetables, fruit, meat, wild fish, honey, eggs, flowers and other items.

Other activities include demonstrations by local chefs, a cookbook exchange, food and drink stations and children’s activities. Admission is free.

Saturday is the second time the event has been held. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Redd, 831 S.E. Salmon St., Portland. The Redd,established by a non-profit, Ecotrust, serves as a food business “incubator.”

As befits a Portland event, the Share Fair has on-site bike parking and can be reached by bus, streetcar or car.

A CSA is essentially a food subscription service, in which customers pay a set fee for regular deliveries of food, primarily vegetables. They are popular in cities such as Portland where there is a receptive customer base for fresh, local food and support for small, urban farms.

The Share Fair coincides with release of the 2015 CSA Farming annual report, which showed CSAs continue to grow in scope nationally.

The report said the average CSA income increased to $35,443 in 2015 from $30,342 in 2014. Value per box increased to $47.21, compared $36.39 in 2014.

The 10most common items in CSA boxes nationally were lettuce, eggplant, garlic, carrots, Swiss chard, kale, green beans, broccoli, cabbage and cucumbers.