PENDLETON, Ore. — The northernmost agricultural pad at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport is open for business.

Members of the Pendleton Airport Commission held a special meeting Monday to resolve safety concerns between the pad and nearby drone operations. The city recently purchased two 40-foot shipping containers that will act as a blast wall to protect sensitive equipment. The containers are expected to arrive at the airport by Wednesday.

Darryl Abling, who manages the Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Systems Range, previously recommended the airport temporarily close the ag pad while UAS activities are relocated to the north end of the airfield. The concern, Abling said, was planes kicking up rocks and debris that could possibly damage drones or injure flight crews.

After meeting with stakeholders last week, Abling agreed a barrier would be an effective solution in the short term. Crop dusting pilots stressed the need to settle the issue quickly, since farmers are already applying fertilizer to their fields and the window for work is finite.

Two pilots had expressed interest in using the disputed ag pad — Andrew Kilgore, of K2 Aerial Application, and Brad Wahl, of Wildhorse Helicopters. Kilgore hired an attorney after he was denied use of the pad, but never got to the point of litigation.

There was some discussion about making the pad open to the public under a pay-as-you-go system, though that raised questions about who would manage the pad and whether it would open the city to liability. As it is, the airport leases its ag pads to single operators.

The airport commission ultimately agreed it would lease the pad to Wahl, who would share use with Kilgore.

“I don’t think it has to be complicated,” Wahl said. “I think I can work with him, he can work with me and that would be fine.”

Kilgore’s attorney, Michael Schultz, said he felt the agreement was a step in the right direction.

“I am heartened that we are in the position today where we are cooperating,” Schultz said.

Robb Corbett, Pendleton city manager, questioned whether the airport commission and city council should consider changes in how the ag pads are managed and leased to ensure a pilot is not excluded in the future.

“I understand there’s cooperation going on now, but there may be times when there isn’t,” Corbett said.

Alan Gronewold, airport commission chairman, said that is a subject they will visit at a future meeting.

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SALEM — Critics of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of livestock antibiotics want the state of Oregon to do it instead.

Over several years, the FDA has phased out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion and feed efficiency in livestock with the voluntary cooperation of pharmaceutical companies.

However, this approach hasn’t satisfied critics who say that antibiotics can still be used excessively by livestock producers for the prevention — rather than treatment — of disease.

“The loophole is they’re still allowing these drugs to be used on healthy animals,” said Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist with the Consumers Union, during a recent legislative hearing.

Under House Bill 785, Oregon livestock producers would only be able to provide a “medically important antibiotic” to their animals if a veterinarian determines it’s necessary to treat or control the spread of a disease or infection, or due to a medical procedure.

Farms that are considered “concentrated animal feeding operations” — such as many dairies and feedlots — would have to submit information about their antibiotic usage to the state government, with those records subject to disclosure as public documents.

Opponents argue the bill’s provisions unnecessarily infringe on a solution devised by the FDA at a federal level, creating state-specific restrictions that will leave Oregon’s livestock industry at a competitive disadvantage.

“They unfairly single out livestock producers,” said Nathan Jackson, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

The record-keeping requirements contained in HB 785 have also perturbed agriculture groups, who say they’re overly burdensome without being useful.

Chad Allen, president of the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, said he already tracks antibiotic usage at his dairy near Tillamook, Ore., but objected to submitting records to state authorities.

“It doesn’t serve the public any good for me to hand that over and bring a spotlight into my business,” Allen said.

Supporters of HB 785 said the FDA’s approach is ineffective because growth promotion accounted for less than one-fourth of antibiotic usage in livestock production.

Roughly two-thirds of livestock antibiotic usage has been devoted to disease prevention, which isn’t affected by the FDA policy and allows animals to be kept in “crowded, factory farm conditions,” said Hansen.

It’s also “blatantly false” and a “mischaracterization” to claim that FDA’s strategy is binding on the livestock industry, said George Kimbrell, senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit activist group that supports HB 785.

The FDA has issued guidance recommending certain actions to pharmaceutical manufacturers but these suggestions are not enforceable, Kimbrell said.

“What the FDA has done here does not have the force of law,” he said.

Opponents of HB 785 argue it’s a misconception that FDA’s policy is merely voluntary.

As of early 2017, all animal drug manufacturers have committed to change the labeled uses of antibiotics, so veterinarians cannot prescribe the drugs for growth promotion or similar uses, according to opponents.

“I am highly scrutinized and it is law,” said Chuck Meyer, a veterinarian and past president of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association.

Veterinarians can’t rely on vague possibilities and must provide specific reasons to prescribe antibiotics, such as the illness of some herd members, said Mark Wustenberg, a veterinarian and vice president of producer relations for the Tillamook County Creamery Association.

“You have to have some strong justification to say there’s a disease entity you’re targeting in that population,” he said.

Veterinarians know when livestock immune systems are likely to be suppressed — due to weather events, for example — which makes disease outbreaks more likely, said Meyer.

“The difference between prevention and treatment is usually 24 hours,” he said.

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At least two Willamette Valley vineyards are building new wineries to produce white and sparkling wines, perhaps indicating an expanding market in a region best known for red Pinot noir.

Domaine Serene, of Dundee Hills, has begun construction of an 8,000-square-foot winery dedicated to producing Chardonnay, sparkling wine and a white version of Pinot noir, the wine that made the Willamette Valley a player in the international wine scene.

The facility is expected to be ready in time for the 2018 harvest. Domaine Serene also has planted 25 acres of Chardonnay grapes over the past three years.

“We’re doubling down on it,” company spokesman Matthew Thompson said. “We feel very good about the high quality of Oregon Chardonnay.”

Reviewers appear to agree. Wine Spectator magazine rated Domaine Serene’s 2014 Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay second among the 10 best wines of 2016, and the top-rated white.

Instead of producing white wine elsewhere, Domaine Serene’s new winery will have dedicated facilities for Chardonnay and sparkling wines, plus cold storage capability. Construction began March 1.

Meanwhile, Willamette Valley Vineyards, based near Salem, added seven acres of Chardonnay grapes and is working with architects on a planned sparkling wine facility in the Dundee region as well.

Company Winery Director Christine Collier said consumer demand for lighter, crisp whites is driving the changes. Rosé wines also are increasingly popular.

“We’re definitely seeing a trend in Oregon wine to expand Chardonnay programs,” she said. “The demand is high right now.”

Michelle Kaufmann, newly appointed communications director at Stoller Family Estate, said Chardonnay is “absolutely on the rise” in Oregon.

“Many people believe that it will overtake Pinot gris as Oregon’s number one white wine, though I’m not sure there’s enough data yet to make that claim,” Kaufmann said by email.

She said the nuances of producing exceptional white and sparkling wines are different than making red wines, so wineries’ decision to have facilities dedicated to that production makes sense.

But Pinot noir isn’t fading by any means.

The Oregon Wine Board’s 2015 report showed Pinot noir accounted for 62 percent of the 24,742 acres planted to wine grapes in Oregon. A pair of whites were a distant second and third: Pinot gris with 3,403 acres, and Chardonnay with 1,181 acres.

“I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch at all that Oregon is entering the next chapter in our wine history,” Kaufmann said.

Kaufmann previously was communications director for the Oregon Wine Board. She and vineyard manager Jason Tosch are recent hires at Stoller, in Dayton. Also at the company, Ben Howe was promoted to winemaker and Austin Raz to digital brand manager.